Free Republic

St. Paul Public Schools workers are filing more injury reports and claims under the workers' compensation program. And district officials are not entirely sure why. Injury reports were up 50 percent in 2013 compared with four years ago, and the number of claims seeking payment for medical expenses or lost wages are up almost 30 percent, all while district employment stayed stable. Officials say they are watching how much the district is paying out more closely than the number of reports and claims. Those amounts have not risen in the past two years -- though they'll likely go up as...

Video surfaced on Thursday showing Michael Mulgrew, president of New York’s United Federation of Teachers, as he unloaded a hateful rant against critics of the Common Core Standards Initiative. “If someone takes something from me, I’m going to grab it right back out of their cold, twisted, sick hands and say it is mine!” Mulgrew bellowed clownishly. “You do not take what is mine!” The union boss also challenged opponents of Common Core and union control over education to a fist fight. “I’m going to punch you in the face and push you in the dirt because this is the...

It’s sad but true. Nearly 50% of high school seniors know the names of The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) but can’t name the three branches of government. And fully one-third of students asked for the origin of the statement “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” responded that this came from the Bill of Rights when it actually came from The Communist Manifesto. So says Dr. Walter Williams, the eminent free market economist and higher education critic, who explained in a recent column at Townhall.com that examples like this are a testament to...

The teachers’ union representing the Douglas County school system has lost one-quarter of its membership since last year, signaling a growing frustration within the ranks that dues are used to finance politics instead of professional development. The significant drop in membership of the Douglas County Federation (DCF) was revealed in a July 21 letter from the board of education to Courtney Smith, union president, and was based on the union’s most recently released tax returns. The letter pointed to the drop in membership as undeniable proof that teachers had chosen the district over the union and the need for major...

A teacher in South Dakota with a bachelor’s degree and 10 years of experience earns $33,600 per year, which is less than the average auto-repair worker. So says Vox. This grievance against salary injustice is nothing new, of course, but this particular example comes to us from a new national study by the Center for American Progress, which details the chickenfeed teachers are forced to subsist on as they altruistically keep your hopeless children literate. Teachers are underpaid. In politics, and also in everyday life, this is almost universally accepted. Everyone admires teachers. Everyone wants good teachers for their children....

Hell hath no fury like a congressman scorned. Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel is giving the teachers union a lesson in political retribution for snubbing him and endorsing his rival Adriano Espaillat for Congress, sources said. Rangel is hitting the union where it hurts — by vigorously supporting non-unionized charter schools. The unions have been fighting desperately to stop or slow down charter-school expansion. “The congressman was disappointed the UFT [United Federation of Teachers] dumped him for Espaillat. I see Charlie speaking out more forcefully on the charter-school issue,” said a Rangel ­insider. “He doesn’t have to be concerned about offending...

A Catholic high school in Georgia is facing a legal complaint from a former teacher whose contract was not renewed after it was discovered through Facebook that, contrary to Catholic teaching, “he plans to marry a man,” National Public Radio reports. The school, Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, reportedly “released a statement saying they have to consider an employee’s ability to teach Catholic doctrine when making staff decisions.” Former teacher Flint Dollar is reportedly “working to change” federal anti-discrimination laws which do not prohibit employers “from hiring or firing people on the basis of sexual orientation.” NPR reports: Since...

Three of the city’s longest-running “rubber room” teachers have raked in more than $1 million each for a decade of not working in classrooms, and a fourth is paid a top salary — $100,049 a year — not to teach. The Foul Four — who beat sexual-misconduct charges — can’t be fired by the Department of Education because they are entitled to job protections under state tenure laws, which require “due process.” Educators are entitled to a trial with an independent hearing officer who decides whether any misconduct warrants termination. A group of New York City parents filed a lawsuit...

President Barack Obama brought forward a new administration effort Monday to place quality teachers in schools that need them the most. Obama said the U.S. education system has “a problem” in that students who would benefit the most from having skilled or experienced teachers in their classrooms are least likely to get them, including black and Hispanic students. Obama credits education and good teachers for helping him get to the White House. He said he wants to make sure that every child has the same access to good teachers that he had. …

SALT LAKE CITY — Since 2009, Utah has seen more than 20 cases of teachers and others in positions of authority accused of having some type of sexual contact with a minor. Below is a list of some of those who were prosecuted and the status of their cases...

yesterday's decision in a key Illinois Supreme Court case has set off a first-class explosion in state and local government, potentially punching tens of billions of dollars in holes in their collective budgets. Some elements of the court's decision are drawing intense debate. But if the overnight consensus is anywhere near correct, everyone from City Hall and the Capitol to your local village and school board will have little option now but to dig deep, cut services and raise taxes a lot — and labor unions little incentive to compromise. "The law in Illinois is now crystal clear: Politicians cannot...

CHICAGO (CBS) – Chicago Public Schools officials have sent layoff notices to 550 teachers and 600 clerical support staff, but said the teachers will be able to apply for other open jobs with the district for next school year. The district said the teacher layoffs were the result of enrollment declines at some schools, though CPS has not identified which ones. However, the district said it expects to have approximately 1,780 vacant teaching slots for next school year, and teachers who received layoff notices can apply for those positions. Approximately 1,400 of the open slots are for full-time teaching positions....

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Wednesday making it easier for school districts to fire abusive teachers, capping an effort that gained momentum after a particularly egregious case of misconduct in Los Angeles highlighted how difficult it can be to remove problem teachers. AB215 takes effect Jan. 1 after several failed attempts in recent years to overhaul statutes governing teacher dismissals. The signing came just two weeks after a court struck down California's teacher tenure laws and tossed out other statutes related to firing educators.

A union-backed bill in the California legislature to expand tenure protections for public school teachers to other employees stalled on Wednesday amid concern about a court ruling last week that said the practice is unconstitutional and hurts students. The measure, which could come up again next week, comes as officials in the most populous U.S. state continue to wrestle with whether to appeal the ruling by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, which overturned five laws meant to protect teachers' jobs. The ruling said the protections make it too hard to fire ineffective teachers and inadvertently lead to placing the...

LOS ANGELES — A California judge ruled Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprived students of their right to an education under the State Constitution and violated their civil rights. The decision hands teachers’ unions a major defeat in a landmark case, one that could radically alter how California teachers are hired and fired and prompt challenges to tenure laws in other states. “Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students,” Judge Rolf M. Treu of Los Angeles Superior Court wrote in the ruling. “The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it...

It won’t be as simple from now on for ineffective California teachers to coast off to a lifetime career on easy street. In a Los Angeles Superior Court ruling today, Judge Rolf M. Treu “found five California laws governing teacher tenure, layoffs and dismissals unconstitutional,” reports Politico. “Treu found,” reporter Stephanie Simon wrote, “that the statutes permit too many grossly incompetent teachers to remain in classrooms across the state —and found that those teachers shortchange their students by putting them months or years behind their peers in math and reading.” There’s no doubt that not all teachers are created equal....

It’s hard to deny just how poorly Chicago’s public schools are performing when it hits you in the face. Such is the case with Paul Robeson High School’s 2014 prom theme: “This is Are Story.” That image came from veteran investigative reporter Chuck Goudie, who posted this image on his Facebook page. Some people might enjoy mocking the irony of the gross misuse of vocabulary. But unless the organizers of the prom festivities planned the wording this way as a joke, there’s nothing funny about the situation.

The ruling is in response to a request from a group of students who said the laws make it virtually impossible to fire poorly performing teachersA judge issued a tentative ruling Tuesday that found California's public school teacher tenure laws unconstitutional after hearing testimony from students who claimed the job protections made it virtually impossible to dismiss low-performing teachers. The decision in Vergara v. California pitted the state and its largest teacher unions against students who asked the judge to consider laws regarding teacher tenure, dismissal and seniority consideration for layoffs. A Silicon Valley-based group called Students Matter brought the...

A substitute teacher in New Jersey won't be allowed to fill in again at an elementary school after she allegedly taped shut the mouths of several students last week, officials say. Sheldon Dutes reports A substitute teacher in New Jersey won't be allowed to fill in again at an elementary school after she allegedly taped shut the mouths of several students last week, officials say. The teacher was working at the Winfield Scott Elementary School in Elizabeth and placed decorative tape over the mouths of five students during a "quiet game" after lunch, according to parents and officials. One of...

The Jeffco Public Schools Board school board tossed out a tentative deal with its teachers union during Thursday night’s board meeting. Board president Ken Witt said he could not endorse the deal because the agreement provided raises to an estimated 56 teachers who were rated “partly effective” on the district’s evaluation rubric. ... teachers union representatives were disappointed