Teacher Union Political Spending: Liberal as Ever

By Larry Sand
10/11/2016
AFT continues to use teachers as ATM machines to fund their pet leftist causes. The latest American Federation of Teachers annual financial disclosure has been released (H/T RiShawn Biddle). This year’s LM-2 is filled with goodies that are sure to warm the cockles of leftist teacher union members, but apolitical educators, centrists and certainly those...

TAGS: agency fee payer, Al Sharpton, American Federation of Teachers, Association of American Educators, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Center for Popular Democracy, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, Mary Kay Henry, Mike Antonucci, National Action Network, Randi Weingarten, seiu, teachers union

OUSD spends taxpayers' money to persuade taxpayers to let them spend more taxpayer money

By Ethan Musser
09/28/2016
Officials of the Orange Unified School District have spent more than $50,000 to support a $288 million bond measure on the November ballot. Expenses include $23,200 for opinion polling and $6,000 per month for campaign consultants, according to documents reviewed by the California Policy Center: School board members authorized the district to spend up to...

TAGS: Orange Unified School District, teachers union

 Rampant Union Greed in Chicago

By Larry Sand
09/27/2016
The Windy City’s teachers union is on the verge of yet another strike.  In 2012, Troy Senik wrote “The Worst Union in America,” a title he bestowed on the California Teachers Association. As a former member and longtime critic of that union, I certainly had no quibble with his selection. But now, CTA is facing...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Bruce Rauner, California Teachers Association, Chicago public schools, Chicago Teachers Union, International Socialist Organization, Jesse Sharkey, Karen Lewis, Larry Sand, pension pick-up, Rahm Emanuel, Teach For America, teacher pay, teachers union, Troy Senik

Heartless and Mindless

By Larry Sand
09/20/2016
As the National Education Association embarks on a new PR campaign, some of its affiliates engage in lawsuits and strikes. In July, the National Education Association unearthed its “Strategic Plan and Budget” for 2016-2018. The introduction to the 76-page document includes the notion that the union needs to “win the race to capture the hearts...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, charter school, Chicago Teachers Union, Chris Christie, Florida Education Association, Heartland Institute, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, school choice, tax credit scholarship, teachers union, Washington Education Association

Clinton Turns Her Back on School Choice While Trump Embraces It 

By Larry Sand
09/13/2016
As Hillary Clinton cozies up to the teachers unions, Donald Trump seeks to vastly expand school choice opportunities.  In November, 2015, Hillary Clinton gave a speech in South Carolina in which she abandoned her prior support for charter schools. Using language straight from the teachers union fact-free playbook, she claimed that charters “don’t take the...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Charter schools, Common Core, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Kevin Chavous, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, merit pay, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union, vouchers

Teachers Unions Double Down on Charter Vilification

By Larry Sand
09/06/2016
UTLA and CTA’s anti-charter school obsession has reached epidemic proportions.  Just weeks after United Teachers of Los Angeles president Alex Caputo-Pearl threw his if-we-don’t get-our-way-we’re-going-to-create-a-state-crisis tantrum, the teachers union has hit the streets with a media campaign. Empowered by a massive dues increase, UTLA is spreading its venom via billboards, bus benches and the media....

TAGS: accountability, Alex Caputo-Pearl, California Teachers Association, Cecily Myart-Cruz, charter school, CTA, Eli Broad, Kids Not Profits, Larry Sand, school choice, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, UTLA

CTA’s New Gambit to Cheat Taxpayers Annually

By Larry Sand
08/30/2016
A bill, near passage, would require you and me to pay for union indoctrination sessions in California.  California is a fabulous place. Fantastic weather, fertile fields, glorious mountains and a thousand mile coastline have long beckoned many to the Golden State. And then there is the state legislature. This law-making body is very far from...

TAGS: California Nurses Association, California School Boards Association, California Teachers Association, Friedrichs, Heritage Foundation, Larry Sand, League of California Cities, Michael Lovenheim, seiu, teachers union

The Myth of the Underpaid Teacher Lives On

By Larry Sand
08/23/2016
 Yet another “study” showing how poorly teachers are paid has surfaced. Well, it’s a new school year and there is much tumult in the world of public education. Common Core battles, testing opt-outs, and litigation about school choice and teacher work rules dot the landscape. But with all the uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that...

TAGS: AFL-CIO, AFT, American Enterprise Institute, Andrew Biggs, Economic Policy Institute, Heritage Foundation, Jason Richwine, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Mary Kay Henry, National Education Association, NEA, Richard Trumka, seiu, teacher pay, teachers union, Valerie Strauss

Union Kingpin Threatens California

By Larry Sand
08/16/2016
In a blatant power-play, UTLA president targets health benefits and charter schools, calling for a “state crisis” if he doesn’t get his way. United Teachers of Los Angeles president Alex Caputo-Pearl gave a speech for the ages a couple of weeks ago, securing a wing in the pantheon-of-vile, a place which includes such memorable outbursts...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Bob Chanin, CAHSEE, California Charter Schools Association, California High School Exit Examination, Karen Lewis, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, remediation, teachers union, Terry Moe, United Teachers of Los Angeles

ALEC, ISTA and Indiana

By Larry Sand
08/02/2016
The teachers unions continue to pound the anti-ALEC drum, this year in the Hoosier State. The American Legislative Exchange Council is an organization of state legislators, business leaders and other concerned Americans dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism. In the education sphere, ALEC holds that parents should be in charge...

TAGS: ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, EdChoice, Education Savings Accounts, Indiana State Teachers Association, Koch Brothers, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, Mike Pence, National Education Association, Rebecca Friedrichs, school choice, Scott Walker, tax-credit scholarships, teachers union, vouchers