Mickey Kaus points us to the latest report from the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, titled “National Teachers’ Unions and the Struggle Over School Reform.”
I thought about excerpting the stinging barbs from CCCR’s absolute flaying of NEA and AFT, but it’s really worth your time to read the entire 36-page report, then head over to this page for a list of the organization’s commissioners. Not a conservative right-wing bastard in the bunch.
The public perception battle is over, and the teachers’ unions have lost. But will it have any effect on Congress and state legislatures? The NRA, tobacco companies, PETA, the ACLU and Big Oil all have negative public images they can’t shed, yet they are still effective in getting their way. What if NEA and AFT stop caring what other people think?10:00 PM PDT on Friday, July 10, 2009
Some Moreno Valley Unified School District teachers and counselors will have to wait until Monday to learn if their new contract for the 2009-10 school year will continue to be in effect. Their jobs were cut by the district at the end of the 2008-09 school year. On June 25, they received a call asking them to come back and sign a new contract for the 2009-10 school year. Then, on July 2, they got another call saying the district may renege on the agreement.
"It's been a roller coaster," said Janet MacMillan, president of the Moreno Valley Educators Association.
Trustees were scheduled to vote on cuts affecting the equivalent of 97.5 full-time positions Friday during a special board meeting. After a long closed-session meeting, the vote was postponed until Monday."We're still trying to work out some alternative options," Superintendent Rowena Lagrosa said.
About 150 teachers, counselors, friends and family members held a protest against the cuts Friday. Lizeth Piskulich, a third-grade teacher at Towngate Elementary School, turned down an offer at a Temecula charter school when she learned the Moreno Valley district was hiring her back. Now, that Temecula position is no longer open and she may lose her Moreno Valley job.Piskulich signed a contract and is legally bound to start work Aug. 10, even though the district could let her go effective Aug. 14, she said."I don't know how they can get away with this," Piskulich said.
California Teachers Association President David Sanchez was at Friday's meeting. He urged trustees to use one-time federal stimulus money to save jobs. Sanchez said districts throughout the state are making midsummer cuts, he said. But this is the first time in his 15 years with the teachers union that he's seen districts take advantage of an education code that allows them to do it, he said.
Reach Melissa Eiselein at 951-763-3462 or meiselein@PE.com
Sacramento City Teachers Association (CTA) President Linda Tuttle shares with Assembly Member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) information about how proposed cuts will devastate public schools in his district. (My god! Who would have guessed a politician would respond like this? )The Assembly Member denounced the cuts as terrible and pledged his continuing support for public education.
Sacramento City Teachers Association (CTA) President Linda Tuttle shares with Assembly Member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) information about how proposed cuts will devastate public schools in his district. (My god! Who would have guessed a politician would respond like this? )The Assembly Member denounced the cuts as terrible and pledged his continuing support for public education.
The visit to the Capitol on June 18 by SCTA Pres. Tuttle to lawmakers’ offices was (the bigger) part of ongoing efforts by CTA and its Education Coalition partners (Larry, Curly and Moe) to persuade legislators to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed education slashes.
The legislative budget adjustment package proposed by a joint house conference committee and endorsed by Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) rejects $700 million of the governor’s education cuts and ensures schools some $9.3 billion in paybacks to Proposition 98 in coming years. The legislative adjustment package would also suspend the requirement that students pass the California High School Exit Examination in order to graduate. Assembly Speaker Bass told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that it is unconscionable to demand that students meet that requirement without the funding necessary to help schools prepare them for the test.
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 2, 2009
I mean the CTA's web site. Go ahead I dare you. I bet you still sit on your ass and tell yourself ' it won't reach me I've made it through tough times for schools before.' Let someone else worry about it. Early this year when I told anyone who would listen that this was coming. One teacher told me that's too bad but, " someones going to pay me for all my years of experience and education." So far, 254 educators have with their jobs, homes, and hope. A lot more will before May. It's always someone elses problem. Thanks for the much needed reinforcing of the ranks of the lowest common denominator. Will you ever get up off all fours? Oh by the way, the aforementioned teacher took an early retirement when he found out what was coming - for him next year. And the union's lack luster efforts were explained away by our locals president as "past practice."
Posted By Lyle Denniston On June 15, 2009 @ 10:07 am In Orders and Opinions |
The Supreme Court, agreeing on Monday to hear four new cases, said it would decide whether an individual who owes on a student loan may wipe out the debt — at least partly — in a bankruptcy without showing that the debt posed an “undue hardship.” The case is United Student Aid Fund v. Espinosa (08-1134).
The Court also said it would spell out the rights of service station operators to sue to challenge the loss, or non-renewal, of their franchises from oil companies. The Court consolidated for review the cases of Mac’s Shell v. Shell Oil (08-240) and Shell Oil v. Mac’s Shell (08-372).
In a third case, the Court will consider putting constitutional limits on states’ authority to restore storm-eroded beaches along the ocean or lakeshores, when such action modifies private property boundary lines. (Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida (08-1151).
The fourth new case brought back to the Court an issue it had agreed to decide, but did not resolve, six years ago: when two companies agree to send their disputes to arbitration, may a court order that process to go forward as a class action, if the contract says nothing on that issue. The issue arises anew in Stolt-Nielsen S.A., et al., v. Animalfeeds International Corp. (08-1198).
In two rulings on the merits, the Court struck down, by a 7-2 vote, a tax imposed by the city of Valdez, Alaska, on cargo ships that used its port (Polar Tankers v. Valdez, 08-310), and it issued a unanimous ruling clarifying the findings that an immigration judge must make in order for a conviction of a crime to be used as the basis for deportation (Nijhawan v. Holder, 08-495).
The Court, moving toward a summer recess starting late this month, has 14 decisions to go. It announced Monday that it would sit again on Thursday, and more decisions are expected then.
The Court, in another of Monday’s orders, invited the U.S. Solicitor General to offer the federal government’s views on an issue under the bankruptcy law’s Chapter 13 — what is the formula bankruptcy courts are to use in deciding how much a Chapter 13 debtor has available to pay creditors who hold no security, when a repayment plan is being fashioned. There is no deadline for the S.G.’s response. The case is Hamilton, Trustee, v. Lanning (08-998).
Among the cases the Court refused to hear on Monday was a constitutional dispute over the federal government’s powers to set aside federal and state laws that interfere with the building of the long fence on the U.S.-Mexico border, part of an effort to restrict drug traffic and thwart terrorist movements. The Court had turned aside that controversy a year ago (07-1180). This time, the Justices examined the new case at eight separate private meetings, then still came to the conclusion that it would not rule on it. The case is El Paso County, et al., v. Napolitano (08-751). As usual, the Court offered no explanation for denial of review.
In another denial, the Court refused to hear a claim that anti-Castro sentiment was so rampant in the Miami, Fla., area that a group of five Cubans could not get a fair trial there on charges of spying for that government. The case had stirred a strong international reaction. It was Campa, et al., v. U.S. (08-987).
Filings in granted cases and the CVSG case are below the jump.
SACRAMENTO - California Controller John Chiang warned Wednesday that the state would issue IOUs for the first time in 17 years starting next week unless the Legislature starts fixing an estimated $24 billion budget shortfall. Chiang's announcement came as a Democrat-crafted package of budget cuts failed on party-line votes, highlighting the Capitol's gridlock in solving the state's budget mess and avoiding a cash crisis in July.
Lawmakers are scheduled to be back in session this morning to try again. Legislative leaders told lawmakers to be ready for floor sessions throughout the weekend. Yet there were no signs Wednesday that lawmakers are anywhere close to an agreement on fixing the 2009-10 spending plan passed only four months ago. State revenue has nosedived since then and voters rejected several billion dollars in budget solutions. Wednesday's legislation contained about $11 billion in spending cuts. The Legislature's majority Democrats said they would oppose additional reductions to children's health, welfare-to-work, and in-home care programs. "We're the eighth-largest economy in the world. There is no excuse for us not being able to provide for our most vulnerable citizens," said state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, who represents part of Riverside County.
Republicans countered that the Democratic proposal would still leave the state spending billions more than it takes in. They also opposed higher taxes on oil and tobacco products that are part of a different bill that was not considered Wednesday. "You think we enjoy making cuts? You think we want to see little kids running around without shoes or food or anything like that?" said state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga. "The problem is that the way we've been going about this the last six or seven years wasn't the right way to do it," said Dutton, the Senate GOP's budget point person. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed billions in additional cuts and the elimination of some health and welfare programs. The governor has vowed to veto the Democrat-crafted legislation if it reaches his desk. The governor's office said Wednesday's debate "has cost the state valuable time and pushed us closer to insolvency."
IOU ahead
Wednesday's budget votes were the first since all-night legislative sessions in February yielded $41.7 billion in higher taxes, spending cuts and borrowing as part of a spending plan that was supposed to take the state through June 2010. The state's budget problems won't go away. California's projected tax revenue has fallen by billions. Last month, voters snubbed $6 billion in borrowing and fund shifts assumed in the February deal.
The state now is on pace to run out of money by July 28. Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Chiang -- both Democrats -- and Schwarzenegger have called on lawmakers to fix the budget by the end of June to allow enough time to arrange short-term loans.
Chiang's IOU announcement adds another level of urgency in the standoff. The state has not issued IOUs since 1992. Chiang's office delayed some payments during a cash crunch earlier this year but the problem is much worse now, his office said. "We need to conserve cash in order to make all the payments at the end of July," controller's spokeswoman Hallye Jordan said.
Bond holders, schools, and some other state programs get first dibs on state money. The state cannot issue IOUs to state employees because of a court ruling after the 1992 IOUs. The IOUs would go to companies doing business with the state, local governments, and some other recipients of state money. They later would be repaid in full, plus interest.
Issuing IOUs likely would worsen the state's credit rating. That would make it more expensive, if not impossible, to borrow money next month and thereafter. "If the state starts issuing IOUs, the damage to our credit rating could be substantial and long-term. It could take years to recover," Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said. State Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, said Republican lawmakers should support the Democratic plan and avoid the IOUs. If the Republicans don't feel it's enough, well, they don't have a plan," she said. "Somebody said this is like giving a starving man a hamburger and he doesn't want it because it doesn't have fries." I want to solve the problem. I'd stay here 24 hours a day if I have to if we actually solve the problem," (S)he said.
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Mar 24, 2009 8:37 AM - Show original item
An unbroken line of succession to higher office is well established in NEA circles. The position of secretary-treasurer is the gateway office to move from the representative elected bodies to the executive ones. Incumbent secretary-treasurers move up to vice president. Incumbent vice presidents move up to president. It works the same way in most state affiliates, and the California Teachers Association has been no exception - until now.
Current CTA President David Sanchez held both the vice president and secretary-treasurer positions, as did his predecessor, Barbara Kerr. Current CTA Vice President Dean Vogel was secretary-treasurer. But Dan Vaughn, elected two years ago as secretary-treasurer when Vogel moved up, was defeated in his bid for reelection by an unlikely candidate, Gail Mendes, former president of the United Teachers of Richmond.
Mendes is a member of the union’s State Council, the body that elected her, but did not sit on the board of directors, making her jump to an executive position quite remarkable. I’m checking into what was behind the upset victory since, as usual, there is very little to distinguish the candidates on issues.
The CTA State Council also voted to support all six budget-related initiatives on the May 19 special election ballot, even though the California Nurses Association opposes all six, and the California Federation of Teachers opposes all but one.
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Art of Setting Limits Setting limits is one of the most powerful tools that professionals have to promote positive behavior change for their clients, students, residents, patients, etc. Knowing there are limits on their behavior helps the individuals in your charge to feel safe. It also helps them learn to make appropriate choices.
The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:
