Posts tagged education
Thousands Of Virginia Public School Teachers And Staff Vote To Unionize
June 12, 2024 // The labor victory is the biggest for Virginia unions since Democratic lawmakers overturned a decadesold prohibition on public-sector bargaining.
Opinion: ‘$50 Billion’ Chicago Teachers Union Contract Demands Higher Pay And Lower Expectations
May 8, 2024 // The contract veers into many social issues and away from academics: LGBT issue training, sex-neutral bathrooms, immigrant housing, police-free schools, restorative justice, and more. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has kicked off a season of contract negotiations by issuing a $50 billion list of demands that will enrich the union at taxpayers’ expense and provide little, if any, benefit to the city’s students. Right now, Chicago Public Schools delivers terrible results at a very high cost. Last school year, the district spent more than $21,000 per student, well above the national average of $14,347. And on the last Nation’s Report Card, only 21 percent of the city’s eighth graders were proficient readers.
Mike Rowe calls Gen Z the next ‘toolbelt generation’ amid increasing vocational enrollment
April 22, 2024 // Rowe doubled down on the demand for electricians, pipe fitters and plumbers, among others, despite emerging technologies. "Look, plumbers are not going to be outsourced," he added. "Electricians, steam fitters, pipe fitters, the people my foundation tries to assist — they have a level of job security that the article in the Journal is referencing, and it's a big deal, because those jobs have always been here for the last 20 years, as long as I've been doing this, they've been open, and it's starting to tip where we're literally turning a tanker around with regard to perceptions."
Salem-Keizer teachers reach tentative agreement on new contract, avoid strike
March 28, 2024 // Still, the district is facing more than a $30 million deficit, Castañeda said. Hundreds of positions will be cut in the coming weeks. “I can tell you that this will be the largest budget cut in over a decade,” Castañeda said. Some parents told KGW that while they're happy a deal was reached, more needs to be done for students and teachers.
IWF Signs Independent Contracting Coalition Letter
March 18, 2024 //
OREGON: Salem-Keizer teachers union to take strike vote next week, could strike early April
March 13, 2024 // “If there is a teachers strike, unfortunately, our schools would have to close. We simply cannot keep them open without our licensed staff, and so this means a few things, it’s time for families to start preparing for that possibility. We will not be able to serve students in our buildings,” she said.
Will the Teachers’ Union Crush Education Opportunity in Connecticut?
March 5, 2024 // Ultimately, their reluctance to embrace opportunity scholarships forces one to question the priorities of those who lead the teachers’ union: Is it to teach children so they’re prepared to engage in the world and lead lives of dignity and purpose? Or, cynically, are union leaders afraid that if students opted for private schools, their coffers would receive less funding from local and state boards of education?
THE POLICY SHOP: THE CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION’S AFFINITY FOR FAILURE
February 29, 2024 // The district already has 20 sustainable community schools, including 12 elementary schools and eight high schools. Sustainable community schools integrate student services coordinated by the school with outside organizations, such as housing or food assistance, medical or dental care, mental health services, English language or parenting classes. CTU claims the model promotes improved outcomes, such as decreased absenteeism rates, increased student performance and improved school culture, including “decreases in school discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions.” With dwindling enrollment in CPS, CTU markets the expansion of sustainable community schools as an attempt at “fortifying neighborhood schools.”
Over half a million Americans went on strike last year—a 141% increase
February 20, 2024 //
Florida Teachers’ Union Fights Re-certification Vote
January 29, 2024 // The Florida State Legislature last summer addressed this upside-down arrangement by passing a law requiring government employee unions whose paid membership drops below 60 percent to ask the workers for a vote of confidence. When UTD’s membership rate - even after a furious last-minute recruiting drive – was found during a December audit to hover at around 56 percent, the recertification apparatus kicked in automatically.