Union Facts --
huge database of facts pertaining to unions. To see a video that features teachers talking about their unions go here.
Rent-to-Own Unionism?
-- A University of Virginia professor discusses alternatives to current
union status quo, including making informed decisions when voting to
install a union and how employees might more easily remove an
ineffective union.
US Department of Labor -- LM-2 page— tells you where your union is spending your dues. Also, the Education Intelligence Agency website has information from 2011 posted in an easy-to-read list for the NEA which can be accessed here and for the AFT which can be found here.
Most people are not aware that NEA donates far more than is commonly thought to political causes - only it is not listed under donations.
For example, according to Mike Antonucci, in the 2008 election cycle,
"NEA dropped $260,000 on one of the many front groups
operated by Craig Varoga and George Rakis, two men Fox News
identifies as 'Democratic Party strategists.'" This money is not listed
under donations to advocacy groups. It is listed in their disclosure
report "as expenses for media." As Antonucci says, ".NEA's advocacy
spending extends well beyond the easily identifiable groups." To read
his entire post, go here.
The National Right to WorkLegal Defense Foundation's California Freedom Project
-- a wealth of legal information. If you would like to know what your
rights are, this is the place to go. If you can't find what you are
looking for at the above site, go to http://www.nrtw.org and do a search.
Public Service Research Foundation -- studies the impact of unionism in government on government.
According to a recent Rasmussen poll, the general public is becoming more critical of the teachers' unions. To learn more, click here.
As a non-profit corporation CTA must file a publicly accessible "exempt from income tax" form with the IRS. To see the latest Form 990, go here.
The Educational Action Group
regularly takes on the Michigan Education Association and in general
acts as a watchdog for taxpayers. Led by Kyle Olson, they are now
expanding and have initiated two new websites worth visiting -- NEA Exposed and AFT Exposed.
Alternative Teacher Organizations
Educators 4 Excellence --
"E4E is an organization of education professionals who seek to provide
an independent voice for educators in the debate surrounding education
reform. E4E's mission is to unite the education community around a
shared set of goals, principles, beliefs, and actions, which place
student achievement first." To learn more about this organization for
independent-minded teachers who are frustrated when the loudest voices
in the education debate lose sight of students' needs, go here.
Association of American Educators -- alternative to NEA and AFT.
Christian Educators Association International -- sectarian alternative to the NEA and AFT.
Education Reform
Jay Greene and Josh McGee have developed a database which enables anyone to learn how their school district shapes up next to not only others in their state and country, but to other countries also. To learn more and explore The Global Report Card, go to http://globalreportcard.org/
Michelle Rhee’s national advocacy group, Students First is now based in Sacramento. The hope is that Ms. Rhee and her organization can help California get back on track.
Sal Khan, Bill Gates’ favorite teacher, has become the online learning guru. His Khan Academy has over 2,600 videos.
Bob (“The Cartel”) Bowdon’s Choice Media is a one-stop shop for matters pertaining to education reform, one can find original stories, state-by-state happenings and listings of every reform conference, event, etc. in the country.
Laurie Rogers, an education advocate, runs a provocative blog. “Betrayed is a forum on public education designed to inform the public about critical education issues affecting students, teachers, community members, and the country.” It can be found here.
A new study from the National Center for Education Information deals with reform, union issues, etc.
According to NCTQ, the new IMPACT teacher evaluation system in Washington D.C. is working out quite well. For more info, go here.
Students for Education Reform - a nationwide group of dedicated teachers-to-be who are going into the profession with the idea of reforming it. To learn more, go here.
Four day work week for schools? May be worth a try. For more, go here.
If you are reform-minded and wondering
what you (teachers, parents, all citizens) can do, there is plenty of
grist for the mill on the Waiting For Superman site.
A diverse community of thought leaders
in education policy, teaching, technology, higher education,
parenting and the education media write about and analyze the
important education issues of the day - and then discuss them with
you. To access Education Debate, please go here.
Nobody Deserves Tenure is a provocative
article by Chester Finn. The article's title clearly articulates his
point of view.
Learn
more about the controversial notion of common core standards. Two experts in the
area -- Jay Greene and Mike Petrilli -- debate the idea in a brief video.
Common Core Standards or National Standards
- courtesy of the President Obama's Race to the Top program - are
coming. The idea to further nationalize education has drawn fire from
most education reformers, but states are still signing on to it in the
hope of receiving more federal dollars. Here are 3 articles - against, for and middling.
Earlier this year, without much fanfare, a new law went into effect in
CA. The "Parent Trigger" could have major ramifications for teachers,
parents and students. To learn more, go here. Also, the Heartland Institute has put out a policy brief explaining the promise and possible pitfalls of the Parent Trigger.
National School Choice Week will be be Jan. 23-29. To learn more and sign up to be a part of this event, please go here.
National standards? Two views - Chester Finn and Jay Greene.
On Friday, April 16, Larry Sand hosted the after-film Q&A for the
LA premiere of The Cartel, a new film about the crisis in public
education. To learn more about the film go here. For a poster about the premiere, go here.
"Education in America is a flawed process. Organized labor has had a
profound impact on public education - it has successfully created a
labor-focused system, replacing a student-focused system, to the
detriment of American kids and our country's future." This is the focus
of Ed Reform Radar, published by the Education Action Group.
The National Council on Teacher Quality has published a report about seniority and layoffs called Teacher Layoffs: Rethinking "Last-Hired, First-Fired" Policies.
Edward Amatetti, a teacher in Maryland, has an ambitious project called New Renaissance In Education His
mission is ". promoting integrity and rational thinking in K-12 and
higher education, as well as enhancing teaching of America's cultural
and Constitutional heritage, including the eminence of individual
liberty, free enterprise, rule of law, and social virtues such as
justice, hard work, and temperance."
Too often, school boards are politically driven, and the interests of
teachers and students are secondary. A dedicated group of activists in
Pittsburgh decided to take on this issue. They act as watchdogs - going
to board meetings, taking notes, and then issuing grades to its
members. To read the Education Week article, please go here. To visit the watchdogs' website, go here.
The Center for Educational Reform
has valuable information about charter schools and school choice. The
website is an excellent resource for teachers who want to stay in the
field, but not in a traditional public school setting.
-- is a website dedicated to real education reform. Patricia
Kokinos, teacher-of-the-year, administrator and author has some
provocative ideas about what needs to be done to effect meaningful
change.
-- is a great place to visit for those who are interested news, commentary and debate related to education reform.
Education Next -- This educational journal is a breath of fresh air. It is attractive, well written and usually filled with provocative articles.
The National Council on Teacher Quality --
is a nonpartisan research organization dedicated to reforming public
policy for the purpose of increasing the number of effective teachers.
Employment - CA
The California Charter Schools Association -- everything you need to know about the growing charter school movement in California.
EDJOIN is an excellent site to find jobs in public education in CA.
Employment - U.S.
If you are seeking an alternative to teaching in a public school,
private school may suit you. Research says you may find greater
satisfaction there. Please read this study from the Friedman Foundation.
Education Week has employment information in its newspaper and online.
Wanttoteach.com - districts from all over the U.S. use their service to post openings.
RISE
-- a national nonprofit organization that places and retains effective
teachers in quality K-12 public schools serving low-income communities.
Dollars and Cents
A good website for keeping up with daily news about public employee pensions is Pension Tsunami.
Regarding the pension tsunami, the National Council on Teacher Quality has posted a chart which lists how fully funded teacher pensions are on a state-by-state basis. To see where you stand, go here.
403bwise -- tells you everything you need to know about 403b investing.
Miscellaneous
"Edmodo is a secure, social learning platform for teachers, students, schools and districts. We provide a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content and access homework, grades and school notices. Our goal is to help educators harness the power of social media to customize the classroom for each and every learner." This website would seem to bypass some of the problems associated with other social networking websites. To learn more go here.
The American Textbook Council -- addresses the issue of dumbed down and overly politicized textbooks. Please go here
to read more. Also, we have found a site which explains how to take
action when textbooks are not up to snuff. To learn what you can do,
please go here.
CTEN Newsletters
-- Each month CTEN puts out a monthly newsletter which is emailed to
all our supporters.Those letters are now archived and can be
found here.
SB 777 -- recently signed into law, has brought out passions on both sides of the political aisle. The CTA supported this legislation. which could have a considerable effect on schools in California. The bill itself is rather lengthy and can be found here.
To read an earlier version of the bill with analysis, please go here.
Teachers who have worked in other fields before going into
education may be affected by the Social Security offset
situation. If this applies to you, please go to this
government website to learn more.
Phone: 1- 888-290-8471