Here’s a unique real estate opportunity:

The listing boasts, “Seclusion & privacy like no other parcel on the lake! 820 feet of Canandaigua lake frontage. Spectacular views in every direction. Additional building sites included. Deep water dockage. Shale lake bottom- 3bdrm , 2 bath home w separate guest cottage. Enjoy your private compound.”

It also has a hot tub and sits on more than 27 acres.

Why should this interest you? Because it’s the home of the late Sally Jo Widmer, who managed to steal more than $800,000 in teachers’ union dues money. The Syracuse Post-Standard reported that at least $350,000 of that was gambled away in one place, the Turning Stone Casino. Not surprisingly, Widmer achieved VIP status there.

The house is listed at $825,000. A quick look at recent sales on Zillow show only one other home in the area with a sales price anywhere near that. Who would buy real estate at an inflated price just to bail out a teachers’ union?

Click here to read.

Delaware is a high-spending state on K-12 public education, delivering $12,685 per-pupil in 2010-11, but growth in expenditures trailed the national average over a five-year period.

Per-pupil spending in the U.S. grew by 15.6 percent between 2006 and 2011, but only 9 percent in Delaware. Enrollment increased by 4.8 percent, but the teacher workforce swelled by 9.7 percent.

The state’s largest school district, Christina, went in the other direction. Enrollment was down 10.6 percent and the number of teachers fell by 12.9 percent. There was rapid growth in both students and teachers in Appoquinimink and Smyrna.

Here’s a potpourri of stories from this week:

* The Philadelphia school district sent out almost 3,800 layoff notices.

* In Douglas County, Colorado, they are actually going to offer more pay to attract teachers in shortage areas, thus becoming the first school district to enact the law of supply and demand.

* In These Times examines “Where Unions Went Wrong on ‘Right to Work’.”

* The low turnout in the Washington Teachers Union election may stem from the secrecy in which it was held.

* Feuding Democrats reach budget deal in California. I wonder what they’ll buy first?

* In South Carolina they noticed something odd about enrollment and staffing.

The Hechinger Report has been producing a commendable series of stories on teachers’ unions across the country, and the latest installment is about the progressive approach taken in labor-management relations by the New Haven Federation of Teachers and its president, David Cicarella.

There have always been school districts where administrators and union officers find common ground in an unusual way. In years past we have seen similar stories in places like Rochester, New York, and Montgomery County, Maryland. But I’ve always noticed that districts with groundbreaking collective bargaining agreements tend to have one thing in common.

They’re wealthy.

That is, it’s a lot easier for teachers’ unions to agree to reforms when salaries and benefits are high, class sizes are low, and teacher hiring grows unabated.

A look at the relevant statistics for the years 2006 to 2011 show enrollment in New Haven schools grew 2.2 percent while the K-12 teacher workforce ballooned by 17.6 percent. That adds a slightly different perspective to the innovative teacher evaluation system that has removed 62 teachers since its implementation. The district also spent $18,117 per pupil, far above the state average.

But New Haven was not unique in Connecticut when it came to staffing. Overall the number of teachers grew by 8.2 percent while enrollment fell by 4.7 percent. Even the lowest spending districts in the state exceeded the national average by $1,500 per pupil. Connecticut spent more per-pupil on employee compensation than 40 states spent per-pupil for everything.

NEA Rhode Island secretary Louis Rainone submitted his resignation after being charged with assault and disorderly conduct on Friday. Rainone allegedly punched a bar patron in the face during an altercation.

The incident occurred at about 2:30 pm Friday at an East Greenwich restaurant called Harborside. According to the police report, the victim, Kenneth Chatelle, claimed Rainone “came up to him at the bar with an attitude. Mr. Chatelle stated that he told Mr. Rainone to go away, but Mr. Rainone threatened to throw him into the ocean. Mr. Chatelle stated that at that time Mr. Rainone punched him in the eye with his fist …”

The East Greenwich Patch has more details:

Rainone, who was not in the restaurant when police arrived, returned and told police he and the customer had exchanged words and the customer had pushed him. Rainone told police he then pushed back and may have pushed him in the face but couldn’t remember.

A Harbourside employee said Rainone punched the other man with his right hand. Another witness said Rainone and the other man had been talking, then the other man pushed Rainone, who then allegedly said, “Oh, yeah?” He said Rainone then punched the man with a closed fist.

The man refused medical treatment but his eye was red and swollen.

NEA Rhode Island released this statement:

We became aware of the incident last Friday and we are looking into it. It is regrettable and though it happened during a union meeting — and not on state time — we regard this as a private matter. Mr. Rainone held an elected position. He is not and has not been an employee of NEARI. At this point Mr. Rainone has stepped aside from his elected position. We will have no further comment at this time.

Rainone works as the property control and supply officer at the Community College of Rhode Island, which prompts us to ask: What kind of union meeting takes place in a restaurant five miles from the nearest CCRI campus at 2 pm on a work day and apparently involves alcohol?

Louis Rainone is the elected secretary of NEA Rhode Island and is so beloved the association named the “NEARI Louis Rainone ESP Union Spirit Award” after him, to be bestowed upon a member who “exhibits great union advocacy and association involvement.”

Fortunately, Rainone was off the clock when this happened:

The secretary of Rhode Island’s largest teachers union was arrested last Friday after allegedly assaulting a man at the Harborside restaurant in East Greenwich.

Police say 58-year-old Louis Rainone, secretary for the National Education Association Rhode Island, told 62-year-old Kenneth Chatelle he was going to “throw him in the ocean” and then punched him in the eye after Chatelle told him to go away.

The police were unable to obtain video of the incident, but three witnesses said they saw Rainone punch Chatelle. Rainone told police that Chatelle pushed him first and said he couldn’t remember if he threw a punch.

Rainone was charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct. NEARI had no comment.

Rainone previously displayed his spirit in 2011, when he harassed former Democratic state representative Doug Gablinske and his wife, along with Providence Journal editorial writer Ed Achorn in a courthouse elevator. He then had an encounter with another Rhode Island state representative.

Rainone confronted Deputy Sheriff Scott Scungio after the hearing about why he let Brien continue to use his cell phone while ordering everyone else to turn theirs off. Rainone pointed at Brien, who responded defensively and surged forward.

The conflict continued out into the hallway, where WPRO reporter Bob Plain reported that Rainone ran toward Brien, pounding his fist into his hand. The two exchanged fighting words that were captured by Plain.

Teachers’ unions are admirably devoid of people threatening to throw other people into the ocean, but Rainone seems to be really old school. His court appearance is June 21. Don’t get in the elevator with him.