As the largest union in the United States, the National Education Association makes the news multiple times, every day. I thought a roundup of their newsworthy items a good exercise in disseminating information to taxpayers like you who fund their activities.   (Just so we’re clear: you pay taxes to the state, the state pays teachers, the local teachers union takes their cut from teacher paychecks via the state’s payroll system, the local unions pay the Washington Education Association, and the WEA then pays its tribute to the National Education Association.)   In Cumberland, R.I. the National Education Association spoke in opposition to a bill creating a type of charter school. Lobbyists from the state teachers unions also spoke out against the legislation. They cited the likelihood of high turnover in teachers at the schools as a source of instability. “It is something we fear will diminish the quality of education rather than improve it,” said Henry Boeniger, of the National Education Association Rhode Island. Not true at all, but it certainly would diminish the number of union members subject to dues collection, since charter school teachers are exempt from collective bargaining agreements. In Kansas City this week, an EQUAL Empowerment Summit (Empowering Queer Activists and Leaders, the Empowerment Summit is just the latest public outreach from the greater Kansas City youth-led Gay-Straight Alliance) was held and the “National Education Association (NEA) trainer Angie McGaw presented coursework from the NEA National Training Program on School Safety, Bias, and GLBT Issues to educators.” In California, the NEA urged state legislators to oppose proposed budget cuts to schools. "We must insist that education be the top priority in California," said Paula Monroe, a National Education Association executive committee member….” The budget cuts eliminate cost of living increases for this year because local school districts cannot afford to comply with the collective bargaining agreements in place without further raising taxes of local citizens – an all too common problem for Washingtonians, too.  

Proving once again that we live in an overly litigious society, a teachers union in Belleville, Illinois has decided that instead of working through the regular channels to fix classrooms and to eliminate mold and dampness caused by building maintenance troubles, they had to stampede straight for the courts to get it done. The lawsuit [...]

AWB’s Don Brunell has a good blog post on the Vancouver School District’s decision to join a lawsuit against the state for "inadequately funding." The district will kick in $30,000 to help fund the effort. The lawsuit is spearheaded by the Washington Education Association, the state PTA, and numerous school districts. It was filed in January 2007 and hasn’t even gone to full trial. Any ruling is bound to be appealed and a final resolution could be years away.   The Vancouver School District’s decision to throw money at this effort is odd, given the $2.4 million budget shortfall it’s facing next year. Especially when the Washington Education Association just helped torpedo a $13.2 million math and science AP grant, some of which would have gone to Vancouver high schools.   Let’s see if we can follow the logic: The district has a serious budget crisis. The district loses millions of dollars in free grants because of union contracts negotiated by the district. Yet the district is willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a speculative, time-consuming lawsuit.   Am I missing something? Come on, Vancouver...help us help you.

John Tyler Hammons, a 19-year-old and freshman at the University of Oklahoma was recently elected mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, a city with a population of 38,000.   According to an Associated Press article, Hammons said a key to his platform that resonated with voters was openness of government and keeping citizens better informed of city operations.   Hammons won a runoff election for the nonpartisan post with 70 percent of the vote over former Mayor Hershel Ray McBride.   Transparency in government once again proves to be popular amongst voters. The more government hides, the more distrust there is in government.   Candidates seeking public office in Washington take note… the key to victory is through transparency.  

King County’s report on taxpayer-funded elections released on Monday made a rather stunning admission. Statewide taxpayer-funded election programs seem to have succeeded better than local programs (page 35). No doubt, state legislators will use this to rationalize any future proposal to create a statewide program with your tax dollars.   The report also: Outlines the three general steps inherent to taxpayer-funded campaigns; collecting seed money, collecting qualifying contributions and signing a contract to behave (pages 4 and 5). Lists the six elements common to every taxpayer-funded campaign program (page 4). Describes the two taxpayer-funding models that exist, the matching fund model and the lump sum model (page 6). Explains how candidates who do not participate in the taxpayer-funded campaign program are penalized for their non-conformance (page 6). Changes the proposed legislation (pages 103-110). The lump sum was abandoned and taxpayer funding matches contributions to candidates up to $50 (Section 6(A)). The expenditure limit stays the same. Qualifying for a taxpayer-funded campaign is a three-step process. First, candidates collect “seed money” from friends and relatives to file paperwork and begin to qualify for taxpayer funds. For example, Portland permits commissioner candidates to collect up to $15,000 and mayor candidates up to $20,000 in increments of $100. King County’s proposed legislation, however, fails to even mention seed money.   Second, candidates gather token “qualifying contributions” of $5 or $10 to prove that they are viable, electable candidates. Below is a comparison between the number and amounts King County’s proposed legislation requires and the Portland program’s requirements.     Portland King County City Commissioner (Portland)/ County Council (King County) 1,000 contributions of $5 200 contributions of $10 or more Mayor (Portland)/All other offices (King County) 1,500 contributions of $5 500 contributions of $10 or more Finally, candidates sign a contract to accept taxpayer funds. In doing so, they promise not to accept any more contributions, contribute to their own campaign, play nice and follow the whims of elections officials. (pages 4 and 5) The proposed legislation says, “permissibility of an expenditure of local public matching funds shall be determined by the director of the manager of the elections division,” whatever that means (censorship?).

Today’s Columbian has another story about the $13.2 million grant that the teachers unions thwarted for Washington public schools. Tom Koenninger gets it, so why don’t teachers, union brass, legislators, or the governor?   But the grant was killed when the Washington Education Association refused to set aside collective-bargaining rules. The National Math and Science Initiative, or NMSI, sponsors, based in Texas, wanted to compensate AP teachers directly, including additional pay for student achievement. Despite intense negotiations, which involved the Fromholds and the governor’s office, neither side would yield. Bill Fromhold, retiring as state representative at the end of the year, declined to blame either side. He said the teachers and school representatives tried to resolve the conflict.   (Of course, Bill Fromhold won't blame anyone because he accepted at least $2800 in campaign contributions from the WEA and their related PACs since 2006.) The grant was blocked by inflexible legislation pushed by unions (with teacher salary deductions), passed by legislators (servants of the citizens), and signed into law by the governor – all with taxpayer money!   Bill and Marcia Fromhold, the would-be overseers of the grant, have vowed to “look for alternative funding” to support AP programs in the math and sciences “with a Washington flavor.”   “Alternative funding” could mean more property taxes and/or levies. A much bigger problem is that a "Washington flavor" on anything related to math and science education is a losing proposition.   For more on this story, go HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, or HERE.

The WEA is now calling for performance evaluations of its former President and current Superintendent of Public Instruction for Washington State, Dr. Terry Bergeson.   The union is trying a more subtle ouster campaign this time around. A few weeks ago, the Washington Education Association sent a confidential memo to each of its local leaders with instructions about how they can play their part in defeating Bergeson, their former president.   In a copy obtained by The Associated Press, local union leaders are told to convene a meeting and get their membership to pass a resolution evaluating Bergeson's job performance. Wait a minute. Isn’t this the same group that opposes performance evaluations of its member-teachers?

After the Supreme Court's recent affirmation of the constitutionality of Indiana's photo ID requirements for voting, I suggested that Washington and other states could use that ruling to push similar laws like requiring proof of citizenship. Apparently my idea wasn't original (no surprise), as twenty states are working on proof of citizenship laws, with Missouri the closest to passing it. After a photo ID law was struck down by the Show-Me state's supreme court, Missouri legislators are close to passing a constitutional amendment allowing photo ID and proof of citizenship requirements.   Liberal critics like the New York Times are predictably screaming foul (with a very overused and tired title to boot), but they neglect to mention that Missouri already requires proof of lawful presence in the U.S. (i.e. citizenship or legal immigrant documentation) to obtain a drivers' licenses, making it easy for most people to comply with a similar requirement for voter registration.   While Washington doesn't require citizenship proof for drivers' licenses, based on the Supreme Court's ruling and the success of Arizona's proof of citizenship law, it could still constitutionally implement such a requirement for voting. Hopefully Sam Reed and our legislators are paying attention.    

Many in our state are outraged at how the Washington Education Association has prevented students and teachers benefitting from a generous $13.2 million grant aimed at improving and expanding Advanced Placement programs at several high schools.   This kind of self-serving union interference in education isn’t limited to our state. New York City schools, for instance, have been forced to waste $81 million over the last couple of years paying teachers who don’t do anything. The union contract stipulates that teachers who are weeded out of their classrooms for one reason or another become part of an Absent Teacher Reserve, where they receive full pay and benefits while they sit around at a school waiting to see if they’re needed for something.   A New York Sun article says these teachers have been characterized by school officials as those who “either can’t or won’t get a job.” At least we don’t have one of these reserves in our state … yet. Read more about it here.