Intercepts
A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions.

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Ten Scary Stories for Halloween

Back from Monterey, where I finished 515th in a field of some 2,700. My absence apparently had a salutary effect on the state’s newspapers. I return to discover the Los Angeles Times, the LA Daily News, and the Associated Press wire all ran stories on the hiring of former California Teachers Association President Wayne Johnson as a “consultant” by the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). Johnson’s real job, of course, will be to run rampant while UTLA tries to take advantage of the chaos that is the management of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The hiring of Johnson was reported in the EIA Communiqué two weeks ago, under the headline “Wayne’s World II!“

Assuage your guilt over contributing to childhood obesity this Halloween by distributing only union-made candy. I don’t see these on the list but they’re begging for an AFT endorsement.

Here’s something you don’t see too often – picketing in downtown Pierre, South Dakota. Professional staffers of the South Dakota Education Association walked the line outside the union’s headquarters yesterday over a contract dispute.

The press report notes there was only a “handful” of employees, but that’s the basis of the dispute. “The professional staff has been reduced from 10 to six over the past three years,” said staffer Michael Brubaker.

SDEA is down to 5,251 active K-12 members, a three percent drop from 2004.

* The Ohio Supreme Court rejected a teacher union-backed suit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s charter schools. Union reaction:

“Ohio citizens are beginning to question the entire charter school movement. Study after study points to a flawed system regarding fiscal oversight, testing, sponsorship, academic accountability and other failed experiments.” – Ohio Education Association President Gary Allen.

“The fundamental problem is the lack of oversight by public officials. Taxpayers have lost control of their education tax dollars.” – Ohio Federation of Teachers President Tom Mooney.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Alice Robie Resnick stated that the framers of Ohio’s Constitution viewed competition among school districts as “inefficient, divisive and ineffective.”

* The Racine Education Association in Wisconsin hired former Illinois Education Association Executive Director Clayton Marquardt as interim executive director, replacing the dismissed Dennis Wiser. Marquardt retired from his IEA position last year, but was contacted by the Racine union because he lives in the area.

It was also revealed that Wiser’s contract was not renewed because of several disputes, including his use of compensatory time, and grievances he filed against REA concerning the union’s failure to use the grievance process.

* Great Moments in Higher Education: “The chancellor of the University of Arkansas’ flagship campus got down on his knees Wednesday and begged state legislators to fully fund his budget request and those of the other state colleges and universities.”

The Helix Charter High School in California won control of its own labor negotiations from the Grossmont Union High School District by incorporating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The story in the San Diego Union-Tribune explains why the school board was reluctant to hand over contract negotiations to the charter:

“Trustees also hesitated to approve the separate agreement because the school had agreed to a salary increase for teachers that was higher than what the district had proposed for teachers at other schools.”

Upon their expiration of their contract next June, Helix’s 105 teachers will decide whether to form their own union local or make some other arrangement.

The North Carolina Association of Educators has an e-mail newsletter called Each One, Reach One, which is designed to spur enthusiasm for the union’s political campaign operations.

Today’s edition features an item headlined, “Go to the Polls and Vote: The Public Trusts Teachers to Make the Right Decisions!” It details the results of a poll that Harris Interactive runs annually asking, “Would you generally trust each of the following types of people to tell the truth, or not?” As usual, the 2006 version showed teachers near the top, with 83% of respondents trusting them to tell the truth. Only doctors scored higher.

“Toward the bottom of the list,” the NCAE newsletter states, “were journalists (39%), members of Congress (35%), and pollsters (34%).”

Funny that it stopped there, because next lowest on the list was “trade union leaders” at 30 percent. Their trust numbers have declined from 37% in 1998.

So why can’t you trust trade union leaders to tell the truth? Maybe it’s because they won’t even tell you that they finished near the bottom in the trust rankings.