A Mostly Merry Month for Educational Choice

By Larry Sand
05/24/2016
Those favoring educational freedom – and their enemies – have been busy in May. Overall, May has been a good month for the school choice movement despite a few lawsuits involving the teachers unions (so what else is new?). The Washington Education Association announced it would file suit by the end of the month challenging...

TAGS: education savings account, Florida Education Association, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Greg Forster, Jay Greene, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Patrick Wolf, Pell Grant, tax credit scholarship, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, Washington Education Association

Teacher Shortage Claim Is Still Short on Data

By Larry Sand
05/17/2016
No matter how many times it’s repeated, the national teacher shortage story is a canard. In the months since I last wrote about the alleged teacher shortage crisis, I had hoped the hysteria would abate. But alas, it hasn’t; if anything, it has increased, with the teachers unions at the forefront of the bogus story....

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Andrew Coulson, California Teachers Association, Cato Institute, EdSource, Education Next, John Fensterwald, Kate Walsh, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teacher shortage, teachers union

Public Education Prospers in Wisconsin Without Union Interference

By Larry Sand
05/10/2016
Despite what the teachers unions say, teachers – not to mention children and taxpayers – can and do thrive without them. In 2011, under Governor Scott Walker’s leadership, Wisconsin passed Act 10, the Budget Repair Bill, which, among other things, placed strict limitations on the ability of teachers unions to collectively bargain. Walker very quickly...

TAGS: Act 10, collective bargaining, Larry Sand, last in first out, National Education Association, Scott Walker, seniority, teachers union

Vergara Update: Virtues and Villainy

By Larry Sand
04/19/2016
The union and media reactions to the appeals court decision in the Vergara case had me going through a whole can of room deodorizer. In 2014, the plaintiffs in the Vergara trial claimed that several California education statutes – all of which are on the books at the behest of the teachers unions – cause...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Campbell Brown, Eric Hanushek, Eric Heins, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, Rolf Treu, seniority, Students Matter, Susan Bonilla, teachers union, tenure, Vergara

Dear South Side Teacher

By Larry Sand
04/05/2016
An open letter to the idealistic teacher in Chicago who may have defied the teachers union by not striking on April 1st. In a recent newspaper article you said you were “morally and ethically” against the Chicago Teachers Union one-day strike (or “Day of Tantrum,” according to a Chicago Tribune op-ed) last Friday and that...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Antonin Scalia, Association of American Educators, charter school, Chicago Teachers Union, first out, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, last in, LIFO, National Education Association, pension pick-up, Rick Hess, seniority, Supreme Court, teachers union

Biden, Bork, García and Weingarten

By Larry Sand
03/22/2016
Positioning themselves as strict Constitutionalists, teacher union leaders cry foul over a precedent that the unions helped create. In the wake of Antonin Scalia’s untimely passing, two national teacher union leaders are in a self-righteous snit because the Republican-led Senate is remaining firm in its conviction to hold off consideration of a new Supreme Court...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Antonin Scalia, Friedrichs, Joe Biden, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, Supreme Court, teachers union

Positive Impact

By Larry Sand
02/02/2016
Michelle Rhee’s teacher evaluation system has shown itself to be effective in D.C. public schools and has left the teachers unions on the sidelines…for now. Back in 2010, the Washington, D.C. public school system (DCPS) introduced IMPACT, an evaluation system whose goal was not only to identify and retain good teachers, but pay them bonuses....

TAGS: California Teachers Association, Dean Vogel, Larry Sand, Michelle Rhee, National Education Association, teacher quality, teachers union, Washington Teachers Union

Fixing Z Mess

By Larry Sand
01/26/2016
National School Choice Week aims to end our Zip-code Mandated Education System (Z MESS) and promote parent-power.  You: I’m going out to dinner tonight. Me: You are going to the restaurant down the street from where you live, right? You: No, it’s not very good. I am going to a restaurant across town; it has...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Charter schools, Florida Education Association, Friedman Foundation, Greg Forster, Larry Sand, Matthew Ladner, National Education Association, National School Choice Week, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, vouchers

Bye-bye Abood?

By Larry Sand
01/19/2016
SCOTUS appears to be ready to dump mandatory public employee union dues payments. Last Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Friedrichs v California Teachers Association lawsuit. The case centers around whether or not teachers and other public employees should be forced to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment...

TAGS: Abood, American Federation of Teachers, Antonin Scalia, Association of American Educators, Christian Educators Association International, Friedrichs, George Leef, labor peace, Larry Sand, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, National Education Association, Nina Rees, Randi Weingarten, Right to Work, stare decisis, teachers union

Friedrichs Means Choice for Children and Teachers

By RiShawn Biddle
01/13/2016
It goes without saying that education and economics go hand in hand. For most parents, regardless of race or class, part of the American Dream is for our children to attend safe, family friendly, high-quality schools with great principals, teachers and support staff. As parents, we imagine that special day when our children graduate high...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, National Education Association, U.S. Supreme Court