National Association of Arrogant Calculating Phonies

By Larry Sand
05/14/2019
Renegade locals fight California state NAACP and national board over anti-charter school stance. Nearly 68 percent of all black public school students in California perform below their grade level in English and language arts, and more than 80 percent fail to meet the state’s proficiency mark in math, according to the latest California Assessment of...

TAGS: California Charter Schools Association, Charter schools, Christina Laster, Democrats for Education Reform, Larry Sand, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Education Association, teachers union

Fifty costly years of failure to “fix” education

By Larry Sand
05/07/2019
Research shows that technocratic reforms have made no difference in alleviating the achievement gap. A new study by Eric Hanushek et al. for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) shows that all the top-down fixes – No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, etc. – piled on by the education industrial complex have...

TAGS: Eric Hanushek, Greg Forster, Larry Sand, No Child Left Behind, Programme for International Student Assessment, Rick Hess, school choice, teachers union

L.A. tax addicts looking to score

By Larry Sand
04/30/2019
Union leader and the school district want more of your money to feed a bad habit. United Teachers of Los Angeles President Alex Caputo-Pearl is on a mission. In an online rant to his flock, he makes a pitch for Measure EE, a parcel tax that will be on the ballot in Los Angeles on...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Charter schools, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Measure EE, Nick Melvoin, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

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

Los Angeles Unified School Dysfunction

By Larry Sand
04/16/2019
More bad news from the nation’s second largest school district. According to a report released last week, less than half of the 2019 Los Angeles Unified School District graduating class will be eligible to attend one of the state’s public universities. There are 15 essential “A–G” courses, including English, math, and science that students need...

TAGS: Austin Beutner, Charter schools, credit recovery classes, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Jon Coupal, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Nick Melvoin, parcel tax, Taxifornia, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Charter Caps…and Gowns

By Larry Sand
04/09/2019
As charter schools continue to prove themselves, the threatened education monopolists try to kill them off.  Just a month ago, I wrote about the problems that charter schools were having in California. No, there is not a problem with parental dissatisfaction or with inducing students to attend and thrive in a safe environment. Rather, there...

TAGS: Bill de Blasio, Charter schools, Eva Moskowitz, Larry Sand, teachers union, Tony Thurmond, United Teachers of Los Angeles

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

Classroom forecast: Miseducated with a high chance of indoctrination

By Larry Sand
03/19/2019
Instead of American history, students now learn about the evils of capitalism, airplanes and cow farts.  “‘Education is Political’: Neutrality in the Classroom Shortchanges Students” read a recent headline on the National Education Association website. What the teachers union is essentially saying is that an objective approach to controversial subjects does a disservice to the...

TAGS: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Howard Zinn, Larry Sand, Massachusetts Teachers Association, National Education Association, Saul Alinsky, teachers union

Chartercide in California

By Larry Sand
03/05/2019
California’s teachers unions, a compliant legislature and an anti-choice governor do not bode well for the state’s charter schools. Yet another group of angry teachers has made charter schools the focus of their wrath. The seven-day teacher strike, which ended in Oakland last week, was replete with typical teacher union demands like higher pay and...

TAGS: California Charter School Association, California Teachers Association, Charter schools, David Crane, John Fensterwald, Larry Sand, LAUSD, Myrna Castrejón, teacher strike, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles