Posts tagged Red states
Op-ed: The case against teachers’ unions, and for school choice
September 23, 2026 // The latest evidence came last week from, ironically, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a center-left think tank. Their study found that Democrat-run states with school systems represented by strong teachers’ unions have lower student literacy levels. Conversely, Republican-majority states with weak teacher union representation, were among the states with the highest literacy rates. They include Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Indiana. The study was conducted by Rachel Canter, PPI's Director of Education Policy, who spent nearly two decades in Mississippi, whose students historically scored among America's lowest literacy rates.
Blue states with strong teachers’ unions have lower student literacy levels: study shows
September 17, 2026 // And Canter’s study found one overwhelming and shocking throughline — the stronger the state’s teachers’ union the worse its student literacy scores were, results which did not exclusively follow party lines but strongly trended that way and often to the detriment of Democrats. “Democrats, however, don’t often ask me how to replicate Mississippi’s success,” Canter said. “They ask if it’s possible at all, given the power of teachers’ unions in their home states.” One reason for the disparity, Canter argued, is that states where teacher unions have a strong grip are slower to enact better programs.
America’s Largest Teachers’ Union Prizes Activism Over Education
April 2, 2026 // Members of America’s largest teachers’ union, the National Education Association (NEA), were back in training in February, this time for a confidential webinar entitled “Advocacy and Free Speech Rights for K-12 Educators.” The leaked slide deck, posted by the watchdog group Defending Education, reveals that the NEA is less focused on American students’ stagnant test scores than on training its members to become activists, while using misinterpretations of the First Amendment as a shield.
17 states allege Biden opens path to unionize foreign farmworkers
July 17, 2024 // The Department of Labor denies the allegation, saying the rule merely gives foreign farmworkers the right to protect wages and working conditions through "concerted activities" and "self-advocacy." The AGs accuse the department of hiding "behind linguistic smoke and mirrors." "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck," the motion for a preliminary injunction reads.
Union membership hits new low
January 24, 2022 // Those numbers have fallen steadily, if not uniformly, over the last two generations, even as the number of American workers has increased substantially. Today, there are about 50 million more workers in the American economy than there were in 1983, and 3 million fewer union members.