Archive for January 2014

Teacher union officials continue to talk about a merger between the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) unions because of the decline in membership after Act 10, which gave teachers Right to Work privileges and severely circumscribed the limits of monopoly bargaining.   Check out the story in Inside Higher Ed. Wisconsin’s two…

Although National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorney Bill Messenger, argued the Harris v. Quinn last week, there are some  new developments.  The state never verified the ballots for the first election which forced the first Illinois home healthcare workers into supporting the Service Employees Union International (SEIU).  This case has the potential to dramatically diminish union…

Charles Lane opposes public sector bargaining as well as forced dues.  Charles Lane is a Post editorial writer, specializing in economic policy, financial issues and trade, and a contributor to the PostPartisan blog. In 2009 he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing. He is the author of two books: “The Day Freedom…

Apparently American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew (he of the operation to sweep UFT’s office of electronic bugs) believe a good union does not have to compel teachers to join.  Unless, of course, they think AFT and UFT are bad unions.  Teacher union power is greatly enhanced…

Supporters of the Common Core curriculum suddenly don’t want their names mentioned in President Obama’s State of the Union  Address.  Sean Higgins of the Washington Examiner, has the story. Common Core is attempt to create a standard national curriculum for kindergarten through high school. It’s an idea whose supporters and detractors cut across party and ideological lines.…

In conjunction with last week’s blog from Mike Antonucci on NEA union officials’ disconnect with their members, let us not forget what education is all about:  serving the needs of student. From his groundbreaking book, Special Interest, Stanford University Chairman of Political Science Terry Moe’s words explains how teacher union officials do not serve the…

The following letter, from the Illinois Education Association reflects the fears of that organization’s officials about a recent National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation radio ad advising teachers of their right to resign union membership.  A good union does not have to force teachers to pay up or be fired.  A bad union should not…

Although the news in unprecedented, and their power allows them almost complete control over most teachers, a recent survey shows NEA teacher union officials are out of touch with their members’ needs and wishes.  But what does one expect when so many teachers are forced into, and forced to pay for representation they neither want…

National Right to Work Legal Defense attorney Bill Messenger argued a case which could free all teachers and other public employees from forced dues, before the Supreme Court on January 21.  This Foundation News Release outlines the detail: U.S. Supreme Court to Review Illinois Homecare Provider Unionization Scheme Tuesday National Right to Work Foundation attorneys return to…

United Federation of Teachers officials have spent millions on entertainment and funding such groups as ACORN, which shed its name but not its image.  President Michael Mulgrew spent thousands in forced dues to sweep New York’s American Federation of Teachers headquarters for listening devices. New York law calls for mandatory, monopoly and exclusive bargaining privileges for…