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

NEA’s March: Out with a Sham

By Larry Sand
03/31/2015
With the sincerity of an elixir hustler, NEA boss pretends to be objective about the 2016 election. The National Education Association is serious about the 2016 presidential election. The union is serious about every election of course, but this time the union’s leader is actually asking for input from viable candidates even if they haven’t...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Chris Christie, Elizabeth Warren, Jeb Bush, Joe Biden, Koch Brothers, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, Scott Walker, teachers union

Unions Continue Their Long March into the Classroom

By Larry Sand
03/24/2015
Labor union indoctrination is seeping into our schools before our very eyes. Teacher union intrusion into the lives of children is not new. Via anti-child work rules like tenure and seniority, unions have been making their influence felt for years. Additionally, as labor expert Kevin Dayton points out, they have been angling to promote their...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Dennis Van Roekel, Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, Gray Davis, Kevin Dayton, Kevin Jennings, Labor History Month, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Parent Trigger, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, University of California Miguel Contreras Labor Program

“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 Oasis Was a Mirage

By Larry Sand
03/10/2015
After failing miserably for almost ten years, a rare union-run charter school is mercifully shuttered. In September 2005, New York City’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT) president Randi Weingarten was frustrated and wanted to prove a point. She explained that the union was opening two charter schools so that it could “reclaim” the original charter...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Center for Popular Democracy, Eva Moskowitz, Harlem Success Academy, In the Public Interest, Joel Klein, Larry Sand, Michael Mulgrew, Randi Weingarten, RiShawn Biddle, teachers union, United Federation of Teachers

LA Teachers Union: Striking Out?

By Larry Sand
03/03/2015
UTLA is planning to walk out over a mess that it helped to create. The case is being built for a teachers’ strike in Los Angeles. The next step in the contract negotiation process is mediation, whereby a state-appointed mediator will try to get the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the United Teachers...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Chicago Teachers Union, Eric Hanushek, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Mark Berndt, Mike Petrilli, pension tsunami, small class size, teacher pay, teachers strike, teachers union, Terry Moe, United Teachers of Los Angeles

The Shrinking Teacher Union Brand

By Larry Sand
02/24/2015
Teachers unions are losing members, but stubbornly stick with the same old product. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics informed us that in 2014 – for the second year in a row – that there are fewer unionized than non-unionized teachers in the U.S. The reasons for this are many: more right-to-work states,...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Bob Peterson, Chicago Teachers Union, Karen Lewis, Kyle Olson, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Fifty States of Right-to-Work?

By Larry Sand
02/17/2015
Elected officials, the courts and John Q. Public are supporting worker freedom these days; teachers unions and other public employee unions are on the run. Last Monday, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner issued an executive order that, if it stands, will absolve state workers from paying forced dues to a union. As The Wall Street Journal...

TAGS: Bruce Rauner, California Teachers Association, Center for Individual Rights, Chicago Teachers Union, Harris v. Quinn, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Policy Institute, Karen Lewis, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Paul Kersey, Right to Work, Service Employees International Union, teachers union

NEA’s Sorry Spin

By Larry Sand
02/10/2015
The latest teachers union PR ploy is pure cowplop. “Persuading the People on Public Schools,” a National Education Association document posted by the The Daily Beast’s Conor Williams, details the union’s new communication strategy. Subtitled “Words to avoid … Words to Embrace,” the previously internal “research brief” gives us a look into the mindset of...

TAGS: D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, education reform, Eva Moskowitz, Harlem Success Academy, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, RiShawn Biddle, school choice, seniority, teachers union, tenure, Vergara

Empire Statement

By Larry Sand
02/03/2015
Andrew Cuomo becomes the latest governor to take on the teachers unions. Expanding vouchers to unaccountable private schools. Stripping teachers of their right to due process. Converting neighborhood public schools into privately run charter schools unanswerable to local school boards and taxpayers. Proceeding with tax cuts for the wealthy while starving public schools. Holy horrors! The above,...

TAGS: Andrew Cuomo, Chris Christie, Eva Moskowitz, Harlem Success Academy, Larry Sand, Michael Mulgrew, Mike Pence, National Education Association, New York State United Teachers, Rick Scott, Rick Snyder, RiShawn Biddle, Scott Walker, teachers union, United Federation of Teachers