Chgo Reporter Attacked by Chgo Teachers Union Thugs at Rally

April 3, 2013 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Chicago, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jesse Jackson, Liberals, Rights, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Jeremy Segal was filming the protesting Chicago Teachers downtown on Monday trying to get a few questions in with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and agitator Rev. Jesse Jackson when operatives for the union began to push him, manhandle his video equipment and punch him in the chest.

Segal was filming for EAGnews,org when the assault occurred.

It was witnessed by a CTU supporter who was so unnerved by the violent treatment that she told police what she saw.

But even though the police gathered up the men that assaulted the reporter, they were later let go even though Segal told police he wanted to file charges.
Read more

Mich Dem. Whitmer Shows Unions & Obama More Important Than Her State

December 11, 2012 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Detroit, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Michigan, Pensions, Progressives, Public Employees Unions, Right To Work, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, the State’s Senate Democratic Leader, is now pleading for President Obama to trample on Michigan’s state sovereignty and control the state from Washington DC. This is an odd request for someone that thinks she should be Michigan’s next Governor.

During most of American history, state politicians have been keen to safeguard their own power in their state. We even fought a whole civil war in part over the idea of states’ rights, after all. Oh, but not Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer. No, for Whitmer, allowing unions and President Obama to control Michigan is far more important than allowing the people of Michigan and their representatives to control the state.

Whitmer, you see, is trying to get President Obama to withhold federal funds from Michigan merely because Republicans and worker’s rights advocates have succeeded in passing right-to-work-style legislation in the current lame-duck session.

Whitmer is calling the right-to-work law “petty and vindictive politics.” That’s how losers talk, we all know. So, she wants King Obama to take action.
Read more

Chicago Teachers Union Co-Sponsor of Socialist Program

November 16, 2012 | Filed Under Chicago, Children, Communism, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Progressives, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Now that the Chicago Teachers Union’s big strike is over they have time for other activities. Like pushing the communist idea of “social justice.” And so, the CTU is helping host a “Teaching for Social Justice” event this month.

So, some of the highest paid teachers in the country are all about “the struggle,” eh? (Media base for CTU teachers is $67,974 annually)

Of course, that brings me back to the question I sort of hinted at above: are Chicago’s teachers doing their jobs?
Read more

Why Are Chicago’s Teachers Striking? It Ain’t About the Kids, THAT’S for Sure!

September 17, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Chicago, Children, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Progressives, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Why are teachers striking in Chicago? What are teachers unions fighting for? Is it for the students? For the schools? For the union?

Listen to the union officials themselves. You might be surprised.

Chicago Teacher Protester Holds Sign Hinting that Mayor Emanuel is Gay?

September 12, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Ethics, Illinois, Liberals, Progressives, Public Employees Unions, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In day two, the Chicago teachers strike is already starting to get vicious. In one of the many protests at least one protester was photographed holding a sign intimating that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is gay.

On the streets of Chicago, the Illinois Policy Institute found a protester carrying a sign that says, “Rahm Emanuel Likes Nickelback.”

You may not be aware of all the connotations of this sign. Firstly “Nickelback” is a Canadian rock band known for its somewhat sex-drenched lyrics. But the band is also a sort of slang for being gay among many kids these days. As the taunt goes, if you are a Nickelback fan, you’re gay.
Read more

The Machine: The Truth Behind Teachers Unions

September 10, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Chicago, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Lobbyists, Progressives, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Here is a great video showing why teachers unions — and public employee unions in general — should be illegal.

The Machine: The Truth Behind Teachers Unions

For the first time in 25 years, the Chicago Teachers’ Union is planning to strike on Monday.

That’s because the machine that runs the K-12 education system isn’t designed to produce better schools. It’s designed to produce more money for unions and more donations for politicians. We’re spending more money on education but not getting better results for our children and now america’s public education system is failing.

Our kids deserve better.

For decades, teachers’ unions have been among our nation’s largest political donors. As Reason Foundation’s Lisa Snell has noted, the National Education Association (NEA) alone spent $40 million on the 2010 election cycle (source: http://reason.org/news/printer/big-education-and-big-labor-electio). As the country’s largest teachers union, the NEA is only one cog in the infernal machine that robs parents of their tax dollars and students of their futures.

Students, teachers, parents, and hardworking Americans are all victims of this political machine–a system that takes money out of taxpayers’ wallets and gives it to union bosses, who put it in the pockets of politicians.

“The Machine” is 4:30 minutes.
Video produced by the Moving Picture Institute in partnership with ReasonTV.

Chicago’s Teachers Strike, Just Another Corrupt Union Powergrab

September 10, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Chicago, Children, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jobs, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

We’ve all heard the news of the strike forced on Chicago’s public schools by Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, I’m sure. Barely open for a week, the greedy teachers are now walking off the job but the main reasons for this strike presented by the CTU really don’t stand up to close scrutiny, for sure.

The CTU wants a 30% pay raise and they want class sizes to be made smaller.

For his part, Mayor Emanuel is saying that teachers union reps are fighting his desire to allow local school administrators do the hiring of any new teachers (because they know better what they need) but the union is insisting that they do the hiring.

The union also rejected a 16% pay raise offered by the city – itself an absurdly high number that shouldn’t have been offered in the first place.

In fact, these teachers don’t deserve ANY raise, much less a 30% or even a 16% raise. Only just over half the kids in Chicago now graduate with a high school diploma and, worse, at $76,000 annually, Chicago’s teacher already make more on average than most other teachers in the nation.

By contrast, Chicagoans only earn $47,000 a year on average, so these teachers are already making almost double what the rest of Chicago is making!
Read more

Gov. Scott Walker Wows Crowd at AFP Summit

August 4, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Conservatives, Economy/Finances, Education, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Friday night Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin spoke before Americans For Prosperity’s event Defending the American Dream Summit and the crowd was loving it, I have to say.

Walker entered the room to a standing ovation and got an even bigger standing O when he finished and his comments of how the most progressive state in the union rolled over into conservative, fiscal sanity is quite a story.
Read more

NY Teachers Union Protecting Sexual Predators

August 1, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Children, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Liberals, New York, Public Employees Unions, Sex Offenders/Rape, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the more absurd aspects of the New York school system is that the teachers union is basically given the right to investigate itself when teachers are accused of sexual misconduct. Sadly, in too many cases the union sides with the criminal teachers instead of their victims.

In the Wall Street Journal, Campbell Brown laments this cozy relationship that unions have with their predator members citing several examples of the failure to punish criminal behavior in New York schools.

“If this kind of behavior were happening in any adult workplace in America, there would be zero tolerance. Yet our public school children are defenseless,” he writes.

This lack of punishment occurs, Brown says, because of how the law is written.
Read more

Our Socialist School Teachers

July 26, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, History, Liberals, Pennsylvania, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, Teachers Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am beginning to feel that there is no hope for many of our school teachers. They’ve become so infused with leftism that any semblance of Americanism is beyond their grasp. Even history is viewed from within a socialist prism as a recent editorial from a teacher from Pennsylvania proves.

In his editorial, teacher Robert J. Fisher of Upper Saucon Township sought to debunk what he called the “extreme right-wing elements” of today’s America. He did this by claiming that nearly every conflict in our history is some sort of example of Marxist class warfare.

For teacher Fisher, all of American history is one giant example of Marxist principles proven right. It doesn’t matter that the ideas of class as Marx described them really didn’t exist during all of American history, of course.

Fisher claims that “primitive Native Americans” and “subsistent frontiersmen from the Piedmont” were all engaged in class warfare with the “wealthier urban merchants and plantation owners.”

He goes on to claim that the Regulators in 1771 North Carolina, Shay’s rebellion (1787), and the earlier Bacon’s rebellion (1675) were all “class warfare.”

Then he says that the “powerful federal government” that Washington and his compatriots created was an attempt to “deal more effectively with such class-based rebellions.” His proof? The 1791 Whiskey Rebellion.

Fisher bounced to the Jacksonian era, saying that the President Andrew Jackson’s goal was “reform” America to allow “the common man” to become vested in the system then touted the Civil War as the biggest “class struggle” of them all.

And who else was a hero? Of course it was the rise of the labor union coupled with Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies. These, he claims “helped create a vibrant middle class.”

All of this is skewed nonsense. The history of the United States cannot be so simplistically distilled as one of mere class warfare and it’s sad that this person who has been allowed to influence the minds of our children is so blinded by his Marxist theology that this is all he can see.

In fact, in nearly every case Fisher cites the Americans involved were not trying to tear down another class in order to “equalize” society. They did not consider themselves class warriors but people that aimed to advance to a better life themselves.
Read more

Chicago Teachers Union President Blames Woes on ‘Lower Class’ and ‘Students of Color’

July 26, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Chicago, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Chicago School system is rapidly collapsing. Its graduation rate is a horrid 56 percent, its finances are in tatters, and even though the Chicago Teachers Union was offered a 10 to 15 percent raise, CTU officials still want to strike claiming it isn’t enough. So, what went wrong? CTU President says it’s all because of Chicago’s
“lower class students” and “students of color.”

CTU President Karen Lewis recently took part in a strategy conference call with community organizer Jitu Brown, and retired professor and Bill Ayers associate Mike Klonsky. In the released audio of the conference call, CTU President Lewis tries to address the reason for the Chicago Public School System’s woes.

Lewis, it seems thinks that the whole decline of Chicago’s schools is because of lower class kids. Her comments are heard in the last 30 seconds of the audio.
Read more

Assoc. Press Now Pushing Anti-Scott Walker Story About… Beer?

June 13, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Associated Press, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, GOP, Government, Jobs, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Public Employees Unions, Republicans, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Associated Press seems to be still on the lookout for stories about how Wisconsinites (especially “unions”) hate Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker — yes, even after he beat a recall attempt getting even more votes than he did during his first run for the Guv’s manse. This time AP is pushing the tale that Carrie Nation’s alcohol prohibition “union” is mad at Walker for wanting to serve beer at his unity picnic. Yeah, the same 140-year-old group chiefly responsible for passing the ill-fated Prohibition Act on the country in the 1920s.

So now, the AP has its headlined, “Walker Angers Temperance Union by Serving Beer,” and is seriously trying to get the nation all ginned up over the fact that the beer hating Women’s Christian Temperance Union is upset at the Governor.

What is the Women’s Christian Temperance Union? The WCTU started way back in 1873 ultimately becoming a major political force when its most well-known advocate, Carrie Nation, helped lead the way for the 18th Amendment, the one that banned alcohol in the United States. Of course, Ms. Nation died 8 years before the Amendment succeeded in becoming law, but that doesn’t stop her from being one of the main reasons for giving rise to the exciting career of our most honored Chicago citizen, Al Capone. Thanks, Carrie.

So, who cares much about what the WCTU is doing now some 90 years after their main premise was proven an abject failure? The AP apparently.
Read more

Obama to Wisconsin’s Recall Pushing Unions: I Was Just Too Busy To Bother With You

June 12, 2012 | Filed Under AFSCME, Barack Obama, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, President, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, SEIU, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, we finally know why President Obama didn’t bother to go to Wisconsin to support Democrat Tom Barrett in the late recall effort so heavily supported by his biggest constituents, the unions. He was just too darn busy.

When asked by a Wisconsin TV reporter from Green Bay why he never got to Wisconsin to campaign for Barrett who was running against Republican superstar Scott Walker, Obama noted that as President he was just too darn busy.

According to the president:

Well, you know, the truth of the matter is that as President of the United States I’ve got a lot of responsibilities, uhhh, I was supportive of Tom and, uh, had been supportive of Tom. Ahhh, but, obviously, uhh, I would like to have seen a different result…

Certainly we can all agree that it really is a “truth of the matter” that being President of the United States is quite a demanding job. But one has to ask that if he was too busy with the myriad of duties he faces as President, why did he have time for about a bazillion fundraisers the very week of the recall election?
Read more

It’s Come to This: The ‘Tolerant’ Left’s Twitter Wishes for Scott Walker to be Assassinated

June 6, 2012 | Filed Under Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Yep, now the left reveals it’s true black, hateful, murderous heart…

I hope the governor has a good team of body guards that have all been vetted to make sure none of them are Democrats.

This is the heart of leftism. They love “democracy” when it goes their way. But when they lose, it isn’t time to retrench and try to figure out why their ideals were rejected. No, if they lose it is time to kill everyone that disagrees with them. That is the heart of leftism.
Read more

Wis. Victory Lap, Old Media Backtracking Already…

June 5, 2012 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

The American Future Fund just uncorked this great jbbaroo…

Love it.

**UPDATE**

… aaaannnd the union thug crying begins…

This is the funniest thing I’ve seen for a looooong time.

All I can say is… Are you crying? There’s no crying in union thuggery!!

Bwaaaahahahahaha

Democrat Vote Fraud Efforts Focusing on Dane and Milwaukee Counties

June 5, 2012 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions, Vote Fraud, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few moments ago Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard reported on his Twitter that Democrats are getting a lawsuit ready in an attempt to get some left-wing judge to allow Dane and Milwaukee Counties to keep their polling places open late into the night so they can scam as many illegal votes as possible before the closing bell is rung.

Here is what Hayes Tweeted:

Two WI GOP sources say Dems/Barrett preparing lawsuit to keep polls open late in Dane & Milwaukee counties. GOP will fight it.

Dane and Milwaukee Counties are the two most left wing counties in the state with Dane being home to Madison, the state Capital, the same capital where thousands of union toughs spent months destroying public property in protest against their duly elected governor.

With reports that Democrats and out-of-state schemers and union thugs are bussing in thousands of illegal voters into Wisconsin, the vote fraud is mounting steadily.

As Hayes notes, the state Republicans are going to fight the move and they’d better. There is already going to be plenty of criminal vote fraud perpetrated by Wisconsin’s Democrat union thugs, so they’d better stop this move to stuff the ballot boxes even further in the two counties in question.

Democrats are not content to have an election run under rules. They are keen to play games with the system and indulge as much criminal activity as possible.

Government unions are antithetical to good government and they should all be eliminated. This travesty of an “election” is proof of that.
Read more

Chris Plante Show: Dems Shipping in Busloads of Fraudulent Voters into Wisconsin

June 5, 2012 | Filed Under AFL-CIO, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Teachers Unions, Teamsters, UAW, Unions, Vote Fraud, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is the massive vote fraud I’ve been warning about and Gov. Walker better be prepared for it.

WMAL’s Chris Plante got a call today from a man claiming to be on one of four busses that are driving from Michigan to Wisconsin in order to have fraudulent voters flood the polls for Democrat Barrett who is vying to upset Wis. Governor Scott Walker.

The caller says that the busses were organized by an auto union to bring as many illegal votes to Wisconsin as they can.

Radio host Plante sums up the caller’s claim thus:

What you’re telling me is that the unions in Michigan have organized a bus convoy — and you’re riding in that bus convoy — and they’re bringing Michigan residents to Wisconsin in order to vote illegally for Tom Barrett.

Prediction: Media Will Dismiss Walker Win as Meaningless

June 5, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Ethics, GOP, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Public Employees Unions, Republicans, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

As I write this it is only hours before the polls in Wisconsin open to take votes for the Walker recall effort. Polling data says that Walker will likely win this election, though the media spin this as a “close” thing. Whether Walker will win or not I won’t guess on the eve of voting day, but one thing I can say for a fact is that if Walker does win this election the media will claim that the election is meaningless as to any greater import to the 2012 election cycle.

That’s right, if Scott Walker retains his governorship, the media will suddenly find that this recall election really doesn’t mean a thing.

Now, this is a far different narrative as we stand pre-election day. The media has been calling this election an important bellwether for unionism. They have said that this election has excited unions and driven them to the streets in an important show of unanimity.

The election has also been called a trial run for the November presidential election one that might act as a guidepost of what will happen with Obama vs. Romney.
Read more

Supporting Wisconsin’s Lt. Governor, Rebecca Kleefisch

May 29, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, GOP, Government, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Republicans, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many of you are aware of the recall election being held in Wisconsin. There, leftists and union thugs throughout the state are trying to oust the only recently elected Republican Governor, Scott Walker. But something many don’t realize is that Walker’s Lt. Governor, Rebecca Kleefisch, is also under recall in this needless and expensive re-do of the 2010 elections.

Kleefisch is the Republican Lt. Gov that entered office alongside Gov. Walker and she, too, is a target of these leftists. She hasn’t gotten the same publicity nation wide as Walker, of course, but she is just as deserving of our support and help. After all, the program that Walker and Kleefisch instituted has already saved Wisconsin $1 billion! Seems like a duo worth saving to me.

Despite what the pair have saved the state in budget dollars, estimates have varied on what this foolish recall election will cost, a recall effort that even liberal newspapers in Wisconsin oppose, but some are saying it will cost the donating mood, click on the image below and help Kleefisch out with the expenses that these liberals are forcing upon her, won’t you?

Recently Lt. Gov. Kleefisch was in Chicago and spoke a few words at the Tax Day Tea Party. (Video captured by MarathonPundit)

NEA: Poverty Pimp #1

May 19, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Education, Larry Sand, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

The teachers union not only plays the poverty card, but by battling reforms, ensures that the impoverished will remain that way

“No Education Reform Without Tackling Poverty, Experts Say,” is the title of an article on the National Education Association website. Experts? A trip into the weeds leads to something called the Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy at Georgetown University. Its main benefactor is none other than the Open Society Foundations run by former Nazi sympathizer, rabid America hater and megalomaniac, George Soros, a man who once said he saw himself as “some kind of god, the creator of everything.” Expecting anything without an agenda from this bunch would be foolish.

The NEA’s “experts” claim that pouring money into education will eradicate poverty is wrong on all counts. For example, they state that children would be better educated by attending a “high quality pre-school.” Yet Head Start, according to Reason’s Lisa Snell, U. of Arkansas Professor Jay Greene and others, has been a bust. In 2010, Lindsey Burke at the Heritage Foundation wrote,

Taxpayers have been on the hook for more than $100 billion for the Head Start program since 1965. This federal evaluation, which effectively shows no lasting impact on children after first grade and no difference between those children who attended Head Start and those who did not, should call into question the merits of increasing funding for the program, which the Obama administration recently did as part of the so-called “stimulus” bill.

So, $100 billion later, children are no better off attending a preschool, but what’s important to the unions is that more adults are employed. And that means more dues for them to spend on their progressive political agenda which favors causes that have nothing to do with education – e.g. abortion on demand, same-sex marriage, income redistribution, and nationalized health care. In 2010-2011, NEA spent $133 million in lobbying and gifts to further its progressive agenda.
Read more

FAIL: Obama Ad Attacks Romney for Bain Bought Company That Laid People Off… But Romney DIDN’T Work There Then!

May 14, 2012 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, Jobs, Liberals, Pensions, President, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama released a new video ad featuring former workers of GST Steel of Kansas City who lost their jobs because of Mitt Romney’s work at Bain Capital — at least according to Obama that’s why they lost their jobs. Unfortunately for team Obama, the truth seems to argue against his campaign lies.

The ad is full of lament about GST workers having lost their jobs, sympathy that is most certainly warranted. But the ad goes on to call Romney an “economic vampire” over the layoffs. Union member Jack Cobb, one of the workers in the ad, says for instance, “It was like a vampire. They came in and sucked the life out of us.”

The ad goes on to blame Mitt Romney and Bain Capital for that vampirism.

WARNING: This Obama ad is filled with lies!

But there are quite a few problems with all these hoary claims of the evils of Bain Capital. First of all is the fact that every voice in this video is that of a union thug. Most especially a man noted as the lead union negotiator, David Foster. Does anyone think a unionista will tell the truth about what went on with a company they spent decades extorting?
Read more

Stand Up To Bullying Day

May 11, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

The NEA says that May 4th should be devoted to anti-bullying. Okay, and to be fair, I suggest that we start with the biggest organized bullies in the country – the teachers unions themselves.

The National Education Association celebrated “Stand Up To Bullying Day” on May 4th. Its website is full of advice about how to deal with what it calls “everyone’s problem.” With a solemnity ordinarily reserved for a Sunday morning sermon, NEA has created a pledge –

I agree to be identified as a caring adult who pledges to help bullied students. I will listen carefully to all students who seek my help and act on their behalf to put an immediate stop to the bullying. I will work with other caring adults to create a safe learning environment for all the students in my school.

Please note, the union talks only about children bullying other children; there is nothing about adults bullying other adults.
Read more

The Tragic Consequences of Social Justice Education

May 7, 2012 | Filed Under California, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

The president of the National Education Association continues to promote ideas that are anti-American and are turning our kids into progressive, anti-wealth, equality-obsessed robots.

Last week, the drone-like National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel gave a talk at the annual gathering of the Nebraska State Education Association. He unleashed the same tired old class warfare hogwash that teacher union leaders have been yammering about for years. The latest version of this old whine stresses closing corporate tax loopholes. As I wrote last week, the NEA claims the U.S. can recoup $1.5 trillion in taxes if those greedy corporate types would just pay their “fair share.” Van Roekel conveniently omits the fact that NEA took in $400,000,000 in 2010-2011, mostly in dues forcibly taken from its members, and didn’t pay one red cent in taxes.

Van Roekel then reprised another union mantra – claiming that NEA must pursue “social justice.” He said,
Read more

The Second American Revolution

May 6, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

If education reformers stick to principle and don’t back down, all other obstacles to victory can be overcome.

Recently, Andrew Rotherham wrote a short piece in The Atlantic in which he describes “The 3 Main Obstacles in the Way of Education Reform.” The first obstacle he mentions is that currently “We buy reform.”

Or at least we try to. Some politicians really think that throwing money at the problem will help and the less principled ones do it because they are trying to pay back certain political allies. The result is that untold billions are taken from taxpayers to support giant bureaucracies on the federal and state levels and to prop up programs that do little or nothing to help the students who desperately need it. Rotherham writes:
Read more

NEA Greed Machine is in Overdrive

April 29, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

Tax Freedom Day is April 17th. Freedom from teacher union extortion? To be announced.

The National Education Association has thrown itself full force into the “corporate loophole” demagoguery campaign. According to the NEA, children are being victimized by avaricious corporate types who don’t pay their fair share of taxes. The NEA exhorts the American people to “stand up for the middle class and support closing corporate tax loopholes at the federal and state level, so that additional resources can be invested in public education and other services that build our communities.” In a message oozing with class warfare, we learn that “Corporate tax loopholes are costing our schools and communities resources that would help the next generation achieve the American Dream.” (Cue the violins.)

They then post a list of programs that would thrive if the greedy corporate bastards would just pay their fair share – Title 1, Pre-K education, etc. NEA of course fails to mention that these programs, though popular, are essentially federal boondoggles. They don’t really do what they purport to do. They do make work for unionized adults, however, which if you haven’t been paying attention, is all NEA really cares about. But I digress….

Using Citizens for Tax Justice as their source, NEA claims that closing the seven largest corporate tax loopholes would provide an estimated $1.487 trillion in additional revenues over the next ten years. Coincidentally, CTJ just happens to be the union founded and funded lobbying wing of something called the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Read more

Wealthy Michigan Teacher Upset She Can’t Retire at 47

April 20, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Michigan, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s just unfair, isn’t it? I mean, if an $80,000-per-year, union protected, unfireable, teacher can’t retire at the extremely young age of 47 while the rest of us have to work into our 70s, well, what kind of world are we living in? That’s how teachers in Michigan feel, anyway.

Just ask the haughty Terri List, a Michigan public school teacher from Saginaw Township. She’s entirely disgusted with all those ignorant taxpayers — who vote in evil Republicans — that won’t let her retire at 70% of her salary at a sprightly 47-years-of-age. She’s so upset that she’s telling anyone that will listen that being a teacher isn’t worth the effort.

On the government union site run by the Michigan Education Association, Mz List is seen carping that waiting to retire at 60 is a travesty for the teaching profession. In what rotten world do people have to wait until they are 60 to retire, anyway!?

… only the rest of us, Mz List, only the rest of us. You know the “us” I’m speaking of Mz List? Yeah, the “us” that are with our taxes forced to pay your exorbitant salary, your overly generous benefits, and your retirement in your middle age.
Read more

Perverts Prevail in Public Schools

April 19, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

With teacher union enabling, child abuse goes on unabated.

A male business owner joking about life for homosexuals in prison, forced a junior accountant to bend over a desk, lined up behind him to simulate a sex act, then quipped, “I’ll show you what’s gay.”

An insurance company middle manager who had been warned about touching secretaries brushed his lower body against a new employee, coming so close that she told company investigators she could feel his genitals through his pants.

A corporate vice-president sent text messages to and called one of his female underlings nearly 50 times in a four-week period and, over the winter holidays, parked himself near her home.
Read more

Good Teachers: Beware The Ides of March

March 31, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | 2 Comments

-By Larry Sand

Julius Caesar came to a bad end on March 15th, the same date many good teachers were warned that they may be unemployed in June.

“Nearly 20,000 Teacher Pink Slips Statewide Show Drastic Need for More Education Funding” screamed the headline on the California Teachers Association website.

First, let’s straighten out the union spin. Typically when a person receives a “pink slip,” it means that they are fired. What some teachers actually received is a Reduction in Force (RIF) notice, which according to state law, must be sent to teachers by March 15th if there is the slightest chance that they will be laid off in June. School districts really don’t know in March what their budget will be for the next school year so they plan for the worst case scenario. It’s unheard of for all teachers who get the notices to actually be laid off, but some will, and they must be notified if there is any chance they will lose their jobs.

As a young teacher in New York City in 1975, I lost my 6th grade teaching because the city was in the midst of a fiscal swoon. A few thousand of us were laid off because we were the newest hires, not because we were the worst teachers. The union contract did not make any provision for getting rid of the poorest performers, just the newly employed. Fast forward 37 years and we are still doing the same stupid thing.
Read more

A Failing Grade for America’s Educational System

March 19, 2012 | Filed Under Alan Caruba, Budget, Children, Education, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions | Comments Off

-By Alan Caruba

Back in 2001 I wrote a four-part series on “The Subversion of Education in America” and more than a decade later not much has improved. The causes are easily identified. One is federal control and the other is the National Education Association (NEA) which, despite its name, is a union.

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey became a nationally known figure when he took on the teacher’s union for the way contracts with generous pension and health benefits were bankrupting the State. Other civil service contracts also came under review for the same reason.

A recent headline in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye. “No-Child Law Faces Wave of Opt-Outs” reported that “Twenty-six more states asked to be excused from key requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, an exemption that would curb the education law’s impact considerably.” If the Obama administration grants waivers to all the new applicants, three quarters of the statesRead more

Seattle Teachers Union Seeks to Ban Teach For America

March 14, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Education, Larry Sand, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions | 1 Comment

-By Larry Sand

Teachers unions, known for fighting to keep pedophiles in the classroom, try to get rid of good teachers in Seattle.

Last week, I wrote about the particularly egregious case of a teacher in Rochester, NY who sent sexually charged emails to her principal and was subsequently jailed for ignoring a restraining order. Upon her release, she returned to the classroom, and in short order was accused of fondling her middle school students. But due to her union’s pressure tactics, the school board cannot get rid of this tenured teacher.

Across the country in Seattle, we now have a situation where it would appear that the local teachers union may have success in getting six teachers removed from the district.

Pedophiles? Of course not. They are talented Teach For America teachers who have received good reviews from their principals. In what could be a new low for teachers unions – and that’s really saying something – it would appear that through heavy pressure from the Seattle Education Association, the Seattle School Board may terminate the contracts of the six teachers for absolutely no good reason.
Read more