And the Edu-Razzie Goes to….

By Larry Sand
08/11/2020
The teachers unions keep racking up dubious awards. In the past week, I have seen cashiers, cops, postal employees, pharmacists, doctors, receptionists, nurses, bus drivers and others who work directly with the public remain on the job. Maybe they realize that if they don’t work, they will have no income. Maybe they have a sense...

TAGS: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Empowerment Network, CDC, Cecily Myart-Cruz, Chicago Teachers Union, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

The Janus decision and teacher freedom: One year later

By Larry Sand
07/02/2019
What has happened, what hasn’t happened, and why. On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government workers no longer had to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment, and the ensuing hysteria was a sight to behold. Loopy headlines like “How The Supreme Court’s Janus Decision Could Cripple Public...

TAGS: AB 119, Association of American Educators, California Policy Center, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Freedom Foundation, Janus v. AFSCME, Larry Sand, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, teachers union

Uninformed and misinformed teachers

By Larry Sand
06/19/2018
  Too many educators are clueless on issues relating to their profession.  In 2006, I co-founded the California Teachers Empowerment Network, whose mission is to give educators unbiased information and to combat union spin and outright lies. While we have helped a good number of teachers, there are still way too many who are...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Andrew Coulson, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Educators for Excellence, Fresno Teachers Association, Janus v. AFSCME, Larry Sand, Michael Lovenheim, Mike Petrilli, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

Teacher Union Political Spending: Liberal as Ever

By Larry Sand
10/11/2016
AFT continues to use teachers as ATM machines to fund their pet leftist causes. The latest American Federation of Teachers annual financial disclosure has been released (H/T RiShawn Biddle). This year’s LM-2 is filled with goodies that are sure to warm the cockles of leftist teacher union members, but apolitical educators, centrists and certainly those...

TAGS: agency fee payer, Al Sharpton, American Federation of Teachers, Association of American Educators, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Center for Popular Democracy, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, Mary Kay Henry, Mike Antonucci, National Action Network, Randi Weingarten, seiu, teachers union

Dear California Teacher

By Larry Sand
10/06/2015
An email sent to educators just 10 years ago opened a lot of eyes – including mine – about the true nature of the teachers unions. In 2005, after having taught for 24 years, I was becoming quite agitated. All along I had been subsidizing the teachers unions’ political agenda and thought I had no...

TAGS: Bain v. CTA, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Deroy Murdock, Friedrichs v CTA, Larry Sand, National Right to Work Foundation, paycheck protection, Prop. 75, seiu, teachers union

Dear Randi (Redux),

By Larry Sand
06/16/2015
Given the assertions you make in your latest “Where We Stand” column, we need to talk! So it’s been a year since I last wrote to you. You sure have been busy! Defending mandatory voting laws and Hillary Clinton, railing against cheese sandwiches and Jeb Bush, it’s totally understandable that you may be getting a...

TAGS: Bain v. CTA, California Teachers Empowerment Network, collective bargaining, Fordham Institute, Friedrichs v CTA, Koch Brothers, Larry Sand, Mike Petrilli, National Council on Teacher Quality, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union

The Sorry, but Unapologetic, Teachers Unions

By Larry Sand
11/04/2014
 Unions demand apologies, but refuse to make any themselves. The cover of the November 3rd edition of Time Magazine reads “It’s nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher; some tech millionaires may have found a way to change that.” Accompanying the text is a photo of a judge’s gavel about to pound an apple. The...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Empowerment Network, David Welch, Larry Sand, Marshall Tuck, Michael Mulgrew, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, New York State United Teachers, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, Tom Torlakson, United Federation of Teachers

Anaheim Teachers Union Intimidates Their Members

By Private: Gloria Romero
10/15/2014
Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher and president of California Teachers Empowerment Network, summarized it succinctly: “Ah, the commissar has spoken from on high!” The “commissar” is none other than the president of the Anaheim Elementary Education Association, Kristen Fisher, who dispatched an email to dues-paying union members on Oct. 6. It seems that Fisher...

TAGS: California Center for Parent Empowerment, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Friedrichs vs. the CTA, Gloria Romero

Transitional Kindergarten: A Boondoggle by any other name….

By Larry Sand
01/14/2014
CA announces a budget surplus — and legislators can’t wait to blow it. It’s hardly surprising, but California’s we-never-met-a-big-budget-bill-we-didn’t-like Democratic lawmakers and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson have joined hands to sponsor SB 837, new legislation that would provide free public preschool to every four-year-old child in California. The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014, introduced...

TAGS: California Teachers Empowerment Network, Caroline Hoxby, Darrell Steinberg, Head Start, Jerry Brown, Larry Sand, Lindsey Burke, Lisa Snell, Tom Torlakson, Transitional Kindergarten

Teachers can receive a $300 – $400 ‘rebate’ for CTA’s political spending

By Larry Sand
09/17/2013
Although California is not a right-to-work state, public school teachers have the ability to receive a yearly rebate of $300 – $400 from the California Teachers Association. Teachers have these options because the United States Supreme Court has held that a union can’t force a non-union member to pay for the union’s political and other activities unrelated...

TAGS: agency fee payer, California Policy Center, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, CTA