Education Action Group - Page 3

Labor unions are very powerful in Michigan, and the Michigan Education Association may be the strongest of them all. That explains why the number of charter schools in Michigan has remained capped at a frustrating 150 for nearly two decades.

LAS VEGAS – While the Great Recession has affected almost all Americans, Nevadans may be the hardest hit. The state leads the nation in unemployment (13 percent) and home foreclosures (three times the national average). Because of the faltering economy

TALAHASSEE, Fla. – What’s happened to Florida Gov. Rick Scott? When Scott took office earlier this year, he wasted no time establishing himself as a bold education reformer by placing limits on teacher tenure, basing teacher pay on student achievement,

The “education experts” that are giving leadership to the National Education Association have come out in favor of tougher testing measures for prospective teachers. The NEA, the nation’s largest labor union, announced last week that it favors “national standards for

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Board members at Fort Wayne Community Schools have found a crafty way of preventing charter schools from moving in on their territory, despite new laws designed to help the schools acquire underutilized public school buildings. They

MONROE, Ohio – What a difference a month makes. On November 8, over 60 percent of Ohio voters shot down SB 5, the law designed to save school budgets by limiting the collective bargaining privileges of school employee unions. Like

CARY, Ill. – For the past several years, Illinois‘ Cary District 26 was a prime example of the damage a demanding teachers union and a weak school board can inflict on a public school system. District 26 was in such

KENOSHA – Apparently there’s no room for free thought or disagreement within the Wisconsin Education Association Council. We suppose that’s not terribly surprising for a group that has to force its members to join. Still, it’s troubling to hear that

MINNEAPOLIS – Last week marked the beginning of contract talks between Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, the local teachers union. But this time around there’s a third voice that wants input at the bargaining table. A

INDIANAPOLIS – The idea of a salary cap for Indiana school superintendents may have floundered this summer during a legislative study committee, but issues surrounding compensation for school leaders aren’t going away any time soon. Recent studies are unveiling some

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Hundreds of protesters are converging on the state capitol in Olympia, Washington to protest cuts in K-12 education spending, and promote various plans to restore that funding. We wish we could be on hand to join the

MILWAUKEE – The sky is falling. Hell’s freezing over. Well, almost. The Milwaukee school board has decided to invoke Act 10 and cut labor costs, without permission from its large and influential teachers union. Welcome to the real world of

MUSKEGON, Mich. – We’ve always known that teachers unions are very political organizations, and many of their more radical members are active in left-wing causes. That’s their right, as long as they pursue their activities after school. But more and

NESHAMINY, Pa. – Some well-meaning people still cling to the notion that teachers union collective bargaining is healthy for public schools. We invite them to visit Neshaminy, Pennsylvania, or at least do some research on the three-year labor standoff that

HAINESPORT, New Jersey – The Hainesport Township School District needs to cut expenses, and officials think outsourcing the school’s custodial, maintenance and groundskeeping jobs to private, for-profit companies might be one way of doing so. This has caused Hainesport’s school

The local Republican Party made the unusual move of endorsing 4 of the 15 school board candidates who were on the ballot this year in Michigan’s Plymouth-Canton school district, according to the Detroit Free Press. What’s even more amazing is

CHICAGO – If well-known people want to avoid controversy, they should avoid making ugly comments about respected citizens and public officials, particularly in public. That’s a lesson Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has yet to learn. Last week, while

While the teacher unions of Oakland, California are enjoying the Occupy protests, just down the road in the Alameda school district, the teachers union has been busy working on behalf of its top priority. Surprise, surprise – students are not

OAKLAND, Calif. – We were dismayed a few weeks ago when hundreds of union teachers in Oakland, California skipped work and forced the shutdown of several schools, in observance of the Occupy movement’s national strike day. We thought their commitment

OMAHA, Neb. – An annual poll regarding the U.S. public education system shows that teachers’ unions are losing support among Americans, while the percentage of people that support school reform has reached a record high. The results underscore the growing

We’ve always assumed that public schools exist, first and foremost, to benefit the students of a community. But that’s clearly not the case in Chicago. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been pushing the idea of adding 90 minutes to the

School reformers across the nation are closely watching Ohio, where a statewide referendum next Tuesday will determine the fate of SB 5, the legislation that would greatly curtail collective bargaining privileges for teachers and other public employees. This gutsy law,

For years we’ve been preaching the same fundamental message – public schools have more of a spending problem than a revenue problem. And the spending problem is largely caused by skyrocketing labor costs and stubborn unions that refuse to make

[youtube rgyUSCzyas4] NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton wrote an editorial about the need for school reform in America. It appeared in the Wall Street Journal under the title If NFL Played By Teachers’ Rules. Tarkenton talked to EAGtv about

EAGtv reports even though the Ohio law SB 5 was signed into law by the governor, it’s on hold until voters decide the matter in November. But the bill is already saving Ohio school districts, like Lordstown, money and jobs.