Unions
CUSD WATCH: Teachers Union Spending Hits $350,000 in CUSD Takeover Attempt
November 01, 2010
Tony Beall, Red County There is a real life David and Goliath
story playing out right now here in Orange County. It's the
courageous campaign being waged by the conservative Republican
Reform Trustees in Capistrano Unified against the most powerful
special interest group in the State of California -- the Teachers
Union. Powerful union leaders and their supporters are campaigning
to take control of the Capistrano Unified School District on
Election Day – seeking to replace the existing conservative Reform
Trustees with a new pro-union majority, and with their ballot
initiative known as Measure H, to literally take away from every
voter 6 of our 7 school board votes. The Reform Trustees can't even
compete with the union when it comes to campaign money -- but their
continuing willingness to stand up to the union bosses against all
odds has captured the hearts and minds (and loyalty) of the
electorate. The Orange County Register now confirms...
Capo trustees don't deserve recall
October 21, 2010
Editorial: The Orange County Register
The recall of elected
officials should be reserved for egregious behavior – abuse of
office, fraud, illegal dealings – not for differences in political
ideology or to shift political power or to stir public ire. In the
proposed recall Nov. 2 of two Capistrano Unified School District
trustees, the evidence falls short. We urge voters in the South
County school district to vote against the union-backed recall of
two of the seven trustees, Ken Lopez-Maddox and Mike Winsten, and
prevent a possible union takeover from the board...
Brown Ignored Union Bill’s Warnings
October 19, 2010
Anthony Pignataro, Cal Watchdog One of the few actual, honest issues in
the California governor’s race has also been one of the least
reported. And while it’s an old issue – dating back to 1977 – it’s
nonetheless fascinating. “Back when Jerry Brown was governor nearly
35 years ago, in his first day in office, he gave public service
unions the right to collective bargaining,” Republican Meg Whitman
said back in April. Her time was off by two years, but the point of
her argument was true enough: that granting public employee unions
the right to bargain collectively for better pay and benefits paved
the way for our state’s current unfunded pension liabilities, which
may top half a trillion dollars...
Unions fighting a phony ‘war on teachers’
October 19, 2010
Eric Hanushek, Thoughts on Public Education
So we are seeing not a war
on teachers, but a war on the blunt and detrimental policies of
teachers unions. If unions continue not to represent the vast
numbers of highly effective teachers, but instead to lump them in
with the ineffective teachers, they will continue doing a
disservice to students, to most of their own members, and to the
nation...The bottom line is that focusing on effective teachers
cannot be taken as a liberal or conservative position. It’s time
for the unions to drop their polemics and stop propping up the
bottom...
Teachers, other unions, drive in reverse
October 14, 2010
Column: Teryl Zarnow, The Orange County
Register In
America, we focus on staying in drive. Moving forward feels like it
brings us closer to progress and greater prosperity. But the
current economy is difficult precisely because it feels like we're
doing the opposite of what we want. These days, few are getting
ahead, many are falling behind, and the best case, often, is to be
stuck in neutral. Union contracts graphically illustrate the point.
Gone are new deals that call for increases in workers' salaries and
benefits. The object today is to hold ground or mitigate the loss.
Teachers contracts offer an example...
The Rites and Wrongs of October
October 13, 2010
Larry Sand, Red County Every year, especially the even
numbered ones, teachers all over California are subjected to a
battering by the California Teachers Association and its local
affiliates. That’s when union hacks invade schools and school
mailboxes, telling teachers who and what they must vote for on
Election Day. Their mantra is always the same -- touting the most
liberal candidate and the biggest spending initiatives. When I was
a teacher, I found the constant politicking to be overbearing – and
there is no room for disagreement...
Union members speak up on coerced political spending
October 12, 2010
Michelle Malkin, Michelle Malkin I’ve been writing about the
rank-and-file union member revolt against forced political spending
and power grab schemes taking place under the radar screen across
the country. More are saying enough is enough...
Even with tenure, teachers – good and bad – can be let go
October 12, 2010
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register I have
some questions for you. ... Do you understand that tenure is
something unique to your profession and not practiced in private
industry? Do you understand that in private industry, companies may
choose to eliminate more experienced (and higher paid) employees
just to stay in business? If you understand even some of this, then
why should teaches be considered special and be protected by
"tenure" just because they have seniority? I think a better policy
for education is to treat it more like private industry and get rid
of any employees – regardless of "tenure" – that are not doing
their job well. This policy would make all teachers
accountable...
Union Sympathizers in CUSD Suffer Three Humiliating Court Losses
September 07, 2010
Tony Beall, Red County All three lawsuits brought by
supporters of the so-called "Children First" organization (a front
for the public employee unions in CUSD) were just rejected in their
entirety by Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner on
the merits, vindicating the truthfulness of the official ballot
statements submitted by the conservative CUSD Reform
Trustees. In all, five separate lawsuits were heard in OC
Superior Court, on the merits, and the conservatives won decisive
victories in all five. I just published the story of the first two lawsuits
in which the conservatives
prevailed over the leaders of the union’s so called “Children
First” organization – and against their endorsed candidate, John
Alpay. This is the story of the three baseless lawsuits
brought by desperate union sympathizers against the conservative
incumbents and their supporters...
Teachers union out on fringe
July 20, 2010
Column: Ben Boychuk, The Orange County
Register The
National Education Association boasts a membership of more than 3
million teachers and is one of the most powerful interest groups
within the Democratic Party. But, despite its size and influence,
the nation's largest teachers union has positioned itself well
outside America's political mainstream. The NEA is so far out, the
New York Times reported that union officials didn't invite
President Barack Obama or U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
to speak at the union's annual convention in New Orleans this year
out of concern the 9,000 delegates might heckle them off the
stage…
Teacher strike nets Capistrano $1.7 million
July 06, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
It crippled the Capistrano
Unified School District for three days, causing lost instruction
time, wild swings in student attendance and unexpected bills for
substitute teachers, security guards and consulting fees. In the
end, though, the teacher strike in Orange County's second-largest
school district in April netted Capistrano $1.7 million in extra
cash, even after all of the bills were paid, according to a
Register financial analysis…
Jerry Brown's Nurses Union Monopoly Worth at Least $2.5 Million
June 22, 2010
Chip Hanlon, Red County From now until November, you will hear
endless whining from Jerry Brown about the financial resources Meg
Whitman is committing to this campaign. Now you know exactly how
empty such crying truly is. In reality, when one understands the
true value of the massive financial support Moonbeam will enjoy
from his union boss cronies, it’s pretty easy to see that Meg
Whitman is actually the underdog in this race, financially. The
battle for California is on, and the opposing sides couldn’t be
more clear: it’s union bosses vs. taxpayers…
Government by State Employees is Not Government by the People
June 16, 2010
K. Lloyd Billingsley, Pacific Research
Institute From
Susanville to San Diego, California cities are struggling
financially but now face more bad news. Assembly Bill 155, by Tony
Mendoza, Artesia Democrat, would prevent California cities from
filing for federal bankruptcy protection. The union-backed bill
would allow a union-friendly state agency, the California Debt and
Investment Advisory Commission, to deny any municipal bankruptcy
filing and keep intact all labor contracts. This measure invites a
look at the power of government employee unions…
Jerry Brown: Founding Father of the Annual Budget Crisis
June 16, 2010
Mark Standriff, Flash Report In 1978, then Governor Jerry Brown
signed into law the legislation granting collective bargaining
rights to state employees. Since then the state legislature has
fulfilled its constitutional obligation to pass a balanced budget
by June 15th a total of four times over the past 31 years.
The Bad News Bears had a better batting average. By unionizing the
state workforce, Brown and the Democrat majority in the Legislature
set in motion the single most destructive process in California’s
political history; union lobbying and campaign contributions paid
for with taxpayer dollars…
CalPERS health premiums to rise an average 9.1 percent
June 16, 2010
Bobby Caina Calvan, The Sacramento Bee
State workers, already
financially drained by furloughs and threatened with
possible pay cuts,
can brace for another
potential hit to their pocketbooks next year: A surge in
health
insurance premiums, some by more than 16 percent.
A CalPERS committee on Tuesday recommended an
array of premium
increases and
other measures to rein in its rising costs in providing
health care
services to 1.3 million
public employees, retirees and their families…
Voters, not leaders, confront Vallejo's mess
June 15, 2010
Column: Chip Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Two years after Vallejo
made history as the first city in the Golden State to file for
bankruptcy, voters have grasped the city's dire financial situation
even if some members of local government haven't. Residents
appeared to have approved Measure A by a slim margin last week. The
vote count is close and provisional ballots are still being
counted, so results haven't been made official. The ballot measure
would remove binding arbitration from the City Charter, effectively
ending the public employee unions' grip on labor contract
negotiation….
Heat Is On for the Public Employee Unions Heat is On for the Public Employee Unions
June 14, 2010
Larry Sand, Red County Lawyer and journalist Peter Scheer has
written an
excellent article which asserts that our public employee
unions are now in defense mode. (HT – Warner Todd Huston.) Cities
on the verge of bankruptcy, six figure pensions for retired 50 year
olds, tales of employees who have successfully gamed the system and
blatant influence buying have earned the unions in question a trip
to purgatory. And of course all the lavish perks of being a public
employee are at the expense of a populace beleaguered by our anemic
economy. And, we are now starting to see the political
ramifications of an angry citizenry…
Unions lose battles; war continues over pensions
June 13, 2010
Editorial, The Orange County Register
Orange County voters won
the first battle, in what could be a long war with public employee
unions, when they soundly defeated union-backed candidates in the
races for sheriff-coroner and 4th District supervisor. In both
cases, voters turned down union-backed candidates by ample margins
despite combined county union spending of nearly $1
million...
Taking On The Unions In Calif. — And Winning
June 11, 2010
Steven Greenhut, Investors Business Daily
A political candidate can
take on the public-employee unions in a nasty street rumble and
emerge bloodied but victorious. That's the message from Tuesday's
election to fill a board of supervisors seat in Orange County,
Calif. It was a race that could have statewide and even national
implications because of the particularly gutsy role the Republican
Party played in directly challenging union power…
NJ Gov Christie reforming education, taking on teacher unions
June 11, 2010
Orange Punch, The Orange County Register
Governors around the
country should take note of governor Christie if they really want
to reform the public education system.
Academia-Gate: Peter Dreier, ACORN, Revisionism, ‘Cry Wolf,’ and Academic Whores
June 11, 2010
Matthew Vadum, Big Journalism ACORN’s radical allies are now
attempting to rewrite history to cast the organized crime syndicate
as victim instead of as the prolific victimizer that it has been
ever since it was created in 1970. ACORN online campaign
director Nathan Henderson-James served notice in February that a
propaganda effort was about to begin. “[T]here will be a fight over
the narrative of ACORN’s demise,”
he wrote to
members of Townhouse, a discussion forum run by Matt Stoller,
senior policy adviser to Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). The other side
wants “a narrative about the corruption of popular organizations
and how they are simply vehicles for the personal enrichment and
power fantasies of their top staff members while pushing public
policies that destroy middle America.”
Taxpayers Going Postal Over Public Employee Pensions, Perks. Unions’ miscalculation: Opting for secrecy.
June 10, 2010
Column: Peter Scheer, First Amendment
Coalition Public
unions’ traditional strength–the ability to finance their members’
rising pay and benefits through tax increases–has become a
liability. Although private sector unions always have had to worry
that consumers will resist rising prices for their goods, public
sector unions have benefited from the fact that taxpayers can’t
choose–they are, in effect, “captive consumers.” At some point,
however, voters turn resentful as they sense that: (1) they are
underwriting, through their taxes, a level of salary and benefits
for government employment that is better than what they and their
families have; and (2) government services, from schools to the
DMV, are not good enough—not for the citizen individually nor the
public generally—to justify the high and escalating cost. We are at
that point…
Academia-Gate: As Big Labor and Media Push ‘Researchprop’ on Our Kids, Who’s Really Paying the Cost? (Part 2)
June 10, 2010
Liberty Chick, Big Journalism In the academic world, employees are
very often public employees. This means that they are also very
often union employees. At all levels. This includes everyone from
janitors, to dormitory housekeepers, cafeteria workers, clerical
staff, and computer techs, to even the graduate assistants and
professors. While the salary gap between a cafeteria worker and a
senior professor may be huge, the solidarity of the unions is a
powerful magnet that creates an unbreakable bond amongst them.
Unions are fond of bashing capitalism with seething rhetoric,
decrying the economic system as irredeemably corrupted by greed and
racism and classism. But the ideology they themselves embrace is
itself driven by the same ugly characteristics they profess to
detest. Except in their case, power is the motivating force, the
passion that drives them…
Academia-Gate: As Big Labor and Media Push ‘Researchprop’ on Our Kids, Who’s Really Paying the Cost? (Part 1)
June 09, 2010
Liberty Chick, Big Journalism A small committee of professors and
academic professionals, normally held in high regard, have
blatantly betrayed the trust of the public and quite possibly
smeared the reputations of all colleges and universities
nationwide. By soliciting “paid activists” to create research
papers that are intentionally designed to silence opposing
viewpoints, they have undermined the political system and
manipulated the governmental policy making process. And in
the meantime, they’ve also implicated all of academia in the
manufacturing of their propaganda. It is an abuse of their power,
and an abuse of the institutions they represent. It is
appalling and repellent. Perhaps even against their
employers’ rules or the industry’s ethical code. Consider it an
ominous warning — this will have a dire impact on our political and
economic system in the future, if we remain apathetic in the face
of such a rhetorical and intellectual assault…
Keep Chris Christie in Mind on June 8th
June 07, 2010
Larry Sand, Red County While I am not the first to post
this
terrific video of Chris Christie calling out the New
Jersey Education Association at a recent town hall meeting in NJ,
the significance of its content necessitates yet another repost. In
this brief video, he refers to the teachers’ union as a bully and
assures us that he isn’t backing down from a fight. I think
it’s especially important to keep Mr. Christie’s fighting words in
mind when we go to the polls tomorrow. (Note to CA teachers: In
this video, Mr. Christie laments that the average NJ teacher pays
$730 in dues yearly. He doesn’t realize how lucky they are. In
CA, you are paying on average over $1,000 per year for the
“privilege” of being a member of the teachers’ union.)
Time to reform teacher tenure
June 03, 2010
Column: Ben Boychuk, The Orange County
Register SB955
would move California toward a more rational layoff policy and set
the foundation for a performance-based evaluation system. With
several more difficult state budget years likely, principals and
superintendents need concrete performance criteria for deciding who
gets a pink slip. Teachers should be paid for performance. A
merit-pay system that rewards the best while encouraging the worst
to find another line of work is a necessary reform. The current
system is about preserving union jobs, not giving kids the best
possible education.
CUSD And The Strike
June 01, 2010
Column: Larry Christensen, The Orange County
Register The
cuts were neither temporary nor permanent but to be tied to the
State’s ability to reinstate funding back to schools at historic
levels. CUEA conceded the fact that at least a l0% cut was
required, however they touted that since no specific date was given
as to when teacher’s pay would be reinstated then the cuts were
permanent. Strike posturing began almost immediately and the mantra
associated with strike chants built upon the word “permanent”, even
though the word was never part of the imposed language. Though
pre-strike rhetoric against the board was disseminated on a daily
basis the board honored the precondition to remain quiet about
their reasons or viewpoints in order not to violate fair practice
laws by negotiating in public. CUSD offered a date to meet with
CUEA to resolve the remaining issues and to set language for a new
contract in order to avoid a strike. CUEA set that very same day to
strike…
Tough Love for Teachers
June 01, 2010
Larry Sand, Red County Teachers, who have always been one of
the most respected groups in America, have been losing some love
recently. It seems that the New Jersey Education Association
has convinced many of its members that they are victims. And this
unfortunate turn hasn’t gone unnoticed by the recession-inflicted
general public, which has become contemptuous of the greedy
educators. It’s all spelled out in this
article by Kevin Manahan. He says, “An overwhelming majority of
teachers refused to accept a pay freeze. They could have won
taxpayers’ eternal gratitude, but instead demanded their negotiated
raises and fought against contributing a dime toward
budget-breaking health insurance benefits. Teachers could have
pitched in, but they dug in.”
Municipal bankruptcy bill slogs forward
June 01, 2010
Column: Dan Walters, The Orange County
Register To
appease unions looking to make it tougher for cities to go
bankrupt, the bill was laden with amendments that could still leave
cities exposed to creditors ... So far, just one California city,
Vallejo, has declared bankruptcy, but nearby Antioch is considering
it. If the recession persists and revenues continue to stagnate,
others may follow. That's why municipal employee unions are making
a big-time push for legislation that would make bankruptcy more
difficult. The unions' underlying motives are crystal clear. They
fear a bankruptcy judge might rule that a city's labor contracts,
or even pension obligations, could be abrogated. They want to make
municipal bankruptcy more difficult to discourage troubled local
governments from resorting to it…
O.C. politicos wrong to demonize public unions
June 01, 2010
Columns: Nick Bernardino, The Orange County
Register It's
campaign season again and that means the anti-union political
attacks are once again at their peak. In a desperate search for
votes, public employees have become the target of distorted
political attacks. There's a serious flaw with this approach – it
assumes voters don't know the truth and don't want to. These
misleading attacks on unions intentionally disregard the fact that
Orange County's public employee unions, including the Orange County
Employees Association (OCEA), have initiated and achieved multiple
initiatives to reform pensions and other benefits that help save
local governments millions in costs now and in the future. Yet,
instead of acknowledging and praising these efforts, political
opportunists stretch credibility by ignoring facts and banking on
voters to do the same…
Jon Coupal: What's really behind Prop. 14
May 28, 2010
Column: Jon Coupal, The Orange County
Register A
free-for-all primary system would result in higher taxes.
Promoters of Proposition 14
on the June ballot say they want an "open" primary. "Open" makes it
sound so inclusive, so liberating, so egalitarian – what could
possibly be wrong with that? If you pay taxes in
California,
the answer is: plenty! Prop. 14 is the result of collusion between
an ambitious politician, newly appointed Lt. Gov.
Abel
Maldonado, and
entrenched Sacramento
spending interests. A year
ago, then-Sen. Maldonado, a Republican,
sold his vote for the most massive tax increase in the history of
all 50 states, in return for an agreement to place a measure on the
ballot that would make it easier for him to run for statewide
office. That measure is Proposition 14…
Reason TV: Strikeburger in Paradise
May 27, 2010
Ed Morrissey, Reason TV, HotAir.com
With much of the national
focus on education and compensation falling on
New Jersey and Governor Chris Christie, Reason
TV takes a look
at a standoff on the opposite end of the country. South
Orange County, California is a wealthy area with plenty of good
schools, but even those districts have to meet a budget, and the
school board has already had one recall over mismanagement in the
past decade. With the economic collapse, state funding has
been seriously reduced, and the Capistrano Unified School District
has to find ways to get its budget balanced. Eighty-five
percent of that budget goes to employee compensation, and that made
it the most logical target for savings — but the teachers disagreed
and went on strike rather than agree to an across-the-board pay
cut…
Dems want to tax, borrow, avoid cuts
May 26, 2010
Column: Dan Walters, The Orange County
Register The California
Legislature's Democratic
leaders, after months of hoping against hope that the state budget
deficit would magically disappear, have finally returned to their
ideological roots, proposing new taxes and new borrowing to avoid
deep spending cuts. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's no-new-taxes budget would eliminate
welfare grants, hit K-12 education and slash deeply into the
remainder of the social services and health safety net for millions
of poor Californians – anathema to the Legislature's liberals.
However, the nearly $5 billion in temporary new taxes proposed by
Democratic senators and the more than $9 billion in one-time
borrowing favored by Democratic Assembly members, absent some
economic miracle, would, as Schwarzenegger often says, merely "kick
the can down the road."
Vermont's pension experiment
May 25, 2010
Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org Vermont officials have reached
agreement on a teacher pension plan that could become a model for
financially-strapped states seeking ways to reduce the rising cost
of employee retirement benefits. The
accord between
the Legislature, the state treasurer and Vermont’s largest public
employee union will result in most teachers working additional
years and making higher contributions to the pension fund but
receiving a larger pension check on retirement. The state will
initially save $15 million a year, or about 10 percent of Vermont’s
current budget shortfall…
Lawsuit moves school duel to new level
May 25, 2010
Dan Walters, The Sacramento Bee California's perpetual
public debate over the sad condition of its K-12 schools entered a
new and potentially climactic phase last week when a coalition of
education groups filed a lawsuit alleging that the entire 6
million-student system is unconstitutional. The suit, filed in
Alameda County, declares that the state "has failed its
constitutional obligation to support its public schools in a way
that ensures that all students are provided an opportunity to meet
the state's academic goals."
Why can't teachers stop whining about salaries?
May 25, 2010
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register Q. If I
hear one more time about how teachers are paid less than the
private sector, I'm going to scream. What do you think a person
with a four-year degree and no experience should earn? Also, take
into consideration that they work less than 200 days a year and
have a lifetime of pension income and no or very little health
insurance costs that also cover their dependents. I realize that
the teachers unions have to keep this myth alive to remain viable.
Please just stop the whining! I have to go now, I am 62 years old
and got to get back to work ... I don't have a pension…
Citizen Victory Over Teachers' Union in Texas
May 24, 2010
Larry Sand, Red County On May 14, Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott delivered an opinion that could have national educational
and political ramifications for years to come. In short, the
decision stated that school districts may not fund political action
committees of teacher unions via payroll deductions … What are the
ramifications of the ruling for those of us in California? As one
who worked on the Citizen Power Initiative – a measure that if
passed would have accomplished the same thing as the Texas AG
ruling - I will tell you that this is great news...
School districts lack $1 billion to pay retiree health benefits, grand jury says
May 20, 2010
Diana Lambert, The Sacramento Bee
School officials are
effectively ignoring the mounting debt, the report concludes, and
barring a drastic change of course, could end up bankrupting their
districts or stiffing retirees on health benefits. The grand jury
report recommends that every district immediately start reducing
unfunded liabilities for retiree health benefits. It calls on every
district to include a funding plan in its 2011-12 budget. "All of
those involved – administrators, school boards teachers and unions
– have a responsibility to resolve this problem…"
Nursing board opposes student anti-seizure bill
May 19, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
The state nursing board
voted Wednesday to oppose a Senate bill that would give school
workers clear authority to administer an anti-seizure medication to
students in an emergency. The 7-1 vote by the state Board of
Registered Nursing was the culmination of more than an hour of
emotional, tear-filled testimony from local parents who support the
bill and the nursing union leaders who oppose it…
Teacher columnist receives final layoff notice
May 19, 2010
Carol Veravanich, The Orange County Register
I am responding to your
writer who "wonders how they [those who criticize teachers] would
do spending one week in the classroom." I taught for nine years
then moved to the private sector, where I worked for the next 28
years. I mean no disrespect when I state that teaching is far
easier. I also wonder: Do educators really understand how their
benefits compare to the private sector? We could start with tenure
and continue with health benefits, vacation and sick pay, and
contracted work days. Perhaps you should dedicate a column to this
subject…
Grand jury slams Sacramento City Teachers Association
May 19, 2010
Melody Guiterrez, The Sacramento Bee
The
Sacramento City Unified School District faces bankruptcy if its teachers union
does not agree to contract concessions, according to a Sacramento
County grand jury report released today. The report painted
Superintendent Jonathan
Raymond as a man
on a mission to get district finances in order while improving
programs for students. The Sacramento
City Teachers Association received a critical review. "It is time
for unions to become more of an advocate for children," the report
states…
CTA Provides Kool-Aid for the Children
May 18, 2010
Larry Sand, Red County For those of you in California who are
too busy trying to make a living and otherwise managing your busy
lives, I’ll bet that you didn’t know that this Saturday is a
holiday of sorts – yup, it’s Harvey Milk Day. Now, while you may
not have been aware of this, there is a good chance that your
children are and will be celebrating it to some extent in their
schools, with the help of the California Teachers Association … If
the CTA hagiography of Milk is what many in the teaching profession
will be using as source material, your children will be getting a
wretchedly sanitized and bowdlerized view of an undistinguished and
possibly evil man. Parents, you might want to investigate what kind
of Kool-Aid your child’s school is planning for this
“holiday.”
O.C. schools finalize more than 1,500 teacher cuts
May 18, 2010
Fermin Leal and Scott Martindale This year, many districts are relying
heavily on negotiations with unions for furlough days, salary
reductions and other concessions that could pare away at their
layoff numbers, officials said. Capistrano Unified, Magnolia
and Anaheim
Union High school
districts, for example, have already rescinded dozens of notices
after receiving some concessions from unions in new contracts.
Capistrano Unified rescinded 38 of 84 layoff notices to tenured
teachers and other certificated staff after union leaders and
trustees settled a long-running contract dispute. “We are doing
everything we can to retain personnel and not increase class
sizes,” Capistrano Trustee Ken Lopez-Maddox said. “But the state
budget is in a tailspin and we don’t yet know what it holds for
public education. We are doing all we can to brace ourselves for
what Sacramento
might do.”
Teachers union tells Steinberg to halt education cuts
May 18, 2010
Susan Ferriss, The Sacramento Bee
A fresh billboard heading
into Sacramento
off Interstate 5 showcases
the California
Teachers Association's dissatisfaction with a chief ally in
the state Capitol: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell
Steinberg. "Dear Senator
Steinberg,"
reads the pink billboard, which appeared over the weekend. "Stop
the blame. Stop the cuts." The state's largest teachers union is
also launching a direct-mail campaign to exert pressure on
Steinberg as he gears up for negotiations with Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger and other legislators over how to
address the state's $19.1 billion budget
deficit...
Plumbers union flexes muscle in local campaigns
May 18, 2010
Ryan Lillis, The Sacramento Bee From prison guards to teachers,
organized labor wields influence over California politics like an
iron pipe. In the Sacramento region, one group's clout rises above
the others. In 2005, Sacramento City Unified School District's
board approved a policy requiring contractors on projects over $1
million to use union workers. Trustees re-approved the labor
agreement policy for an additional four years in September 2009 …
The wages are often higher than nonunion workers would otherwise
make and help ensure that union shops can compete for projects
nonunion shops would otherwise underbid. "They're playing within
the rules to elect people who share their philosophy," Cline said.
"They're protecting their empire."
CalPERS raises state contribution by $600 million
May 18, 2010
Dale Kasler, The Sacramento Bee A key CalPERS committee
today voted to raise the state's annual contribution to the pension
fund by $600 million in the upcoming fiscal year. CalPERS' full
board will vote on the increase Wednesday. The increase means the
state's annual tab for CalPERS would rise to about $3.9 billion,
putting additional strain on the troubled state budget...
Landmark ruling on teacher layoffs
May 14, 2010
Column: John Festerwald, The Educated Guess
- A Superior Court judge
has served notice to school districts statewide that the seniority
rights of teachers do not trump the fundamental right of students
to an equal opportunity for a good education. Los Angeles Superior
Court Judge William Highberger issued a preliminary injunction
Wednesday preventing any teacher layoffs for budgetary reasons at
three Los Angeles Unified middle schools where large numbers of
teachers have been given pink slips…
Capo recall leaders turn in 65,875 signatures
May 14, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
Community activists
attempting to recall two Capistrano Unified trustees from office
turned in about 33,000 petition signatures per trustee Friday to
the county registrar, about 50 percent more than the minimum
required to put the issue on the November ballot. The Parents for
Local Control recall group is targeting trustees Ken Lopez-Maddox
and Mike Winsten with 32,803 and 33,100 signatures, respectively,
or 65,903 total. If at least 21,850 signatures for each trustee are
declared valid by the county registrar, the politically fractured
school district will face its second recall election in as many
years…
Editorial: Unions above taxpayers
May 14, 2010
Editorial: The Orange County Register
Even modest pension reforms
are being fought tooth and nail by government unions. In the
delusional world of the state Capitol, Wall
Street shoulders
the blame for pension-fund shortfalls – not the unions or pension
funds or legislators who boosted pensions retroactively and missed
the mark by a country mile on their investment projections.
Taxpayers will have to pick up the slack for low-performing pension
funds. Programs will also need to be slashed. It says much about
the California Legislature that the dominant party would rather
embrace those choices than to pass modest reforms to excessively
generous pensions for future hires…
The Crippling Price of Public Employee Unions
May 14, 2010
Column: Mortimer B. Zuckerman, U.S. News & World
Report The American public
feels it is drowning in red ink. It is dismayed and even outraged
at the burgeoning national deficits, unbalanced state and local
budgets, and accounting that often masks the extent of
indebtedness. There is a mounting sense that taxpayers are being
taken for an expensive ride by public sector unions. The
extraordinary benefits the unions have secured for their members
are going to be harder and harder to pay...
Bill looks to fix Prop. 13 'loophole'
May 11, 2010
Dan Walters, The Orange County Register
Altering Proposition 13,
which many public employee unions and other liberal groups support,
would require a ballot measure that it's generally believed would
be impossible to pass. But for decades, those groups have dreamed
of altering the rules governing "change in ownership" so that taxes
on commercial property would increase. In theory, it could be done
with a vote of the Legislature and a governor's signature, but
numerous attempts have failed...
Bad State to Be In
May 11, 2010
Column: Larry Sand, Red County The bottom line is if something isn’t
done about the exorbitant public employee pensions that so many in
California receive, the state will soon be insolvent. The first
step to avoid this looming disaster is to make sure that those in
power in Sacramento start to roll back what has been bestowed on at
least some current retirees and to ensure that new and current
employees will never be given the same ridiculous payouts that many
in the system now receive...
Capo, Saddleback cuts showcase differences in approach, respect
May 11, 2010
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register Q. Why
did your district settle so quickly after the Capistrano Unified
strike? Did it turn out that they helped you guys in the end, doing
the dirty work for you guys? A. There is still a lot of animosity
surrounding the events that led to the strike in that district. My
district, Saddleback Valley Unified School District, handled things
differently than Capo...
Reader: Sick of teacher 'tax grabbers'
May 11, 2010
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register Q. I am
so sick of the sense of entitlement of you tax grabbers, also known
as teachers. I pay your salary and you all need to do your job and
stay quiet. A. I honestly do not understand why someone would write
this to me. Your perception of teachers is horrible, but your
willingness to insult everyone in the teaching profession is
unsettling…
Respect and courtesy go a long way with teachers
May 11, 2010
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register Q. You
say that you are entitled to respect as a teacher. Respect must be
earned. It is not an entitlement. A. Yet, when my students walk
into my room, even on the first day, I hope their parents have
taught them to show me respect. I think that should be a given. It
is how I was raised. Before I meet someone, I show them respect.
People do not have to earn my respect, I give that to
people...
Saddleback teachers to take 9.7% pay cut
May 10, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
Saddleback Valley Unified
teachers will accept a 9.72 percent pay cut and larger class sizes
at most grade levels under a tentative agreement reached with the
school district to help close a $33 million budget deficit. The
school year, meanwhile, will be shortened by three days this year
and five days next year, with teachers also losing all four of
their staff development days. Class sizes in the fourth through
12th grades will inch up by an average of 0.5 students each
beginning next fall, necessitating some teacher layoffs...
Bad State to Be In
May 10, 2010
Larry
Sand, Red County We the people must tell all who are
running for public office in next month’s primary and in the
November election that if they will not promise to work to stop our
road to ruin, they will not get our vote. Period. If we don’t do
that, then we will be complicit in the crime that is now being
perpetrated on us by the public employee unions and their lapdogs
in Sacramento…
Public-sector employees are the new fat cats
May 10, 2010
Column: Fred Barnes, WashingtomExaminer.com
John Edwards was right.
There are two Americas, just not his two (the rich and powerful
versus everyone else). The real divide today is, on one side, the
20 million people who work for state and local governments and the
additional 3 million who've retired with fat pensions. On the
other, the rest of us, about 280 million Americans. In short,
there's a gulf between the bureaucrats and the people…
Referendum on unions in OC
May 07, 2010
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register (Updated May 11, 2010)"Most residents
probably don't think too much about the Board of Supervisors, but
there is one question that all voters should ponder before Election
Day: "Which candidate has the stomach to stand up to the county's
politically powerful public employee unions?" If a supervisor can't
say "no" to these groups, then the county's finances and public
services will suffer, especially now, when the economy is lean, and
pension debts are growing … This is the showdown we needed and that
I had in mind when I gave my speech," OC Republican Party
Chairman Scott
Baugh told me.
"Voters will be given clear choices between those who want to
reform a severely broken system and the union candidate who wants
to perpetuate the status quo." Baugh is referring to his speech
last year calling on Republican candidates – even in officially
nonpartisan races, such as supervisor – to eschew union
money...
Breaking the Teachers Union Monopoly - Big Changes Ahead
May 06, 2010
Dick Morris And Eileen McGann, DickMorris.com
A perfect storm is brewing
for the nation’s schools and the teachers’ unions that have them in
a stranglehold. Voter anger at the socialist, big government
solutions of the Obama Administration and its Democratic lookalikes
in state capitals throughout the country is about to combine with
massive education funding shortfalls brought on by the unions’
waste of taxpayer money. These forces will combine in November,
2010 to force gigantic changes in school financing and governance,
leading to the prospect of genuine school choice for the poor and
middle class as the rich have always had…
Prop. 14: Reshaping the political battlefield
May 04, 2010
Columns: Dan Walters, The Orange County
Register The
gerrymander rendered the November elections irrelevant by
designating the party ownership of all 120 legislative districts,
thus making primary elections in Democratic districts the only ones
that really matter. Typically, business would support a relatively
moderate Democratic candidate in the primary while the Big 4 would
back a more liberal Democrat.
The game would change again if Proposition 14, creating a "top two"
primary election system, is approved by voters in June. The top two
vote getters in the primary would face each other in the November
election, regardless of party. That means, in theory, two Democrats
or two Republicans
could wind up in a November
runoff…
A Word About Strikes — An Editorial
May 01, 2010
Ron Bennett, The Fiscal Report Unions have no legal
responsibility for the solvency of the district; their duty is to
their dues paying members. The School Board has full accountability
for the solvency of the district and must take whatever action is
necessary to meet its legal responsibilities and protect the
students and taxpayers. Over the past few weeks, we have seen
media attention drawn toward the collective bargaining process,
particularly when there has been a unilateral contract imposition
by management or a strike by labor. In my opinion, we are likely to
see a few—maybe quite a few—similar situations evolving over the
next several months. I would like to offer some opinions on how to
think about these situations and how to either avoid them or handle
them appropriately...
Pension Bomb Ticks Louder, California's public funds are assuming unlikely rates of return
April 27, 2010
Column: The Wall Street Journal The time-bomb that is public-pension
obligations keeps ticking louder and louder. Eventually someone
will have to notice. This month, Stanford's Institute for Economic
Policy Research released a study suggesting a more than $500
billion unfunded liability for California's three biggest pension
funds—Calpers, Calstrs and the University of California Retirement
System. The shortfall is about six times the size of this year's
California state budget and seven times more than the outstanding
voter-approved general obligations bonds…
The Beholden State, How public-sector unions broke California
April 23, 2010
Column: Steve Malanga, City Journal, Spring 2010, Vol. 20,
No, 2 How public
employees became members of the elite class in a declining
California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country,
where the same process is happening in slower motion. The story
starts half a century ago, when California public workers won
bargaining rights and quickly learned how to elect their own
bosses—that is, sympathetic politicians who would grant them
outsize pay and benefits in exchange for their support. Over time,
the unions have turned the state’s politics completely in their
favor. The result: unaffordable benefits for civil servants; fiscal
chaos in Sacramento and in cities and towns across the state; and
angry taxpayers finally confronting the unionized masters of
California’s unsustainable government...
EDITORIAL: Public-sector unions bankrupting America
April 23, 2010
April 23, 2010, The Washington Times
Usually it takes a national
government to spend itself into a debt measured in the trillions.
Yet it comes as little surprise that the same profligacy that
pervades the corridors of federal power infects this country's
87,000 state, county and municipal governments and school
districts. By 2013, the amount of retirement money promised to
employees of these public entities will exceed cash on hand by more
than a trillion dollars … California's public-employee retirement
system stands in the most perilous condition, facing a
half-trillion in unfunded liabilities…
Teacher pensions could create another state budget crisis
April 19, 2010
Bankrupting America It would be comforting if the budget
crises inflicting states were just a temporary problem.
Unfortunately, as a new report
by the Manhattan Institute
details, states will face another crisis as their unfunded pension
benefits come due. This report focuses specifically on
teachers’ pension, and finds that all fifty-nine pension funds
dedicated to public school teachers face shortfalls.
California’s teacher pension alone has an unfunded liability of
almost $100 billion. All together, the unfunded liabilities
of these teachers’ pensions amount to between $332 (that’s the
estimate derived from the funds’ financial statements) and $933
billion (the report’s authors’ more conservative
calculations)...
The Left's pension dilemma
April 16, 2010
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register (Updated April 18, 2010) Most of the
news stories focus, understandably, on the unsustainable costs to
government and taxpayers, as the bill for these millionaires'
pensions come due. There's no escaping the financial problem, borne
of elected officials who have bought labor peace by selling out
current and future taxpayers to the politically muscular public
employee unions. In a down economy, it's impossible to hide the
numbers much longer. But the other real story is that these pension
crises are undermining public services.
Pension crater much deeper
April 09, 2010
Column: Steven Greehut, The Orange County
Register (Updated April 11, 2010) Looks like
California taxpayers are on the hook to make up public employee
retirement system shortfalls to the tune of a half-trillion bucks.
Union leaders and the politicians they basically own have lashed
out at pension reformers, but the data continue to make it clear
that decades of union dominance and pension-hiking deals are taking
their toll on government budgets and on the fiscal health of the
nation. Could anyone really think it wouldn't cost anything to
create a class of government workers who can retire in their 50s
with 80 percent, 90 percent – or even more than 100 percent – of
their generous salaries?
Study: California Public Pensions Underfunded by Over $500B
April 06, 2010
California Healthline California's three major public pension
funds are underfunded by more than half a trillion dollars,
according to a
report released Monday, the San Jose
Mercury News reports. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)
commissioned the study, which was prepared by graduate students at
the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research…
Stanford report: Shortfall for California's pension systems as much as a half a trillion dollars
April 05, 2010
Denis C. Theriault, Mercury News According to a new report by a group of
Stanford University graduate students, the shortfall facing
California's public pension systems could reach more than half a
trillion dollars over the next decade and a half. A summary of the
report, released Monday, also said the current recession has cost
the three systems — for the state's public employees,
schoolteachers and University of California workers — $109.7
billion in lost investment value. The report says the systems'
basic growth assumptions are too rosy…
California state pension funds going broke, Stanford study finds
April 05, 2010
Gwyneth Dickey, Stanford University News
New calculations by
Stanford graduate students show that California's three main public
employee pension funds are in more dire financial trouble than
previously believed. California public employee pension systems are
worse off than anyone previously projected, according to a new
report generated by five graduate students in Stanford's graduate
Public Policy Program. The result could be greater pressure on the
state budget and a shortage of pension funds in the
future...
Going For Broke: Reforming California’s Public Employee Pension Systems
April 02, 2010
Howard Bornstein, Stan Markuze, Cameron Percy, Lisha
Wang and Moritz Zander, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy
Research CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS1 together
administer the pensions of approximately 2.6 million Californians.
Between June 2008 and June 2009, these three public pension funds
lost a combined $109.7 billion in portfolio value (see Table 1).
The ability of these three funds to meet their future obligations
has significant implications for the fiscal health of the state and
public employers, the effective underwriters of many public
pensions. In this policy brief, we ask two questions: (1) what is
the current funding shortfall of CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS, and
(2) what policies would prevent a similar shortfall in the future?
… We conclude that California’s public pension liabilities are
substantially understated. Given the consequences of pension
underfunding, we believe every effort should be made in short order
to implement policy changes to reverse the current shortfall and to
prevent a similar shortfall in the future. Specifically, improved
long-term funding outcomes can be influenced through higher
contributions, investment in less risky assets, and lower benefit
levels…
Cash-Poor Cities Take On Unions
April 01, 2010
Conor Dougherty, The Wall Street Journal
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
once organized for a teacher's union here, and later ran a branch
of the American Federation of Government Employees. That makes him
an unlikely advocate for cutting the benefits of the city's
workers. But with the city facing a budget deficit that could drain
its reserves by summer, Mayor Villaraigosa wants to re-open
contract talks with 45,000 cops, firefighters, librarians and other
city employees in hopes of persuading them to contribute more to
their pensions and health-care costs. His deputy chief of staff,
Matt Szabo, puts it bluntly: "Unions have priced themselves out of
a job."
Unfunded Liabilities for Retiree Health Benefits, A School District Fiscal Time Bomb!
April 01, 2010
2009-2010 Sacramento Grand Jury While employers, employees, and
retirees seem to consider an employer-sponsored health plan a
desirable benefit, the continuing escalation of health care and
premium costs places enormous fiscal pressure on school districts
that try to maintain the benefits. Unless union contracts are
renegotiated so that benefits are reduced or employees contribute
to the payment of healthcare costs, the consequences will be
devastating. Health care costs will continue to escalate. If school
districts fail to plan for funding of negotiated obligations for
retiree health benefits, and employees and/or unions fail to assume
some of the costs of the benefits, school districts will be unable
to provide a quality education for students and may become
bankrupt…
Underfunded Teacher Pension Plans: It’s Worse Than You Think
April 01, 2010
Josh Barro and Stuart Buck, Manhattan Institute for
Policy Research To all the other fiscal travails facing
this country’s states and largest cities, now add their pension
obligations, which are far greater than they may realize or are
willing to admit. This paper focuses on the crisis in funding
teachers’ pensions, because education is often the largest program
area in state budgets, making it an obvious target for cuts.
Although it is generally acknowledged that education is the
foundation of every modern society’s future prosperity, schools
unfortunately will have to compete with retirees for scarce
dollars. This competition is uneven, because retirees have a legal
claim on promised pension benefits that supersedes schools’
budgetary needs. Consequently, Americans can look forward to higher
taxes and cuts in services, resulting in fewer teachers, bigger
classes, and facilities that are allowed to deteriorate. In several
states, these developments have already arrived .. California, the
most populous state, has the largest unfunded teacher pension
liability: almost $100 billion…
Talk of CUSD teacher strike getting louder
March 31, 2010
Asha Patel, Orange County Local New Network
The Capistrano Unified
School District is expected to make official a more than 10 percent
teacher pay cut at a special meeting Wednesday, a move which has
the entire Capistrano education community worried about a possible
teacher strike. The proposed pay cut – to be put before the
district board at a public meeting Wednesday – would affect 2,300
CUSD teachers and certificate-holding employees. Capistrano Unified
is facing a $34 million shortfall for fiscal year 2010-2011 and an
additional $5 million shortfall in 2011-2012…
The Beholden State
March 21, 2010
Column: Steven Malanga, City Journal How public employees became members of
the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale
to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in
slower motion. The story starts half a century ago, when California
public workers won bargaining rights and quickly learned how to
elect their own bosses—that is, sympathetic politicians who would
grant them outsize pay and benefits in exchange for their support.
Over time, the unions have turned the state’s politics completely
in their favor. The result: unaffordable benefits for civil
servants; fiscal chaos in Sacramento and in cities and towns across
the state; and angry taxpayers finally confronting the unionized
masters of California’s unsustainable government…
Union-Run Schools
March 16, 2010
Column: RiShawn Biddle, The American Spectator
Even among the
oft-intransigent locals that make up the American Federation of
Teachers, United Teachers Los Angeles is renowned for its bellicose
opposition to any kind of school reform. Notorious for its
successful battles against efforts by former L.A. Mayor Richard
Riordan and one of his successors, Antonio Villaraigosa, to
overhaul the infamously laggard Los Angeles Unified School
District, United Teachers behaved in typical form last August when
the nation's second-largest school district finally gave in to
school reformers and agreed to a plan that included spinning off 12
of its worst-performing schools into private hands and creating 24
new schools to be run by a hodgepodge of operators. Besides filing
a lawsuit against the district to prevent the reform measure from
being implemented without "majority teacher approval," the union
staged a series of protests against the plan. Declared A.J. Duffy,
United Teachers' square-jawed president: "We will stand up against
violations of the law and our members' rights"...
Capistrano Unified mediator offers compromise in teacher pay dispute
March 16, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
An independent mediator who
was retained by the Capistrano Unified School District to resolve a
festering, year-long dispute over proposed 10 percent pay cuts has
recommended that teachers take a series of temporary pay
concessions totaling 6.32 percent...
West Contra Costa teachers must decide on president's recall, election
March 10, 2010
Shelly Meron, The Oakland Tribune
West Contra Costa teachers
have some big decisions to make this month, with their union
holding both a general election and a recall vote on its president.
A group of teachers successfully petitioned last month to force a
recall vote of United Teachers of Richmond President Pixie Hayward
Schickele, with balloting scheduled from March 26 to April 1.
Meanwhile, the general election will be held starting Thursday,
including for the seat of president, where Hayward Schickele is
running for another term against one of her most outspoken critics,
member Diane Brown...
Teachers surveyed agree: end ‘quality-blind’ layoffs
March 07, 2010
John Festerwald, The Educated Guess
Civil rights attorneys
aren’t the only ones opposed to a teacher layoff system based
strictly on seniority. Teachers themselves apparently aren’t crazy
about it either.
“A Smarter Teacher Layoff System” – a report this month by
The New Teacher Project –
included a survey of 9,000
teachers in two unnamed urban districts. Seventy percent of
teachers in one district and 77 percent of teachers in the other,
including most of tenured teachers, said that factors other
than just seniority should be considered in a layoff…
Who could blame us for cussing?
March 05, 2010
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register (Updated March 22, 2010)
California's
union-dominated,
Democratic-controlled Legislature is temperamentally incapable of
fixing the state's structural budget deficit, given that such a fix
would require reduced government spending and the granting of fewer
benefits to the state's class of government workers. As
Rome
burned, legislators last
week debated a meaningless "no-cussing" measure, which suggests how
out-of-touch these lawmakers remain...
Editorial: Recall fever rises again in Capo Unified
February 23, 2010
Editorial: The Orange County Register
Story Highlights: Citizen
group, with union support, goes after two trustees who support
school choice...
States tackling public employee retirement benefits in 2010
February 19, 2010
Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org New Jersey appears headed towards
changing its state employee retirement system this year to bring
down costs. At least 16 other states besides New Jersey are
considering similar changes that could mean lower benefits, higher
retirement ages, freezes in cost-of-living adjustments and
increased employee contributions. Most of the changes would affect
newly hired state workers, but some states are weighing higher
contributions from current employees. The proposals are already
getting major pushback from state employees and retirees and their
unions … California voters may get to decide the fate of state
employee pensions in an election. Signatures are being
collected for at least three initiatives
for the November ballot
aimed at tightening retirement eligibility and offering reduced
benefits to new hires...
O.C. GOP leaders oppose Capistrano Unified recall attempt
February 17, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
The Orange County GOP's
governing body has unanimously passed a resolution opposing a
recall effort against two Capistrano Unified trustees, a move
quickly condemned by recall leaders as ill conceived and
irresponsible. The Orange County Republican Party's 73-member
Central Committee accused "public employee unions and their allies"
of "unjustly" targeting trustees Ken Lopez-Maddox and Mike Winsten
in the recall attempt, which began last month...
State meddling hamstrings schools
February 05, 2010
Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register
(Updated March 22, 2010) To
show the results of union dominance of the public education system,
John Stossel, host of Fox News' "Stossel," on a recent show held up
a convoluted chart that detailed, in small print, the amazing
lengths to which New York school administrators must go to fire an
incompetent teacher. The viewer sees a long and detailed chart
filled with boxes connected by arrows. Then, Stossel reveals that
what he's holding up for the camera is only the beginning, as he
lets falls to the floor several more pages that had been hidden,
accordion-style, behind the first page of the termination
procedures chart. The joke – actually much sadder than funny – is
on us, as we realize that there's no way that even the worst
teacher can get sacked and that it's basically impossible to reform
the public school system as it is currently structured. Yet local,
state and federal officials go on proposing reforms that will
surely turn the nations' bureaucratic, government-controlled public
school systems into models of efficiency and high-performance
learning...
Guards union adds insult to injury
January 29, 2010
Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register
(Updated March 22, 2010)
Still, we should celebrate good ideas. And Baugh – who told me
Tuesday that he accepts his share of the blame for this situation –
ended his talk with a good proposal: "No candidate will be
supported by this party who receives contributions and endorsements
from public employee unions." Now we're getting somewhere. Union
power needs to be attacked at its many sources, whether it means
proposing pay and benefit cuts that are best for taxpayers but
anger union officials, forcing unions to pay their tab to the state
or exerting some countervailing political pressure to union muscle.
It's heartening that more California officials are recognizing this
truth...
What's keeping state in sorry shape
January 15, 2010
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register (Updated March 22, 2010) Listen to
former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, the dean of California
liberalism, in a recent San
Francisco Chronicle column: "The deal used to be
that civil servants were paid less than private-sector workers in
exchange for an understanding that they had job security for life.
But we politicians – pushed by our friends in labor – gradually
expanded pay and benefits ... while keeping the job protections and
layering on incredibly generous retirement packages. ... This is
politically unpopular and potentially even career suicide ... but
at some point, someone is going to have to get honest about the
fact." The time for honesty is now – or else forget about
reform...
Optimism in short supply
January 10, 2010
Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register
(Updated March 22, 2010) As
the legislative session heats up in the coming days, there will be
two choices: We can cut down government, unleash the private sector
and allow free and industrious people to rebuild this once-glorious
but now increasingly tawdry state. Or we can avoid the tough
choices, ignore reality and find clever ways to temporarily balance
the budget or not-so-clever means to make it easier to raise taxes.
Those are the only two real choices. It will take a great deal of
involvement and toughness by the people for the first course of
action to come to pass. If Californians follow the second path,
then, quite frankly, the future ain't so bright. The budget
situation will get worse...
Capistrano recall rumors swirl, but nothing concrete in place
January 09, 2010
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
With embattled Capistrano
Unified Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter facing possible dismissal,
parents and teachers who have vowed to begin a school board recall
over the issue are continuing to express their outrage in blogs and
e-mails, although no formal recall effort has been
announced...
Steven Greenhut on the governor: partying on the Titanic
January 08, 2010
Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register
(Updated March 22, 2010)
But the state's education budget also is filled with waste. The
state spends 40 percent of its general fund on K-12 education, and
yet many of California's school systems are almost criminally
mismanaged and assure lifelong failure for the poorest students –
thanks in large measure to union work rules and protections for
incompetent, even abusive, teachers. The governor's proposed
constitutional amendment will never come to pass, and, even if it
did, it wouldn't do a thing other than create a legal mechanism to
further expand school spending...
Our out of control civil service
January 03, 2010
Willie Brown, Willie's World, The San Francisco
Chronicle The
deal used to be that civil servants were paid less than private
sector workers in exchange for an understanding that they had job
security for life. But we politicians, pushed by our friends in
labor, gradually expanded pay and benefits to private-sector levels
while keeping the job protections and layering on incredibly
generous retirement packages that pay ex-workers almost as much as
current workers…
Public Sector Unions and the Rising Costs of Employee Compensation
January 01, 2010
Chris Edwards, Cato Journal Public sector compensation is becoming
a high-profile policy issue. While private sector wages and
benefits have stagnated during the recession, many governments
continue to increase compensation for public sector workers. At the
same time, there are growing concerns about huge underfunding in
public sector retirement plans across the nation. This article
examines the compensation of state and local workers, who account
for 20 million of the 23 million civilian government workers in the
United States. State and local workers include teachers, college
instructors, police officers, health care administrators, and many
other occupational groups…
1,000 teachers protest outside board room
December 15, 2009
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
Shouting “We are united!”
as passing cars honked their horns in support, about 1,000
Capistrano Unified teachers and their supporters rallied outside
the district’s headquarters tonight to protest the school board’s
insistence on 10 percent pay cuts to balance the district’s budget.
About 700 teachers and other employees arrived in 12 yellow school
buses, packing tightly into the northern end of Capistrano’s
sprawling district office parking lot, wedged between rows of cars
and cement planters. Union leaders pegged the crowd estimate as
high as 1,500…
2010 initiatives: good, bad and silly
December 10, 2009
Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register
(Updated March 22, 2010)
Any reform that will actually help fix the ongoing California
government's fiscal mess (serious spending limits, pension reform,
limits on union power, cutbacks in the size of state government,
educational privatization, etc.) cannot possibly pass, given
political realities. Anything that can actually pass will not fix
anything – or might make things worse. We're in a pickle, and it's
unclear how it will all play out...
San Clemente teachers rally against pay cuts
December 10, 2009
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
About 20 teachers, kids and
parents rallied outside Las Palmas Elementary School today to
express their unhappiness with Capistrano Unified trustees'
insistence on 10 percent employee pay cuts to balance the
district's budget. The rally, which continued along El Camino Real
in San Clemente, was one of a series of teacher protests across
Capistrano Unified in recent weeks to raise awareness of the
district's hard-line negotiating tactics. Capistrano's union
leaders say they are willing to make concessions, but that the
negotiations are surrounded by a climate of distrust and
fear...
Political chess played on California initiatives
December 04, 2009
Column: Dan Walters, SanLuisObispo.com, The
Tribune A more
complex version of the game pits public employee unions, especially
the powerful California Teachers Association, against business
groups. The unions want to strangle two pending measures, one
barring public payroll deductions for political activities (a
California version of an Idaho law that recently won Supreme Court
blessing) and the other overhauling public worker pensions. But the
groups sponsoring the two are immune to direct retaliation. So
unions and their allies may be attempting to choke off their money
by filing measures that would repeal $2 billion in state tax breaks
for business enacted last February, virtually prohibit corporate
political contributions and sharply raise property taxes on
business...
Sneaky way to murder Prop. 13
October 30, 2009
Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register
(Updated March 22, 2010)
There ain't no such thing as bipartisan, nondivisive reform ... Any
real change to California's dysfunctional political structure and
culture must gore somebody's ox, stir up contentious battles and
draw vicious rebukes. Real reform has to take on the special
interests that are destroying California, otherwise the "reform"
ideas will do nothing of substance to clean up the mess. There is
no reforming anything without going right down the middle and
taking on the heart of the problem – a government that is too big
and special interests, especially government employee unions, that
are so powerful they block any sensible improvement to
anything...
Time for pushback on pensions
July 26, 2009
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register Why
should government workers live so much better than everyone else?
And something needs to be done to take on union power and unions'
ability to tap into public employee paychecks for dues to fund
whatever political causes and politicians they choose to embrace.
It took years of craven political decisions to create this mess,
but we can start unraveling it now thanks to the current budget
crunch. When the economy was soaring, public employees didn't waste
an opportunity to enrich themselves. Those of us interested in
sound and limited government should not squander our opportunity
now by embracing half-measures that kick the can down the road.
This is the time for real reform. Let's not waste this
crisis...
Capistrano district seeks mediator to get teacher pay cuts
June 25, 2009
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
The Capistrano Unified
School District is asking a state mediator to intervene in contract
negotiations with its teachers after union leaders balked at a
proposed 10 percent pay cut for all educators, calling it
"inflammatory and insulting." In a press release this week,
Capistrano Unified officials said union leaders are unwilling to
continue negotiations over the summer despite efforts to reach an
agreement that would "provide relief to the district while at the
same time preserve CUSD, restore teaching positions, avoid
increasing class sizes and save jobs…"
Steven Greenhut: How I'd change the world of public policy
May 24, 2009
Column: Steven Greenhut, The Orange County
Register All of
a sudden, government officials are noticing the enormous amount of
unfunded liabilities - i.e. debt - that future taxpayers are on the
hook to pay for to make good on all the unreasonable guaranteed
pension promises that officials have made to government workers. In
Orange County, government workers can retire in their 50s with 80
percent or more of their final year's pay guaranteed forever. Some
can retire with more than their final pay after they take advantage
of the many pension-spiking gimmicks. The results are seen
nationwide thanks to the taxpayer-funded "generosity" of pro-union
legislators: cutbacks in services, higher taxes, more bond debt and
a troubled economic climate. Yet even in an economic crisis,
governments are still expanding giveaways to union members, further
creating a two-tier system of haves (government workers,
luxuriating at retirement communities at early ages with six-figure
pensions) and have-nots (the rest of us, who will be working until
we drop over and retiring on Social Security and 401-k
accounts)…