Kill ‘Em or Unionize ‘Em

By Larry Sand
07/09/2013
As charter schools have become more popular than ever, teachers unions dither about how to deal with them. Though there are now over 6,000 charter schools in the U.S., including 1,000 in California, it’s not nearly enough to satisfy demand, as parents have awakened to the fact that many traditional public schools aren’t doing the...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Charter School Association, California Teachers Association, Charter schools, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

School Choice for Kids? Ravitch and NEA Say No

By Larry Sand
01/22/2013
Widely discredited ex-reformer and teachers union try to deny families a fundamental right. Diane Ravitch has yet again exposed herself as an unserious spokesperson for the sclerotic anti-education reform movement. This crowd is made up of people – typically special interests – bureaucrats, teachers unions, etc. – who desperately cling to the ridiculous notion that...

TAGS: California Teachers Empowerment Network, Charter schools, Diane Ravitch, Greg Forster, Larry Sand, National Education Association, National School Choice Week, Patrick Wolf, school choice, teachers union, vouchers

Forced Unionism Is Rearing Its Ugly Head in D.C.

By Larry Sand
11/19/2012
Not content with forcing traditional D.C. public school teachers to join the Washington Teachers Union, the rapacious WTU is now trying to get its hooks into charter schools. Last week, Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington Teachers Union, announced his intention to push for legislation that would force charter school teachers in the nation’s capital...

TAGS: California Charter School Association, Charter schools, Forced Unionism, Mike Antonucci, Washington Teachers Union

NEA Agenda: More Money, Minimal Reform

By Larry Sand
05/15/2012
The teachers union not only plays the poverty card, but by battling reforms, ensures that the impoverished will remain that way. “No Education Reform Without Tackling Poverty, Experts Say,” is the title of an article on the National Education Association website. Experts? A trip into the weeds leads to something called the Center on Poverty,...

TAGS: Charter schools, education spending, Eva Moskowitz, George Soros, Head Start, Jay Greene, Lindsey Burke, Lisa Snell, National Education Association, teachers unions, vouchers

Former Union Boss to Become Charter School Operator

By Larry Sand
09/06/2011
Once a rabid anti-reformer, termed out United Teachers of Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy has become a union apostate…maybe. On September 1st, Los Angeles Times writer Howard Blume wrote what at first glance appeared to be satire. He reported that A.J. Duffy is starting his own charter school. For those of you who live a...

TAGS: A.J. Duffy, California Teachers Association, Charter schools, Los Angeles Unfied School District, tenure, United Teachers of Los Angeles

A Charter School Needs a Union Like a Salad Needs Hemlock

By Larry Sand
11/30/2010
Last month, teachers at Englewood on the Palisades Charter School in New Jersey decided to unionize. Then last Friday, Steve Gunn, director of Michigan’s Education Action Group, had an op-ed in the Newark, NJ-based Star-Ledger in which he rightfully laments the decision. Charter schools are public schools that are allowed to bypass many of the...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Charter schools, National Education Association