Unions File Federal Lawsuit to Stop Wisconsin Anti-Worker Bill

By Kevin Hart Wisconsin citizens took to the streets by the tens of thousands this year to send a message to Governor Scott Walker that stripping public workers of collective bargaining rights under the guise of a “Budget Repair Bill” was wrong. Now, Wisconsinites are hoping that a federal court will send a message that [...]

The Tea Party’s Public Education Agenda

By Tim Walker Last January, members of the Tennessee Tea Party held a press conference in Nashville to announce their demands to the state legislature. In addition to the expected call to reject the Affordable Care Act, they included an item about “educating students the truth about America.” “We seek to compel the teaching of [...]

Florida’s Testing Success: An Inflated Reputation?

By Alain Jehlen The American public has been overrun with inspiring stories of miracle cures for education ills that don’t involve a lot of money, time, or educator input—and turn out to be mirages. Florida under Jeb Bush is no exception. The former governor has recently emerged in the media as an education reform leader, thanks [...]

Laptops Are Not Teachers

By Tim Walker The third bill of Idaho schools Superintendent Tom Luna’s education reform plan is headed for final passage. The bill allocates new spending on laptop computers for high school students across the state. New technology in the classroom – what could be wrong with that? In Idaho’s case, almost everything. Luna’s plan isn’t [...]

A Wave of Teacher Retirements on the Horizon

By Mary Ellen Flannery In Wisconsin, the number of state employees who have applied to retire this year is already 73 percent over last year – and public schools are bracing for a full-on stampede before contracts end in June. Educators simply can’t afford to stay on. With Gov. Scott Walker’s success in gutting collective [...]

Will Corporations Ever Share in the Sacrifice?

By Tim Walker Across the nation, public education, health care, and other critical services are getting slashed because, as many politicians love to say, “We’re broke.” Apparently it’s the fault of the middle class, so the burden of restoring fiscal stability has been placed on the shoulders of working men and women. It’s time to [...]

Oklahoma! Where Educators Have a Voice

By Mary Ellen Flannery Even as corporate interests are trampling middle-class workers in Wisconsin, Idaho and elsewhere, there is still inspiration to be found in states where educators are being heard by their representatives. Like Oklahoma! A few weeks ago, a bill to prohibit the Oklahoma Education Association from collecting dues or contributions to their [...]

“This is the Beginning” – Wisconsin Workers Still Galvanized

By Tim Walker Nancy Winters, a veteran Wisconsin public school teacher, doesn’t want her state to go back. She remembers what it was like when Wisconsin didn’t have collective bargaining – a time of discord, distrust, and little cooperative progress. “I’m afraid Wisconsin is going to return to those kinds of days,” says Winters. “I [...]

“Unions Represent the Voice of the People”

By Lance Fuller Facing a full Congressional hearing panel, in front of a packed house, Ohio teacher Courtney Johnson took a seat Tuesday and methodically laid out how attacks on workers’ rights and cuts to education will affect her students. “Ever deepening cuts to our public schools send the dual messages to our kids that, [...]

Behind the Right-Wing Attacks on Collective Bargaining

By Cindy Long Despite opposition within its own GOP ranks, and several national polls showing that the public supports collective bargaining, Republicans in Wisconsin, Ohio, and a growing number of other states around the country are determined to strip the rights of public employees under the guise of balancing state budgets. “We’re staying focused on [...]

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