Free Republic

Dane Smith has been my worthy counterpart at Minnesota’s major progressive think tank, Growth & Justice, since he assumed the presidency there six years ago. Long before that, he was my colleague at the Pioneer Press in the 1980s. . . In the same way he generously has written approvingly about some things I’ve written in recent years, I’m pleased to write approvingly about a recent commentary of his in the Star Tribune on academic, employment, homeownership and other racially demarcated gaps in the Twin Cities (“The employment gap: The ‘why’ and ‘what to do,;” June 16). . . ....

Unions such as Education Minnesota represent the greatest barrier to improving teacher quality. Teachers unions such as Education Minnesota consistently promote practices that undermine excellence in the classroom. Education Minnesota is the second best funded lobbying force in the state, eclipsed only by the National Rifle Association. Having aided the election of Gov. Mark Dayton and a DFL-controlled Legislature, Education Minnesota is vigorously calling in its chips. With Dayton and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius as its agents, Education Minnesota has been hugely successful in disassembling the previous system of school accountability. Cassellius sought waivers from requirements that were effectively identifying...

<p>On a personal level, union leaders such as Education Minnesota President Thomas Dooher no doubt care about our schools, teachers and communities. We all know many wonderful teachers in Education Minnesota's ranks. They are our relatives, neighbors and friends.</p> <p>Yet on issue after issue, Dooher stands defiantly in the school entrance, horn in hand, blocking any innovation that would lift black children from north Minneapolis out of the endless cycle of poverty and failure. Many leaders within the black community, including us, will not stand politely by and allow such injustice at the hands of Education Minnesota to happen any longer.</p>

The state's largest teachers union, which stood against Minnesota's application for millions in federal "Race to the Top" funding, plans a 10-week TV ad campaign to push the Legislature for more funding. Don't cut schools to balance the budget, Education Minnesota will say. But that plea leaves out important context, such as this from our side of the river: 1. During a deep recession, the union drives through $10 million worth of salary and benefit increases. 2. Which amounts to close to half of this year's operating deficit. 3. And then will be followed by TV ads urging the Legislature...

Six demonstrators were arrested Monday morning at UnitedHealth Group's corporate headquarters in Minnetonka after they blocked the doors and refused to leave during a protest over health care reform. About 110 protesters sang and spoke about the need to change the way health care is organized and financed in the United States, and said that insurers such as UnitedHealth are making people sicker because the system doesn't offer proper coverage for many patients. They cited what they said is UnitedHealth's practice of "denying care and claims in order to generate record profits." The demonstration was organized by a group called...

Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member teachers union, wants to know what you think about our state's public schools. And it's willing to pay a million bucks to find out. Or so it says. The union has launched a million-dollar, monthlong TV advertising campaign urging you to go to a website, www.schoolsfirst.org. There you can fill out a survey on public education or learn how to attend a public "listening session." Sure, the Minnesota Legislature will be meeting in five weeks, and there's a statewide election this fall. Never mind. Judy Schaubach, the union's president, assures Minnesotans that the campaign has no...