Posts tagged schools
John Coyne: The teachers challenging their unions’ political agenda in court
April 8, 2026 // Wolf won that gubernatorial election and later appointed PSEA President Jerry Oleksiak as his labor secretary. Oleksiak himself embodied another way teachers’ unions advanced their agenda in schools — through “ghost teachers.” Typically in urban school districts, teachers’ unions arranged for certain teachers to leave the classroom and work full-time for the union. The problem? These ghost teachers stayed on district payroll, receiving a taxpayer-backed teachers’ salary, pension, and health benefits. Oleksiak, a former special education teacher, was a ghost teacher for ten years leading up to his appointment by Wolf.
San Francisco Teachers Walk Out for the First Time Since 1979
February 10, 2026 // David Goldberg, the California Teachers Association president, said that teachers have watched their colleagues win sizable pay increases by going on strike. Teachers in Richmond, Calif., across the bay from San Francisco, negotiated an 8 percent raise over two years after a nearly weeklong strike in December. “Folks, frankly, are learning from each other,” Mr. Goldberg said in an interview. “It’s something we’ve never done, and it’s a very exciting model for how to really build power in a huge state like ours.”
Chaos in Colorado – Teacher Strike Just the Latest Union Scheme in D11
June 16, 2025 // On average in Colorado, one in five teachers change districts every year, which means 20 percent of those who supposedly voted for the strike won’t even be around to deal with the consequences. But the teachers who do stay will be the ones footing the bill — in stress, pay and broken trust with their students and schools. CSEA’s strike spectacle isn’t about working conditions. It’s not about pay. It’s about union leaders panicking over losing their long-held access to power.
Newton schools closed Wednesday as teacher strike enters sixth day; fines up to $100k
January 25, 2024 // Since the strike continued Monday into Tuesday, the teachers union has to start paying fines for striking. They are expected to pay $25,000 and that fine will double each day the strike continues. On Wednesday the teachers union is expected to pay $50,000 in fines. That means fines for striking could reach $200,000 by Thursday. A Middlesex Superior Court judge said they would be expected to be back in court at the end of the week.
Why Government Unions—Unlike Trade Unions—Corrupt Democracy
April 9, 2023 // Newly-elected governors and mayors in most states quickly discover that they have no managerial control over schools, police, and other government operations. If an elected executive has the backbone to try to buck the union, and restore managerial powers when an agreement comes up for renegotiation, the executive in many states will find that unelected arbitrators have the final say. Near-zero accountability makes its practically impossible to transform a lousy school, or an abusive police culture, because the supervisor can’t enforce good values and standards. No accountability also removes the mutual trust needed for any healthy organization. Why try hard, or go the extra mile, when others just go through the motions? The absence of accountability is like releasing a nerve gas into the agency or school. Rigid work rules guarantee massive inefficiency. Basic services such as trash collection, and road and transit maintenance, cost two to three times what it would cost in the private sector. Need someone to help out or fill in? Sorry, not permitted. Need teachers to do remote teaching during the pandemic? There’s nothing about that in the agreement, so it must be negotiated.
Biden Administration’s Davis-Bacon ‘Reforms’ Are More Pork for Labor Unions
May 17, 2022 // The construction industry currently faces supply chain disruptions, unprecedented materials-cost inflation, declining investment in structures, and a skilled-labor shortage of 650,000 people in 2022. To make matters worse, the Biden administration proposed controversial new regulations in March that will needlessly increase construction costs and discourage small businesses from bidding on taxpayer-funded projects.
Rhode Island Schools Must Remove Unconstitutional Anti-Janus Contract Language
March 18, 2022 // Mackinac Center Legal Foundation demands districts stop forcing employees to pay union dues
Colorado front and center in new era of labor fights post-pandemic
January 24, 2022 // The labor fight that recently hit Colorado grocery stores may soon extend to local coffee shops, classrooms and city hall.