on October 31, 2018

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Teachers’ Union Makes PAC Refund Process Tricky. But Don’t Get Spooked, Request it Today.

in Elections, Unions, Education, Employee Freedom

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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on October 17, 2018

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The Trials of Harvard and Harvard’s Elizabeth Warren

Written by Mitch Pearlstein

in Culture, Education

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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on October 08, 2018

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Sweeping lawsuit would create a general mess

Written by Katherine Kersten

in Courts, Education

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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on October 03, 2018

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MN & WI schools both recognized for academic excellence, but only WI schools recognized for progress on closing achievement gaps

Written by Catrin Thorman

in Unions, Education

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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on October 02, 2018

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Big Lake Students Explore Apprenticeships During Career Fair

Written by Catrin Thorman

in Great Jobs, Education

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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on October 01, 2018

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Milton Friedman: Judge public policies by their results, not their intentions

Written by John Phelan

in Housing, Government, Economics, Education

According to Milton Friedman, one of the great economists of the 20th century, "One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results". Just because something is called a 'Jobs bill' or an 'Affordable Care Act' does not mean that more jobs or affordable care will be the result. When assessing these policies, we should not look at the good intentions that produced and named them, but at their actual effects on jobs or the affordability of care. In this Newsweek column from October 1982, Friedman lists a number of examples where government...

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on September 26, 2018

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Education Minnesota endorses political candidates & “recommends” them to members

Written by Catrin Thorman

in Unions, Elections, Education

Education Minnesota, the state’s teachers’ union, used two pages of its every-other-month magazine, Minnesota Educator, to list out the political candidates it has endorsed for the upcoming November elections. Ninety-nine percent are DFL candidates. [Photo Source: Education Minnesota]...

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on September 26, 2018

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The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine our Culture

Written by Mitch Pearlstein

in Culture, Education

One of my most frustrating regrets has to do with a conversation a few years ago with a high-ranking and quite sensible academic administrator. The topic was how a number of students were complaining unreasonably about something and how my administrator friend was unable to make them happy. With a certain exasperation he asked me and a few others, "But what can I tell them?" I forget what tepid thing I said but immediately kicked myself for not saying what I should have said, and have been kicking myself ever since: "Tell them to grow up!" Which leads to p. 58...

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on September 24, 2018

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Union Executive and Staff Pay Far Exceeds Teachers; State Union Dues Increase Again

Written by Kim Crockett

in Unions, Education, Employee Freedom

Denise Specht, President of Education Minnesota makes over $206,000 a year. Specht's gross salary increased $5,794 in 2016. Almost 70 executives and other staff at Education Minnesota make over $100,000 in salary. State dues have gone up by $7; dues range from $650 to $1,400. There were 6,534 reported agency fee payers in 2017....

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on September 19, 2018

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Public unions: Navigating new era of opting in rather than opting out

Written by Kim Crockett

in Education, Employee Freedom

Let's look at how the Supreme Court's Janus decision may affect public employees who have been paying full union dues. This op-ed originally appeared in the Star Tribune on September 15, 2018. It is back-to-school time for teachers and education support professionals (ESPs), but is it back to the union, as well? At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that forcing public employees to fund a union as a condition of employment violated their First Amendment rights. That long-anticipated decision in Janus vs. AFSCME had immediate financial consequences for Minnesota’s public-sector unions and some employees. Across Minnesota, government employers stopped...

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