Teachers Lobbying on Taxpayer Time Needs to be Addressed
Teachers certainly have the right to speak out on legislation that will affect their professional lives. However, unlike supporters of the bill, many opposing teachers have taken days off at taxpayer expense. The locally negotiated perk of “association leave” enables unions to designate teachers to skip class to perform union business.
Mayor Daley and Other Mayors: Seek “Redress against the Gun Industry” in the World Court
Originally published on Volokh.com April 27 was the tenth annual “Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum,” held in Chicago. Over a hundred mayors and other local government leaders assembled to discuss global issues. As reported in the Chicago Sun-Times, “Daley convinced more than a dozen of his counterparts from around the world to approve a resolution […]
The Cartel Director Gives Sneak Peek at Award-Winning Film
Director and executive producer Bob Bowdon gives a sneak peek behind his award-winning new education documentary The Cartel, which focuses on New Jersey to offer a fresh inside look at the K-12 public school system and the need for significant reform. The Cartel is on its way to Denver’s Chez Artiste Theatre for the week of April 30-May 6, including a special screening event (May 4, 7 PM) co-hosted by the Independence Institute.
Union Pushes Tax-Funded Leave to Lobby Against Effective Teaching
Union leaders in some Colorado school districts are urging teachers to take special tax-funded leave from the classroom to lobby against teacher effectiveness legislation. Education policy analyst Ben DeGrow explains that school districts provide little or no oversight of how union release time can be used, and recommends policy changes at the local and state level.
CEA Shamefully Opposes SB 191 and Effective Teaching
For students to achieve the best outcomes, they need teachers and principals to be as effective as they can be. To make that happen, we first need a clear and fair way to know which teachers are effective. We need to do more to invest both teachers AND…
Big First Amendment Win in United States v. Stevens
Originally published on Volokh.com At issue: a federal statute bans commercials depictions of “animal cruelty,” namely a depiction “in which a living animal is intentionally maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded, or killed,” if killing or other action violates the law where the “the creation, sale, or possession takes place.” The statute would therefore outlaw the sale in […]
More Accountability Coming for Colorado Teachers and Principals?
Newly introduced Senate Bill 191 would tie Colorado’s K-12 education system more closely to performance, with student academic growth being given significant weight in teacher and principal evaluations and tenure considerations. State senator Michael Johnston (D-Denver) discusses the mechanics of his bill and the large, growing coalition of support it has received, as Colorado continues to pursue Race to the Top federal grant dollars.
Colorado Education and Open Negotiations: Increasing Public Access to School District Bargaining
Forty-two of Colorado’s 178 school districts bargain exclusively with a local teachers union. Often conducted by tax-funded district employees on both sides, negotiations forge policies that determine the use of taxpayer dollars. Yet only one of the 42 districts has an established policy that thoroughly ensures the public’s right to observe bargaining negotiations.
Colorado HB 1365: Bad Gas for Coloradans
How much would you pay for cleaner air? Surely this depends on its current state, the proposed improvement, and if you could tell the difference. The EPA wants you to pay for cleaner air by mandating pollution limits on power plants. Colorado HB 1365 would legislate how electric utilities do it. Xcel Energy supports the […]
Union Pays Up for Violating Teachers' Free Speech Rights
Marking the end of a decade-long legal saga, the teachers union in Washington state reached a settlement to pay $1.2 million in penalties plus legal fees for breaking state campaign finance laws and violating teacher free speech rights—nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Davenport ruling. Mike Reitz of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation celebrates a hard-fought victory and looks ahead to future battles for government union accountability and individual free speech rights.
Diane Wood on the Second Amendment
Originally published on Volokh.com In Justice v. Town of Cicero, 577 F.3d 768 (7th Cir., Aug. 14, 2009), Judge Wood upheld the handgun registration ordinance of Cicero, Illinois. The opinion accurately explained that under the then-current law of the Circuit, the Second Amendment was not incorporated in the Fourteenth. Surprisingly, Judge Wood then asserted that even if the […]
4/8/10
Newsletter April 8 2010
