Posts tagged Department of Education
Op-ed: Placing teachers unions’ power above students’ lives
July 11, 2023 // Ms. Weingarten is the head of the powerful American Federation of Teachers union, and Mr. Pompeo’s assessment notwithstanding, President Biden’s secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, just appointed her to serve on the Department of Homeland Security’s school safety council. According to Mr. Mayorkas, the council will advise the department on school safety and help it “counter the evolving and emerging threats to the homeland.”
Oregon Education Association Just the Latest Teachers’ Union to Impose Racially Discriminatory Policies
June 15, 2023 // On April 30, OEA’s board of directors discussed a so-called “progressive dues structure for BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) members,” according to meeting minutes. This scheme would include a “significant discount for educators until the racial breakdown of our membership aligns with the racial breakdown of our student population.”
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.
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.
Former teachers union official accused of violating ethics pledge
December 12, 2022 // The Biden Administration Ethics Pledge specifically bans political appointees from communicating with their former employer in official communications, such as emails, but Harris-Aikens “was in regular contact with officials at the NEA from virtually her first moment at the Department.” Protect the Public’s Trust discovered this information from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which uncovered direct, official communications between Harris-Aikens, the NEA, and American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
CDW ISSUES REPORT ON THE DANGERS OF ONLINE VOTING IN UNION REPRESENTATION ELECTIONS
July 12, 2022 // “Electronic voting is a system ripe for coercion, intimidation, and harassment. It violates workers’ privacy and makes it impossible for the NLRB to safeguard the election. Moreover, as the report notes, the National Mediation Board, several states, and various foreign countries have all shelved online voting programs because of costs and cybersecurity concerns. For these reasons, the Supreme Court, other federal courts, and the NLRB itself have all recognized that secret ballots are the best method for determining the will of the workers. Online Voting in Union Representation Elections: The Latest Attempt to Eliminate Workers’ Right to Secret Ballots, online voting,
Kevin Mooney: Pennsylvania senators must defy teachers’ unions to offer lifeline scholarships to students in failed districts
July 8, 2022 // But does spending equal achievement? If so, then how does Askey explain academic failure in districts that are already receiving buckets of taxpayer money? In an interview, Nathan Benefield, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation, explains why the union’s fixation with dollar signs misses the point. failed districts, Senate Education Committee, Rep. Clint Owlett, Rep. Lindsey Williams, Rick Askey,
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.
Foxx on Passage of Education and Labor Bills
March 17, 2022 // "With the exception of H.R. 6087, the legislation Democrats advanced today will do little to improve the lives of Americans. These bills are more about creating layers of red tape and giving more power to the federal government than protecting workers or students. If Democrats had been willing to work with Republicans, we could have come up with better solutions for the problems facing American workers and students."
What You Should Know About Democrats’ America CONCEDES Act
February 2, 2022 // Gives unions unfair advantages over small businesses and independent workers by adding Davis-Bacon provisions to previously bipartisan policies. The Davis-Bacon Act and related laws require that contractors on federally funded construction projects pay so-called “prevailing wages,” inflating federal construction costs and favoring unions.