Many academics I know agree that black-studies programs are often slipshod, academically non-rigorous, and repositories for “grievance” politics. But they won’t say so publicly, for fear of being branded as “racists.” Naomi Riley had the courage to state the obvious. The author of two substantive books on higher education, she has worked with me as an editor on such topics at the Wall Street Journal. She knows her stuff. Certainly in a 500-word blog post she oversimplified, but that’s the nature of the blog that the Chronicle hired her to write for — it consists of quick opinion takes on issues of the day. It is even called “Brainstorm” to make clear it doesn’t publish the definitive word on any issue.

Her lone blog post brought a torrent of criticism, attacks by MSNBC, and finally a petition demanding that the Chronicle “dismiss” her. It was signed by 6,500 professors and graduate students.

The 340,000-member CTA – the state’s largest labor union and an affiliate of the nation’s largest union (the 3.2 million-member National Education Association) – is far more than an advocate for teachers; it is an instrument for political dominance across a spectrum of issues in California and elsewhere. Senik’s characterizes the CTA as “a political behemoth that blocks meaningful education reform, protects failing and even criminal educators and inflates teacher pay and benefits to unsustainable levels.”

[...]

They are “the highest-paid teachers in the nation,” at an average of $68,000 annually, according to Senik. And that doesn’t take into account pension benefits, which typically allow teachers to retire after 30 years with 75 percent of their salary.

Washington Examiner editorial:

Though GOP lawmakers talk a big game about wanting to limit government, they are susceptible to big government if they can be convinced that a given policy benefits big business. To show voters they truly believe in free enterprise, Senate Republicans should work to kill the corporate welfare agency known as the Export-Import Bank.

The Export-Import Bank, known as Ex-Im, is a government agency founded by a 1934 executive order from President Franklin Roosevelt. Its ostensible purpose was to promote U.S. exports by making loan guarantees to foreign buyers. Though Republicans raised a stink when the bankruptcy of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra exposed U.S. taxpayers to $535 million in losses, a large majority of Republican House members voted Wednesday to extend and expand Ex-Im by approving up to $140 billion in loan guarantees. Without congressional action, the agency’s charter would expire at the end of the month.