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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 Education, Employee Freedom, Unions

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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on September 19, 2018
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Why Eric Kaler’s Successor Likely Will Be a Rookie

Written by Mitch Pearlstein
in Education

The Board of Regents at the University of Minnesota appointed a committee last week to lead the search for a new president, as current president Eric Kaler will step down next year.  Nothing in the Star Tribune story about the committee was unconventional or unanticipated, including Regent Abdul Omari, chair of the committee, stressing “the importance of protecting the confidentiality of contenders for the job before they are identified as finalists to make sure strong candidates are not discouraged from applying.” Quick, before going on:  Who was the last U of M president who was president of another college or university...

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on September 05, 2018
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Research suggests that hiring ‘diversity officers’ is a waste of money

Written by John Phelan
in Education

As student debt becomes a more onerous problem in the American economy, we have to look at why fees have risen so much. This leads us back to the disproportionate increase in admin hires. And this should lead us to look for fat to cut. Thankfully, the economists as the NBER have helped us identify some. ...

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on August 27, 2018
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“Public Support Climbs for . . . Charter Schools and Universal Vouchers”

Written by Mitch Pearlstein
in Education

Because of causes I can safely guess, national polling last year showed weaker support for various types of school choice than had been the case.  This included charter schools (which emphatically are public schools) along with policies that enable generally lower-income parents to send their son or daughter to an independent school if it looks to be a strong fit for their child. My “safely guessing” has something to do with shiploads of ridiculous and simply wrong things candidates and others on the left, especially teacher union officials, said and wrote about parental choice during the 2016 election cycle.   But according...

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on August 26, 2018
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Survey Says: Majority of Public Sector Union Members See Janus Ruling as ‘Positive’

Written by Catrin Thorman
in Education, Employee Freedom, Unions

It has been nearly two months to the day since the U.S. Supreme Court decided to give all public employees a voice and choice when it comes to union membership. Prior to the ruling, awareness of the Janus v. AFSCME case was quite low. But a new survey of government union members shows post-Janus knowledge of the Supreme Court ruling is high, and many think the ruling is a positive development....

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on August 23, 2018
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Teachers and ESPs have a Narrow Seven -Day Window to Resign from Education Minnesota: September 24-30

Written by Kim Crockett
in Constitutional Law, Education, Employee Freedom, Unions

In most cases, the terms for resigning from the union are usually based on the anniversary date of when you signed the card. This means that the date to resign is unique to the individual employee. But for the 66,000 licensed K-12 teachers and 7,400 ESPs (para-professionals, payroll clerks and lunch room helpers) who signed an Education Minnesota union card, there is a very narrow seven-day window to resign that runs between September 24 and September 30. ...

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on August 20, 2018
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Failed education ideas about to transform Twin Cities region

Written by Katherine Kersten
in Crazy Liberalism, Education

On July 25, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling with the potential to transform K-12 education in the Twin Cities region for decades to come. The court decided that Cruz-Guzman v. State of Minnesota—a case in which plaintiffs seek court-ordered metro-wide racial balancing in the Twin Cities’ region’s public schools—can go forward. Plaintiffs will now return to district court. There they will demand a comprehensive, legislatively mandated plan to distribute students—including those in suburban districts and charter schools—into schools across the metro area on the basis of their race and socio-economic status. The remedy plaintiffs seek will likely cost taxpayers enormous sums...

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