Education Action Group - Page 2

MADISON – Wisconsin’s teachers unions have complained bitterly about the loss of their collective bargaining privileges, but never told the people of Wisconsin how they routinely abused those privileges, to the detriment of local schools and their students. A new report from

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – Once again, Colorado’s Douglas County School District is making education news of the “man-bites-dog” variety. Just last year, the Douglas County school board made national headlines when it established a tuition voucher program for students who wanted to

DANVILLE, Ill. – Americans might not agree on much these days, but we can all agree that kids should not be bullied at school. But what happens when the school bully turns out to be the child’s teacher? That concern

MADISON – Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell is a liar. That’s according to a recent blog on BigGovernment.com by Collin Roth of Media Trackers. Roth looked into recent media reports that WEAC officials asked prospective gubernatorial candidates to promise to veto any budget that doesn’t

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Valentine’s Day came early last week for the American Federation of Teachers. Last Monday, President Barack Obama unveiled his budget for 2013 which contains $3.8 trillion in spending – but not a dime of support for the very successful D.C. voucher program. The AFT

ANDOVER, Mass. – For teachers unions and school administrators, work schedules are a touchy subject. The schedule dictates the number of days each year teachers spend in the classroom, the number of hours in a day set aside for preparation, and

MERIDEN, Conn. – Ask Gwen Samuel to describe just what her Connecticut Parents Union does, and she’ll begin by explaining what it doesn’t do. “This is not a parents union that sells brownies to raise money for the local school,” Samuel tells EAG. “There’s no

MIDDLETON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Everyone has their breaking point. After years of watching bullying and abuse of his colleagues, Neshaminy High School teacher David Ferrara decided to do something about the “gang” of thugs who have been terrorizing his school. So he wrote a

Even though voters in Washington State have rejected charter schools three times over the past 20 years, the idea refuses to go away. After years of dipping their toes in the water, it appeared that Washington State lawmakers were finally ready to

LANSING, Mich. – During a legislative hearing at Michigan’s state capitol last week, a member of the education establishment made a stunning admission about how parents are viewed by the “experts.” Debbie Squires, associate director of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Deric Feacher had a very worthwhile dream. He wanted to establish a charter school in his hometown that specialized in helping disadvantaged and at-risk students earn their high school diplomas. So he did what Florida law required. He took his

COLUMBIA, S.C. – It seems that most states are looking to reform their K-12 public education system, either out of necessity – lack of money, low student achievement – or on the principle that families should have the right to

RACINE, Wis. – Left-wing Wisconsin teacher Al Levie believes his mission in the classroom is to help students “become engines of positive change in our society.” Some of his former students, however, describe their experience in his class a little bit differently. “This man

Here’s a headline from a Minnesota Public Radio news story that should cause some sleepless nights for leaders of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers: “Teacher seniority, NCLB top education in low-key legislative session.” The story

CHESTER, Pa. – Three thousand students at Pennsylvania’s largest charter school face the imminent risk of having their school year cancelled in the coming days or weeks, and seeing their school “stop operations” entirely due to a lack of funds.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s no secret that Big Labor is dependent on dues and fees automatically withdrawn from the payroll checks of union members and non-members alike. The automatic deductions funnel millions of dollars into public sector union coffers each

RACINE, Wis. – Al Levie must be proud of himself. The Racine teacher had his fifteen minutes of fame this month when he refused to accept an award from Congressman Paul Ryan at a Martin Luther King, Jr. event at

WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Bill Signorile has regularly attended West Hempstead school board meetings for the past two years, in hopes of getting board members to curb the district’s spending. He says the board’s big-spending habits, particularly when it comes

HARTFORD, Ct. – Since 2010, Connecticut has had the dreary distinction of having the largest student achievement gap in the nation. Students in Connecticut’s well-to-do school districts significantly outperform students in poor, urban districts, which is a major economic and

DENVER – Across the United States, taxpayer dollars are being used to subsidize the salaries and benefits of teachers and other municipal employees who work for their local labor unions. This wasteful tradition costs taxpayers millions each year, and has

CHICAGO – The new documentary film is called “A Tale of Two Missions,” and it’s focused on current conditions in Chicago Public Schools. One “mission” is led by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is working hard to provide fresh opportunities

Florida’s Marion County school district drew national headlines last summer when it announced that it was switching to a four-day school week as a way to save money. Other school officials took a more conventional route by laying off teachers

These days a lot of school budgets are being held together by the accounting equivalents of bailing wire and duct tape. But one Pennsylvania school district is so broke that it needs the state to provide the wire and the

Pennsylvania’s Neshaminy Federation of Teachers has agreed to end its nearly two-week strike, and members will return to the classroom Friday morning. But that doesn’t mean the nastiness is over. The school board had refused to continue contract negotiations while

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Does time stand still in the St. Paul school district? If it does, that would explain why its teachers union, the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, is using contract negotiations to insist on a hard cap

GRANT, Mich. – Ever wonder what it costs to quit a labor union? For one Michigan educator, the annual costs of “non-membership” in the local, state and national teacher unions total $544.28. But Andrew Buikema, 10-year teacher with Grant Public

INDIANAPOLIS – Would you like a vivid example of how dysfunctional leadership and top-heavy bureaucracy can cripple an inner-city school system? Just take a good look at Indianapolis Public Schools. The horrifying results speak for themselves. Less than 60 percent

PITTSBURGH – Conventional wisdom says that allowing charter schools to compete with traditional schools for students and resources will result in the destruction of public education. Those assumptions are being proven wrong by the renaissance underway in Pittsburgh Public Schools,

WASHINGTON, Va. – If you want to mesmerize small children and make them believe everything you’re saying, just grab a guitar and deliver your philosophy in the form of music. Soft sounds and attractive rhymes ring true with kids, regardless

NEW YORK – The new year has only just begun, but the United Federation of Teachers, the union that represents teachers in New York City, seems determined to make it a banner year for union selfishness. The New York Post

MINNESOTA — Charter schools are popping up all across the nation, with 41 states offering families access to the alternative public schools. Because the large majority of charter schools are not unionized, they can focus solely on serving students instead

MADISON, Wis. – For years thousands of minority students have struggled in the Madison public school system. In 2010, for example, 87 percent of white students graduated on schedule, compared to only 48 percent of black students. So the Urban

Yesterday we wrote about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s attempts to end the practice of paying bonuses to public sector employees, just for not calling in sick to work. Across the Hudson River, a New York school district is also