The unions treatment of teachers as interchangeable parts does great damage to the education process. In my post last week, I gave ample proof that the claim of a nationwide teacher shortage is bogus. For example, in California, where the  teachers unions insist that teachers are “leaving the profession in unprecedented numbers,” there is no widespread...

Two bills that would have deeply wounded the popular schools of choice are dead…for now.  Last week, two seemingly sure-shot bills were deep-sixed in the California legislature. AB 1506 would have placed a ceiling on the number of charter schools allowed in the state – the magic number being those in existence at the end...

The Janus case, which gave public employees a choice whether or not to join a union, elicited apocalyptic proclamations, but the reality – thus far – has been quite different. “I listened as the right wing launched attack after attack on unions and on what collective bargaining gains for working people, those they serve and...

Dissident educators have the power to change the course of teacher union politics in California. A few years back I was on a panel with then California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel, who mentioned during his talk that about 35 percent of his union’s membership was Republican which is roughly the way the rest of...

Teacher union leaders palavering about evil corporations and the rich is a modern-day version of The Emperor’s New Clothes. The teachers unions really need to get some new talking points. Granted, straw men and hyperbole are common in political discourse, but union verbiage needs a serious makeover – the old model is giving hypocrisy a...

Public employee freedom case is set to be heard by SCOTUS on Feb. 26. Two months from today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Janus v AFSCME case, with a decision scheduled to be announced in June. If successful, it would free public employees in 22 states from having to pay any money to a union as a condition of employment.

The “nationwide teacher shortage” claim is a myth that has been perpetuated on and off for about a hundred years now. Of late, its inaccurate cousin the “teachers are leaving the profession in droves” fable has been giving it some serious competition however. And California, never a place to avoid a good fad, has hatched a plan to address the mythical problem. In an attempt to lure and keep teachers, there is talk of a “The Teachers Fair Pay” referendum which would align teachers’ pay to the wages of state lawmakers, about $104,000 a year.

Billionaires weigh heavy on the mind of the president of the California Teachers Association (CTA). During his brief May 21 speech at the 2017 California Democratic Party convention, CTA president Eric Heins referred to billionaires four times. He didn’t refer to reading, writing, or mathematics at all. It appears the CTA leadership has discovered a legion...

Aftershocks could have ramifications; teacher union leaders grouse as they plan next steps. On Tuesday, May 6th, Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez, who are more concerned with the needs of parents, kids and taxpayers than stoking the bureaucracy and complying with teacher union diktats, were elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District board. Reformers...

…and teacher union command central is furious. Last week, the Trump administration rightfully withdrew former President Obama’s guidelines regarding bathroom usage, which had called on schools nationwide to let transgender students choose “Boys” or “Girls,” depending on how they perceived themselves and not the old-fashioned way: by body parts. Additionally, Obama had threatened to remove...