Posts tagged charter schools
New York Teachers’ Unions Latest Lawsuit to Limit School Choice
July 14, 2026 // NYSUT has pursued legal action to prevent additional charters from opening. Earlier this year, it sued SUNY to block new charters on Long Island and previously tried to prevent Vertex Charter School from opening. These actions ignore student outcomes; for example, Vertex is located in a Bronx district where only 7 percent of high school graduates are prepared for college. Strive Charter School has an innovative model focused on low-income families: it will be open every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., including weekends and summer, to support families that struggle to afford child care. NYSUT is responding to declining student enrollment in New York State, which is expected to reduce teaching positions—and, consequently, dues-paying members.
Op-ed: Why teachers unions fear, and fib about, new federal program
July 7, 2026 // Perhaps the unions are right to be scared. Anything that introduces competition into the educational landscape threatens their monopoly. When you read between the lines of Weingartner and Pringle’s letter, you can almost hear the death rattle. But in the end, this isn’t about the unions. This is about kids who deserve a high-quality education regardless of their household income or zip code. And anybody who gets between them and their parents would be wise to choose their words more carefully.
Commentary LAUSD avoided a strike and now wants a state taxpayer bailout to avoid fiscal disaster
May 1, 2026 // Caving to union demands is easy, but paying for them might prove difficult. LAUSD spends more money than it receives each year from federal, state, and local governments. They project a $1.3 billion budget deficit this year and a $1.5 billion hole in fiscal year 2027. A big reason for the deficits is that the district has too many non-teachers on its payroll. Despite losing about 75,0000 students since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, LAUSD has reduced staff by only 321 employees. Birth rates are down, families are moving out of the region, and parents are seeking other options, such as private and charter schools.
With teachers union support, committee approves charter school mandates
March 16, 2026 // An Illinois lawmaker’s union-backed proposal to place new mandates on charter schools in the state is generating debate. State Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, told the Illinois Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday she has been working on Senate Bill 3391 for a couple of years. The Chicago Teachers Union supports the legislation. CTU Legislative Director Hilario Dominguez said Chicago Public Schools spent about $35 million stabilizing failed charter operators.
Twin Rivers, Natomas strike plans are tied to a larger statewide push
March 8, 2026 // The collaboration is part of a campaign known as “We Can’t Wait,” in which 32 union districts are working together to negotiate with their respective districts, with some coordinating contracts to expire at the same time. Teacher labor tensions have been building across California in recent months. According to Goldberg, teachers in Los Angeles, Oakland, and West Sacramento voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes.
Wave of California teacher strikes ‘is no coincidence’
March 4, 2026 // Thousands of California K-12 teachers have walked off their jobs or voted to strike in the past few months, as part of a strategic, statewide effort by the California Teachers Association to boost salaries and benefits — and get the public’s attention. “All these districts going out on strike — it’s not a coincidence at all,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union. “Everywhere in the state there are people with unmet needs. The conditions have been ripe for a long time.”
Opinion: As strike looms, LA schools need reform — not more spending
February 8, 2026 // Rather, only three reforms have any hope of improving performance in LA Unified: breaking up the district; parental choice; and Mississippi-style rigor. Remember that this is the teachers union that delayed school reopenings after the Covid lockdown and attached extraneous political demands to the reopening process. What the union is now demanding will leave the district unable to pay its bills within three years.
NY teachers’ union sues to block 3 Long Island charter schools, claiming ‘abuse of authority’
February 2, 2026 // Person said the suit highlights the dysfunction created by New York’s dual charter authorizing system. Under state law, charter school applicants can get approved by SUNY’s Charter School Institute, even if state Education Department officials object. SUNY charter school regulators said Academy filed solid proposals for the three schools — and dismissed the union’s lawsuit as nonsense. “I don’t really understand it,” Joseph Belluck, chairman of the SUNY charter school committee, said of the NYSUT complaint.
New Case to Test Whether California Charter Schools Are Subject to PERB or NLRB Jurisdiction?
February 2, 2026 // On January 10, teachers and other employees at the St. HOPE Public Charter Schools submitted an RD Petition with Region 20 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to decertify and to no longer be represented by the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) union, an affiliate of the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the National Education Association (NEA). The teachers filing the petition have the support of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NTW), a nonprofit organization whose declared mission is to eliminate union power and compulsory unionism abuses
Opinion Parents and students come second in Randi Weingarten’s teachers union
November 17, 2025 // Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, once an organizer for the AFT’s Los Angeles affiliate and currently a gubernatorial candidate in California, has in recent years called the union “the largest obstacle to creating quality schools.” Under Weingarten’s presidency, the American Federation of Teachers has reduced the intellectual level of its publications. It has aided a slide away from accountability based on measurable student performance. It was also responsible for massive learning loss during the covid lockdown and is working to limit school options desired by parents. On the other hand, the union now enjoys greater political clout than ever.