Posted on Aug 31, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
Here at Labor Pains, we often talk about the political clout of unions, how they funnel millions upon millions of dollars into elections, the vast majority of which goes to Democratic candidates. But it’s not often that a union makes a power play this blatant: A government studies teacher at Washington Irving High School in […]
Posted on Aug 30, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
The recent kerfuffle over the Los Angeles Times releasing scads of data on LA’s teachers has provided some interesting insights into how defenders of teachers unions think. The head of the LA teachers union, for example, said he was “outraged” that the Times would publish data revealing which teachers were effective and which teachers weren’t […]
Posted on Aug 27, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
Milton, Massachusetts is going to miss out on a share of $200 million in Race to the Top funding because the union refused to sign on to the application. The union’s president, Margaret Gibbons, said that they did so “primarily because the board is opposed to tying teacher compensation and evaluation to a student’s test score,” […]
Posted on Aug 26, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
President Obama’s education chief, Arne Duncan, delivered a speech last night aimed squarely at those who oppose increased transparency and accountability when it comes to our nation’s school system. Speaking in Little Rock, he played off of the Los Angeles Times’ recent series that exposed the Los Angeles Unified School District’s hesitance to utilize data […]
Posted on Aug 25, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
In his New York Times column today, Tom Friedman takes note of a documentary on education reform hitting theaters this fall. Waiting for Superman is the name of the film, and it comes from the Academy Award-winning director of An Inconvenient Truth, Davis Guggenheim. A taste of Friedman’s column: There is a movement stirring in […]
Posted on Aug 24, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
The Chicago Teachers Union has been locked in a struggle with the city over pay, layoffs, and other sundry issues. Now they’re looking to block a plan to add 90 minutes to the school day, which just so happens to be among the shortest in the country. From the Chicago Tribune: In an effort to […]
Posted on Aug 20, 2010 by Sonny Bunch
What have we been saying at the Center for Union Facts for years? Rules that prevent incompetent employees from being dismissed are bad, because employers need to have flexibility to fire underperforming individuals. It’s good for consumers, it’s good for businesses, and it’s good for the economy. We’re glad to see that the United Federation […]
Posted on by Sonny Bunch
It’s pretty basic economics: When an organization grows too large to live within its means, it has to either a.) contract to a sustainable level, or b.) find new sources of revenue. Consider, for example, school districts: They have massively expanded the number of teachers in recent years — despite increases of only 22% in […]
