Minneapolis Nurses Fight Back Against Union Intimidation

Protesters chant “U.S.A., U.S.A.” while waving Mexican flag

Dem Congressman To Unions: Time To Get A Little Bloody

Teacher's Union President Defends Fake DR Notes In WI

2/3rds of Wisconsin 8th Graders Can't Read

by Terence P. Jeffrey

Two-thirds of the eighth graders in Wisconsin public schools cannot read proficiently according to the U.S. Department of Education, despite the fact that Wisconsin spends more per pupil in its public schools than any other state in the Midwest.

In the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests administered by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009—the latest year available—only 32 percent of Wisconsin public-school eighth graders earned a “proficient” rating while another 2 percent earned an “advanced” rating. The other 66 percent of Wisconsin public-school eighth graders earned ratings below “proficient,” including 44 percent who earned a rating of “basic” and 22 percent who earned a rating of “below basic.”

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Wisconsin teacher gets an E for effurt

Let's Hope This One's Not an English Teacher

by I Hate The Media

Why can’t Johnny read? Because his friggin’ teacher can’t read. Someone should make this moron stay after school and write the word “are” one thousand times. Unfortunately, the three R’s have now become reading, ‘riting, and retirement funding.

Teachers bring students to help protest budget cuts

Wisconsin has a budget crisis and new Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, wants to solve it by axing collective bargaining for most state workers. That, of course, would include teachers.

The teachers’ response? 40% of them called in sick on Wednesday so they could stage a protest at the state capitol.

In this video, students from Madison‘s East High School claim their teachers brought them to protests. Even better, they openly admit that they really don’t know why they’re there nor what they’re protesting.

The only thing missing is a claim that the teachers did it for the children.

Georgia Prison Inmates Strike Over Low Pay

by Adam Crisp

Georgia inmates are reportedly striking across the state, refusing to go out on work details or perform chores until they are paid or see improved living conditions.

Georgia corrections officials wouldn't confirm or deny a strike Monday, but said four prisons across the state were on lockdown for a fifth day after they got wind of a rumored protest late last week.

The group organizing the strike contends that at least four state prisons across Georgia are still participating in the strike, including Hays State Prison an hour south of Chattanooga in Trion. Along with Hays, other prisons on lockdown are Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Telfair State Prison in Helena and Smith State Prison in Glennville.

At various points over the last five days, the group has said inmates in anywhere from six to 11 prisons are striking.

Going by the name "Concerned Coalition," strike organizers say they won't settle for anything less than payment for inmates who perform work while incarcerated. The group, consisting of three women from Atlanta and South Georgia, recently partnered with the Georgia NAACP, which is calling for a federal investigation into prison conditions in Georgia.

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To heck with austerity, say the French

The money isn't there, but no matter:

They don't want to retire two (count 'em, two!) years later.

The Wall Street Journal

Americans arriving in Paris these days will notice that France's planes, trains and automobiles are all being slowed or stopped by nationwide protests over President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal to raise the retirement age by ... all of two years. Protesters are blockading refineries; truckers clog the roads, and yesterday air-traffic controllers walked off the job. Hundreds of schools around the country are closed, leaving students free to declare their solidarity with pensioners.

Sarkozy's reform is intended to shore up France's public pension system, which faces a $45 billion shortfall. But this modest reform, which has passed the lower house and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate this week, is merely a downpayment on France's unfunded liabilities.

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Anti-Austerity Protests Sweep Across Europe

by Jonathon M. Seidl

Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday — Greek doctors and railway employees walked off the job, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even rammed a cement truck into the Irish parliament to protest the country’s enormous bank bailouts.

All the actions sought to protest the budget-slashing, tax-hiking, pension-cutting austerity plans of European governments seeking to control their debt.

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