Free Republic

Democrats love teachers, even when they fail. And they hate the police, no matter how much good they do. But they do each for the very same reason: control. It is important conservatives begin to recognize this reason so they can counter it before it’s too late. When teachers fail, and across the country they fail in large numbers and for generations, what is the response from Democrats? They need more money. School systems have been failing children, generally in Democrat controlled cities, for decades, and every single time test results are announced the solution proposed by those Democrats and...

According to reports, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is mulling a strike this week over the city’s plans to reopen schools.The Chicago Public School System (CPS) says that schools will reopen to in-person education by April 19, but the CTU still claims the coronavirus makes it too “dangerous” for teachers to return to the classroom, the Chicago Tribune reported.

For many students, the reflection of the face staring back at them in the classroom can be indicative of success, according to California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. He supports Assembly Bill 520.

Most fights in one-party states are internecine. In Illinois, the Democrats who control Springfield have all but declared war on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is trying to prevent her city’s further decline. The Chicago Teachers Union is threatening to walk out—again—over the school district’s plan to reopen high schools next week. “Critical sticking points include accommodations, high school schedules that minimize virus transmission, remote work—particularly since the majority of students will remain remote—and vaccines for high school students and their family members,” the union said Monday. The union would rather not reopen at all this school year. And thanks...

Union leader Randi Weingarten criticized Jews as "part of the ownership class" dedicated to denying opportunities to others in an interview released on Friday. Weingarten—who is herself Jewish and draws a six-figure salary as head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—took aim at American Jews in an interview with the Jerusalem Post. When asked about parents critical of the AFT's resistance to school reopening, Weingarten took aim squarely at Jewish critics. "American Jews are now part of the ownership class," Weingarten said. "Jews were immigrants from somewhere else. And they needed the right to have public education. And they...

It was only a matter of time before the government would enlist teachers to work in the migrant shelters sprouting up due to the crisis at the border.When people accuse me of being a glorified babysitter because I’m a teacher, I usually laugh and respond, “Who said anything about being glorified?” During the COVID-19 lockdowns, I can now add, “Who said anything about being a babysitter?” These days, teachers in many parts of the country are paid for doing next to nothing since reopening schools would expose them to the virus. For teachers who have returned to the classroom, much...

Some San Diego teachers are providing in-person instruction to migrant children, while San Diego public school students remain in virtual school, and parents are rightfully pissed. Teachers from San Diego County Office of Education as well as other nonprofit organizations began providing educational services on Monday to some of the 500 minors who arrived at the southern border from Texas and Arizona over the weekend. San Diego teachers will provide the minors with lessons in English and arts for the duration of their stay, which is expected to last until July, KPBS-TV has reported.

Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki has stood by the decision by San Diego school officials to provide in-person teaching to migrant teenagers before children return to the classroom. Parents are angry over plans for teachers providing in-person instruction to migrant children while their kids have been stuck at home slogging through virtual Zoom sessions. Teachers from the San Diego County Office of Education as well as other nonprofit organizations started providing educational services on Monday to some of the 500 minors who arrived from Texas and Arizona over the weekend - a week before full in-person learning begins.

California – According to San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, the San Diego County Board of Education will be sending teachers for in-person learning for the illegal alien migrant children at the convention center.

A group of current and former teachers and others in Loudoun County, Virginia compiled a lengthy list of parents suspected of disagreeing with school system actions, including its teaching of controversial racial concepts — with a stated purpose in part to “infiltrate,” to use “hackers” to silence parents’ communications, and to “expose these people publicly.” Members of a 624-member private Facebook group called “Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County” named parents and plotted fundraising and other offline work. Some used pseudonyms, but The Daily Wire has identified them as a who’s who of the affluent jurisdiction outside D.C., including schools staff...

California schools are using COVID relief payments for teacher bonuses and a union has jokingly requested a trip to Hawaii using the money - even as classrooms are still closed, internal memos have revealed. The memos, shared online by the group Reopen California Schools, appear to show that some school districts have been using state and federal COVID relief money on educator bonuses instead of getting kids back into classrooms. 'I've been inundated with reports of school districts spending state and federal COVID relief money on substantial one-time bonuses to teachers and administrators instead of spending them on getting kids...

For some reason we all feel the need to continue to tiptoe around one of the most awful, lazy, and selfish groups in America: left-wing public teachers unions and the teachers who support them.It’s time we realize we are not “in this together.” Yes, we’ve heard that from Hollywood videos and Super Bowl ads, and from politicians and commercials, but unfortunately it just ain’t so.When President Joe Biden made a rare public appearance for a CNN town hall in February, for example, Justin Belot, a teacher in his mid-30s, asked, “Why is it OK” to make him and his colleague...

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), one of the Golden State's top teachers' unions, allegedly told members in a private Facebook group to be cognizant of posting pictures and details of spring break vacations. "Friendly reminder: If you are planning any trips for Spring Break, please keep that off of Social Media," a member posted in a private Facebook group. "It is hard to argue that it is unsafe for in-person instruction, if parents and the public see vacation photos and international travel." We have a diverse membership and they are able to post their views on personal Facebook pages...

In many school districts across the nation, public school teachers still don’t want to go back to work. Private sector workers have long been hard at work in kitchens, at construction sites, and in hardware and grocery stores. Meanwhile, from Seattle, to Los Angeles, and to Berkeley, California, Teachers' Union representatives insist they simply can’t be expected to perform the on-site work in the expensive facilities that the taxpayers have long been paying for... This week, for example, some schoolteachers in Colorado’s Jefferson County turned out to protest the district’s plan to return to limited in-person learning later this month....

What happens when you put the foxes in charge of the henhouse? The answer to that riddle is nothing good, unless you’re one of the foxes. In economics, that question is built into a concept called regulatory capture, which is a bad thing. Here’s a good definition: Regulatory capture is an economic theory that says regulatory agencies may come to be dominated by the industries or interests they are charged with regulating. The result is that an agency, charged with acting in the public interest, instead acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating. In...

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested this week that teachers who do not feel safe returning to the classroom can stay home. State lawmakers are proposing a $6.6 billion aid package to help schools reopen for in-person learning, including $2 billion to public schools for personal protective equipment, ventilation upgrades and COVID testing. But a portion of the aid package also includes contingencies to allow teachers and school staff to remain home, Fox News reported. "No one is compelling anybody," the governor admitted on Monday. "We’re creating conditions where we expect in-person instruction. We’re going to provide supports, supplementary supports...

U.S.—With public schools entering summer break in a couple of months, teachers are usually taking this time to prepare summer reading lists for their students to keep up on reading over the summer. This year, however, due to the alarming rise in problematic literature, teachers will be switching to book-burning lists. "We need to make sure our students are trained to be vigilant and always look for problematic literature," said local 8th-grade teacher Lisa Bundergoob. "This list of hateful and transphobic books includes horrible titles like Irreversible Damage and The Cat In The Hat, which have no place in a...

Is there anything worse for black K-12 students who want to become engineers than teachers who think they can’t meet the same standards as their classmates?New York City’s Department of Education recently decided to change admission into its Gifted and Talented program from a single test for students in kindergarten through third grade to a questionnaire for the pre-K teachers of applicants and a lottery system. This change—widely criticized by parents — is a perfect example of the pitfalls of the current push for equity in education.I have no issue debating the merits of the previous admissions process. My problem...

Pennsylvania’s initial doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine will go into the arms of school employees and child care workers. The state is expecting to receive an initial batch of 94,000 doses of this new vaccine this week. It will be reserved to launch an educator vaccination initiative intended to get schools and child care centers back open for in-person instruction. Gov. Tom Wolf, along with members of the COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force, plan to hold an 11 a.m. news conference on Wednesday to share further details about this effort. Wolf indicated at a Tuesday news conference that...

BOSTON (CBS) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday called on states to prioritize vaccinating teachers and school staff by the end of March. In Massachusetts, teachers are not currently eligible to sign up for a coronavirus vaccine appointment. Biden made the announcement about teachers while also declaring that the United States will have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of May. “My challenge to all states. . . we want every educator, school staff member, childcare worker to receive at least one shot by the end of the month of March,” Biden said. On his Twitter, the...