I noticed something curious on Twitter the other day. Two state chapters of the Badass Teachers Association (BATs), the rabble-rousing teacher activist organization founded by Mark Naison that fights “corporate education reform,” tweeted the exact same tweet about a study on the opt-out movement at the exact same time. This had to be more than a […] More
When Hillary Clinton decided to skip an education forum hosted by Campbell Brown last fall, I wrote a piece arguing that pro-reform Democrats shouldn’t read too much into it. I insisted it wasn’t a signal that she was distancing herself from the education policies embraced by the Obama Administration. Surely, I said, Clinton just wanted […] More
On Tuesday, teachers at Morris Jeff Community School approved a contract between the board and the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO). Union members and representatives of the school’s board of directors had been negotiating the contract for over a year. On Monday, board members unanimously backed the agreement. What did teachers at Morris Jeff […] More
Oh, how times have changed. Five years ago, the New York Times praised Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers for working with state legislatures in “developing more effective teacher evaluation systems and speeding up the glacial pace of disciplinary hearings for teachers charged with misconduct.” In an editorial the Times stated: “The unions […] More
Last week, The Lens reported that lawyers for International High School of New Orleans (IHSNO) are challenging the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) claim of jurisdiction over their school. In May, NLRB held an election at IHSNO in which a majority (26-18) of teachers voted to form a union with the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO). It […] More
It has long been clear that the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) does not work in the best interests of students. After all, LFT has been on the wrong (and losing) side of several debates over past several years. They joined with Tea Party-aligned lawmakers in an attempt to repeal Common Core. They have supported […] More
Bill Murphy has spent the past 16 years as a K-12 educator. He got his start as a special education teacher in rural Louisiana. He has since worked as a teacher and special education director at a charter school in Massachusetts and as the principal of what became one of the highest-performing traditional public schools […] More
On Tuesday, teachers at Lusher Charter School will officially vote on whether to form a union. Over the past couple weeks, they have been bombarded by advocates on both sides of the debate, so I won’t belabor the points I’ve already made. However, given all the accusations flying about recently, it’s important to clear the […] More
Fourteen years ago, I moved to New Orleans to teach biology, chemistry, and environmental science at John McDonogh Senior High School. One of the first things I did when I arrived in town was head over to the old United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) headquarters to join the union. Why? Because I was bright-eyed […] More
Are union supporters trying to intimidate administrators at Lusher Charter School? That’s the question Lusher community members are asking after middle school principal Charlene Hebert’s car was vandalized outside her home in Algiers Point this week. Hebert was about to leave for work on Thursday morning when she noticed her car windshield was shattered. A […] More
Over the past few months, I’ve directed plenty of criticism towards Lusher Charter School over their opposition to the unified school funding plan. At the same time, I’ve never denied that the school provides its students with an excellent education, thanks to the hard work and dedication of its teachers and staff. Although I may […] More
The New Orleans education community was taken by surprise on Monday, when the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced that educators at Lusher Charter School had formed a union. An AFT press release on the move stated: “Educators at Lusher made public their commitment to stand together as the United Teachers of Lusher, an affiliate […] More
Peter Cook