Blaine, busing and educational freedom

By Larry Sand
07/23/2019
Thanks to Kamala Harris and the state of Montana, school choice is back in the news. A few weeks ago, Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris nailed fellow Democrat Joe Biden at a primary debate in Miami for not supporting court-ordered school busing some 45 years ago. It was a well-orchestrated attack, accompanied by the sale of T-Shirts...

TAGS: American Federation for Children, American Federation of Teachers, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Larry Sand, Pell Grants, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, vouchers, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris

No fight to the Finnish

By Larry Sand
06/25/2019
Finnish schools are unionized. American schools are unionized. The similarities end there. Randi Weingarten, Lily Eskelsen García and other teacher union leaders have on many occasions extolled the virtues of Finland’s education system, and, at every turn, they remind us that their teachers are unionized. They are right. Finland does have a highly regarded education...

TAGS: Bob Chanin, Charter schools, Christina Laster, Finland, Gavin Newsom, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Action Network, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

The Investicrats

By Larry Sand
06/18/2019
The great education spending swindle is never-ending for the teachers unions. Their whine never stops. While I and many others have been writing about the enormous sum of money spent on education for years, the “investicrats,” those who constantly demand that even more must be allocated, show no sign of leaving the building. Perhaps the...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, American Federation of Teachers, education spending, Gavin Newsom, John Fensterwald, Lance Izumi, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Measure EE, Mike Antonucci, parcel tax, PISA, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

POTUS candidates line up to kiss the union ring

By Larry Sand
05/28/2019
Democratic contenders attempt to lock in teacher union endorsements to the detriment of taxpayers and the neediest students. A full year before the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. This infuriated many teachers who preferred Bernie Sanders, rightfully feeling they had no role in the decision. So...

TAGS: American Federation for Children, American Federation of Teachers, Bernie Sanders, Betsy DeVos, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Jason Riley, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Larry Sand, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

The Freedom to Falsify

By Larry Sand
04/23/2019
AFT president’s talk is rife with platitudes, attitude, and misinformation. Platitudes at the ready, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten gave a speech to the National Press Club in Washington last Thursday. Calling her talk “The Freedom to Teach,” she referenced a poster on her office wall which reads, “Teachers inspire, encourage, empower, nurture,...

TAGS: Act 10, American Federation of Teachers, Barbara Biasi, collective bargaining, Janus decision, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, Randi Weingarten, Scott Walker, teachers union

Race to the Left

By Larry Sand
04/02/2019
Kamala Harris has concocted a brazen plan to get the teacher union endorsement in 2020.  In July, 2015, a full year before the last Democratic National Convention, the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. This infuriated many teachers, who preferred Bernie Sanders, rightfully feeling they had no role in the decision. AFT...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Andrew Biggs, Bernie Sanders, Center for American Progress, Eric Hanushek, James Agresti, Jason Richwine, Kamala Harris, Larry Sand, Randi Weingarten, teacher pay, teachers union

The state of the teachers union

By Larry Sand
02/12/2019
American Federation of Teachers demands justice in Saudi Arabia and compassion for the vulnerable in Syria, but in the U.S., it’s a very different story. As a way to show that they are “PEOPLE WHO REALLY CARE,” Randi Weingarten and her cronies at the American Federation of Teachers have been making forays into foreign policy....

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, charter school, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Randi Weingarten, Richard Vladovic, seniority, teachers union, tenure, United Teachers of Los Angeles

School choice’s strange bedfellows

By Larry Sand
12/04/2018
The move to educational freedom brings together some unlikely allies. Shortly after the general election, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was ecstatic. Writing in The New York Times, she insisted that there was a “realignment in the electorate.” She also claimed that “voters responded to a decade of disinvestment in public education and...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Andrew Gillum, Betsy DeVos, Education Next, Larry Sand, Randi Weingarten, Ron DeSantis, school choice, Scott Walker, tax credit scholarship, teachers union, voucher

An open letter to Randi Weingarten

By Larry Sand
11/06/2018
This is the fourth in a series of missives to the president of the American Federation of Teachers. (The first three can be accessed here, here and here.)  My Dear Randi, It has been a while! I hope you are well, though I suspect recent events have you a bit off-kilter or even a tad...

TAGS: AFSCME, American Federation of Teachers, Center for American Progress, Education Next, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, NEA, Randi Weingarten, school choice, seiu, teachers union, vouchers

Janus: Hysteria, reality and foggy windows

By Larry Sand
10/09/2018
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...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Claudia Briggs, Educators for Excellence, Eric Heins, Freedom Foundation, Janus, Larry Sand, Mackinac Center, Michigan Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, Tom Gantert