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Monday, May 14, 2012

ALEC and Association of charter schools use public funds to bust teacher unions. « Fred Klonsky

ALEC and Association of charter schools use public funds to bust teacher unions. « Fred Klonsky:


ALEC and Association of charter schools use public funds to bust teacher unions.

The American Legislative Exchange Council was behind many of the stand-and-kill laws like the one that led to the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida. When this became known, funders and many corporate sponsors publically fled from their affiliation with ALEC.
Interestingly, not the The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). 
NACSA is a long-time member of ALEC. NACSA is funded in part with tax money as a result of its work with school districts and state departments of education. NACSA has contracts with the Denver Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, Arkansas Department of Education, California Department of Education, and the Los Angeles Unified School District.


The in box. From Massachusetts.

I can’t find a way to contact you directly anymore, Fred; but here’s an update on Stand for Children in Massachusetts. They filed an initiative petition to utterly change evaluations, disembowel the union, punish teachers….the usual…last July. Since then the MTA, despite talk of fighting, has polled the public and members (they do this all the time) and has decided the cause is hopeless, and has been “negotiating” with Stand to “create a legislative solution.”
The initiative petition, approved for the ballot, has 31 portions, including such gems as taking professional status (sorta like what we used to call “tenure”) away from anyone with a part-time job, and “giving Principals the right to refuse involuntary transfers”. It’s filled with holes and dumb ideas. Isee such idiocy as “opportunity” and my state union sees them as “threats” that the polling indicates would pass.
Negotiations are almost done, and only 2 of the 31 points remain…the two worst, that weaken and