Minnesota teachers pay dues to two national unions, the NEA and AFT, as well as the state union, Education Minnesota. In fact, the bulk of teachers’ dues goes to national and state unions even though the local does the most important thing: collectively bargain and talk to teachers on the ground....
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With charter school enrollment on the rise, the hunt for building facilities to accommodate student body growth is a challenge. But charters’ facility problems are not due to a lack of vacated schools or property. Buildings are for sale, just not if the interested buyer is a charter school....
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The Star Tribune ran a story on Tuesday about how the University of Minnesota is (rightly) defending itself against a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by nine Gopher football players involved in a night and morning of assaultive and hideously ugly sex with a female student in September 2016. The players, five of whom were eventually expelled or suspended, claim they’ve been discriminated against because of their race, and have suffered “severe emotional distress and financial damage” because of “being falsely cast as sex offenders.” Having read a fair amount about the case back then, I don’t think for a moment...
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Education Minnesota—the state’s teachers’ union—has not been shy about its efforts to bolster the Democratic Party. Through campaign spending and organizational muscle, the union has “dedicated” itself to “help get out the vote” for the election this fall and ensure educators know which candidates Education Minnesota has endorsed (hint: all but one are from the same party). Should members wish to not fund the political left, they must fill out a “PAC Refund Request” form and mail it to Education Minnesota postmarked by October 31 (today). ...
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The Star Tribune’s Erin Golden, who covers the education and teachers’ union beat, wrote an article about how the union is aggressively asking teachers to vote and encourage their students to vote. “Education Minnesota’s election strategy: Get more teachers to vote: In high-stakes election, Education Minnesota is focusing on its own members,” October 27, 2018. The article also talked about how hard it is for union members to get PAC and Foundation money back. Here are some excerpts, in case you cannot access the article here: Outside the door to Linda Hagen’s third-grade classroom at Turtle Lake Elementary in Shoreview, there’s a sign that...
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Each year Education Minnesota charges members $25.00 for its political action committee or “PAC.” PAC money is spent on political parties (OK mostly one party), candidates and other political funds. Then it makes members ask for a refund. And makes it hard to get one. This arrangement is disrespectful of members and imposes an unreasonable burden on the constitutional right of teachers and ESPs not to fund a union PAC. The legislature needs to fix this. ...
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Perhaps the richest irony of Harvard’s admissions policies disfavoring Asians is that they result in preferential admissions for white applicants. This wasn’t the original intent of affirmative action partisans. Harvard admission rules are currently under dissection in a federal district court in Boston. Of a strange piece, while it was Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s expectation that she has Indian DNA running through her veins, I trust she wasn’t thrilled to learn it hasn’t been replenished for between a half-dozen generations and ten generations. According to the Wall Street Journal, based on calculations of a distinguished Stanford scientist, this makes the former Harvard...
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An activist court ruling. Metrowide racial balancing of schools. An end to local control. Sum total? This Sunday Cover Op-ed appeared in the Star Tribune on October 7, 2018. On July 25, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling with far-reaching and troubling consequences for K-12 education in our state. The court determined that a lawsuit titled Cruz-Guzman vs. State of Minnesota and whose plaintiffs seek court-ordered metrowide racial balancing in the Twin Cities region’s public schools, can go forward. The case will now return to district court, where plaintiffs will push for a sweeping plan to sort metro-area students — including those...
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Eight schools in Minnesota and eight schools in Wisconsin were recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for overall academic excellence. Six of the eight schools awarded in Wisconsin were also recognized for "exemplary" progress in closing achievement gaps, compared to none of the eight in Minnesota. ...
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Students at Big Lake Schools were introduced to apprenticeships and other career-focused opportunities through the high school’s annual Youth Apprenticeship Career Fair on September 20. Twenty-nine local businesses, companies and institutions set up booths with materials and hands-on stations to help students explore career possibilities that do not require a traditional four-year degree....
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