The Non-proficient Teachers Unions

By Larry Sand
11/10/2015
California students are not learning and teacher union leaders blame tests. Every two years selected students across the nation take the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), a test known as the nation’s report card. This year our kids didn’t do well. Actually they never do well, but this year the scores were even worse...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, EdVoice, Fresno Teachers Association, Larry Sand, NAEP, National Council on Teacher Quality, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, Stull Act, teachers union

The Unions’ Assault on Truth

By Larry Sand
11/03/2015
The teachers unions continue to mislead its members and everyone else. In the latest issue of the California Federation of Teachers quarterly newsletter, CFT president Josh Pechthalt writes “The lawsuits that educators and unions must defeat,” which is referred to as a “special report” – special because it is especially filled with half-truths, omissions and...

TAGS: agency fee payers, Bain v. CTA, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, EdVoice, Edward Ring, Friedrichs v CTA, Josh Pechthalt, Larry Sand, Randi Weingarten, seniority, Students Matter, Stull Act, teachers union, tenure, Vergara

Teachers Unions Appeal Vergara

By Larry Sand
05/05/2015
… and continue to block any and every meaningful reform the California state legislature has to offer. On May Day (how fitting!) the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers filed their appeal of the Vergara decision. In that 2014 ruling, Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu struck down California’s teacher tenure, layoff and...

TAGS: Bill Lucia, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Carol Liu, Dean Vogel, Democrats for Education Reform, EdVoice, Josh Pechthalt, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, Rolf Treu, Shirley Weber, Students Matter, StudentsFirst, teachers union, Vergara

The Vergara Battle Has Been Won…

By Larry Sand
06/24/2014
… but the war is just beginning. Despite a landmark education decision in California favoring children over teachers unions, how much will really change? On June 10th, Judge Rolf Treu issued an unequivocal decision in the Students Matter (Vergara v California) case which revolved around the tenure, dismissal and seniority statutes in California’s education code....

TAGS: AB 215, Bill Lucia, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, EdVoice, Larry Sand, LIFO, Rolf Treu, seniority, Students Matter, teachers union, tenure, Vergara v California

Justice Belied

By Larry Sand
09/24/2013
California’s AB375 would do precious little to protect school children from pedophiles. The impulse to take action to remove pedophiles from California’s classrooms came about as a result of Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt having slid through the cracks after committing lewd acts against untold numbers of young children. After Berndt’s arrest in Los...

TAGS: Alex Padilla, Bill Lucia, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Carol Liu, Dan Walters, Dean Vogel, EdVoice, Gloria Romero, Larry Sand, Mark Berndt, RiShawn Biddle, StudentsFirst, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, Warren Fletcher

Parents, Students, Businessmen, Mayors, Reformers, Civil Rights Groups, Conservatives, Liberals et al vs. Teachers Unions

By Larry Sand
04/30/2013
It seems as if most of the civilized world is squaring off against the teachers unions these days; California’s SB 441 is the latest battle. As a way to put some teeth in a moribund teacher evaluation system in California, State Senator Ron Calderon has written SB 441, a very modest bill, which would at...

TAGS: California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Carol Liu, EdVoice, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Michelle Rhee, Parent Revolution, StudentsFirst, teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles