Education Action Group

St. Paul Union Using Class Size Smokescreen to Preserve Teaching Jobs and the Flow of Dues Dollars

by Education Action Group

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Does time stand still in the St. Paul school district?

If it does, that would explain why its teachers union, the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, is using contract negotiations to insist on a hard cap on class sizes.

For nearly a decade, there has been a consensus among education experts that when it comes to student achievement, teacher quality is far more important than class size. The research has so consistently downplayed the value of smaller class sizes that most scholars consider it a settled matter.

Assuming that the St. Paul Federation of Teachers is not stuck in some bizarre time warp, why is the union ignoring the research and insisting that strict class size limits be written into its new teachers’ contract?

According to SPFT President Mary Cathryn Ricker, capping class sizes is a way to guarantee St. Paul families that their children will receive personalized attention from their teachers, which she says is a necessary ingredient for a student’s success.

“This proposal is about meeting the needs of our students so that we can … quickly close this achievement gap,” Ricker told TwinCities.com.

Eric Hanushek, a leading scholar in the field of class sizes and teacher quality, offers a different theory.

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Media Trackers

Soros Funds Union Effort in Indiana

by Media Trackers

For the second time in a session that is only weeks old, Indiana House Democrats refused to show up for work on Tuesday, effectively delaying the passage of right-to-work legislation. The first delay was a three-day boycott that finished with Democrats coming back to the table to continue other legislative business. House Republicans expected to have a vote on the contentious right to-work bill after Democrat leader B. Patrick Bauer (known for vainly sporting a toupee) made public and private promises that his caucus would show up and participate in the legislative process.

But while Bauer and his fellow Democrats have been throwing temper tantrums and obstructing legislative business, other opponents of right-to-work legislation have been busy producing and distributing studies that purport to show how the reform would hurt Indiana’s economy. The several studies and reports reach a variety of conclusions. Some say that right-to-work would undermine private sector pension plans and others say that the reform will not have any meaningful impact on drawing job creators – especially those in the manufacturing sector – to the state. South Carolina’s success in attracting a new Boeing plant seems to go unmentioned.

Leading the way among those providing intellectual firepower and talking points for pro-union right to-work opponents is the Economic Policy Institute. EPI, a D.C. based think-tank that specializes in state-based research, has released a steady stream of information and research allegedly debunking the benefits of the reform and calling on Indiana policymakers to bend to union demands by killing the legislation.

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Wynton Hall

EXCLUSIVE: 1980 Memo Shows Gingrich Urged Reagan to Reach Out to Black Voters

by Wynton Hall

With members of the mainstream media now hurling charges of using racially coded language against GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, Big Government has uncovered a private memorandum written over three decades ago that offers a unique glimpse into Mr. Gingrich’s longstanding attitudes about race.


The private memo, dated July 1, 1980, was written by Mr. Gingrich on his official House of Representatives stationery and was sent to then-candidate Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager, Bill Casey, who would later become President Reagan’s CIA Director.

In the memo, Mr. Gingrich urges Governor Reagan’s campaign to reconsider its decision not to speak to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Convention.

“This is a great opportunity to prove that a conservative Republican can speak to the hearts and pocketbooks of Black Americans,” Gingrich urged in the memo.

The memorandum goes on to explain that a decision not to speak at the NAACP convention would insult African American voters and be a “tragedy” for the nation:

Many middle class Black Americans who would vote for Reagan will be insulted by his non-attendance.  I urge you to schedule the speech and talk about Kemp’s Inner City Jobs Bill, which Kilpatrick and George Will have both endorsed as acceptably conservative.

Failure to attend the NAACP convention will be a tragedy for Gov. Reagan and the country.  Symbolic events are vital.  Thank you for considering this.

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Charles C. Johnson

Fact-Checking Eric Holder’s South Carolina Speech

by Charles C. Johnson

Attorney General Eric Holder got a lot wrong in his speech in Columbia, South Carolina, but two things in particular: 1) that voter fraud is rare and 2) that South Carolina’s voter laws are racist, not only by their intent, but by their effect.

Holder told his audience that included the NAACP top brass:

… I learned early in my legal career – when I actually investigated and prosecuted voting-fraud cases – making voter registration easier is simply not likely, by itself, to make our elections more susceptible to fraud. Indeed, responsible parties on all sides of this debate have acknowledged that in-person voting fraud is uncommon.

But Alabama Democrat (and black) former congressman Artur Davis says that, on the contrary, voter fraud is far more common than surmised. Indeed, the very day that Holder spoke in South Carolina The Daily Caller broke a story highlighting the criminal voter fraud conducted by the NAACP in Mississippi and Ohio. Democrats, including Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, Pittsburgh District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., and Miami, FL. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, have all prosecuted the voter fraud that Holder says is rare. Voter I.D. would hamper the ease with which voter fraud could be committed.

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AWR Hawkins

Sarah Palin: ‘If I Were a South Carolinian, I Would Vote for Newt’

by AWR Hawkins

When Gov. Sarah Palin appeared on Sean Hannity’s television program, Hannity, last night, she discussed the recent GOP debate and the fast approaching South Carolina primary. Concerning the debate she had strong praise for Gov. Rick Perry, whom she described as “on fire” and “a true patriot.” She also spoke of how well she thought Rick Santorum did in taking it to Mitt Romney: of how Santorum “had an opponent up on the ropes,” which is “what you have to do to get to the truth.” But she reserved her highest praise for Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom she believed won the debate in South Carolina.

Said Palin:

Newt came out, just like South Carolina’s own Smokin’ Joe Frazier, he came out swinging, talking about work, talking about jobs and work ethic, and how government needs to get out of the way in order for all Americans to have a sense of opportunity to work, and I think that’s what a lot of voters have been craving.

The clip of Newt that played just before Palin said these things was of him pointing toward of the horizon during the debate and saying:

I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their Creator with the right to pursue happiness, and if that makes liberals unhappy, I’m going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn to get a better job and learn some day to own the job.

After Palin had praised Newt in this fashion, Hannity asked her if she was ready to endorse a candidate. And while she didn’t yet give an endorsement for the race in general, she did say, “I can tell you what I would do if I were a South Carolinian.…I would vote for Newt.” She went on to say that one of the reasons she’d do this is to be sure the vetting process continues for the candidates, inasmuch as the “mistake made in our country four years ago was having a candidate who was not vetted.”

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Larry O'Connor

NYC Union Chief Proves Gov. Walker Right: Tougher Teacher Evaluations Must Be Negotiated Into Contract

by Larry O'Connor


Next time you hear sanctimonious wails from the left about how Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and Republicans want to take collective bargaining rights away from workers, remember that basic evaluations and disciplinary actions for awful teachers is something these union believe need to be negotiated and are not, in fact, the built in right of the employer (that’s you, the taxpayer).

Here’s “Exhibit A”:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stressed the importance of officials agreeing on a new statewide teacher evaluation system at yesterday’s State of the State address. Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers, tells WOR’s John Gambling, Cuomo showed real leadership, but until Mayor Bloomberg negotiates the law the union will not act outside of those parameters. (Audio after the jump) (more…)

The New Ledger

Common Grace in Science & Art

by The New Ledger

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Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Pejman Yousefzadeh and Kevin Holtsberry are joined by Jordan Ballor to discuss his book Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art a collection of the writings of the theologian Abraham Kuyper, discussing religious approaches to grace, public service, cultural engagement and more.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Buy Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art on Amazon
Kuyper Common Grace Translation Project
How Christians Ought to “Occupy” Wall Street (and All Streets)
Ministers of Common Grace
Jordan Ballor at Acton Institute

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Publius

Report: Obama Set to Reject Keystone Pipeline

by Publius

The Obama administration is expected to reject the controversial Keystone Pipeline this afternoon, according to Fox News.

The State Department is expected to vote against the pipeline this afternoon. Transcanada will however be allowed to reapply with an alternate route going through Nebraska.

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Tom Fitton

Documents Show Half a Million Dollars (and One ‘Ethics Waiver’) Went into Obama’s Failed Olympics Bid

by Tom Fitton

The Obamas have developed quite the reputation for wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary global trips. Michelle Obama’s family vacation to Africa is one very recent example. Another is the Obamas’ failed bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago back in 2009.

Just to set the stage, while the nation was facing a large-scale crisis involving Iran’s nuclear ambitions, two wars abroad and a failing economy at home, the Obamas decided to take an extraordinary excursion to Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit the International Olympics Committee (IOC). Their goal was to persuade the committee to choose Chicago, the Obamas’ hometown, for the next Olympics games. It was the first time a sitting president was present for an Olympics vote (they usually have better things to do).

Michelle Obama reportedly made an “impassioned” plea to the IOC, but it fell flat. Chicago did not make it past the first round of voting, and the Obamas came home empty-handed and utterly embarrassed.

Judicial Watch immediately launched an investigation to find out how much this “embarrassment” cost the American taxpayers.

And after more than two years of stonewalling and obfuscating, JW investigators finally got hold of records detailing costs associated with the two-week trip. According to these records obtained from the Obama Department of Defense (DOD), expenses for the trip appear to have far exceeded $467,175. And this number doesn’t even cover the in-flight costs associated with the aircraft ‒ two Boeing 747s and several Air Force cargo planes – which have not been made available. (more…)

Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

Is Mark Zuckerberg Teaming Up with Politico to Give Obama an Edge?

by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

Facebook may give Barack Obama a slight edge this coming presidential election while creating a wide misperception about who’s actually pulling ahead in the Republican Party. A new partnership between Facebook and Politico announced last week will reveal users private messages if and when they relate to their feelings about a political candidate.

Liz Gannes of All Things D enlightens us about the new dual effort, reporting that:

It will consist of sentiment analysis reports and voting-age user surveys, accompanied by stories by Politico reporters. Most notably, the Facebook-Politico data set will include Facebook users’ private status messages and comments. While that may alarm some people, Facebook and Politico say the entire process is automated and no Facebook employees read the posts.

Rather, every post and comment — both public and private — by a U.S. user that mentions a presidential candidate’s name will be fed through a sentiment analysis tool that spits out anonymized measures of the general U.S. Facebook population.

Apparently, the fact that “no Facebook employees read the posts,” is supposed to assure us that the quotes are not being hand picked to prefer one candidate over another. After all, since the posts will be published worldwide it can’t possibly be referring to privacy (plus, the quotes are “anonymized” so they can’t be attributed to any particular Facebook user).

But here’s the thing.

Whether or not the quotes are actually being hand picked or being “fed through a sentiment analysis tool” (whatever that means) isn’t really that relevant because we all know that more young people than old use Facebook. That means that in all likelihood those candidates that appeal to younger voters (namely Barack Obama–surprise, surprise, Mark Zuckerberg’s apparent favorite will be getting lots of play on the pages of Politico as the national favorite.

And here’s something else: Don’t be surprised if the Republican Party’s quirkiest candidate Ron Paul also comes out the GOP front runner. After all, it’s no secret that Paul’s young followers have been passionate about vocalizing their support perhaps hoping to convince Americans that Paul really is the front runner.

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Publius

Solyndra Auction Fails to Attract any Bidders

by Publius

(Reuters) – Solyndra LLC failed to attract any bids on Tuesday from buyers who could have restarted production, brought back some laid off staff and kept the bankrupt solar panel maker operating, according to a company adviser.

Solyndra, which owes more than $500 million to the U.S. government, has said a turnkey buyer is the best hope for getting the most money for the government and other creditors. However, no turnkey bids were submitted by a Tuesday deadline, said company adviser Eric Carlson of Imperial Capital LLC.

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Education Action Group

Michigan Teacher Finds It’s Not So Easy, or Cheap, to Become a Former Member of a Teachers Union

by Education Action Group

GRANT, Mich.  – Ever wonder what it costs to quit a labor union?

For one Michigan educator, the annual costs of “non-membership” in the local, state and national teacher unions total $544.28.

But Andrew Buikema, 10-year teacher with Grant Public Schools, is willing to pay the price, just for the privilege of being seen as a true professional, instead of a union worker.

Michigan is not a “right to work” state, which means Buikema’s job is still affected by the district’s contract with the local teachers union, the Grant Education Association. The GEA is affiliated with the Michigan Education Association and the National Education Association.

Buikema has been trying to leave the union since last spring, when he realized that GEA leaders were uninterested in helping the district control costs, even in the face of a multi-million dollar deficit.

By refusing to make wage and benefit concessions, the union contributed to conditions that led to 27 teachers – including Buikema – receiving layoff notices. The district was also forced into making cuts to student academic and extracurricular programs.

Buikema’s job was saved at the last minute, but he was disgusted by the union’s selfishness.

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Jason Hart

Big Labor Partisanship at Teacher Expense

by Jason Hart

However they market themselves, public unions are political by nature, brimming partisanship that goes beyond their skewed campaign spending. Every Republican teacher, public safety worker, and government employee forced to pay “fair share” dues should be outraged.

My state’s National Education Association (NEA) affiliate, the Ohio Education Association (OEA), takes millions in fees from non-members each year. Operating on NEA’s model, OEA insists all teachers be forced to pay for the union’s non-political business. This would be well and good, if OEA conducted any non-political business.

From the union’s mission statement:

OEA believes that for those whose business is public education, activism is an obligation.

OEA has the same definition of “activism” as every garden variety leftist group: Demand bigger government under the guise of fairness and equality. For example, ACORN’s 2005-06 Political Program (hat tip: Publius’ Forum) lists OEA as a “Coalition Partner” -

We see the combination of these efforts as key to maintaining and expanding the level of electoral participation by more progressive voters in the state, along with playing a role in pushing voter alignment along axes of community concerns and economic security.

In other words, OEA worked with ACORN to push the entitlement mindset and get entitlement-minded voters to the polls. For… the children?

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Trevor Loudon

Kyrsten Sinema: Communist Connected Arizona State Senator to Run For Congress

by Trevor Loudon

First term Phoenix area Arizona State Senator Kyrsten Sinema has thrown her hat in the ring to stand for the US House of Representatives from the newly created 9th Congressional District

Kyrsten Sinema

Kyrsten Sinema is widely known as leftist and a “progressive”. however there has been virtually no media scrutiny of Sinema’s documented ties to the Arizona Communist Party – the local affiliate of the pro China/pro Cuba Communist Party USA.

Before becoming an Arizona State Representative, Kyrsten Sinema was a signatory to an advertisement “May Day and Cinco de Mayo greetings” placed in the Communist Party paper People’s Weekly World May 4, 2002. Such ads were traditionally placed in the Communist Party paper every May Day, sponsored by local party clubs, members or supporters

People's Weekly World May 4, 2002 May Day and Cinco de Mayo greetings

Arizona’s progressive community extends May Day and Cinco de Mayo greetings to all our friends across the country. We commit ourselves to resist the Bush Administration’s drive for ever increasing military spending and a neverending state of war. We must redouble our efforts to build a people’s coalition that will drive the ultra right out of Congress next November.

Co-signing the advertisement with Sinema were Communist Party USA members Joe Bernick, Jack Blawis, Lem Harris, Lorenzo Torrez, Anita Torrez, Carolyn Trowbridge, Steve Valencia, the Tucson and East Valley Clubs of the Communist Party  and party fronts the Arizona Peace Council and the Salt of the Earth Labor College.

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Publius

Wednesday Open Thread: Warsaw Edition

by Publius

Today, in 1943, was the first uprising of the Warsaw Jewish ghetto. If only this had happened everywhere–at the same time.

TobyToons

In Order To Spend Less…

by TobyToons

I Want You

Cross-Posted: TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons)

Charles C. Johnson

Mitt Romney Changes Position on Releasing Tax Returns, DNC Attacks With WhatMittPays.com Website

by Charles C. Johnson

Gov. Mitt Romney (Photo source: Christian Science Monitor)

Mitt Romney now says that he will “probably” release his tax records in April after telling NBC in December that he would not, even if he were to become the GOP nominee.  ”Never say never, but I don’t intend to do so.” Romney told NBC on December 21st, 2011.

Romney estimated in a press conference earlier today in Florence, South Carolina that he “probably” pays only about 15 percent in federal taxes. The DNC quickly seized on Romney’s declared tax rate to attack him for it, launching a website, WhatMittPays.com, within 24 hours with a built-in income tax calculator that compares Romney’s income taxed under investments to income earned through work. This is, in essence, the DNC’s attempt at rehashing President Obama’s “Buffet Rule.”

Romney’s capital gains tax rate is not all that unusual. After all, most of Romney’s earnings come from capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate than income. (more…)

Ryan Girdusky

Catholics Shifting to Romney?

by Ryan Girdusky

Despite the best efforts of Rick Santorum, so far in this early primary cycle, Mitt Romney is winning over the ultimate swing voters–Catholics.

In Iowa, Romney won 10 of the 25 most Catholic counties in the state. In New Hampshire, the Catholic vote which represents 35% of the state broke in favor of Romney over Ron Paul (the 2nd place finish) by a margin of 45% to 17%. And most recently, Romney has received the endorsement of five former ambassadors to the Holy See.

Thomas Patrick Melady, Raymond L. Flynn, James Nicholson, Francis Rooney and Mary Ann Glendon all signed the letter, which applauded Romney for realizing “that sound economic and social policies must rest on a healthy culture.” The ambassadors called Romney the “best qualified” candidate for the nation’s highest office. These ambassadors have served under presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

The Catholic vote has been the largest swing vote since the last half of the 20th century to the present. While there is a divide amongst Hispanic Catholics and the descendants of European Catholics, the vote overall total has been fairly split over recent elections. According to media exit polls, Obama won the Catholic vote 54%-45% and won the White House 53%-46%. George W. Bush won the Catholic vote in 2004, 52%-47% and won the Presidency 51%-48%. These models hold true going back to 1972, when Richard Nixon won the Catholic vote 54%-44% and won the popular vote 61%-38% nationally. (more…)

Media Trackers

1 Million to Recall Walker, What It Means

by Media Trackers

Democrats and their leftwing allies are touting the fact that they reached their 1 million-signature goal in the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker. Political observers on both sides of the spectrum had predicted that a recall would proceed because organizers would eventually get enough signatures to force Walker to defend his post less than two years after taking office.

While recall advocates only needed to gather 540,208 valid signatures to force an election, reaching the 1 million mark was a symbolic goal that they set to prove the strength of the movement. However, before judging their efforts a complete success, several factors must be noted.

First, the petition process was riddled with fraud and tainted with questionable ethics at several points. Early in the process the Soros-funded One Wisconsin Now encouraged those opposed to Walker to sign recall petitions multiple times. Although not necessarily an illegal act (unless there is the specific intent to commit fraud), signing a petition multiple times does raise questions about how best to properly calculate the true number of signature since, in theory and according to state law, only the first signature will count. Even the Government Accountability Board’s announcement that it will use software to help catch duplicates, though a step in the right direction, doesn’t promise to catch every or even most of those kinds of errors.

When a Milwaukee man proudly said he signed recall petitions 80 times as a way of getting back at Republicans who, he believes, stole the 2000 election in Florida, he proved just how error prone the process can be.

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Brett Healy

Breaking-> Big Labor Says It Has 1 Million Signatures to Trigger Recall of Wis. Gov. Scott Walker

by Brett Healy

The Big-Labor backed Walker Recall coalition says they’ve turned in a million signatures today, well in excess of the 540,000 necessary to trigger a recall later this year. Our report:


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