Posts tagged charter schools
Opinion: Pols, teachers unions aim to scrap tests to hide huge learning loss
April 3, 2023 // The learning loss resulting from the longest public-school closures imposed on blue-state kids in urban districts where teachers unions hold the most sway is devastating and will have generational consequences. Now the educators and politicians who supported prolonged school closures are trying to hide the evidence of their unconscionable decisions. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a former teachers-union member and current teachers-union donee, has introduced the ludicrously entitled More Teaching Less Testing Act, which would abolish the third grade through eighth grade standardized math and English tests — the clearest proof of how costly school closures were for learning. When you put the title through the Orwellian doublespeak reader you get: Less Learning and No Accountability Act.
San Diego Gompers Preparatory Academy Educators Begin New Effort to Oust SDEA Union Bosses from School
March 14, 2023 // “The new decertification effort at Gompers Preparatory Academy pits concerned educators against California’s most entrenched special interest – public sector union bosses,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “In their last endeavor, Gompers teachers, who simply wanted to exercise their right to vote on whether SDEA union bosses deserved to remain in power, faced specious allegations meant to block the vote, union attacks on social media, and even pressure from union-label politicians.”
NY Gov. Hochul and teachers union at odds
February 21, 2023 // The “Pay and Resolve” bill, which would require health insurers to pay hospital billing claims immediately without reviewing the medical necessity of the billing claims, was publicly opposed by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). The union claimed that the proposal could lead to a hike in costs for union members. UFT President Michael Mulgrew explained, “The added costs are passed along to us. That is silly and that has got to stop.” Other unions joined UFT’s opposition, such as Teamsters and SEIU Local 32 BJ. Her proposal, which is a part of the state budget proposal, would keep the current state cap of 460 charter schools but free up 85 more slots for new charter schools across the state by eliminating regional caps. The proposal would create more slots for charter schools in New York City, which currently has a cap of 275 charter schools. In a statement, Hochul said, “I believe every student deserves a quality education, and we are proposing to give New York families more options and opportunities to succeed.”
Union poll ignores reality about charter schools
February 20, 2023 // The controversial NYSUT/UFT poll was conducted by Hart Research Associates, which progressive jobs website Idealist called “one of the leading public opinion research firms in the U.S., specializing in political polling for Democratic candidates and survey research for progressive causes, public affairs, nonprofit organizations, foundations, variety of advocacy groups and media outlets.” The misrepresentation of the NYSUT/UFT poll points to a much deeper issue than just a poorly conducted survey. The vast majority of teachers unions’ revenue comes from traditional public school teachers’ dues payments. If those traditional public schools are forced to compete with charters, causing them to lose teachers (which is happening across the country), unions like NYSUT will take a financial hit. Ultimately, the NYSUT/UFT poll highlights the unions’ grip on the charter school narrative and the importance of maintaining a healthy skepticism of union-backed narratives in the public square.
Opinion Will Swaim: Here’s what’s really going on at the Orange Unified School District
February 8, 2023 // Königsberg is an award-winning young-adult novelist, so no family newspaper would allow a transcription of Colleen’s reading from his “The Music of What Happens.” But it exists on the district website in a remarkable recording of the night’s proceedings. That recording may be unlike any other recording of a public meeting in American history, a reading from a text that OUSD provided to children, a text that describes what an Orange County Register reporter characterized as “a string of sexually explicit and/or obscenity-laden quotes to the board, as well as mentions of penetration, wet dreams and rape.” I would add that it also includes in vivid detail the rape of a child and an exhaustive catalogue of sexual activity that reduces most of it to the sort of monkey-wrench-and-screwdriver mechanics of 1970s pulp porn.
REPORT: Pennsylvania Teachers Vote to Kick Union Out of Their School
August 23, 2022 // Westinghouse Arts Academy Charter School in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania As a result of tens of millions of dollars of political spending, heavy resistance to reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, and repeated efforts to label concerned parents as domestic terrorists, teachers unions have come under increasing public scrutiny. And that scrutiny is not limited to the general public, as teachers at one Pennsylvania charter school have decided that they want nothing to do with their union. Hunter Tower
Teachers Union Sues To Keep School Closed
July 14, 2022 // Vertex expects to serve overwhelmingly low-income, minority families in the Bronx, and it plans to provide every student—not just the top students—with an International Baccalaureate education, a rigorous educational program that prepares students for challenging career and post-secondary options. But Vertex’s status is in question, because the United Federation of Teachers is suing to prevent the school from opening in August. Vertex Academies, New York law, Tunku Varadarajan,
Opinion: Bloomberg: Charter Schools Outperform Public Alternative, Unions Largely to Blame
June 27, 2022 // Responding to parent criticism during the COVID quarantine, Cecily Myart-Cruz, head of the Los Angeles teachers’ union, last summer told Los Angeles Magazine, “Our kids didn’t lose anything. It’s OK that our babies may not have learned all their times tables. They learned resilience.” Myart-Cruz also urged her union to adopt a resolution condemning Israel.
Biden’s new charter school rules prioritize teachers’ unions over children
May 16, 2022 // The Biden administration’s proposed regulations would create roadblocks that would make the federal funds hard to access and charter school expansion more difficult. Additionally, the changes would work against charters serving students in urban communities and communities of color, as the proposed rules would require charters to be “racially and socio-economically diverse” — regardless of community needs.
Opinion: Biden’s political hacks won’t stop charter schools’ growth
May 16, 2022 // Much to the delight of teachers’ union bosses, the Biden administration is quickly becoming history’s most anti-(school) choice political pack, demonstrated most recently in its proposals to make charter schools’ access to federal funding more difficult.