Archive for December 2017

Matthew Brouillette takes media to task for not reporting on union use of forced-dues money on lehighvalleylive.com. Pennsylvania journalists are no strangers to exposing political corruption. From the midnight pay raise to porngate, sadly our state has given members of the media ample opportunity to serve as watchdogs of the public trust — a responsibility they’ve…

Larry Sand gives the latest on the Janus decision which will be argued by National Right to  Work  Foundation attorneys, and is due for a decision by June, 2018. Two months from today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Janus v AFSCME case, with a decision scheduled to be announced in June. If successful, it would free…

Austin Berg shows how Illinois public sector unions use and keep their power in watchdog.org. Illinoisans are a giving bunch. But there’s a difference between giving thanks and getting played. Nowhere is this more evident than in the powers granted to government worker unions. Wonder why Illinois property taxes are so high? This out-of-whack power balance…

St. Paul Federation of Teachers (SPFT) is attempting to make corporate funding of schools a subject of bargaining, but the school board isn’t having it. At the same time SPFT is ignoring calls for a merit pay system.  Solvejg Wastvedt has the story on mprnews.org. Meanwhile, Mike Antonucci reports on the NEA’s criticism of corporate greed while investing millions…

RiShawn Biddle’s report continues in Dropout Nation.  Below is a partial list of education organizations which enjoyed NEA dues dollars. The biggest recipient among that group was Schott Foundation for Public Education’s Opportunity to Learn Action Fund. NEA gave it $125,000 in 2016-2017; NEA gave $50,000 to FairTest (also known as National Center for Fair and Open Testing), the…

RiShawn Biddle gives a report on where the NEA spends your dues dollars and forced-dues dollars in Dropout Nation.  It’s not a pretty picture. A big recipient of the NEA’s largesse is the Center for Popular Democracy, a reliable ally in the efforts of the union and the rival American Federation of Teachers in opposing…

More of RiShawn Biddle’s report on where the NEA spends your dues dollars and forced-dues dollars in Dropout Nation. While NEA failed miserably at the national level, it spent $11.1 million on ballot initiatives with some success. The union gave $4.9 million in 2016-2017 to Save Our Public Schools, the Massachusetts coalition run by its Bay…

RiShawn Biddle gives a report on where the NEA spends your dues dollars and forced-dues dollars in Dropout Nation.  It’s not a pretty picture. The National Education Association just filed its 2016-2017 financial disclosure with the U.S. Department of Labor — and it is clear that the nation’s largest teachers’ union is spending even more to maintain…

Right to Work laws are attributed to a decline in teacher union membership, according to a 2016 survey.  Nancy Hanover has the story on the World Socialist Website.  Teachers should be free to join, or refrain from joining any labor union in order to obtain or keep their jobs. The percentage of US public school teachers participating…

A study by Rice University staff concludes parents are more satisfied with private and charter schools than with public schools. Jeff Falk posted a news release on the study. Although schools’ family and community engagement is the top driver of overall satisfaction among parents, public schools nationwide get poor marks for it, according to a…