Pandemic Pod Pushback

By Larry Sand
11/10/2020
The education establishment is losing customers, and it isn’t happy. Teacher union honchos don’t like homeschoolers for obvious reasons. When kids learn at home, it means less control, money, and power for them. Over the years, the National Education Association has adopted resolutions at its yearly convention which stipulate that homeschooling families “cannot provide the...

TAGS: Becky Pringle, California Teachers Association, EdChoice, Heritage Foundation, homeschool, Jonathan Butcher, Larry Sand, National Education Association, pandemic pods, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

Our soldiers deserve educational freedom

By Larry Sand
06/05/2018
  In spite of teacher union attempts to deny them, Education Savings Accounts for military families are needed. A bill proposed by Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN) directs the Department of Education to establish a program that would “provide children with parents on active duty in the uniformed services with funds for specified educational purposes.”...

TAGS: EdChoice, Education Savings Accounts, G.I. Bill, Heritage Foundation, Jonathan Butcher, Lance Izumi, Larry Sand, National Education Association, school choice, teachers union, vouchers

Undisrupted Education

By Larry Sand
04/17/2018
The world has progressed in amazing ways since 1983, but for the most part, public education has stagnated. In 1983, the first mobile telephones intended for public use were released, ARPANET became the technical foundation of the internet, and A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform was released. The latter was a report...

TAGS: A Nation at Risk, Center for Education Reform, Charter schools, Clayton Christensen, EdChoice, educational savings accounts, Fordham Institute, Heritage Foundation, Jeanne Allen, Jeb Bush, Larry Sand, Lindsey Burke, Matthew Ladner, Mike Petrilli, NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress, tax-credit scholarships, teachers union, vouchers

Saying bye-bye to nana’s union

By Larry Sand
03/20/2018
Following similar actions in Wisconsin and Iowa, eternal union representation of teachers is a thing of the past in Florida; the new law doesn’t go quite far enough, however. Just imagine that in the 1970s your grandmother hired a lawyer to represent her in a lawsuit, and today, you’re forced to patronize the very same...

TAGS: collective bargaining, F. Vincent Vernuccio, Heritage Foundation, James Sherk, Larry Sand, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Rick Scott, teachers union

CTA’s New Gambit to Cheat Taxpayers Annually

By Larry Sand
08/30/2016
A bill, near passage, would require you and me to pay for union indoctrination sessions in California.  California is a fabulous place. Fantastic weather, fertile fields, glorious mountains and a thousand mile coastline have long beckoned many to the Golden State. And then there is the state legislature. This law-making body is very far from...

TAGS: California Nurses Association, California School Boards Association, California Teachers Association, Friedrichs, Heritage Foundation, Larry Sand, League of California Cities, Michael Lovenheim, seiu, teachers union

The Myth of the Underpaid Teacher Lives On

By Larry Sand
08/23/2016
 Yet another “study” showing how poorly teachers are paid has surfaced. Well, it’s a new school year and there is much tumult in the world of public education. Common Core battles, testing opt-outs, and litigation about school choice and teacher work rules dot the landscape. But with all the uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that...

TAGS: AFL-CIO, AFT, American Enterprise Institute, Andrew Biggs, Economic Policy Institute, Heritage Foundation, Jason Richwine, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Mary Kay Henry, National Education Association, NEA, Richard Trumka, seiu, teacher pay, teachers union, Valerie Strauss

The Friedrichs Free Rider Fraud

By Larry Sand
07/07/2015
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the Friedrichs case has the unions in a tizzy. On June 30th, the Supreme Court decided to hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association et al, a case that could seriously change the way the public employee unions (PEUs) do business. If the plaintiffs are victorious, teachers, nurses, sanitation workers,...

TAGS: "free rider", AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, American Federation of Teachers, CTA, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, Heritage Foundation, James Sherk, Koch Brothers, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, National Labor Relations Act, NEA, public employee unions, Right to Work, Rodda Act, seiu, teachers union

Jejune in April

By Larry Sand
04/07/2015
NEA rolls out its plan for what to do in case its worst nightmare – worker freedom – comes to pass. Last July, the California Teachers Association released “Not if, but when: Living in a world without Fair Share,” a 23-page PowerPoint presentation unearthed by Mike Antonucci. The document revealed that teacher union honchos in...

TAGS: American Legislative Exchange Council, California Teachers Association, fair share, Heritage Foundation, James Sherk, Koch Brothers, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, National Labor Relations Act, Paul Kersey, Right to Work, teachers union

“Scott Walker Fails the Test of Common Decency”

By Larry Sand
03/17/2015
… or at least that’s what protection racket leader Randi Weingarten wants us to believe. My goodness! From the response in certain quarters, you would think that Wisconsin governor Scott Walker breached national security – and then maybe tried to lie his way out of it! But no. All he did last week was sign...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Barack Obama, Heritage Foundation, Illinois Policy Institute, James Sherk, Larry Sand, Paul Kersey, Randi Weingarten, Right to Work, Scott Walker, teachers union

The Poor Teacher Canard Redux – Part I

By Larry Sand
08/19/2014
“Mid-and Late-Career Teachers Struggle With Paltry Incomes” is the latest flawed study to claim that American teachers are underpaid. Leave it to the left-leaning teacher-union-friendly Center for American Progress to come out with a flatulent report lamenting the allegedly lousy state of teacher pay in the U.S. Even worse, much of the acolyte media dutifully...

TAGS: American Enterprise Institute, American Federation of Teachers, Andrew Biggs, California Policy Center, Center for American Progress, Heritage Foundation, Jason Richwine, Jay Greene, Larry Sand, Manhattan Institute, Marcus Winters, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, Transparent California