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

* A federal district court approved the $3.75 million settlement of a class action lawsuit against the Ohio Education Association by retired staff members.

“I am delighted that after all these years, that we’ve been able to successfully conclude this suit on behalf of all our members and all the retirees of OEA,” said Jim Prater, the lead plaintiff.

* It was a 50-50 outcome for the Indiana State Teachers Association when a federal district court denied a motion by the state securities commissioner to establish a receivership over the union. The court ruled the proposal “expansive and perhaps unjustified in the context of this case,” stating that receiverships should only be used in “a clear case of extreme necessity.”

On the other hand, the court also denied the union’s motion to dismiss the suit, ruling that the commissioner “has successfully and sufficiently alleged the existence of a security as well as violations of Indiana Law relating to that security.”

The suit will now continue through the legal process.

Interesting video here from the Labor Notes convention that took place in Detroit last weekend. Washington Teachers Union Vice President Nathan A. Saunders has a few harsh words for… well, just about everyone, but American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten gets special attention.

“Quite frankly, from where I stand, there is a tremendous disconnect between the worker providing the education service at the classroom level and the national policy as advocated by our national leaders,” Saunders said.

Referring to the proposed DC teachers’ contract, which contains funding  from private foundations, Saunders wondered (near the end of the video), “How in the hell did our union president, Randi Weingarten, get in bed with the Walton Foundation?”

The South Carolina Education Association (SCEA), long plagued by membership losses and management turnover, has been placed under the trusteeship of its parent affiliate, the National Education Association, according to sources within the union. SCEA joins the Indiana State Teachers Association, suffering under debt due to its failed insurance trust, as NEA state affiliates now under the direct jurisdiction of a nationally appointed administrator.

NEA refused to confirm or deny the existence of the trusteeship.

Robert Bonazzi, the former executive director of the New Jersey Education Association, is SCEA’s trustee. Bonazzi has some experience in the state, having been sent there by NEA in 2007 to organize “listening tours.”

SCEA membership fell to 7,793 active K-12 members last year – down from 17,266 in 1994. The association took in only $1.6 million in dues money last year – barely enough to cover the salaries and benefits of its management and staff. SCEA received more than $800,000 in grants and subsidies from NEA.

Current SCEA President Sheila Gallagher is on a leave of absence, and President-elect Jackie B. Hicks will assume office to begin the organization’s fiscal year. Executive Director Aaron Wallace also seems to have been replaced by UniServ director Roger Smith, though all decisions by SCEA management will be subject to Bonazzi’s approval.  SCEA had bitter contract negotiations with its staff union last year, but EIA has been unable to learn the current status of those talks.

EIA will post more information as it becomes available.

The Newark Star-Ledger reports that thousands of New Jersey high school students are expected to walk out of classes today to protest education budget cuts.

“A lot of things are being cut, like clubs and after school activities,” said Kathi Lloyd, a senior at Newark’s University High School. “A lot of kids come to school for the clubs and if they cut those, school is really boring for them.”

Well, Kathi, if you think school can be boring, try filling out a tax return sometime. Now THAT’S boring.

Click here to read:

1) KIPP Teachers Move to Decertify Union

2) Virginia Education Association Has a Curious Cure for Malaise

3) Last Week’s Intercepts

4) Quote of the Week

This video of an education budget protest at a Des Moines middle school went viral last week after appearing on HotAir.com. Take a look at it and see if you can figure out why.

If you didn’t catch it, one of the students is holding a sign that reads, “Save Are Teachers.”

The protest actually took place before school on March 8. It was organized by teacher Theresa Hoffman with the principal’s permission. You can read the story about it in the March 22 issue of the Iowa State Daily.

Hoffman is the students’ language arts teacher and is retiring after 33 years in the profession. She had the vigor and drive to put the rally together, lead the students in chants and notify the local news media, but evidently couldn’t muster the energy to check their signs for proper spelling and grammar.

“They need to run. They need to create. They need to draw. They need to sing,” Hoffman said of her students. And she’s right. But they can do all those things outside of school. They also need to learn the difference between “are” and “our,” which is presumably what the people of Des Moines are paying Hoffman to teach them.

Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute knows more about the ins and outs of education policy than just about anyone on the planet, but I can’t believe he wrote a sentence as naive as “The era of big spending in education is over.”

You’ll notice that in the NBC report, no reference is made to how many teachers we have or have hired in the last few years, or how much we currently spend per student.

I’m sure Petrilli patterned his statement after Bill Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union speech, in which he famously said, “The era of big government is over.”

The federal budget for 1996 was $1.6 trillion. Now it’s almost two and a half times that.

Petrilli and President Clinton both make the mistake of underestimating those who when they hear the era of big government or big spending is over, jump up and deliver the Bluto speech from Animal House:

Government (and education spending) will continue to expand as long as the benefits are concentrated and the costs are diffuse. It only makes sense to believe, as Petrilli does, that “what goes up must come down.” Unless, of course, we’re talking about government spending, which defies gravity like upsidaisium.

Bars of upsidaisium in storage

So we shouldn’t jump the gun on broad statements, because it ain’t over ’til it’s over…

…or at least until the fat lady sings.