Free Republic

In a recent story about political polarization, The Washington Post quoted a Michigan teacher who claimed the Mackinac Center for Public Policy is out to destroy public education because it has published the salaries of particular teachers. Erin Mastin, a teacher with Boyne City Public Schools, was portrayed in the article as someone concerned about divisiveness, and who believes the political system is rigged in favor of the rich and powerful. From the article: She could feel the influence of money in politics in her classroom, she said. In recent months, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a conservative Michigan-based...

The Detroit Public Schools is seeking a temporary injunction against teachers after sick-outs closed 88 schools in Detroit today - the largest in a string of teacher protests. The district is seeking relief in the Michigan Court of Claims, naming among the 28 defendants Steve Conn, the ousted leader of the teacher's union, interim president Ivy Bailey, and several groups including DPS Teachers Fight Back. Teacher absences forced 88 Detroit schools to close today, the largest sick-out meant to call attention to large class sizes, dilapidated buildings and other problems in Michigan's largest school district. The sick-out idled most of...

Michigan recently administered a new series of tests to public school students between grades three and 11, covering the four separate subject areas of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. With one exception, more than half the students were rated less than “proficient” for their grade level. (That exception was third-grade English, where precisely 50 percent of students scored “proficient” or “advanced.”) This poor performance is reflected in other findings as well, such as a 2013 analysis of state scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress published by the Urban Institute, which ranked Michigan’s public school system 44th in...

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other teachers are calling into question the agency fees that public-sector workers are required to pay to unions, which they say violate their First Amendment rights. If the Supreme Court rules in Friedrichs' favor, it would make union dues voluntary for all public-sector workers.

Central Academy, a charter school in Ann Arbor, was rated by The Center for Michigan’s Bridge magazine as the top school in the state. Ashley Community Schools, a district some 40 miles north of Lansing, placed fourth. Yet, in 2014-15, neither Central Academy nor Ashley Community schools rated any of their teachers as “highly effective,” the highest rating available to teachers. In fact, both the public charter school and the school district grouped all their teachers (30 and 26, respectively) in the same category — “effective” — which is only the second-highest rating. “Several of our teachers have received ‘Highly...

On January 1, California residents will have to accustom themselves to a number of new laws that will be implemented in the state. These are some the laws that will likely have the most profound effect: SB 172: High school seniors will receive their diploma whether or not they pass or even take an exit exam; the law also applies retroactively to students who have graduated since 2004; ... SB 707: Bans concealed firearms from college campuses and K-12 school grounds

The backers of the Jeffco recall effort (read: Teachers Union) campaigned on the lie that the Jeffco School Board was lacking in transparency. That is why yesterday's ruling that Jeffco United, the nonprofit engaged in the recall effort, violated campaign finance laws is so, so delicious. The organization made a $90,000 donation to the recall effort without disclosing its donors. According to an administrative law judge, that is verboten. Its punishment is not so simple. The organization must pay $1,000, register as a political committee, and (here is the delightful part) disclose its donors. While nonprofits are not typically required...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to authorize a strike. CTU says 88 percent of its members voted in favor of the action if necessary. State law requires 75 percent approval to authorize a strike. But a strike cannot take place until 105 days after the fact-finding phase begins. The CTU has called for that phase to begin immediately, but CPS does not want to start fact finding until mid-February. The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Illinois Educational Relations Board, which is scheduled dto meet at the end of January. If it...

The principal of DeWitt Clinton HS, a struggling Bronx school in Mayor de Blasio's multimillion-dollar Renewal program, changed students failing grades to passing without teachers knowledge or consent, insiders told The Post. In one case, Santiago Taveras gave a senior who received a "no show" in a global-history class a 75 and changed her failing 55 grade in gym to a minimum passing 65, records show. She then got a credit for each class, which she did not deserve, several staffers charged. He thinks he is God and can do whatever he wants. ... Taveras changed a students failing 55...

Students at Myron L. Powell Elementary School in Cedarville, N.J. aren’t just learning about reading, writing and arithmetic this fall. They’re also getting homework assignments with hypothetical scenarios about going to “an awesome party,” getting wasted, having sex with random people they don’t know and and ending up with a nasty case of genital herpes.

Protesters threw Molotov cocktails at riot police and Greek's central bank building after a demonstration against austerity cuts turned violent today...Almost 25,000 people marched through the streets, as part of a 24 hour strike that has brought the capital to a standstill, to protest a new round of tax hikes and spending cuts. Flights were grounded, ships were docked, offices were empty and hospitals left with skeleton staff in the first major walkout in a year...Tsipras' left wing Syriza party, which leads the coalition government, has backed the strike but one protesting teacher said they have 'deprived every Greek of...

One schoolteacher who gets paid $87,349 annually, and another who gets $80,472, were highlighted in a recent Oakland Press article complaining that teachers had to get second jobs “to make ends meet.” The article was written by a third teacher, Julia Satterthwaite, who works at the Rochester Community Schools district and is described as a "summer intern” for the newspaper. The article featured one of the author’s colleagues, Karen Malsbury, who has been teaching for 14 years. Malsbury was quoted as saying, “There is little or no room for professional growth, little opportunity to increase your personal income, no step...

How many of you have ever wanted to beat the crap out of an aging high school teacher who's just trying to do his unappreciated and underpaid job in a whacked-out world, and have yourself appear as a "victim" even though you spawned the aforementioned hell? You have? Well then ... keep reading. In addition, have you ever asked your self, "Self... how can I be a belligerent human hemorrhoid on society's butt and totally shut down a classroom, to such an extent that law enforcement gets called to sort out my sorry backside and then, after all the utter,...

Ann Marie Corgill, 2015 National Teacher of the Year finalist and 2014-2015 Alabama Teacher of the Year, has submitted a letter of resignation to Birmingham City Schools. Corgill, a fifth-grade teacher at Oliver Elementary School, moved to the Birmingham school district after teaching at Cherokee Bend Elementary School for three years - a move widely considered a step in the right direction for the Birmingham City Schools. But in the letter obtained by AL.com, she cited confusion about her certification after Birmingham and Alabama Department of Education officials recently informed her she was not qualified to teach fifth grade. "After...

Over the past year there has been a steady stream of claims of a looming “teacher shortage” coming from voices in the public school establishment that Michigan. Generally these are associated with false claims of lower state funding and falling teacher pay rates. Among those repeating the teacher shortage claim is State Superintendent Brian Whiston. Many union and school officials who appear to reading from similar “war on teachers” play books assert that the mythical attacks are dissuading many who might otherwise choose to enter the profession. ForTheRecord says: There were 97,288 teachers in the state of Michigan in 2014-15....

Many newspaper stories, including a recent one in the Detroit Free Press, have repeated a tale about demoralized Michigan teachers who are blamed for everything. The demoralized state of Michigan's teaching workforce, it is said, could lead to a teacher shortage because young people don’t want to enter the field. Yet the number of people already certified to teach in this state tells a different story, as does the fact that the number increases every year, thanks to a continued influx of new teachers. According to the Michigan Department of Education, around 129,682 individuals have obtained the state teaching certificate...

Should San Francisco build affordable housing just for teachers? Yes, we need our teachers to live in the same communities as their students No, teachers shouldn't be favored over others who want to live in the city Yes, SFUSD can't recruit teachers because the city's cost of living is so high No, just pay them more so they can afford to live in S.F.

A lawsuit seeking to have New York's teacher tenure protections ruled unconstitutional will advance, thanks to a judge's ruling late Friday afternoon. Teachers unions filed a motion to dismiss the case, but their motion was denied. ... The parents seeking to invalidate the teacher tenure protections argue the law robs children of their right to a basic education. "Teachers in New York City are more likely to die on the job than be replaced because of poor performance," according to the Partnership for Educational Justice, which is backing the case. Roughly 30 percent of New York students are proficient in...

A Bronx principal ordered her teachers to give up their desks last week, and had the furniture dumped at the curb — telling staff she doesn’t want them sitting in class. Donna Connelly, principal of PS 24, the Spuyten Duyvil School in Riverdale, also told teachers to empty their filing cabinets, which she then discarded. With class in session, teachers were told to push their desks and cabinets into the hallway. Custodians then hauled them outside and piled them like trash on the blacktop of a school across the street.

The indictment of former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett closes a chapter in yet another sad tale of greedy, cheating city officials. Her lawyer says she has agreed to plead guilty when she appears in court, and I hope the judge throws the book at her. But ethical misconduct is only a part of BBB's legacy. The ex-CEO—along with the rest of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's crack team at the Board of Education—has left us with a whopper of a problem that could hit full force as soon as next month. I'm referring to the nearly $500 million hole in...