Free Republic

Schools should be in full session on MLK Jr Day without exception. Isn’t the encouragement of open dialogue and continuing education the primary reasons for MLK Jr Day? And if so, why aren’t students in full attendance on the very day that honors this man? There is simply no better way to honor the national holiday than dedicating his story, lessons, and experiences to the students for an entire day.

Just the other day, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during an interview with CNBC that her goal is to “never shut down again”, in reference to a lockdown that economically devastated small business owners. During this interview, Lightfoot insisted that schools weren’t a locus of the spread, which of course is in line with the CDC’s own guidance. “Our schools are not the source of significant spread. The issue is community spread. But we need to keep our kids in schools, which is what we’re going to do in Chicago,” she said, adding that: …she “will not allow” the union...

Angered teachers union factions are ramping up pressure on city officials to adopt remote learning amid an ongoing “nightmare” of COVID-19 infections in city schools. Progressive and left-leaning elements within the United Federation of Teachers have amplified their calls to temporarily shutter schools after the DOE recorded more than 12,000 new teacher and student cases Monday. With Mayor Eric Adams staunchly opposing any school closures and UFT boss Michael Mulgrew avoiding a war of words with City Hall, some union groups are intensifying their tactics. ... “This is a large union,” noted a union source. “People have to remember that....

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said Monday he’s “not going to give up” trying to reach an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union that averts a districtwide move to remote learning amid a spike in city COVID-19 cases. “I visited six schools today, and our network chiefs were visiting schools across the city. And one of the things that we saw was just significant differences across schools,” Martinez told the Tribune before describing some schools that recorded low staff and student attendance and other schools with opposite experiences. “When I saw that today, it just, for me, confirmed that...

Teachers’ unions across the country are demanding that schools shut down in favor of virtual learning amid concerns over the low-risk omicron variant of the coronavirus. Virtual learning has proven detrimental to the educations, social development, and mental health of children.

The Chicago Teachers Union voted to teach virtually rather than in the classroom, triggering a cancellation of classes Wednesday which the school district leadership warned would happen if the union vote passed. Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the country, resumed in-person learning Monday in conditions union leaders described as unsafe as the Omicron virus variant sent Covid-19 cases soaring around the country. The union held an emergency meeting Tuesday evening to hold the vote by its delegates (elected union leaders for individual schools) on virtual teaching and then poll its 25,000 members electronically. The vote was 73%...

"Union claims rise in COVID cases makes classroom instruction unsafe Chicago teachers are preparing to strike over what they say are unsafe working conditions caused by a spike in coronavirus cases. The Chicago Teachers Union has scheduled a Tuesday vote to determine whether its 25,000 members will refuse to return to the classroom, WBEZ reported. On Sunday, more than 6,000 union members at a virtual town hall said they would not feel safe resuming classroom instruction following winter break. Chicago schools were set to reopen Monday, though some schools have already moved to remote learning without district approval. ..."

The California lawmaker who wrote a consequential law requiring employers to provide benefits to more workers announced on Monday that she is resigning from the Assembly to become the chief executive of the state’s most powerful labor organization.

A parent in Arlington, Virginia, slammed the teachers’ union in the state by editing an error-ridden letter that demanded officials delay reopening schools and posted the corrected version on social media. “Hey @VEA4Kids, are you going to send out more of these grammar worksheets over break?” the parent wrote on Twitter. “My kids and I had a great time spotting errors! Did we find them all?” The parent rewrote the lead sentence, which includes strange descriptions and the incorrect style for the planned return to school date: “On behalf of the members of the Arlington Education Association, this dire expression...

“Follow the science,” it said about handling COVID. But for Team Biden, it was follow the teachers unions when it came to reopening schools. Emails between the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — provided to the watchdog group Americans for Public Trust via a Freedom of Information Act request — reveal that the Biden administration not only consulted national teachers unions before releasing school reopening guidance to the public, it put a heavy thumb on the scales in favor of the unions’ agenda.

Time to find a better school not connected to the Virginia teachers union. Msn reported: A letter from the president of a Virginia teachers union arguing for more stringent measures to stem the flow of Covid-19 was mocked on Twitter for its many grammatical errors. Parent Ellen Gallery marked up the letter and posted the heavily corrected version on Twitter, writing: “Hey [Virginia Education Association], are you going to send out more of these grammar worksheets over break? My kids and I had a great time spotting errors! Did we find them all?” Ms Gallery marked up about 20 errors...

I have said this many times, but it bears repeating: the shutdown policies that have devastated the lives of our children and young people were not just a blunder, but a crime. Jan Crawford of CBS put it well this morning on Face the Nation: “They will be paying for our generation’s decisions the rest of their lives”: @JanCBS explains why she thinks 2021's biggest underreported story was the devastating impact of COVID policies on children pic.twitter.com/AUU1f6AFNi — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 26, 2021 Heck, the point is so obvious that even the New York Times might be catching...

After private negotiations to control political donations broke down, labor unions have filed three dueling campaign finance initiative petitions for the 2022 ballot that are far looser than measures already proposed by good government groups. While the two camps agree that political money needs to be controlled in Oregon, one of five states with no caps on campaign donations, they have unresolved differences. The union proposals, submitted to Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan last week, would still allow unions and other member-based organizations to make large donations to political campaigns. OPB first reported the proposals’ submission.

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), which represents West Virginia coal miners as well, said that the bill contained important measures that would benefit coal miners — like an extension of funding to aid victims of black lung disease, tax incentives to urge manufacturers to build new factories and employ ex-miners and protect union workers. Cecil Roberts, the union’s president said in a statement: “We are disappointed that the bill will not pass. We urge Senator Manchin to revisit his opposition to this legislation and work with his colleagues to pass something that will help keep coal miners working,...

In a bid to push more of its workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Kroger will eliminate paid pandemic-related leave and charge $50 per month to employees that haven't gotten shots.

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have reached a $9.25 million settlement in two long-running federal lawsuits stemming from the layoffs of hundreds of Black educators at underperforming schools. About $5.25 million of the settlement would be distributed among 413 current and former union members under the terms of the deal, which is subject to court approval and up for a vote at Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting. Attorneys for the teachers and paraprofessionals are seeking about $3.6 million in fees and $400,000 in court costs, according to the board. CPS and CTU representatives...

America helped to pioneer the idea of public education. But a growing number of teachers and parents are wondering if the pandemic has finally broken America’s system of public education, as a growing number of school districts close schools for days or weeks, sometimes without the option of going remote. The NYT published a deep dive on the issues afflicting public schools across the US, issues that also impact the workforce since parents who can’t bring kids to school are often stuck scrambling for child care. One example of how schools are rolling back services as the struggle with budget...

Musk's finally ready to admit that government subsidies distort markets and that government actors are terrible at capital allocation."Say tomorrow, you get a phone call from Joe Biden," asked Wall Street Journal tech columnist Joanna Stern to Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a Monday night forum. "And he asks: What are your needs from this [$2 trillion spending] bill? How do you answer him?" "We don't think about it at all, really," Musk said, channeling Don Draper to the tune of the audience's uneasy laughter. "It might be better if the bill doesn't pass," Musk added. "The federal budget deficit...

Every year, the state controller publishes thousands of public employees’ salaries, from nearly every city, county and special district, on its transparency-focused “Government Compensation in California” website. Here’s what you won’t find: about two-thirds of the Golden State’s school systems. Unlike other public agencies in the state, California’s schools can choose whether to participate because of a loophole in state law. Most do not even reply to the controller’s requests. This year, of the 1,915 requests sent to education employers, only 447 provided the appropriate information. Another 128 responded, but with either incomplete or unacceptable records, according to the state...

Big three international automakers will not require their employees to comply with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Following negotiation, the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America managed to secure a deal preventing thousands of employees at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler from having to comply with Biden’s tyrannical mandate.Despite this, employees at the facilities will still be required to wear a mask inside the factories, but union heads have managed to make vaccination status disclosure voluntary rather than a requirement.A statement reads: “At a meeting Monday evening, the COVID-19 Joint Task Force, comprised of the UAW,...