In the new age of education and labor reform across the country, many teachers have expressed concern over their rights without lengthy union contracts and collective bargaining agreements in place. While teacher unions warn of the "dangers" without these cumbersome union negotiated tools, they fail to mention that the majority of the states in the country have a thriving teacher workforce protected by state and federal laws free from collectively bargained contracts.   Continue Reading...

AAE Executive Director Gary Beckner op-ed on 2010 NEA Convention as featured on the Townhall website:   Continue Reading...

According to one Las Vegas teacher, "The fat lady has sung" and he is washing his hands of union membership. Frustrated by years of hostile negotiations, massive lay-offs, exorbitant dues, and partisan politics, Nathan Warner is advising his fellow educators to drop union membership this week during a small resignation period– July 1-15 – which just might be the best kept secret in town.   Continue Reading...

While most Americans were enjoying a festive Independence Day last week, the National Education Association was holding their annual conference in Washington, D.C. Beaten down after another solid year of negative press, declining membership, and legislative and legal battles, the NEA convention took on a somber and partisan tone in 2012.   Continue Reading...

Compulsory unionism and the ability of teacher unions to forcibly collect union dues from teacher paychecks has been a hot topic in recent years. From Wisconsin to Ohio, education stakeholders have debated the topic in high-profile legislative and legal battles with clear national implications. Just last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court made it more difficult for public-employee unions to extract special fee assessments from non-members for expenses such as ballot battles in a clear step forward for teacher freedoms.   Continue Reading...

As recently reported on the AAE blog, teacher union public approval and membership are hitting record lows. Following a decline of 150,000 members in the past two years and a projection of an additional 200,000 member loss by 2014, the National Education Association and its state affiliates are in extreme financial distress. According to a report by union-watchdog Mike Antonucci and the Education Intelligence Agency (EIA), as the NEA national budgets are being slashed, aid to state affiliates has risen to keep certain state affiliate operations afloat.   Continue Reading...

This week's recall election has thrust union special interests and teacher freedoms back into the national dialogue like never before. After a bitter campaign and an estimated $60 million spent on election efforts, the commanding win for Governor Walker illustrates an overwhelming shift in public opinion against teachers unions. As the dust settles on this historic election, it's no coincidence that according to a new public opinion poll, teacher unions nationally are reaching all-time low approval levels.   Continue Reading...

Education reform news service, Choice Media, today posted a cartoon lampooning the teacher union special interests and their aversion to all things school choice. "Running out of Ideas" parodies a union board meeting where the characters are desperately clinging to their monopoly interests using the same old arguments against school reform and innovation.   Continue Reading...

House Approves Student Loan Rate Cut Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation authored by Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) that would prevent a scheduled July 1st interest rate hike on certain federal student loans.  Under a 2007 statute, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans to undergraduate students was cut from 6.8% to 3.4%, but interest rates are scheduled to return to previous levels unless Congress acts.  Biggert's legislation, H.R. 4628, the Interest Rate Reduction Act, would extend lower rates for an additional year.  The bill was approved by a vote of 215 to 195, and it now heads to the Senate for consideration.   Continue Reading...

With education and labor issues being hotly debated across the country and the rise of "super" Political Action Committees (PACs), insiders have predicted that 2012 election spending will reach record levels. Beaten down after over two solid years of negative press, declining membership, and legislative and legal battles, the National Education Association is seeking to come back with a vengeance in 2012. The nation's largest union is currently being tracked as the 4th largest national super PAC contributor.   Continue Reading...

Funds for Early Learning Earmarked in Competitive Grant Program The Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services

announced last week that $133 million from the 2012 Race to the Top program will be available so that additional states can make investments in comprehensive early learning education reform.   Continue Reading...

A recent report by the union watchdog group, the Education Intelligence Agency, sheds new light on the financial disclosures of the American Federation of Teachers in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The analysis reveals that the AFT spent an astonishing $7.8 million of member dues on a wide array of left-leaning advocacy groups, charities, and big labor organizations–more than triple the amount spent last year.   Continue Reading...

Since the labor battles of 2011 and the growing push for education reform nationwide, pundits and education experts from across the political spectrum have predicted massive membership and financial losses for teacher labor unions in the coming years. While there have been media reports about union lay-offs and budget shortfalls, new data for the Bureau of Labor Statistics sheds light on total membership losses by percentage in some very unlikely states.   Continue Reading...

In the wake of last year's labor battles in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio, 2012 is shaping up to mark a new era in curtailed teacher union power. While it might seem difficult to believe that the National Education Association and its state affiliates, at their peak a $1.5 billion annual powerhouse, could be suffering from money troubles, new evidence suggests deep trouble for the NEA and state affiliates.   Continue Reading...

The Education Intelligence Agency, a popular education research blog run by union-watchdog Mike Antonucci, has analyzed the NEA's 2010-11 financial disclosure report and discovered that the largest teachers union in the country has given nearly $19 million of teacher dues, some collected by force, to advocacy groups and primarily left-leaning causes. Up $5 million from the previous year, the NEA has increased their advocacy spending despite a climate of declining membership and harsh budget realities.   Continue Reading...

AAE Executive Director Gary Beckner letter to the editor as featured on the The Connecticut Post website:   Continue Reading...

A new report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington sheds light on the status of charter school unionization nationwide. In a climate where charter schools laws are changing dramatically and teacher union membership is declining, the prospect of charter schools unionizing has become a very real threat to the flexible, innovative environments these schools were meant to cultivate. This report attempts to analyze the status of unionization by examining why teachers unionize and the diverse collective bargaining agreements of unionized charters, however it misses the mark in addressing the disconnect between the charter movement and bargaining agreements in general.   Continue Reading...

As reported by AAE, a poll released in late summer by Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup highlighted some interesting facts about the changing public perceptions regarding teacher unions. While clearly the American people are seeing the growing disconnect between teachers and unions as evidenced by this poll, the typical American voter is also becoming more and more informed about public education reform and the need for change in our struggling system.   Continue Reading...

What started in February as a battle over budget shortfalls and forced unionism has grown into a full scale ballot referendum in the key swing state of Ohio. The question known as "Issue 2" will ask voters to either accept or reject a sweeping collective bargaining law that Governor John Kasich signed in March, less than three months after his election day. Tomorrow, Ohioans will go to the polls to vote on the referendum, a case study in the near nationwide debate over union power and the sustainability of the current collective bargaining system.   Continue Reading...

Since the class warfare message of the Occupy Wall Street protests started nearly two months ago, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have taken every chance possible to align themselves in solidarity with the group of mostly underemployed college students and left-leaning activists. With AFT President Randi Weingarten joining in on protests and affiliates in Kentucky and Missouri taking part in protests of their own, the teacher unions are quick to point out that "public education, teachers and unions have increasingly come under attack from the One Percent."   Continue Reading...