Teacher Union News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of how unions shape education policy, funding, and classroom priorities nationwide.
-
- News
Meet the Social Studies Teacher Who Ditched the School Union and Created His Own
Like most teachers, Jim Perialas didn’t have a choice about joining a teachers union. But in 2012, after becoming fed up with rising membership dues and inadequate representation, he and his fellow teachers in the Roscommon area public schools voted to break from the Michigan Education Association. Instead, they formed the Roscommon Teachers Association, where…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
Allowing States to Opt Out of NCLB Through APLUS: Empowering Parents and State and Local Leaders—Not Teachers Unions
The Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act (APLUS) proposal would allow states to completely opt out of the programs under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), but would it also empower teachers unions? This argument is being made against the APLUS approach by proponents of the massive rewrite of NCLB moving through Congress. For example,…Lindsey Burke -
- News
Teachers Union Accused of Ignoring State Law … for Four Decades
HARRISBURG, Pa.—A law firm representing a Pennsylvania college professor is accusing a state teachers union of ignoring—for more than four decades—a law requiring it to report the use of dues money for political contributions. It’s the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute between Mary Trometter, an assistant professor of culinary arts at the Pennsylvania College of Technology,…Andrew Staub -
- Opinion
Parents Fight Back Against Teachers Union Suing Nation’s Largest School Choice Program
Teachers’ unions in Florida continue to threaten the educational opportunity of thousands of the state’s most vulnerable children. But there is some good news: Last week, Leon County Circuit Court Judge George S. Reynolds III granted parents of these children the right to intervene on behalf of their children’s scholarships, which are awarded through the…Brittany Corona -
- Opinion
Eat My Shorts! Bart Simpson Takes On Teacher Unions
CULLMAN, Ala. — Teacher unions finally met a foe they couldn’t conquer in the form of the yellow, spiky-haired Bart Simpson. Those unions were skewered in a recent episode of the long-running Fox series “The Simpsons.” A new teacher at Springfield Elementary tormented Bart before being embarrassed by him at Blazing Man, a knockoff of…Johnny Kampis -
- News
Why Did This Teachers Union Ban Coca-Cola?
American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the United States, passed a resolution last week to ban Coca-Cola from its facilities and events. The teachers union stated its decision was based on human rights violations, which have been detailed in three books published several years ago. But why now, and why…Bre Payton -
- News
Teachers Union Lost 272,014 Members on His Watch, Then Gave Him a Big Raise
The recently retired president of the National Education Association received a huge pay raise this year even though the union he led lost more than 40,000 members. Dennis Van Roekel, who retired this summer, was paid $541,632 during NEA’s fiscal year ending Aug. 31, a $130,000 increase from last year, driven by a gross salary hike…Jason Hart -
- News
Teachers’ Challenge of Political Spending by Unions Appears Headed for Supreme Court
Christian schoolteachers who object to being forced to help finance the political agendas of unions yesterday moved a step closer to having their case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued an order that allows the teachers to petition the Supreme Court to consider their…Kevin Mooney -
- News
Teachers Unions Devote Dues to Democratic Political Advertising
In the final weeks of a heated governor’s race, Pennsylvania’s teachers unions have made their candidate preferences well known. For the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, one of the most powerful public-sector unions in the country, this has gone beyond the traditional activities of its political committee, raising some questions about how the union uses money collected…Yaël Ossowski -
- News
Teachers Sue Union for Censoring Charitable Donations
Two teachers have taken Pennsylvania’s largest teachers union to court over its attempt to decide which charities may be supported by teachers as an alternative when they decline to join the union on religious grounds. The teachers, Chris Meier from Lancaster County and Jane Ladley from Chester County, are required—as a condition of employment—either to…Kelsey Bolar -
- News
Teachers Hope to Erase Union Dues That Deny Free Speech
Fourth-grade teacher Rebecca Friedrichs doesn’t support a new state law allowing self-identifying transgender children in the public school system to choose which bathrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities they will use. Allowing these students to occupy the same private space with classmates who don’t share their biological traits, Friedrichs believes, puts the interests of a…Kevin Mooney -
- News
Teachers Pay Price for Leaving Union
A California teacher has filed a lawsuit against her union that claims she was cut off from benefits and from having a vote on the contract because she did not want her dues spent on political causes she did not support. “There’s this undercurrent of fear and intimidation,” said Rebecca Friedrichs, whose suit seeks an…Mary Tillotson -
- Opinion
Teachers Union Seeks to Block School Choice Program for Children with Special Needs
Just two months after Florida became the second state to enact education savings accounts, the state’s largest teachers union has sued to stop the program, which serves children with special needs. Passed by the Florida legislature on the last day of the session and enacted in June, Florida’s Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts help families of children with…Brittany Corona