Free Republic

 “We hope the school will learn that they need to be more sensitive to what students are dealing with and not make fun of them in what is supposed to be a safe environment."A mother from Connecticut is shocked after her son was given the "ADD award" by his social studies teacher.Tera Cooper first told NBC Connecticut her 13-year-old son was given a certificate by a teacher at Plainfield Central Middle School titled the #ADD award. The paper reads “Most likely to be distracted by…look something shiny!” with a zombie holding a balloon. The zombie is also holding a gold...

JUSTICE ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court. Under Illinois law, public employees are forced to subsi­ dize a union, even if they choose not to join and strongly object to the positions the union takes in collective bar­ gaining and related activities. We conclude that this arrangement violates the free speech rights of nonmem­ bers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern. We upheld a similar law in Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Ed., 431 U. S. 209 (1977), and we recognize the importance of following precedent unless there are strong reasons for...

Plaintiff Mark Janus passes in front of the U.S. Supreme Court after a hearing on February 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. The court is scheduled to hear the case, Janus v. AFSCME, to determine whether states violate their employees' First Amendment rights to require them to join public sector unions which they may not want to associate with. Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images Plaintiff Mark Janus passes in front of the U.S. Supreme Court after a hearing on February 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. The court is scheduled to hear the case, Janus v. AFSCME, to...

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that pubic sector unions for state and local employees can’t force non-members to pay a “fair-share” union fee. In a 5-4 ruling Tuesday, the court said the extraction of agency fees from non-consenting public sector employees violates the First Amendment. The case centers on an Illinois law, similar to those in 22 other states, that allow public-sector unions to collect a “fair-share fee” from employees for non-political activities like collective bargaining, regardless of whether those employees belong to the union or not. Mark Janus, a state child support specialist at the center of the case,...

A political action committee backing former state Sen. Michael Johnston of Denver for the Democratic nod for governor has received another $1 million dollars from Michael Bloomberg, bringing the wealthy former New York mayor’s total donations to the committee to $2 million. ... The $1 million contribution was the largest that any campaign committee received in the most recent reporting period from May 31 to June 13, according to the secretary of state’s office’s TRACER campaign finance system. Second on the list: another $750,000 from fellow Democrat U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder to his gubernatorial campaign, bringing his total...

TAMARAC. FLA. (WSVN) - - The Broward Teachers Union, state representatives and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School parents and students held a joint press conference, Thursday afternoon. The union called for Florida Gov. Rick Scott to force the state pension board to stop investing teacher retirement fund contributions in three firearm manufacturing companies. “You have turned our teachers retirement fund into blood money,” said Meiling Hoshing, Marjory Stoneman Douglas student. “No teacher wants your unhealthy decisions on their soul.” One of the firearm companies receiving a bulk of the funds manufactures the AR-15 rifle, the weapon used in the Marjory...

The American Federation of Teachers is urging Democratic candidates to step up their attacks on last year’s Republican-passed tax cuts, armed with voter surveys that find the legislation useful as a way to argue for more public spending. “We’ve found support for an increase in health-care spending, and for an argument that the increase is going to come from tax cuts for the rich,” said Stan Greenberg, a pollster at Democracy Corps who conducted the voter survey for AFT. “They created the vehicle for expanding investment by passing this tax cut.” The survey, conducted with 1,000 voter phone interviews and...

With a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Janus v. AFCSME case expected any day, Connecticut’s public sector unions are trying to convince members not to opt-out of membership if the Supreme Court decides in favor of Mark Janus. The Connecticut State Employees Association and the American Federation of Teachers informed their members of a Freedom of Information request for union members’ contact information that originated out of Illinois. Leaders say this information could be used for an opt-out campaign in the wake of a positive Janus decision. ... A decision in favor of Janus would essentially make Connecticut a...

The only large-scale car manufacturer in California argues that doing business in the state is hard enough without a fast-developing labor regulation backed by organizations that want to unionize its Fremont plant. Elon Musk's Tesla is fighting a rule under development by two state agencies that would require it be certified as a "fair and responsible workplace" for its customers to be eligible for taxpayer-backed state electric vehicle rebates.

The administration's goal is to weed out union officials who work exclusively on "official time" and do no work for the taxpayers, according to a source with knowledge of the administration's plans. The overhaul is intended to ensure that official time is only a part-time activity. Under the changes, no federal employee would be allowed to spend more than one-fourth of their paid time on union work, and they must remain licensed and qualified for their official job. The source noted that a review found instances where people in specialized fields such as nursing spent so much time doing union...

LANSING, MI - The Michigan House joined the Senate in voting to repeal prevailing wage Wednesday afternoon, officially unraveling a law that had guaranteed union-level wages on public construction sites for half a century. It's an idea forwarded by Protect Michigan Taxpayers, a group funded largely by the Associated Builders and Contractors. They circulated a petition for the initiative and, having obtained enough signatures, sent it to the legislature for consideration. The legislature could have let the issue go to the ballot, but chose to take it up and approve it on Wednesday. Shortly after the Senate passed it 23-14,...

The Fraternal Order of Police district that includes Broward County has dropped U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, from its endorsements. Instead, the big police union said it’s endorsing Carlos Reyes, one of three Republicans seeking his party’s nomination to challenge Wasserman Schultz in the Broward/Miami-Dade County 23rd Congressional District. ...the FOP district said it endorses “people who have supported or will support the FOP and its mission. Both parties have endorsements along with non-partisan” contests. Others use it as a different kind of guide, which one reader posted on the FOP’s Facebook page: “Pretty easy for me. Vote against...

The largest union representing federal workers on Thursday took the Trump administration to court to block a new executive order that severely restricts the time employees may spend on union activity, claiming the president’s action violates the First Amendment and oversteps the president’s constitutional authority. “This president seems to think he is above the law, and we are not going to stand by while he tries to shred workers’ rights,” said the American Federation of Government Employees national president J. David Cox Sr., in a statement that announced the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District. “This is...

President Trump on Friday signed a series of executive orders making it easier to fire federal government workers and rolling back the prerogatives of unions that represent them. Andrew Bremberg, the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said the president was “fulfilling his promise to promote more efficient government by reforming our Civil Service rules.” But the push also reflects conservatives’ long-running suspicion of the federal bureaucracy, one that the president’s advisers have been outspoken in channeling. Shortly after Mr. Trump took office, Stephen K. Bannon, then his chief strategist, called for “the deconstruction of the administrative state.”...

President Trump signed three executive orders Friday containing sweeping reforms that weaken protections for federal workers and eliminate perks for the unions that represent them. Under the new executive orders, unions will be charged rent for federal office space and will not be reimbursed for travel expenses or for hours spent appealing worker firings. All federal workers will be ordered to spend 75 percent of their time on government work, and agencies are ordered to publicly post union contracts in an online repository.

New York has a major opportunity to lead the nation in reducing emissions and to strike a blow against inequality by making significant and bold investments in public transit across the state. Transportation is now the top climate culprit in New York state, responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than power plants. While our state is ramping up investments in renewable energy, moving people cleanly and efficiently is absolutely critical too. We must address this need by expanding public transit in ways that will also create family-sustaining employment options, improved public health, safety and mobility. The climate crisis and the transportation...

A new study reveals that from 2010 to 2017, labor unions sent some $1.3 billion in member dues to progressive groups aligned with the Democratic Party without obtaining the approval of their members. According to the Center for Union Facts (CUF) groups that received union member dues include the Clinton Foundation, Planned Parenthood, Center for American Progress, Democracy Alliance, and the Democratic Governors Association.

Connecticut’s official balance sheets will be noticeably worse next year due to changes in how the state reports its retiree healthcare liabilities... Truth in Accounting issued Connecticut a failing grade based on its 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and said the state is “hiding” $10.4 billion in retiree healthcare debt. “Connecticut’s financial condition is not only concerning, but also misleading as government officials failed to disclose significant amounts of retirement debt on the state’s balance sheet,” the report says. “As a result, residents and taxpayers have been presented with an inaccurate and untruthful accounting of the state government’s finances.” According...

Quiz: How much do you know about gun violence in schools?

A Hamilton Township school employee has been suspended after a hidden camera video appeared to depict him saying he would downplay and not report an incident of a teacher beating a student. The video was published Wednesday on YouTube by Project Veritas -- which the New Jersey Education Association said has used "illegal tactics to "fabricate false stories" -- and identifies the employee as Hamilton Township Education Association President David R. Perry.