Posts tagged Parents
Op-Ed: Rep. Kevin Kiley and Isabel Soto: The future of work is flexible
May 5, 2025 // At its core, the issue of independent work centers on the freedom for individuals to work as they choose, to support their families on their own terms, and to participate in the economy without being held back by outdated, stifling regulations. The Modern Worker Empowerment Act and The Modern Worker Security Act offer a commonsense alternative that safeguards this freedom. Congress must embrace policies that remove barriers to the modern labor market, not stifle the individual who wants to work. As the economy evolves, labor laws should support worker choice, economic participation, and innovation. These bills are a critical step forward and deserve broad bipartisan support.
Commentary: Groomed by the System: How a Colorado School Betrayed a Family’s Trust
April 24, 2025 // A child, driven by an inappropriate relationship with a teacher, felt compelled to falsely declare herself homeless. Yet not a single adult entrusted with her safety — not the counselor, not the teachers, not the principal — acted responsibly. When the child’s mother confronted the principal about the inappropriate relationship, the principal defended the teacher, saying, “Ms Kearney takes interest in helping kids navigate their sexuality.”
Union contracts should not protect drunken teachers
March 6, 2025 // The Bay City union contract spelled out the process: A teacher’s first offense resulted in a written reprimand and the teacher was required to go through counseling. The second offense resulted in a three-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Third offense: a five-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Fourth offense: a 10-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Only upon the fifth offense could the district fire the teacher. It gets worse. A teacher using illegal drugs at school got three strikes before she could be fired. Even teachers caught selling drugs could not be fired until their second offense.
Chicago Teachers Union took over Acero charter schools to stifle parents’ rights
December 28, 2024 // The Chicago Teachers Union played a long game with Acero charter schools: unionizing them, undermining them and then taking them over. Now students and parents are left without the charter schools they chose.
Harris Pushes Gig Workers, Contractors into Corporate Jobs with New Rule
September 25, 2024 // America already has too few people working. If the employment rate were the same as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, 2.9 million more people would be working today. The last thing Americans need is another regulation that makes it harder to make a living and to afford the rising cost of living. Although the Biden-Harris regulation has only been in effect since March, and it’s too early to fully study its effects, the employment-to-population ratio dropped by 0.3 percentage points between March and July. This decline represents a loss of 700,000 workers.
OPINION These new government contracting rules will put parents, caregivers, seniors out of work
March 12, 2024 // Many independent contractors we have engaged quit full-time positions to become caregivers. They sought opportunities like what we offer to stay engaged in their fields, have an intellectual outlet, and enjoy camaraderie with colleagues, while contributing to the family finances. They don’t want the pressure of short-term deadlines and in-person meetings; they don’t want to have to track time and explain about sick kids or field trips. Can we continue to offer these work relationships? Maybe, although the guidance that contractors cannot "perform similar work of employees" makes it fraught.
‘Gone too far’: Chair of Newton School Committee tears up after classes canceled for 10th day
February 1, 2024 // The teachers’ union insists that Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has the money it’s asking for if she reallocates money to schools. “The offer we proposed would continue to make Newton one of the highest-paying school districts in the state,” Fuller said. Newton School Committee Chair Chris Brezski was visibly emotional in his opening statement on Wednesday night. “There’s really only one kind of progress that matters right now. My kids aren’t going to school again,” he cried. “This has gone too far.”
Teachers’ Unions vs. Teachers, Parents, and Children: The NEA and AFT
September 20, 2023 // Between them, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have nearly five million members. Their national associations report annual revenues of approximately $370 million and $200 million, respectively, which are drawn overwhelmingly from dues paid by those members, and that doesn’t include the hundreds of millions in revenue that their local affiliates collect. The Bigfoot lobbyists of the NEA and AFT want more more more when it comes to spending, as lobbies invariably do, but they are frequently found in a negative posture, for no one hates the idea of reform quite as much as a teachers’ union. Vouchers, charter schools, education savings accounts, merit pay for teachers…you name it, the teachers’ unions are against it.
OPINION: LOS ANGELES PROTEST UNDERSCORES PARENTS’ DISGUST WITH UNION-BACKED DEPRAVITY MASQUERADING AS EDUCATION
September 11, 2023 // A protest staged this week in the very heart of the beast at the Los Angeles City Hall brought home the point in lurid detail. Organized under the banner, “Leave Our Kids Alone!” the event brought together a diverse coalition of groups ranging from LEXIT (Latinos Exiting the Democratic Party), Gays Against Groomers, an Armenian parental group, the Dad Army and many others to speak out about the serial transgressions of the California educational system. Among these were the revelation that public schools no longer be compelled to inform parents of a child’s gender transition and the imposition of a curriculum openly advocating for the LGBTQ agenda. What these parents were demanding is the simple right to be informed about life-altering decisions that have been assumed by the California state government. Virtually every speaker had a horror story about how children are being victimized by this misinformation movement, whose leaders alternately deny their actions or falsely claim the smut-centric curriculums have broad public support.
Randi Weingarten, teacher’s union helped coordinate CDC’s 2021 school reopening guidance, records reveal
April 27, 2023 // Powerful AFT boss Randi Weingarten spoke twice by phone with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in the week leading up to the Feb. 12, 2021, announcement that halted full re-opening of in-person classes — including the day before the guidance was released, according to records obtained by the conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust. AFT and its fellow union, the National Education Association, also asked the White House and CDC for help shaping its press strategy to show the rank-and-file they and the Biden administration were on the same page, emails reveal. The extent of the unions’ role in government policy was revealed the day before Weingarten is set to face a House select subcommittee hearing about the effects of school closures on America’s kids. The records show Walensky took a call from Weingarten on Feb. 7, 2021, five days before the CDC released its “Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools Through Phased Mitigation.”