Posts tagged teachers’ unions
InfluenceWatch Podcast #313: America’s Worst Teachers Union?
April 23, 2024 // It might be America’s worst teachers’ union—and knowing American teachers’ unions, that’s saying something. Since its takeover by a radical-left-wing, militant caucus in 2010, the Chicago Teachers Union has pushed a radical-left agenda through numerous strike actions and controversially aided the mayoral campaign of Brandon Johnson, a former lobbyist for the union, in the city. Just last month, the union allegedly used school time to rally students to vote for a tax hike ballot measure supported by the union and now-Mayor Johnson. Joining us to discuss the Chicago Teachers Union is Mailee Smith, Senior Director of Labor Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
ILLINOIS: Teacher unions backing downstate Republicans ‘very rare,’ says researcher
March 18, 2024 // According to Open Secrets data, the total given to Democrats in the 2021-2022 election cycle from teachers unions' political action committees is over $4 million. Only $24,000 was given to Republicans nationwide. Sarah Bryner, the Open Secrets director of research and strategy, said it’s very rare you’ll see large sums of money going to Republican primary races. "By and large they tend to support people who they [the unions] think understand their causes,” said Bryner. “In an election where the general is at play you will see unions getting involved in [Democrat] primaries because that’s where most of the action is because once you get to the general the Democrats are typically already the winner. Typically you’ll just see them supporting Democrats.”
Opinion: School Choice Is the Solution to Teacher Strikes
February 10, 2024 // Last year 17 states expanded or enacted initiatives that make money available directly to parents to spend on alternative schools or educational paths for their children. Such programs work to break education monopolies by opening opportunities to all that are ordinarily reserved for the wealthy. Had parents in Newton had this option, they would have been able to avoid the disruption the strike caused. And the unions would have a weaker incentive to behave disruptively in the first place. A private-sector employer feels the pain of an employee strike because customers can find another place to shop for goods or services. Employees have skin in the game, too, because they risk loss of their paycheck and possibly getting fired. In the public sector, however, the customers—in this case families and children—are the only ones who feel the pain. The teachers get what they want, every time. The result is a vicious circle. Teachers unions periodically hold children’s education hostage in exchange for ransom payments from taxpayers. The unions are never fully held accountable for these disruptions. Nor do they ever allow meaningful change to the system. The Newton Public Schools spend almost $30,000 annually on each student. Families should be able to spend that money any way and anywhere they choose. Public schools would then have an incentive to cater to the needs of the people who pay teachers’ salaries.
Commentary: How The Teachers Unions Embed Socialism Into Their Contracts
January 28, 2024 // This new, covert strategy, hidden in plain sight, allows state and municipal officials to create sweeping policy changes that evade the scrutiny typically associated with customary legislative procedures, which include publicly available draft legislation, committee hearings, amendments and comprehensive floor debates. In Boston, teachers’ union president Jessica Tang announced they secured “an unprecedented $50 million to commence bolstering the affordable housing that Boston students and families require.” Similarly, Los Angeles teachers incorporated “housing justice provisions” into their contracts.
Teachers’ union boss blames math test slide on COVID — after fighting to keep remote learning
December 6, 2023 // The leader of the second-largest teachers’ union in the US linked the worldwide drop in math scores on a key international test to the COVID-19 pandemic — during which she had lobbied against a full return to in-person learning. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten issued a statement that said remote learning was to blame for the drop in the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) math evaluation after scores were released Tuesday.
Opinion: Banning teacher strikes in Oregon’s best interest
November 29, 2023 // Certainly, teachers’ union strikes that intentionally bar children from the classroom pose a significant barrier to quality education. If parents and taxpayers could face legal penalties for disrupting public education, why shouldn’t teachers’ unions? 37 states and Washington, D.C. prohibit teachers from striking. Teachers’ unions who initiate strikes in Nevada, for example, are fined $50,000 for each day that students are unable to attend school. In Maryland, unions who authorize a strike are immediately removed as the district’s exclusive representative. Oregon should follow the lead of Nevada and Maryland’s anti-strike legislation, both of which punish disruptive unions while protecting teachers.
Boarded The Teachers’ Union Takeover of NY School Districts
November 21, 2023 // NYSUT’s involvement in state and federal elections is well-documented, but the low turnout in New York’s generally nonpartisan school board elections has given it an even bigger opportunity. The union also isn’t stopping with school boards: its electoral efforts involve elevating members to local, state and federal office, positions from which union members could eventually affect every facet of education policy. The system of campaign finance rules that regulate everything from elections for governor down to town assessors does not cover school board elections.
UNION CONTRACTS TRAMPLE LOUISIANA PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS’ AND EMPLOYEES’ RIGHTS
September 15, 2023 // “These unconscionable agreements restrict teachers’ First Amendment rights, force them to be members of unions against their will, make it difficult to resign from the union, and even prevent them from learning about competing organizations that provide similar benefits to school employees.” In addition to trampling teachers’ First Amendment rights, the Pelican Institute found that CBAs at two Louisiana school systems grant union members who are parents the opportunity to select a different school that fits their children. Proponents of school choice believe that a child’s zip code shouldn’t determine their destiny. Unions seem to agree, but only if they bestow parents with that choice.
Under new Michigan law, schools can value seniority over quality
August 18, 2023 // Critics of the bill, such as Michigan House Republican Leader Matt Hall, claim that the law harms teachers and unnecessarily gives organized labor more control. “Now they’re giving union bosses free rein to lord over the most important decisions at our schools,” Hall said in a statement on the bill. “Teacher placement, performance evaluations, and communication with parents are all vital to creating an effective learning environment and fostering good working relationships with families.” Most states allow some form of collective bargaining in public schools. Six states — Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas — explicitly ban it. Nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming — have no statewide basis for collective bargaining. Instead the decision is left to individual jurisdictions. Michigan also stands apart with its law on seniority pay. Public Act 116, which Whitmer signed this month, includes a provision prohibiting “length of service as the sole factor in personnel decisions.”
REPORT: Teachers Unions Trained Educators To ‘Inject Gender Ideology Politics’ Into Classrooms
August 17, 2023 // The DFI report, “Summer of Woke, The Sequel,” said the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) allegedly encouraged educators to promote gender ideology in classrooms. (RELATED: Teachers Union Conference Encouraged Educators To Lobby For Gun Control)