Kyle Olson - Page 29

In the ongoing battle between public employees and taxpayers, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has cited WEA Trust, a company that specializes in providing health insurance to unionized school employees, as the number one reason why collective bargaining must be reformed.

Many parents and taxpayers feel the problem is overwhelming for one person and there is nothing they can do. There are several things individuals can do to make a difference. In the first several segments of “Kids Aren’t Cars,” we

As government employee unions continue to rally across the country in support of the Wisconsin protesters, they are becoming completely unhinged. (Being surrounded by hygienically-challenged individuals who continuously shout mind-numbing slogans will do that.) All the protests are understandable. The

Is it the slow-moving nature of bureaucracy or is it politics that has turned a simple Freedom of Information Law request into a 94-day wait? On December 20, 2010, Education Action Group filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request

While all eyes are on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his efforts to reform his state’s spending, Indiana is leading the way with broad-based education reforms. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is pushing several concrete reforms: limiting collective bargaining,

Perhaps one of the most disturbing developments in the fight against Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to curtail school spending is his opposition’s penchant for reverting to its usual selfish ways. A commune has been created within the Wisconsin state Capitol.

Much of the current controversy in Wisconsin involves the impending loss of most collective bargaining privileges for state employees, including public school teachers. The fact is that the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the largest teachers union in the state, has

There’s a dirty little secret in public school governance: for a few thousand dollars, unions can run the table. How? Elect the school board. Then, at negotiation time, they’re sitting across the bargaining table from their friends. Who is looking

Now that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is on the road to recovery, labor unions and others on the American left have pulled out all the stops in blocking spending cuts in D.C. and across the country. Since the left has no

After years of obstructing efforts to reform public education, the nation’s teacher unions are using this week’s national education conference in Denver to push for a spirit of “collaboration” among education reformers and teacher unions. It’s too bad that the

Have you ever seen a school administrator add up the last four digits of a teacher’s social security number to determine whether or not that teacher will remain on the staff? How about teachers flipping a coin to see who

Like the dog that finally catches the car, the radicals have become the establishment. Those free-wheeling students of the ’60s – fighting “the man,” bombing government buildings, burning draft cards – now work for that government and are counting the

Few school districts in America rival the dire condition of Detroit Public Schools: staggering dropout rates, functionally-illiterate high school graduates, a dysfunctional school board and a sea of red ink. Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb has been trying to fix

Even though the condition of the Oakland Unified School District is so bad that the state of California had to take it over, don’t expect the Oakland Education Association to be bothered with such trivialities. So what if thousands of

Somewhere back in our school days, we all had a special teacher who made learning fun or who pushed us into achieving more than we thought possible. If you were lucky, you had several teachers like that. But we’ve all

Perhaps you’ve heard about Kelley Williams-Bolar, the Ohio mother who was recently tried and convicted for falsifying residency records so her daughters could attend a better school where they would receive a quality education. The “better school” hired a private

Former American Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker made teachers’ unions what they are today. He was hard-nosed defender of teachers’ rights, but he also came clean about public school performance. [youtube jQF_lnOUpEk] In the making of “Kids Aren’t Cars,”

One of the most disturbing results of an adult-focused public education system is the constant focus on money. There is an insatiable thirst on the part of Big Labor to constantly increase spending on public education, because the teachers’ unions

The next time you hear of a school district that cannot afford new textbooks for its students, or is forced to lay off teachers due to budget constraints, remember the following story. A former public school superintendent in Wayne Township,

The high school graduate who cannot read his diploma is a favorite cliché among education reformers. But like all clichés, it holds a lot of truth. Difficult as it may be to believe, there high school graduates who are barely

American Federation of Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten has been doing her best to make sure Big Labor has a say in education reform. She wants to drive the train. The National Education Association, on the other hand, is taking the

Americans are beginning to understand that the government-run assembly-line education system is not working. As I point out in the upcoming “Kids Aren’t Cars” film series, thousands, of not millions of kids are being failed by a system that is

A series of videos have been racking up viewings on YouTube, thanks in part to public school teachers and university professors making them a part of curriculum, and indoctrinating our children with left-wing anti-capitalist propaganda. Annie Leonard, an activist with

“Kids Aren’t Cars” is a new short film series set for release February 1st. Using examples from the Midwest, it documents the impact organized labor has had on the American education system, creating a one-size-fits-all assembly line model that leaves

America’s public education system is a lot like the Chicago Cubs: both have become so accustomed to failure that it has become an accepted way-of-life. While there might be something loveable and comical about a continuously lousy baseball team, there

The folks who brought us the “Defend Public Education” actions last March in California, Wisconsin, New York and Michigan are planning a new round this year and will be drawing on the “energy” created by the violent, destructive riots in

The Grand Rapids Education Association, a local affiliate of Michigan’s largest teachers’ union, is attempting to pick off one-by-one 90-some members that have refused to pay their dues. About 18 months ago, the school board voted to no longer deduct

Newly-elected House Speaker John Boehner is a leader in delivering educational options for American kids. National School Choice Week will be an opportunity to highlight the critical need for school choice and giving parents options out of our failing public

Education Action Group has produced an eye-opening chart illustrating the torturous, time-consuming and expensive process New Jersey schools must follow when attempting to fire a tenured teacher for “inefficiency, incapacity, conduct unbecoming or other just cause.” EAG created this chart

Well, it turns out that the slow snow removal process in New York City was the act of childish adults protesting budget cuts. According to the New York Post: “[Unionized city workers] sent a message to the rest of the

In Boston, a special fund established in 1968 pays for teachers’ funeral expenses, hearing aids and a softball league as well as legal services that have nothing to do with classroom instruction. In the last school year alone, Boston taxpayers

While I run a non-profit, I feel very much like a small business owner. I’ve got to meet a payroll. I’ve got to be sure we are delivering the highest quality product. I’ve got to make sure we’re getting the

Teacher union leaders have been known to bark back when their strongest job protection – tenure – is referred to as a job for life. Typical rebuttals include: “It’s a necessary protection from overzealous administrators,” or “it’s critical to maintain

Americans are finally accepting the fact that the nation’s public education system is deeply flawed. And a new poll reveals that the public is ready to embrace a logical compromise that would effectively address the problem – do away with

During this past week, with the news so focused on the Congressional tax debate and the “wikileaks” controversy, you may have missed reports of a very impressive school choice victory. The parents of students at McKinley Elementary School in Compton,

The disturbing protests that are spreading across Europe are setting the table for similar showdowns across America in the coming months and years. Public employee unions and their socialist allies will take to the streets of Washington, D.C. and state