Intercepts

* It's safe to say that labor-management relations in the Buffalo school district are less than cordial. There have been a lot of disagreements in recent years, and the latest is over health insurance costs and layoffs. In a last-ditch effort to bridge the gap, Superintendent James A. Williams met with four school employee union presidents.

It didn’t go well.

Williams ended up calling Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore "a liar," immediately after which Rumore and Crystal Barton, president of the Buffalo principals' union, left the meeting. Williams then told the remaining union presidents that he'd like to take Rumore outside and "kick his [rear end]."

"I've never had that kind of experience with a superintendent before," Rumore told the Buffalo News. "He's completely out of control."

Barton's reaction was pretty funny. "Phil Rumore was called a liar," she said. "He [Williams] said he doesn't give a damn about children. He cursed. He was profane. I'm the only lady among the union presidents. I don't need to be exposed to that."

* In six months, a group of 136 San Diego County school employees have lost a combined 1,162 pounds in an anti-obesity program run by the Voluntary Employees Benefits Association. That should make Peter Brimelow very happy.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 11:31 | Permalink | Comments

The Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel has changed its name to AFT Michigan, following the lead of AFT affiliates in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

This is a blessing for those of us who have to type teacher union names all the time, but MFT&SRP wasn't the worst teacher union acronym in the world. This one and this one are both pretty bad. Let me know if you've heard of others.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:52 | Permalink | Comments

The members of Nevada's board of education asked for an organizational flow chart of the state's K-12 public education system. This is what they received.

It's somehow appropriate, because it looks as though it was drawn by a fifth-grader.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 12:19 | Permalink | Comments

This might be the most detailed news story on the school district size issue I have ever seen.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 06:38 | Permalink | Comments

Click here to read.

1) NEA Pledges Additional $5 Million Against California Initiatives
2) Ohio Education Association Plans Internal PR Campaign
3) Will Massachusetts Teachers Association Go After Charter Teachers?
4) Detailed Results Show AFT Was Pummeled in Puerto Rico
5) National Teacher of the Year Speech to NEA Delegates
6) Not Enough Thought Amid the Action
7) Las Vegas Teamsters Will Get to Argue in State Supreme Court
8) AFT President to Meet with KIPP Co-Founders
9) Why Even Hostile NEA Members Should Read the EIA Communiqué
10) Scheduling Note
11) Quote of the Week

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 15:43 | Permalink | Comments

You'll need to register with the site to read this article, but it's worth the effort. Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune went to a local Wal-Mart to ask real people about shopping and working there. Turns out they like it, and don't much care about the boycott or the Wake Up Wal-Mart campaign. Kersten writes:

"A woman loading packs of ballpoint pens into her cart caught my eye. No, she didn't have 120 children. She was Karla Keller Torp, executive director of the Caring Tree in Bloomington, a nonprofit organization that partners with social service agencies such as the Boys and Girls Clubs to get school supplies to low-income kids across Minnesota.

"Torp told me that 121,000 Minnesota kids live at or below the poverty level. Last year, Caring Tree outfitted 17,000 of them for school. Yes, she knew about the teachers' union boycott, but wasn't deterred.

'At the Caring Tree, we're trying to squeeze every dollar we have for the sake of the kids. Wal-Mart helps us leverage and maximize our dollars.'"

People exercising their consumer choice is the best response to the union campaign. And isn't this kind of consumer choice the reason Wal-Mart is being targeted by NEA-AFT, instead of, say, non-union Target, also the focus of a UFCW organizing drive?

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:16 | Permalink | Comments

* No matter your position on the No Child Left Behind Act -- I happen to think it's a federal power grab but that many of its opponents are hypocritical -- you should read this piece by Linda Shaw of the Seattle Times.

The implicit suggestion in the article is that -- in Washington State anyway -- NCLB will neither work wonders nor utterly destroy public schools. In fact, school districts will simply do what they have always done without much concern about it one way or the other.

"I don't have the time to worry about it," said William Miller, superintendent of Wahluke, a small district in Grant County.

I believe this is the default position of any bureaucracy as large as America's public school system. The people who want reform institute it without federal insistence. The people who don't want reform won't institute it no matter who insists. If forced to reform, they will undermine it.

So, as with so many education issues, it devolves to winning or losing the political battle, without any regard for the ultimate outcome.

* Outpost of the Odd: Without a doubt, the low point in the history of California law enforcement.

Have a great weekend!

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 10:19 | Permalink | Comments

* A few stories today about riled union members:

1) A small group of teachers from the Anchorage Education Association are unhappy about the way contract negotiations are being handled. "We are not pleased with the lack of information being communicated to the general membership by the board that is now doing the bargaining," said Kelly Parsons, a history teacher at Eagle River High School. Members will vote Monday night on whether to authorize a strike.

2) Family News in Focus reports that the Conservative Educators Caucus is ready to bail out of NEA.

3) The State Employees Association in New Hampshire claims it has 6,000 members, which gives the union the statutory right to collect agency fees from the 4,000 non-members. "I think it stinks, to tell you the truth," said Cindy Heisler, who works in payroll for the state Department of Agriculture. It isn't widely understood that unions want agency fees not so much for the extra money it brings in, but because they induce non-members to become members.

4) If you're following the Northwest strike, you don't want to miss this post on the pro-union Working Life blog. Solidarity forever!

* What do Central Islip, New York, and New Orleans, Louisiana, have in common? Not much, except scandals where employees have been ripping off the school district.

* My favorite headline this week comes from the Duluth News Tribune, about its new school superintendent, Keith Dixon:

"Dixon opens doors to unions, others"

It's heartwarming to see how taxpayers, parents and principals rate the status of "others" behind the true focus of the school system.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:28 | Permalink | Comments

* A new "Contract Hits" has been posted.

* A new poll in California shows two of Gov. Schwarzenegger's three initiatives appear to be dead in the water, but the one still floating is his teacher tenure measure, with 49 percent support (42 percent opposed). Even that isn't much good news. Traditionally, yes votes erode as election day approaches.

The paycheck protection initiative, which the governor hasn't yet endorsed, is the strongest of the bunch, with 58 percent support (33 percent opposed). Its ultimate fate depends entirely on whether campaign history repeats itself.

In 1998, Californians voted on a paycheck protection initiative. Two and a half months before the election (as it is now), support for the measure was at 60 percent with 29 percent opposed. But it was defeated on election day -- 46.5 percent to 53.5 percent.

The state's political dynamics and the public's attitude towards government is different today than it was then, but the public employees' unions also have a lot more money to throw around these days. It will be close, one way or the other.

* Next time you hear about a teacher shortage, think of Theresa Porter.

* A group in Montgomery County, Maryland, wants the school district to stop designating certain kids as "gifted and talented" because "children suffer when some are labeled gifted and others are not."

Which, of course, brings us to Syndrome, the villain in Disney's 2004 cartoon feature The Incredibles, who rants: "And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can have powers. Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super... no one will be."

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 11:32 | Permalink | Comments

* The West Virginia Education Association held a news conference yesterday to complain about its state ranking of 47th in teacher salaries. The union is calling for across-the-board salary increases of 15 percent over three years. There has also been some (illegal) strike talk.

The response has been mixed. One newspaper raised the specter of teachers fleeing the state for higher-paying jobs in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky. EIA hears this argument all the time, but has yet to see an empirical study of how many teachers actually cross state lines for higher pay and what the net effect is on any particular state.

Gripes about state rankings also raise the question: Which state should be 47th? One of them has to be, but no one wants the job.

There is also the question of benefits. West Virginia spent more than 44 cents on teacher benefits in 2002-03 for every dollar it spent on teacher salaries. That number places the state second in the nation (just behind Indiana).

Local columnist Chris Stirewalt delves deeper into the issue, and gives us a nice little lesson in medieval English history, too.

* Here's a capsulized view of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers' efforts to organize charter school employees in the state.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:33 | Permalink | Comments

* David Heiber, assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Baltimore, ran 13 miles to other middle schools in the area, to collect donations for building repairs at his school. Nice human interest, local TV news kind of story. Except district officials say Heiber's school only needs cosmetic work, and that Heiber wants things like mini-blinds for all the classrooms.

I ran 13.1 miles through San Diego last week. No news story and no mini-blinds. Just this nice photo.

* Officials from Falcon School District 49 in Colorado are baffled because enrollment decreased 26 percent from October 2004 to May 2005. They blame the decline on crowded schools. Which brings to mind the classic quote from Yogi Berra: "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

* Lots of people will analyze the results of the 37th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll for its implications regarding public education. I like its insights into human nature instead.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they knew "very little" or "nothing at all" about the No Child Left Behind Act -- even though the law is now four years old and has been reported and commented on to death in the nation's media.

That would be bad enough, but worse is the fact that 40 percent of those who said they knew "very little" about the law still felt confident enough to express an opinion on whether it was good or not. And an amazing 23 percent of those who said they knew "nothing at all" about NCLB still expressed an opinion about it. By the way, both of these groups split pretty evenly on NCLB's merits, so neither side is winning the PR battle for the support of the ignorant.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 11:25 | Permalink | Comments

* Looming strikes are the usual topic during mid-August. No trends seem to be developing one way or the other. An agreement was reached in Naperville, Illinois and teachers will vote on a contract in Detroit, but things are still up in the air in Anchorage and West Virginia.

The fact that teacher strikes are illegal in Michigan and West Virginia seems to have no effect whatsoever on the actions of the parties involved, so why have no-strike laws?

* A report released yesterday claims standardized test scores "show no evidence that smaller classes are better, either for achievement or classroom atmosphere." This report didn't come from the usual places, but from the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto, Canada.

Institute analyst Yvan Guillemette is the author of the to-the-point titled School Class Size: Smaller Isn’t Better. Even more to the point, the subhead reads, "Many provinces are spending millions of dollars on class-size reduction initiatives, with no solid evidence that they raise student achievement. The money could be better spent elsewhere."

* All of EIA's content is free and will continue to be. But if you wish to contribute to EIA's work, I've added a PayPal donation button to the sidebar on the right.

EIA is a private business, so your contribution is NOT tax-deductible, and the accumulated amount will be reported as business income on my tax return.

I considered garnishing $600 in dues from each and every reader's paycheck, and calling it a "fair share" or "agency" fee, but ultimately concluded that such a thing was tyrannical and an affront to the free enterprise system.

So thank you for your generosity and support. I will always endeavor to be worthy of it.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:23 | Permalink | Comments

Public schools can't cherry-pick. They have to take every student that comes through their doors.

Well, unless they happen to be the wrong color.

Five-year-old Keith Cordell can’t attend Welch Elementary School in Ohio even though district enrollment policies would normally allow it and it is much more convenient for Sandra Tharp, Keith's mother, to arrange transportation from the school to Keith's day care center.

But Keith can't attend Welch because somehow his presence would upset the school's "racial balance." The policy of the Northwest Local school district is designed to ensure that school choice within the district doesn't contribute to resegregation. But applying the policy to little Keith in this case is ridiculous. Why? Because Keith is biracial. His mother is white and his father is African-American.

At Welch, the student body is 45 percent African-American and 6.4 percent multiracial.

Pleasant Run Elementary, the school the district wants Keith to attend, is 32 percent African-American and 4.7 percent multiracial.

Let me break it down into raw numbers. Based on the school's current enrollment figures, Welch has 25 multiracial students and Pleasant Run has 24.

Tharp filed suit in U.S. District Court. "They're supposed to be giving my kids an education, not turning them down because of what color they are," she said.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 10:42 | Permalink | Comments

The Detroit Federation of Teachers appears close to cutting a contract deal with the district in order to avoid what would be the union's second illegal strike in six years. That's good news for everyone.

Well, almost everyone. While these guys also appear to be opposed to a strike, they clearly have greater schemes in mind.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:25 | Permalink | Comments

1) AFT Loses in Puerto Rico's Courts and Ballots
2) Globe, AP Teacher Union Stories Miss the Mark
3) Markets Beat Ideology, Even in Oakland
4) Connecticut Files NCLB Lawsuit
5) Release Time Debated in Des Moines
6) Public Education Policy World May Solve Nation's Energy Crisis
7) EIA Blog Now Has RSS Feed
8) Quotes of the Week

Click here to read!

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 15:13 | Permalink | Comments

* "We must find a way to pay our teachers more and link it to their performance. There must be a way for teachers to accept some sort of performance-based pay if they are to, in exchange, receive a wage which compensates them adequately."

The viewpoint isn't unusual but the source might be. The above quote was delivered by Chris Zacca, the deputy chairman of the Sandals resort group in Jamaica. The corporation is active in education in Jamaica, granting scholarships to needy students who perform well in school.

* Meanwhile, stay tuned later today for the EIA Communiqué, with the latest exclusive look at AFT's attempted coup in Puerto Rico. (Tease: It's all over but the shouting, and El Presidente is still in charge.)

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:22 | Permalink | Comments

You asked for it. You got it! Intercepts has added an RSS feed. Click the XML link on the right and have at it, you technophiles!

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 21:12 | Permalink | Comments

The owners of the Back Burner restaurant in Delaware couldn't believe their eyes when they received this letter from teachers in the nearby Christina School District. They passed it along to the Wilmington News Journal. The response of the Delaware State Education Association? "It's unusual," said the DSEA communications director. I'm sure the jab at NCLB was just coincidental.

Enjoy your own "small weekend getaway" and we'll see you here Monday!

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 11:04 | Permalink | Comments

* "Teachers have the right to express an opinion, but they are aware of the code of ethics and should be able to read and understand what it means."

That was the response of Orange County Classroom Teachers Association President David DeMond when teacher Jan Hall wrote a letter published in El Nuevo Dia that claimed Hispanics and other immigrants were hurting the quality of the public schools. Hall also suggested the laws should be changed to stop Puerto Ricans from moving to Central Florida. The remarks led to parent protests in front of Hall's school.

DeMond said the union would provide legal advice to Hall if she is a member.

DeMond's response is an understandable and measured one, but would he have been so understanding if Hall had been the superintendent, or a principal?

* Two headlines in this morning's Honolulu Advertiser:

1) 66% of Isle schools miss No Child goals

2) Officials say test scores don't tell full story

"Overall, these are the percentage of kids proficient in a score, but they don't tell us how safe do kids feel in that school or how much do they like that school or how engaged they are," said Robert McClelland, director of the Hawaii Department of Education planning and evaluation office.

Again, Mr. McClelland is correct. But would he have delivered this caveat if test scores had been good?

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:09 | Permalink | Comments

* The New York Times reports that music teacher Dorrit Matson would take sick days from her job at the High School for the Humanities so she could conduct the New York Scandia Symphony. She was nabbed when her principal heard her introduced on public radio while she was supposedly out sick.

There are frauds in every one of life's endeavors, but this caught my eye because of what happened next. The Times states that Ms. Matson sought an unpaid leave in February due to chronic fatigue syndrome brought on by a strained relationship with school administrators, according to a doctor who treated her. But she could still conduct if she wanted to, the doctor told investigators, "because she would be away from the environment which caused her the stress that resulted in the onset of the condition."

In other words, she was sick and tired of school.

EIA will check to see if the NYC public school contract has an "attendance incentive plan."

* The Associated Press' Ben Feller has written a level-headed piece about teacher retirement and retention. Check it out.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 10:48 | Permalink | Comments

Just a housekeeping note before we begin: I expect to make a quick update here at about this time each weekday morning, then a second one later in the day, if necessary, after I've had a chance to do my normal newsgathering.

NEA persuaded another school district -- United Independent in Laredo, Texas -- to join its lawsuit against NCLB. At this rate, all 15,000 school districts will have joined the suit by April 7002.

Three stories out of Michigan this morning:

1) The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against allowing the Michigan Education Association to organize teachers at the Brother Rice High School. EIA reported on this story in July 2003. "The MEA is extremely disappointed in the court's decision to deny the teachers the right to decide for themselves if they want union representation," said David Crim, a union organizer for the MEA. EIA agrees. All teachers in Michigan should be able to decide for themselves if they want union representation. MEA should work with the National Right to Work Committee to see that this dream is realized.

2) MEA activists are gathering signatures to place a school funding initiative on the ballot. Or maybe they just want to collect some NEA initiative fund money before tossing the signatures in the trash, like the California Teachers Association has done twice now.

3) The Detroit Federation of Teachers is making noise about a strike. Check the EIA Archives for August and September 1999 for the entertainment we enjoyed the last time this happened.

Also, the Washington Times reports that the California Teachers Association mortgaged its headquarters to finance its November campaign. But you, dear reader, have known that for five months.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 06:21 | Permalink | Comments

Welcome to Intercepts -- the new EIA blog. Here you will find the latest inside information on public education and the teachers' unions. The weekly EIA Communique' will not change, but Intercepts will bring you news as it happens, fold in the best aspects of School News Monitor, and allow you, the reader, to post your comments to each item that appears here.

Please be patient, as EIA is incorporating a lot of web site changes and tech procedure upgrade all at once. There are bound to be a few glitches, but I'm sure things will settle into a routine relatively quickly.

So, thanks for joining us. Explore the rest of the web site and we'll get started as soon as possible.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 22:30 | Permalink | Comments