Parents Before Their Time

The pregnancy rate among teenage girls is on the rise in the United States, according to a new study released by the Guttmacher Institute (a nonpartisan, nonprofit group). The study examined the most recent statistical data available, and concluded that the pregnancy rate among teenagers aged 15-19 rose three percent in 2006. It had been previously reported that the teenage birthrate was up in 2006, but there was speculation that this might simply mean that more girls carried their pregnancies to term rather than seeking abortions. The Guttmacher study is especially noteworthy, because it looked at data for both teenage birthrates and rates of abortion: since the teenage birthrate increased four percent in 2006 and the teenage abortion rate increased one percent in 2006, it does show an overall rise in teenage pregnancies. 

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Garcetti, Academic Freedom, and Public School Teacher’s Right to Free Speech

Scales-red In Weintraub v. Board of Education of the City of New York, No. 07-2376 (2d Cir. Jan. 27, 2010), the Second Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, has delivered a body blow to the First Amendment speech rights of public school teachers.

The case concerns a fifth-grade teacher who was dealing with a disruptive student throwing books at him on multiple occasions. When the school administrator refused to take disciplinary action against the student, the teacher filed a grievance with his union.  The school allegedly responded by retaliating against the teacher and eventually, firing him.  (BTW, all of this happened from 1998-2000, and the Second Circuit decision just came out in 2010; something about justice delayed is justice denied keeps popping into my head.)

The majority decision, written by Judge Walker, recites the holding of Garcetti (U.S. 2006) (the bane of my existence) that public employee speech pursuant to an employee’s official duties receives NO First Amendment protection. In Weintraub, the “speech” being examined was the grievance filed by the teacher with his union.

The Court held that the employee’s grievance was “pursuant to” his official duties because “it was ‘part and parcel of his concerns’ about his ability to ‘properly execute his duties,’ as a public school teacher — namely to maintain classroom discipline, which is an indispensable prerequisite to effective teaching and classroom learning.” 

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Princeton Review: Get Ready for the College for Working Families

NationalLaborCollege Thanks to Daniel Mitchell, Professor-Emeritus at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, who brought to my attention this article by Steve Kolowich entitled: A Historic Union?  (January 15, 2010, Inside Higher Ed).

Here’s a taste:

A month after completing its first foray into online higher education by acquiring the distance education provider Penn Foster, the Princeton Review has set its next goal: to help create the largest online college ever. And it thinks it can do it in five years.

The company announced yesterday that it is entering into a joint venture with the National Labor College — an accredited institution that offers blended-learning programs to 200 students, most of whom are adults — to establish what would be called the College for Working Families. The college would offer courses tailored to the needs of union members and their families, beginning this fall.

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