Free Republic

If the Indiana State Teachers Association had its way, 2011 never would have happened. While much of the focus was on the antics of leftists at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin and their efforts to subvert Gov. Scott Walker’s reforms, Indiana endured its share of union silliness, too. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and State Superintendent Tony Bennett were pursuing a bold plan to remake the government education system and expand educational options for families. Enacting the first statewide school choice program in the country, the duo led the nation with a comprehensive education reform plan. That program was, of course,...

Is it ever enough? That’s what citizens should be asking in Newark, where the teachers are claiming they are subject to “indentured servitude” for being forced to consider an “inhumane” collective bargaining agreement that many consider very union friendly. The average Newark teacher’s pay is $57,926, according to teachersalaryinfo.com. That constitutes “indentured servitude”? In 2011, EAGnews.org found that Newark teachers contributed a big fat zero to their health insurance benefits. Taxpayers, on the other hand, spent a healthy $111,742,197 to pay for teacher benefits. Yes, that’s $111 million to zero. The school district receives a whopping $28,406 per student from...

A new report by the Friedman Foundation shows hiring of administrative and support staff in government schools has grown seven times faster than student enrollment over the last several decades. The group found: “America’s K-12 public education system has experienced tremendous historical growth in employment, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Between fiscal year (FY) 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 percent while the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school employees grew 386 percent. Public schools grew staffing at a rate four...

Each year, Minnesota government schools close for two days (just before the weekend, of course) so teachers’ union members can gather at a conference organized by their union. It’s meant to “inspire teachers,” EAGnews.org reported, and the conference includes a session titled, “Using Persona Dolls to Promote Social Emotional Intelligence and Acceptance of Diversity.” The union describes it this way: “Used around the world, persona dolls are lifelike dolls with personalities and stories you create. The dolls become members of your classroom community and children learn by empathizing with the dolls and giving them heartfelt advice on the same kinds...

As EAGnews continues to gain prominence, our efforts are becoming more noticed by left-wing radicals and other wierdos who despise what we stand for. And those fine folks have not been shy about sharing their views of our organization and work, particularly on our Facebook page. “Yeah UNIONS are armed again and we will fight you greedy pigs till the end. Save Wisconsin teachers stop privet education,” Kirk Nutt wrote, apparently making reference to a union-driven lawsuit that has temporarily sidelined Act 10, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s sweeping education reform package. And he wants to stop “privet” education? Perhaps that...

Enrollment in online schools has increased twelvefold in Ohio since the first internet-based school was created in the state in 2000, The Gazette Medina reports.More than 30,000 students are currently enrolled, most of them concentrated in seven statewide cyber schools. Only Arizona had more students in online schools, according to the news report.Online schools, and other forms of digital learning, are an inevitable and promising form of education for the 21st Century, unless special interest forces are able to keep technology from becoming more integrated into everyday education.Professor Gary Miron of the National Education Policy Center is a leading voice...

Sound financial management clearly wasn’t a concern to any party involved in the recent contract negotiations in Chicago Public Schools. They were warned that new labor expenses might result in a credit downgrade for the financially-strapped school district, and they chose to ignore it. Now it has comes to pass. The credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded the school district for the second time in one quarter. Moody’s wrote: “The negative outlook reflects the school district's budgeted depletion of reserves to fund ongoing operations in fiscal 2013; the moderate additional unbudgeted salary costs of labor contract negotiations, which have not...

More and more school districts are holding union contract negotiations in full view of the public. That positive development allows taxpayers - those people footing the bill for the giveaways authorized by the board - to learn where their money goes and why. By witnessing the process they can form their own opinions, free of the media filter and union spin. The unions have never liked this idea, and apparently have found a way to get around it: Arrange to have union members and supporters take all the seats reserved for the public. That will leave John and Jane Doe...

The educational establishment is ramping up its attack of “Won’t Back Down,” a fictional movie of a parent and teacher teaming up to take over a failing school through a “parent trigger” law. The movie will be released nationally on Sept. 28. The National School Public Relations Association is now working with the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers in issuing talking points to members about how to best dismiss the point of the movie without actually looking like they’re attacking it. “We urge you to consider applauding the passion and activism of parents in the movie. You...

On the first day of the Chicago Teachers Union strike, the union had the gall to use student protesters as props in its fight for bigger raises and better benefits, but less accountability. See EAGnews.org video here. Not surprisingly, at least some of the student protesters had no idea why they were there or what they were protesting. These kids simply look up to their teachers and assume they are right about everything, and the union is willing to exploit their naiveté for its own purposes. One student, when asked what his sign meant, replied that he didn't know and...

The movie stars Oscar nominees Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as two gritty women who try to take over a failing urban school. Oscar winner Holly Hunter plays a headstrong but compassionate union official fighting the women’s plans. The film played to an appreciative crowd last week at the Republican National Conventional in Tampa, with many movie goers driven to tears before the end credits rolled. Democrats also got a peek at the film yesterday, courtesy of a screening held by Democrats for Education Reform. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged the film’s power and “sense...

Mallory Factor blows the lid off of government union corruption in his scathing new book, Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind. Government unions have for years scammed taxpayers out of billions of dollars, engaged in thuggish behavior, undermined public education, and forced workers to pay union dues without their consent. Even after high-profile skirmishes in Wisconsin and Ohio, the depth of government union corruption has never been fully appreciated. The arrival of Mr. Factor’s devastating new expose ensures that this will no longer be the case. Shadowbosses is chock full of stunning revelations that illustrate the toxicity...

For a school district facing possible bankruptcy, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District was very generous with its employees during the 2010-11 school year. For example, taxpayers may be surprised to learn they paid the pension contributions for the district and the teachers during 2010-11. So instead of just paying the district’s $49 million contribution to the State Teachers Retirement System, taxpayers took care of the teachers’ $35 million contribution, too. Of course, taxpayers didn’t really have a choice in the matter. That agreement had already been written into the district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Cleveland Teachers Union. Education Action...

By resisting almost any change aimed at improving our public schools, teachers unions have become a ripe target for reformers across the ideological spectrum. Even Hollywood, famously sympathetic to organized labor, has turned on unions with the documentary "Waiting for 'Superman'" (2010) and a feature film, "Won't Back Down," to be released later this year. But perhaps most damaging to the unions' credibility is their position on sexual misconduct involving teachers and students in New York schools, which is even causing union members to begin to lose faith. In the last five years in New York City, 97 tenured teachers...

Your raise or your job. That’s the choice facing members of the Clark County Education Association (CCEA), the union that represents teachers in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). The district is facing a $78 million deficit for the 2011-13 budget cycle, and needs to freeze teachers’ pay in order to avoid laying off 1,000 teachers by April. While most people would choose their job over a pay raise—as CCSD support staff and administrators have done—CCEA members have refused. An arbitrator will soon decide whether all teachers will take a pay freeze, or if some members will get paid raises...

(WXYZ) - Stuart Chaifetz’s son, Akian is a 10-year-old boy who suffers from autism. On his website , Chaifetz says his son has always been sweet and non-violent, so when he received notes from the school saying Akian was having violent outbursts and even hitting his teacher and aide, he was completely shocked. Chaifetz says a behaviorist was called into the classroom a number of times, but the behaviorist had never witnessed any violent events. In February, Chaifetz decided to take another route to figure out what was going on. He wired his son, sent him to school. The audio...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Officials at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims are investigating yet another allegation of misconduct, this one involving a teacher's aide accused of sending love letters to an 11-year-old boy. The mother of the fourth-grader told the Los Angeles Times that the aide, a woman the mother appeared to be in her 50s, sent at least three letters to her son in 2009, including one that read: "when you get close to me, even if you give me the chills I like that. Don't tell nobody about this!"

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly successfully overrode Governor Bev “Let’s-Just-Skip-Elections” Perdue’s veto of a bill prohibiting the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) from using the state to collect the due payments the Democratic Party and teachers union have called foul. Gov. Perdue said, “The Republicans in the General Assembly didn’t have the votes to get what they wanted legally. So, in the dark of night, they engaged in an unprecedented, unconstitutional power grab.” Of course, they did have the votes (the state constitution requiring 2/3 of both chambers to override...

Budget documents from 20 Colorado school districts show taxpayers spent more than $5.8 million over the past five years for the activities of teachers unions ... Some districts pay all or part of the salaries of full-time union leaders, salaries of teachers on leave to attend union-sponsored training and meetings and hiring substitutes for teachers who were attending union events. Critics of the practice say taxpayer money is being used to benefit unions, not children.

Cost-benefit analysis may not be their strong suit but education majors may have figured out how to get the best return on their investment from college. “More than 50 years ago scholars were already noting the low grad­ing standards in university education departments,” Jason Richwine and Andrew G. Biggs wrote in a report published by the Heritage Center for Data Analysis. “The Journal of Higher Education reported in 1960 that 32 percent of students in education courses received ‘A’ grades, compared to just 16 percent in business courses.” “A half century later, the situation is little changed.” The report was...