It’s time to “just say no” to the small class-size pushers and eliminate seniority as a staffing mechanism. Small class size means less work for teachers. Parents seem to think that their child will be better educated in a room with fewer classmates. Unions love fewer kids in a class because it equates to a...

Latest temblor to hit the Golden State is a lawsuit that could result in a major tectonic shift in education. In September of 1975, due to New York City’s dire fiscal situation, I was laid off from my teaching position at P.S. 125 in Harlem. I lost my job not because I was a bad...

If education reformers stick to principle and don’t back down, all other obstacles to victory can be overcome. Recently, Andrew Rotherham wrote a short piece in The Atlantic in which he describes “The 3 Main Obstacles in the Way of Education Reform”. The first obstacle he mentions is that currently “We buy reform.” Or at...

Julius Caesar came to a bad end on March 15th, the same date many good teachers were warned that they may be unemployed in June. “Nearly 20,000 Teacher Pink Slips Statewide Show Drastic Need for More Education Funding” screamed the headline on the California Teachers Association website. First, let’s straighten out the union spin. Typically...

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” – William Butler Yeats “You can’t light a fire in an empty bucket” – Larry Sand The Save Our Schools March, Rally and Pity Party went off as planned in D.C. this past weekend, although on a smaller scale than the organizers had anticipated. They...

Does a recent court ruling in Los Angeles really signal the beginning of the end of an unjust teacher seniority system? Or does the decision amount to nothing more than a zero-sum game, favoring some at the expense of others? A recent “landmark decision” in Los Angeles is said to have made inroads into the...