Archive for May 2019

Less than a year after the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s landmark Janus v. AFSCME case freed public sector employees from having to support a labor union against their will, the Iowa State Supreme Court has dealt AFSCME another crushing blow by upholding a 2017 monopoly bargaining reform law.  The decision will free thousands of…

The situation in Clark County, Nevada is complicated. To begin with, strikes are illegal and carry heavy fines, as they should be. The Clark County Education Association (CCEA) disaffiliated last year from the National Education Association (NEA) and is the faction that has voted to strike. The NEA Nevada state affiliate created a rival Clark…

Here’s another example of forced unionism the National Education Association has devised.  In the past several local affiliates have successfully disaffiliated, but now the powers that be will attempt to head any disaffiliation efforts off at the pass.  Mike Antonucci has the story in the 74million.org. Back in March, I reported on a bylaw proposed by the National Education…

Reporter and writer Lloyd Brown, explores the value of education, teacher unions and education spending on floridapolitics.com. This year the Florida Legislature increased funding for public schools by $248 per pupil, and a total K-12 budget of $21 billion. Predictably, news stories and editorials complained it was not enough and that schools remain “underfunded.” Such claims…

The Sacramento City Teachers Association is gearing up for a one-day strike in retaliation for the district’s attempt to stay solvent by laying off staff. Doug Johnson has the story on Fox40.com. The Sacramento City Unified School District says on Thursday the school board will likely vote to eliminate 178 teacher and staff jobs. “We’re facing a…

Another Janus  Victory and another blow to forced unionism. National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys have secured a victory for a University of Connecticut School of Business professor who filed a lawsuit in January seeking the return of forced union fees seized from him by union officials in violation of his First Amendment rights. Under…

Randi Weingarten must be spending too much time on an elementary school playground, considering her latest comments.  And Randi Weingarten wants to control education reform. . . Randi Weingarten works with Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN) to attempt to give unions a bigger say in education policy across the nation. After presidential candidate Kamala Harris…

With the United Teachers of Los Angeles on their backs, California legislators are considering a moratorium on the establishment of new charter schools three NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) boards are insisting the moratorium will tarnish the Golden State.   Esmeralda Fabián Romero has the story in LASchoolReport. The San Diego, Riverside and San…

Parent Wanda Colon makes a plea for more charter schools in New York City.  There is currently a cap on charter schools put in place by Governor  Andrew Cuomo, backed by teacher union approval. In my neighborhood, a good school is hard to find. Trust me – I have looked. I live in the Bronx, New York,…

Richard Whitmire gives an insightful look into teacher union power and its influence on the press in the74million.org.   He describes how the pendulum has swung in and out of favor of charter schools, with the deciding factor being the dependence of many education writers on the opinion of teacher union officials.  He recommends reports instead observe…