Free Republic

When Detroit Public Schools were assigned an emergency financial manager by the state, we thought he would have the power to turn things around, more or less, with a snap of his fingers. Turns out that’s not the case, due in large part to a thick document known as a teachers contract, or collective bargaining agreement. In Detroit (and most other school districts across the nation) these documents contain seemingly mundane provisions that cost taxpayers and school districts millions of dollars. Those provisions have been sucking a lot money out of Detroit Public Schools, a cash-starved district that can’t afford...

The Michigan Education Association was the fourth wealthiest union among its peers under the National Education Association umbrella and the MEA’s employee payroll was third-highest in the country as of 2009-10, according to a union watchdog organization. Despite a 0.9 percent drop in total income in 2009-10 from the previous year, the MEA still brought in $77.4 million in 2009-10, the fourth-highest in the country among the 53 NEA affiliates. Only California at $186.2 million, New York at $128.8 million, and New Jersey with $120.5 million brought in more money. The MEA brought in $623.90 per member it represents, making...

The Michigan Education Association pulled down a photo on their Facebook page of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder that had demonic symbols superimposed on Snyder’s forehead, referred to him as “Satan” and had Nazi swastikas and blood spills on the GOP elephant symbol. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy alerted the MEA Tuesday morning of the photo on their page and it was shortly thereafter taken down. The photo was posted on March 11. MEA spokesman Doug Pratt said they investigated the post and found it was an MEA Facebook “fan” who had no affiliation with the teachers’ union. “We do...

The Michigan Education Association is growing more pathetic by the day. The union is beginning to act like the crazy drunk uncle at the Christmas party - spilling his drink on himself and acting rudely to the point where others are embarrassed for him. Seemingly unable to stop any legislation that it opposes after being neutered in the last election, the union is on the floor, kicking and screaming. It’s a pretty pathetic scene to watch.After getting rolled by legislation that would create Emergency Financial Managers in the worst municipalities and school districts, the MEA is now complaining that the...

In response to reports that MEA is preparing to wage a statewide work stoppage as a protest against changes to the Emergency Financial Manager law, Representatives Paul Scott and Bill Rogers have introduced a two-bill package that increases penalties for striking teachers while streamlining the process of determining which teachers are subject to fines. In particular, striking teachers will put their teaching licenses at risk if the proposals are passed. The legislation is a positive step, but if the Legislature really wants to put an end to strike talk, there’s one more step that the state needs to take. Among...

The president of the Michigan Education Association, Iris Salters, said Thursday that a letter she sent out asking members to give the MEA the authority to initiate a “job action” was not calling for a strike. The letter states that on March 11, the MEA board of directors voted unanimously in favor of several actions the MEA would be taking to “ratchet up our efforts” around the “ongoing legislative crisis.” The letter from Salters goes on to state: “Let me be clear on what this vote means. It authorizes MEA to engage in significant activities — up to and including...

The Michigan Education Association's October magazine notes a large percentage of teachers nationwide that consider themselves "conservative." It stated that a 2005-06 National Education Association survey found 45 percent of teachers under 30 classified themselves as conservative and 63 percent of teachers age 40 to 49 classified themselves as conservative. The MEA represents more than 157,000 teachers, faculty and education support staff. Yet, in the same magazine, the MEA released its recommendations for political candidates and recommended 111 Democrats in 114 races. The only three GOP candidates to receive a recommendation were: * State Sen. Roger Kahn of Saginaw, who...

A Northfield middle school teacher admitted in court Wednesday that she bit off a chunk of a stranger's ear while in a St. Paul cafe last month, severing a piece of flesh that police presume she swallowed. Susan M. Mwarabu, 30, of Rochester, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to third-degree felony assault. She remains free pending sentencing May 20.

Republicans love to bash Education Minnesota, claiming the statewide teachers union and its powerful lobbying force essentially control the Democratic Party. But this legislative session, the union is alienating even some of its DFL allies. Observers say relationships are strained because of the union's resistance to proposed reforms — particularly bringing in new teachers and stabilizing the statewide pension for educators. "I'm just absolutely frustrated with some of the stances they're taking on the issues," said DFL Rep. Marsha Swails, who is an English teacher at Woodbury High School. "Maybe all those folks in the Education Minnesota building are a...

It's baaaaaaack. The education establishment and DFL's worst nightmare, meaningful school choice for low-income families, is the menace that haunts bureaucrats and threatens the DFL stranglehold on its constituency of color. And the marquee reads, "This Time It's Back with a Vengeance." A year ago, when state Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, and state Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, introduced Education Access Grant legislation (vouchers for low-income families to use at any accredited private school), few legislators attended the press conference. Last week, as point person for the Republican "Students First" initiative, Buesgens stood flanked and supported by more than a...

Michigan Education Special Services Association: The MEA's Money Machine This exhaustive report illuminates the inner workings of the Michigan Education Association's health insurance division, known as MESSA. It documents how tens of millions of the public's education tax dollars are wasted each year on uncompetitive teacher health insurance, and how MESSA is part of a systematic plan to subsidize the MEA's basic operation and political activity. 64 pages Executive Summary Over one year ago, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy was approached by a concerned parent who had watched his school district, during a heated contract negotiation, spend over half...

Several thousand parents, students, teachers, and other school employees rallied at the State Capitol on Monday evening, calling for more education funding from the state. It was probably the largest education rally at the Capitol in recent years, and it drew more than 175 busloads of participants from such Twin Cities school districts as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, Osseo and Mounds View. Organizers said people came from as far away as Duluth, Mankato and Rochester. Despite the impressive turnout, participation may have been short of the 6,000 to 7,000 people organizers had hoped for. Although an initial State Patrol estimate...

The Penobscot Indian Nation will be opening Maine’s first mail-order drug company this spring as part of a state plan to reduce the cost of prescription medicines – a plan that has some drug store owners worried because it could cut them out of the picture. Plans also are in the works to create a public purchasers pool – including state employees and public school teachers – where the state would negotiate for the cheapest drug prices from pharmaceutical houses. Public employees would not be ordered to get their drugs in the mail; the incentive to do so exists in...

The Maine teacher who recently harassed student body dependents of National Guard troops being activated for possible deployment to Iraq are representative of the growing number of hypocritical pedagogues nationwide who have little or no interest in education, but are keenly interested in using their positions to promote their socialist, left-wing agendas. In terms of respectability and effectiveness, their anti-American behavior has cost public education dearly. But even more costly is the long term damage they are inflicting upon this country's most precious resource: it's youth.

Tuesday, March 4, 2003 Flap over war criticism in schools ends swiftlyBy TESS NACELEWICZ, Portland Press Herald Writer Hank Ogilby has been teaching government at Freeport High School for about nine years, but he's never told his students what political party he belongs to or whom he votes for. Sharing that information, he said, might create a bias in the way they think about him, either positively or negatively. "I usually don't share my opinion unless I'm asked, and if a student asks, I still may not share my opinion," Ogilby said. "I think it can compromise the learning environment."...

Memo sent to teachers regarding political views Governor Baldacci and Maine’s Commissioner of Education have a message for teachers and anybody who works in a school. Keep your political views out of the classroom. Commissioner Duke Albanese has sent a memo to every teacher in the state telling them to keep their politics to themselves. Both Baldacci and Albanese say they’ve received complaints that a few teachers around the state are passing on their anti-war sentiments on to the students during class time. Baldacci says some of the children whose parents have been sent overseas in preparation for war...

Public-school teachers in Maine – at least 12 of them – have told children of recently called-up National Guard members that any attack on Iraq would be illegal and immoral, thus insinuating that the students' parents are equally immoral, according to reports by local Guard personnel. WABI-TV in Bangor, Maine, first reported Friday that family members of two National Guard units recently deployed reported to the Guard's Family Assistance Program that teachers were making harassing comments to their children. The assistance program is designed to help families of Guard members who are called to active duty with information about various...

Anti-war comments made by teachers irks state legislator By Karen Dandurant kdandurant@seacoastonline.com DURHAM, Maine - One Maine legislator thinks derogatory comments made by school personnel to children whose parents have been deployed through the Maine National Guard are offenses serious enough to warrant their dismissal. State Rep. Michael Vaughan, R-Durham, said he has been informed of at last 30 instances where children with military parents had to listen to school staff members say negative things, including telling them their parents are fighting an illegal war and they should be ashamed. "First of all I want to state that I believe...

See XXXX, even a blind monkey finds a banana once in a while. I may not have the answers but by Gosh I can normally find someone who can. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Yes it really fired me up to. Im really happy to know that my National Legionnaires are involved with this...thanks for bring this to my attention again. XXXX -----Original Message----- From: The Final Step [mailto:thefinalstep@z94.com] Sent: Friday, February 28, 2003 1:42 PM To: xxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: FW: Maine Alert - AGAIN!!! XXXX, this campaign has been started by www.militarybrats.com. That is where your...

Maine Teachers Warned on Iraq War Talk Fri Feb 28, 3:01 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Maine - After complaints that the children of soldiers were upset by anti-war comments at school, Maine's top education official warned teachers to be careful of what they say in class about a possible invasion of Iraq. The Maine Army National Guard has received a dozen reports of children of guard members in elementary and middle schools who said teachers and fellow students have criticized the looming conflict. Maj. Peter Rogers quoted...