Schools for Scandal

By Larry Sand
11/03/2020
As shown by the 2019 NAEP, most of our students are being badly shortchanged. The latest bad education news comes to us courtesy of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The most recent exam was administered to high school seniors in early 2019, a full year before the COVID-19 lockdowns. The so-called “Nation’s Report...

TAGS: collective bargaining, education spending, Greg Forster, Larry Sand, NAEP, Neal McCluskey, Randi Weingarten, school choice, seniority, teachers union, tenure

The coming upheaval in education

By Larry Sand
05/12/2020
Due to Covid-19 related economic realities, the unions demand the Feds pour billions more into education. There is no way to sugarcoat it. The economic impact of Covid-19 will take its toll on education funding. The National Education Association is in full freak-out mode, “calling for an additional $175 billion to stabilize education funding—the $30.7...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Benjamin Scafidi, California Teachers Association, COVID-19, Larry Sand, LIFO, National Education Association, seniority, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Failing education, lawsuits and parental choice

By Larry Sand
09/17/2019
A literacy lawsuit is due to go to trial in October, but little will change if it is successful. Americans are shockingly weak in civics. The latest Annenberg Public Policy Center survey finds that only 39 percent could name the three branches of U.S. government and less than one-quarter know that Congress has to muster...

TAGS: charter school, education spending, homeschool, Larry Sand, school choice, seniority, Students Matter, teachers union, tenure

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, Uber and Accountability

By Larry Sand
04/04/2017
Betsy DeVos’ ridesharing analogy is spot on, but draws Randi’s wrath.  At the Brookings Institution last week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave a talk in which she drew parallels between school choice and the ascendancy of ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. “Just as the traditional taxi systems revolted against ridesharing, so too does the...

TAGS: accountability, American Federation of Teachers, Betsy DeVos, EdChoice, Jason Bedrick, Larry Sand, NAEP, Randi Weingarten, school choice, seniority, teachers union, tenure

Tax-Free Teachers?

By Larry Sand
03/21/2017
California school districts lay off teachers…then two legislators move to fix the “teacher shortage problem.” In a surreal political moment, California State Senators Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) and Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) have introduced the “Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2017” which offers a novel incentive for teachers to remain in the profession. Senate Bill...

TAGS: first out, Larry Sand, last in, Mike Antonucci, Rolf Treu, Santa Ana Educators Association, seniority, small class size, teachers union, Vergara

The Unions’ Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

By Larry Sand
02/14/2017
Which meant it was a very good week for the rest of us.  Last week, labor unions took a series of body blows. First, it was announced Monday that Missouri had become the 28th right-to-work state. The Show-Me State showed the unions that worker freedom now takes precedence over their forced dues racket. Not only that, but...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Betsy DeVos, California Teachers Association, Center for Individual Rights, Eric Heins, F. Vincent Vernuccio, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Mike Petrilli, National Education Association, release time, Right to Work, school choice, seniority, teachers union, tenure

Minnesota’s Toxic Twins

By Larry Sand
07/26/2016
Randi Weingarten and Hillary Clinton embrace, as parents sue to modify rigid, anti-child union work rules. The yearly American Federation of Teachers wingding was a doozie this year. The 100th anniversary of the union and the presence of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton made for an especially noxious four days in Minnesota – a forced...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Campbell Brown, Chris Stewart, Hillary Clinton, Larry Sand, Randi Weingarten, seniority, teacher shortage, teachers union, tenure

Teachers Union Kills Another Commonsense Reform Bill

By Larry Sand
07/05/2016
Despite the U.S. declaring its independence from Britain in 1776, Californians are still saddled with teacher union redcoats 240 years later. Teacher tenure is an atrocity. Officially called “permanence,” this union-mandated work rule allows some teachers to stay in the classroom when they should be imprisoned or at least working somewhere else, preferably far away...

TAGS: Ben Austin, California Teachers Association, CTA, Larry Sand, Michelle Rhee, permanence, seniority, Students Matter, Susan Bonilla, teachers union, tenure, Vergara

A Kinder and Gentler Teachers Union?

By Larry Sand
06/21/2016
The unions are trying to take the “we’re in it for the kids” shtick to a new level by declaring that they now collectively bargain for “the common good.” Last week, The American Prospect posted “Teacher Unions Are ‘Bargaining for the Common Good,’” which claims that unions across the country are “expanding their focus to...

TAGS: California Teachers Association, collective bargaining, corporate greed, ghost teachers, Jeb Bush, Larry Sand, pension tsunami, permanence, release time, seniority, Susan Bonilla, teachers union, tenure