Since taking office as Mexico’s newest president, Enrique Pena Nieto has quickly made it a point to anger one of the most influential interest groups responsible for blocking Mexican progress: teachers unions. Predictably (and not unlike in our own country), the teachers unions are upset over a number of ambitious …
Union contracts often pick winners and losers in the workplace. However, teachers unions may soon lose the power to pick losers—at least in Kansas. Legislators there are considering giving unionized teachers the option of negotiating for themselves. The pain of union control is illustrated by Bria Klotz, a former sixth-grade …
School choice is making headlines in multiple states this spring. Several have approved or are considering proposals to expand educational opportunity for families. Texas is going bold by introducing multiple school choice proposals. Heritage’s Lindsey Burke explains that these include: an elimination of the cap on charter schools (only 215 …
It’s hard to overstate what an outstanding victory for school choice Indiana’s Supreme Court issued yesterday. Indiana’s highest court ruled unanimously in Meredith v. Pence that the Choice Scholarship Program (CSP), which provides vouchers to low-income and middle-income families in the Hoosier State, is constitutional. The suit, brought by the …
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), proposed a “bar exam” for public-school teachers in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week. Modeled after the bar exam for aspiring lawyers, the new test would be intended to produce highly effective teachers. But it would do nothing of …
This is the week that Michigan’s workers will finally be freed from forced unionization. After decades of United Auto Workers control over the struggling American auto industry, the Michigan legislature’s passing of a right-to-work law is historic. Governor Rick Snyder (R) is expected to sign the law as early as …
Freetoteach.org, a new website created by the Pennsylvania-based Commonwealth Foundation, helps Pennsylvania teachers understand education unions and their rights when it comes to joining a union. It also provides a forum for teachers to share their experiences and opinions. Although Freetoteach.org is geared toward Pennsylvania teachers, it provides valuable information …
A teachers’ union contract in Bay City, MI, has become a focal point in the battle over a ballot measure in that state that seeks to provide legal guarantees for union collective bargaining agreements — and invalidate laws that conflict with those agreements. The contract allows teachers to show up …
The movie “Won’t Back Down” opened yesterday in more than 2,500 theaters across America. The film brings to the big screen the highly charged issue of education reform by showcasing how two committed parents take on the establishment. With a cast of stars, including Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis, the …
