Archive for April 2017

The Chicago Teachers Union is publicizing their members to take May Day off, which could result in hundreds of teachers being absent to celebrate International Workers Day. Matt Masterson has the story in the Chicago Tribune. CTU posted a schedule on its website this week listing a half-dozen events union members are asked to participate in on May 1.…

Labor Relations Ink staff reviews higher education organizing schemes. The fight to organize graduate students at Harvard has come to a standstill. Although the results of the November election were in favor of unionization, an NLRB hearing is on the books to review objections filed by both parties and to determine whether the challenged ballots should…

In a forced-dues state like Delaware, Mark Murphy gallantly fought the “good fight” and lost to teacher union official power.  Here’s his story, as told to Nick Tabor in nymag.com/thejob. I was the education secretary in Delaware for a little over three years. I came into that role in 2012 under Governor Jack Markell. Before that, I…

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s legislature is currently considering a bill which would ban teacher union officials from remaining on the school district’s payroll. Currently, teacher union officials enjoy a rare  privilege that allows them to work up to full-time for the union and to remain on a school district’s payroll, allowing them to accrue all benefits,…

With all their political spending and power, New Jersey teacher union bosses are finding it difficult to change the legislature. Andrew Seidman has the story on philly.com. New Jersey’s largest teachers’ union has made clear that it wants to oust Stephen Sweeney as president of the state Senate. But the New Jersey Education Association’s options to replace him are…

Charter schools in New York will receive increased funding, from Chalkbeat.org New York. More than a week after the state’s budget deadline, lawmakers resolved their differences on education with a per-pupil increase in charter school funding and a $1.1 billion increase in school aid. Charter schools were due a big funding boost if lawmakers did not act,…

While the landmark Supreme Court case, Rebecca Friedrichs v. CTA case never came to fruition due to the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia, there are several other cased working their way up through the courts which could free teachers from having to pay forced dues. Mike Antonucci, Education Intelligence Agency, produces a gem of an observation, the…