From news service reports
    
MINNEAPOLIS – Greedy, self-serving teachers unions still control K-12 education in Minnesota, and that’s bad news for students and their families.
    
Some students in Minnesota benefit from the efforts of special instructors from Teach for America.  TFA is a national non-profit organization that recruits top college graduates from around the nation to teach K-12 classes at some of the nation’s worst schools.
    
A recent bill passed by the Minnesota state legislature would have provided $1.5 million to TFA, which would have been used to recruit, train and support 50 additional teachers.
    
TFA is very popular with school administrators and parents – particularly in troubled school districts –  but not so popular with teachers unions. They oppose the idea of young TFA instructors filling jobs that could be taken by regular union teachers, even if those teachers are sub-par.
    
Education Minnesota, the state’s largest teachers union, opposed the $1.5 million appropriation, and Gov. Mark Dayton, acting like an old-fashioned Democrat who jumps when the union says jump, vetoed the bill.
    
The Minneapolis Star Tribune blasted the veto in an editorial published this weekend.
    
“True to form, the powerful Education Minnesota teachers union rallied members in opposition to the $1.5 million appropriation, which was backed by education leaders such as Minneapolis schools Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson and reform-minded groups including the African American Leadership Forum that are focused on the state’s embarrassing achievement gap,” the newspaper wrote.
    
“Dayton didn’t mention Education Minnesota in his veto letter, but last week’s action marked the second time in the past year that he has sided with the union in opposing sensible measures aimed at improving teaching in the state.
     
“In 2012, Dayton vetoed needed changes to the state’s “last in, first out” teacher tenure law. The legislation would have removed the seniority-only criteria in layoff decisions, replacing it with a system based on teacher skills and performance, along with seniority.
    
“In other words, ineffective teachers would have no longer received the same level of job-security protections based solely on tenure.
     
“In vetoing the TFA funding, Dayton wrote, ‘No competitive grant program was established, no other applications were solicited, and no objective review was made by a panel of experts.’ He also noted that TFA is a financially strong national program with $270 million in 2011 revenue and $350 million in assets.
    
“Focusing on the financial strength of TFA ignores the fact that the organization’s model calls for its state chapters to raise local money to support local program. In fact, the vetoed appropriation required that every $1 from the state would have been matched with $3 in private funds.
     
“Fifteen states have funded TFA or are expected to do so during current legislative sessions.
    
“It’s notable that the financially strong Mayo Clinic, 3M, Mall of America and Minnesota Vikings all won significant state subsidies this year without the level of competition and analysis Dayton wanted for the tiny TFA expenditure.
    
“It’s unfortunate — and somewhat perplexing — that the union sees TFA as such a threat. There are 72 TFA teachers in Twin Cities schools now, and without the $1.5 million, 42 will be added in the fall, Brakke said.
    
“Minnesota has 50,000-plus full-time teachers — the great majority of whom come from traditional schools of education. That will not change, nor should it.
    
“TFA is not a cure-all for struggling schools. It’s simply another tool for administrators and principals interested in new approaches to teaching and learning.
    
“Dayton’s veto letter argues that the state’s Department of Education should develop a formal, competitive grant program to weigh funding requests from “programs like TFA.” If Dayton is truly committed to education reform, he should ensure that DOE has such a process in place as soon as possible.
    
“Those who have a stake in successful innovation in Minnesota schools — including the students who are most in need of help — have little time to waste.”