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Tag: Teacher Union Total: 81 results found.
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NEA Joins NAACP in Support of Big Banks
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 24, 2011, 05:14 PM

 

One would assume that the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union, would have their hands full with the labor and education battles heating up all over the country, but they are once again meddling in partisan politics with lobbying Congress in support of banks and exorbitant debit card fees. The NEA joins the NAACP in backing legislation that would delay new limits on debit-card fees under the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Among the many components of the law, the new policy would limit and cap bank imposed debit card fees on consumers."While the Durbin amendment is a well-meaning attempt to benefit merchants of all sizes ... it is becoming clearer that it may have unintended consumer impacts," the NEA wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. "Further study is warranted to determine if the proposed federal controls on interchange fees for debit swipes ... will meaningfully benefit merchants and their consumers."Federal legislation was introduced earlier this month that would stop the Federal Reserve from finalizing rules that would drastically limit debit-card fees. Those rules were set to take effect in April, but a bill introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) would delay the rules for two years as the matter is studied.The NEA is just one of the non-banking groups spending countless dollars on lobbying for a cause that is unrelated to education. While this is nothing new for the NEA, it isn't sitting well with their liberal supporters who pushed the bill in 2010. There is no word about how Bank of America, NEA's preferred bank provider, stands to benefit from this delay.Do you think this is a wise use for membership dues?Comment below.Originally posted by Alix at AAE.

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Unions Forsake Teachers for Raw Political Power
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 22, 2011, 09:13 PM

During the recent statewide debate on Idaho’s education reform bills, I noted in a letter to the editor that due to a seeming lack of teachers speaking in favor of the bills, one might wrongly think they had no teacher support.  While many members of Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) strongly oppose elements of Superintendent Luna’s plan, our member survey clearly showed a variety of views, including support for many portions of the plan.  I made the point that teacher support for the bills was never heard, because teachers who do not toe the union line risk harassment at the hands of some union colleagues.  Fear of blackballing and the desire to maintain labor peace in an already stressful job has spawned an unhealthy “group think” that is impairing the free marketplace of ideas critical for innovation and improvement.

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Union Legislation Spreads across the U.S.
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 21, 2011, 08:30 PM
The fight in Wisconsin is far from over. Last week, Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order barring the new law until she can rule whether Republicans violated Wisconsin's open meetings law. While this is a setback for the Wisconsin legislation, other states are following Governor Walker's lead and are in various stages of pushing labor reform legislation.   Continue Reading...
NEA’s General Counsel Reveals True Priorities
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 15, 2011, 06:47 PM

In July 2009, the National Education Association's General Counsel, Bob Chanin delivered a shocking speech that outlined the true priorities of the NEA: money and power. The claims were met by thunderous applause by the union leadership and members in attendance and these revelations generated significant commentary throughout the blogosphere.

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Utah Bill Hammering Unions Advances
posted by: Cindy Omlin | February 24, 2011, 10:41 PM

This week, Utah House Bill 183 cleared several legislative hurdles after years of union push back. The House advanced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit school districts from paying teachers on leave from the classroom for union duties as well as prohibit school district money contributing to union leader salaries.   Continue Reading...

A recent report by the Education Intelligence Agency sheds light on the financial disclosures of the American Federation of Teachers in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The analysis reveals that the AFT spent $2.6 million of member dues on a wide array of left-leaning advocacy groups, charities, and big labor organizations.   Continue Reading...

 

AAE Executive Director Gary Beckner op-ed as featured on the Washington Examiner's website

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A recent report by the Education Intelligence Agency sheds light on the financial disclosures of the National Education Association in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The analysis reveals that the NEA spent $13 million dollars of member dues on a wide array of left-leaning advocacy groups and charities.   Continue Reading...
NYC Judge Strikes Blow to Teachers Union
posted by: Cindy Omlin | January 11, 2011, 05:00 PM

In October, we reported that the New York City school system had announced plans to work with the media to publish "value-added" scores and other data from the country's largest public school system. Yesterday there was new development in the case when a Manhattan judge ruled that the city may release performance rankings to the media, denying a request by the teachers union to keep the teachers' names confidential.   Continue Reading...

NEA Challenges Charter Movement in New Business Items
posted by: Alix | July 12, 2010, 06:08 PM

At their annual convention held earlier this month, the National Education Association heard a series of new business items (NBIs) that display their distaste for the charter movement: NBI 91, which failed to pass after debate, sought to start a counter-campaign to a number of documentaries about education reform and charters that will be playing in theaters across the country this year  Continue Reading...

After logging 2,000 hours flying F-4 Phantoms and serving in five overseas deployments, retired USMC Maj. Stephen Godin decided to take on an equally demanding challenge–teaching public high school. For the past fourteen years, Maj. Godin has been teaching in the distinguished JROTC program at North High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. The principal of North High praises Maj. Godin as an "excellent" instructor. Maj. Godin also coaches the regional champion drill team and he's never missed a day of work.  Continue Reading...

Politicians Targeting Teachers Unions in Budget Crunch
posted by: Colin | June 07, 2010, 01:31 PM

Politico reports that Republican and some Democratic politicians have turned on public workers and their labor unions—particularly teachers unions, including the NEA and the AFT. According to Politico, "public employee unions [are] emerging as an intransigent public enemy number one in cities and state capitals across the country."  Continue Reading...

AAE Releases a History of the NEA: "Powerful Failure"
posted by: Colin | June 01, 2010, 01:33 PM
AAE Releases a History of the NEA: "Powerful Failure"

Powerful Failure: How the National Education Association Fails to Use Its Influence for Education is released today by the Association of American Educators. The booklet chronicles the development, growth, and politicization of the largest educators’ union in America, the National Education Association (NEA).  Continue Reading...

Bad news this morning regarding teacher pensions, so I hope you've had your coffee. A recent study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research states that teacher pensions nationwide are underfunded by nearly $1 trillion—three times the estimate of government officials. The difference in estimates is because teacher pensions, unlike their private counterparts, assume a much higher—if unrealistic—return on investment and enjoy more freedom than private pension funds.  Continue Reading...

Professor emeritus and founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University, Dr. Kevin Ryan published an editorial calling on the country to muster the courage to challenge the "eight hundred pound gorilla" preventing real reform in schools—the teacher unions:  Continue Reading...

Charter School Bill Dies in WV Senate, Unions Blamed
posted by: Colin | March 03, 2010, 04:08 PM

West Virginia State Sen. Erik Wells, a Democrat representing Kanawha, killed his own charter schools bill, criticizing the unions who opposed the legislation. "Who's standing up for students of this state?" Wells asked during his speech on the senate floor, "It's not AFT, it's not WVEA." Sen. Wells accused the unions of attacking his family because he sends his daughter to private school. Although Sen. Wells was elected in 2006 with union support, one teacher union has endorsed Wells' primary opponent.  Continue Reading...

AFT Teachers Understand Free Market Principles
posted by: Colin | February 23, 2010, 04:50 PM

HT Mike Antonucci's Intercepts AFT union members in New Mexico are expressing their disappointment in a recent Albuquerque Journal editorial by canceling their subscriptions. Imagine that, they have the freedom to take their business elsewhere.   Continue Reading...

EIA: NEA losing members
posted by: Colin | January 26, 2010, 06:22 PM

According to the Education Intelligence Agency, the National Education Association has lost nearly 37,000 members from the previous year's total, the first time in 27 years that the nation's largest teachers union has experienced a net loss. EIA elaborates that only 15,000 of the lost members were "active certified" members.

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EIA Report: NEA Spends $26M on Advocacy Groups
posted by: Colin | January 15, 2010, 04:52 PM

The Education Intelligence Agency, a popular education research blog run by Mike Antonucci, has analyzed the NEA's 2008-09 financial disclosure report and discovered that the largest teachers union in the country has given over $26 million of teacher dues, some collected by force, to advocacy groups.  Continue Reading...

Why Do Unions Oppose Race to the Top Funding?
posted by: Colin | January 07, 2010, 02:56 PM

Florida Education Association president Andy Ford published an open letter to Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith voicing his opposition to the way the Education Department's Race to the Top program is being operated. "The Race to the Top dollars will not have the desired impact," Ford claims, and, according to Education Week, the FEA and other state unions are threatening withholding their endorsement of state applications, "jeopardize the states' chances of winning the coveted federal dollars." Why would the unions do this?  Continue Reading...

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