Latest round showed the power of solidarity, public support, and striking first.
Reader Comments - Woody Guthrie; On the Waterfront; McCarthyism; Screenwriters and the Blacklist; Third Party politics; Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Israeli peace movement and War Crimes; Zionism and the Jewish community; Saudi Arabia's role; Prisoners, Parole (or lack) and Obama; Teachers; Food; Thank you, Anonymous and contributions to Portside;
Screenwriters and the Blacklist: Before, During, and After - New York - August 22-September 2
As teachers across the country rejoice that the school year is over, Catholic school educators in a handful of areas are having to decide whether to sign employment contracts affirming their wholehearted belief in Catholic precepts.
While teachers led their classrooms, a judge in a Los Angeles courtroom said that for students to win, teachers have to lose. If we want every child to have a chance to thrive, we must retain and support a stable teaching force-especially in high-poverty schools. By attacking the rules that protect and support teachers, the "Vergara "decision destabilizes public education.
Reader Comments - Politics and Post-Capitalism; Gabriel Kolko; Shondes - Blacklisted by the `Jewish Community; Yuri Kochiyama; Guantanamo: Bowe Bergdahl; Jewish Day School vs. Teachers Union; Blood Type; Europe post Elections; Supreme Court Ruling on Teacher Tenure; US Foreign Policy.
Announcements - Dialogue with Leaders of Mexican Labor Movement - June 26 - New York: 45th contingent Venceremos Brigade; Peoples Climate March - New York - Sept. 20-21
The teachers agreement agreement, which was passed with more than 77 percent of the roughly 90,000 votes cast and includes billions of dollars in back pay, is likely to set the standard for several other municipal unions that, like the teachers’ union, were left without contracts in the final years of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration.
Critics say that charter schools—publicly funded but run by private organizations—are being used as a means to privatize public education at the expense of the vast majority of students. They say the charter movement is a Trojan-horse riding under the guise of school choice, used as an instrument to break teachers unions.
For New Orleans, the debate over charter schools and teachers unions has always been an either-or proposition. The Orleans Parish School Board voided the city’s union contract after Hurricane Katrina, and charter schools began taking over rapidly thereafter. Now, New Orleans is beginning to find out if this hard divide between charters and unions is really necessary, or if the two can somehow learn to coexist.
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