Intercepts

It's not April 1 yet, but this one is almost too good to be true.

Martin Johnson, the acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, a British teachers' union, wants the national curriculum and testing system done away with. That's not such an unusual stance, but his suggestion for a replacement is unique:

"There's a lot to learn about how to walk. If you were going out for a Sunday afternoon stroll you might walk one way. If you're trying to catch a train you might walk in another way and if you are doing a cliff walk you might walk in another way. If you are carrying a pack, there's a technique in that. We need a nation of people who understand their bodies and can use their bodies effectively."

Teaching kids different ways to walk instead of, oh, reading and math, might seem a bit odd, but Mr. Johnson thinks all knowledge is created equal:

"For the state to suggest that some knowledge should be privileged over other knowledge is a bit totalitarian in a 21st century environment."

Apparently Mr. Johnson has an incomplete knowledge of totalitarianism. But I'm convinced he has a bright future ahead in British government.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 11:20 | Permalink | Comments

"Let me tell you how it will be.
There's one for you, nineteen for me."

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:03 | Permalink | Comments

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Read this and tell me some enterprising legislator somewhere here in the United States will get right on it. Something we can all get behind for public schools: a sense of focus.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:57 | Permalink | Comments

Click here to read:

1) Sometimes I Just Can't Believe What I'm Reading
2) Is There an AFT "Policy Shift" on NCLB?
3) Qual è il Titolo del Film in Italiano?
4) Credit Where Credit Is Due
5) Last Week's Intercepts
6) Quote of the Week

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 15:37 | Permalink | Comments

U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy has some fighting words on the No Child Left Behind Act. Key pull-outs:

* "Most of us in Congress know that a retreat to mediocrity is wrong."

* "In the weeks ahead, those opposed to doing what it takes to leave no child behind will do everything in their power to impede our progress. Don't let their rhetoric fool you."

* "No Child Left Behind is not just a slogan. It's a national commitment, inspired by our fundamental values and aspirations. It's a promise to do all we can so that every American child receives the high-quality education he or she needs and deserves. We may never achieve that lofty goal, but if we hope to keep America strong and just, prosperous and free, we can never stop trying."

I happen to think this is a lot of blather designed to protect a gigantic and costly federal program. But that is Sen. Kennedy's primary weapon, and it's amusing to see him use it to target NCLB foes.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:33 | Permalink | Comments

The Associated Press has done a series of articles on unions and organizing (there is a "three-part series," but there are at least two more supporting articles). There's something for every viewpoint here and well worth the time to read them all:

* As U.S. industry restructures, labor fights for relevance

* Unions, cities struggle with fallout of automakers' cuts

* Not dead yet, unions look to new groups of workers to survive

* Japanese automakers steer clear of unions

* Q&A with SEIU President Andy Stern

Lots of great quotes. My favorite, from the president of the Mississippi AFL-CIO, encapsulates the advice I give to people with "union problems":

"If they treat the people good and don't screw 'em around, it will probably be hard to organize them."

SEIU President Andrew Stern also adds something that is profound in its simplicity:

"Unions have had a one-size-fits-all way of thinking. We don't have a one-size-fits-all economy anymore. People don't stay in one job anymore. We need to find ways that workers can leave their jobs but not lose their health care and pensions. We need to build organizations that appreciate that this isn't a one job in a one lifetime economy. We're going to need to find ways that don't make employers uncompetitive. All of those require a different organization and a different way of thinking."

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 10:50 | Permalink | Comments

Suppose someone tried to pass a law placing a cap on the number of students who could attend traditional public schools. Wouldn't people see that as overly restrictive and discriminatory?

From The Oregonian:

"The [Oregon Education Association] believes the initial enrollment and residency caps are necessary to restrict the unimpeded growth of growth of charter schools."

Let's avoid the loaded language. Restricting "unimpeded growth" is another way of saying "restricting supply and demand." Which is another way of saying "rationing."

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:29 | Permalink | Comments

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Sacramento Bee columnist Daniel Weintraub spoke to our overlords at the California Teachers Association this week, and came to the obvious, inevitable conclusion.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:54 | Permalink | Comments

From a story in The South End, the student newspaper of Wayne State University, about the anti-war protests in DC:

"One speaker was Debra Colbrook from The United Teachers of Los Angeles. She started with a story:

"'My son is 15 years old. Last week he encountered army recruiters at his high school football practice. When they approached him, he asked them how they could sleep at night knowing that they are sending away young people to die for a war over oil and greed. Our young are our future fighters.'"

Well, Skippy, I'm certain the recruiters sleep extremely well at night knowing they live in a country where even a snot-nosed kid can mouth off to a soldier - and the soldier will just politely walk away. Hope you enjoyed your football practice in peace and safety.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:28 | Permalink | Comments

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Ever since Wayne Johnson was term-limited out of his position as president of the California Teachers Association, it has been pretty slim pickins for pungent quotes out here. We had hopes that UTLA's A.J. Duffy would fill the gap, but he has been a disappointment in that regard.

But now we have a new Great White Hope. The delegates to the California Federation of Teachers convention saw fit to oust long-time CFT President Mary Bergan and install Marty Hittelman in her place. Hittelman was a CFT senior vice-president and community college teacher, but he's probably best known for his leftist - as opposed to mainstream Democratic -politics.

Hittelman is connected to US Labor Against the War and was a co-founder of Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal. In the press statement announcing his victory, Hittelman repeated his campaign promise for CFT's new direction:

"I am dedicated to continuing the California Federation of Teachers' strong
progressive traditions of advocacy for better working conditions for all of its
members, higher quality learning conditions for California's students, and
better living conditions for all Californians. I believe that to further those
goals, we need to weigh in on the issues of the day - ending the war in Iraq;
cleaning up the environment; implementing a single payer universal health care
system; protecting people's personal and civil rights; and, having a progressive
tax system which adequately invests in education in order to enhance the quality
of life for all Californians."

Since CFT has relatively little clout in the legislature, Hittelman will be limited to mighty flights of rhetoric, making him a likely regular in "Quote of the Week."

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 09:18 | Permalink | Comments

Click here to read:

1) Staff/Dues Comparison of NEA Affiliates
2) Union Payoff Bills Facing Resistance
3) Zullinger to Fight Dismissal?
4) The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations
5) State Affiliates Look to Raise Cash
6) Take a Bow, Education Reporters
7) Chow at the Union Mess Hall
8) Last Week's Intercepts
9) Quotes of the Week

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 15:42 | Permalink | Comments

I spent all of Sunday participating in "a unifying experience fundamental to democracy and the rule of law," which is how IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson describes filing a federal income tax return. I guess we had tyranny and anarchy in the United States before the 16th Amendment was passed.

But if you think your federal return is mind-numbing, try living in California. After determining that I had never received a "reward from a crime hotline" or any "beverage container recycling income," I came across a question concerning any "Ottoman Turkish Empire Settlement Payments":

"If you received settlement payments as a person persecuted by the regime that was in control of the Ottoman Turkish Empire from 1915 until 1923 your gross income does not include those excludable settlement payments received on or after January 1, 2005."

A little research turned up this story, which explains the settlement payments are unpaid life insurance claims from New York Life Insurance Co. to families of the victims of the Armenian genocide.

So at least I learned something. I'll return the favor and direct Commissioner Everson to an article that is even more educational.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 10:02 | Permalink | Comments

That seems to be the method California researchers used to determine the amount necessary to reach the state's achievement goals.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 12:58 | Permalink | Comments

In light of this headline, the AFTies want to know how the No Child Left Behind Act came to be known as "Bush's Prized" law. They offer four options:

"A. President Bush took ownership of the law when his administration politicized it in the run-up to the 2004 elections -- paying Armstrong Williams to tout it, rating reporters' coverage of the law, and sending grants to groups like baeo.

"B. Rep. Miller and Sen. Kennedy ceded ownership as they saw the administration bungling its implementation.

"C. The media, always eager to simplify, proclaimed Pres. Bush as NCLB's owner because noting the law's bipartisan backing made NCLB coverage too complicated.

"D. All of the above."

NCLB was, in fact, a bipartisan law, passed with more Democratic votes than Republican votes, but the boys at AFT omit one other reason why Washington Post headline writers might ascribe the law to President Bush alone: They're taking the lead of the teachers' unions.

Here are just a few references to "Bush's NCLB" or "Bush's No Child Left Behind Act," all conveniently highlighted for your browsing pleasure:

* Communities for Quality Education (an NEA front group)

* Kansas NEA

* California Teachers Association

* National NEA (here and here)

* MEA-MFT (the joint NEA-AFT affiliate in Montana)

* AFT New Mexico

* and, for good measure, the Democratic Party.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:57 | Permalink | Comments

From a September 25, 2006 Washington Education Association press release (NEA's attorneys argued this case before the U.S. Supreme Court):

"The Washington Education Association does not spend non-members' fees on political purposes, and non-members have a simple, easy way of opting out. That's the main issue at stake in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear an appeal of an earlier Washington Supreme Court ruling that upheld the free speech rights of WEA's 80,000 members.

"In the State Supreme Court decision last March, justices ruled that federal law gives non-union educators a simple and easy way to opt out if they don't support the association's political advocacy. School employees represented by the association are notified twice a year that they can opt out of paying for WEA's political efforts to improve public education....

"The State Supreme Court also ruled that imposing additional restrictions on the association would hamper the association's political advocacy and violate the First Amendment free speech rights of the WEA's 80,000 members."

From a March 6, 2007 NEA press release:

"[NEA President Reg] Weaver said current law does not offer sufficient protection of students' personal information because it allows schools to release the data unless a parent objects or opts out.

"'We know that today's families have too much to do and too little time in which to do it,' he explained. 'It's very easy to imagine that a parent would be unaware of the need to opt out of releasing information to the military.'

"To illustrate, Weaver cited instances where information about opting out was buried in school newsletters that a busy parent could overlook. He also questioned the practice of some schools requiring parents to opt out each year.

"'The decision to release student information to military recruiters, like the larger decision to join the military, is one that should be made by the parents and student together in accordance with the individual family's values and beliefs,' Weaver said. 'This legislation offers a common-sense approach.'"

If the comparison isn't clear, let me alter the second release slightly:

"[NEA President Reg] Weaver said current law does not offer sufficient protection of teachers' rights because it allows unions to spend agency fees on politics unless a teacher objects or opts out.

"'We know that today's teachers have too much to do and too little time in which to do it,' he explained. "It's very easy to imagine that a teacher would be unaware of the need to opt out of making political contributions to the union."

"To illustrate, Weaver cited instances where information about opting out was buried in union newsletters that a busy teacher could overlook. He also questioned the practice of some unions requiring teachers to opt out each year.

"'The decision to make political contributions to unions, like the larger decision to join the union, is one that should be made by the teacher in accordance with the individual's values and beliefs,' Weaver said. 'This legislation offers a common-sense approach.'"

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 11:33 | Permalink | Comments

Here in California a Star Chamber of mucky-mucks have apparently determined that the state needs to spend an additional $23 billion to $32 billion a year to meet education achievement goals.

Rather than rant about this figure, let's try something different. Let's suppose we acquiesce, line up in the barn and allow each man, woman and child in California to be sheared of an additional $1,000 annually.

Now let's suppose after a number of years - let's say five - Californians read a headline in the paper like this one.

What would happen then? Would our money be refunded? Would the entire education establishment be fired? Would the people who came up with this estimate be run out of the state on a rail?

California has a long history of expensive fixes that we were promised would result in education nirvana if enacted - Prop 98 and class size reduction spring immediately to mind. Shame on us if we fall for it again.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 09:44 | Permalink | Comments

The overt hostility shown toward charter schools by the education establishment is amply reported. It's the petty harassment that deserves more attention.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 12:46 | Permalink | Comments

Click here to read:

1) Did NEA Help Derail Hagel's Presidential Plans?
2) NEA to Revive Booster Club Proposal
3) Utahns for Public Schools = NEA UniServ
4) Local That Inspired Solidarity Partnership Denied AFL-CIO Membership
5) Ousted Miami-Dade Union Treasurer Fires Back on Website
6) Zullinger Out After Eight Months as South Carolina Executive Director
7) West Virginia Unions Organize Laissez-Faire Job Action
8) Sault Tribe Charter Teachers Eject Union
9) Off the Reservation in San Diego
10) Staff Union Problems North of the Border
11) Niche Players
12) The Falklands – Then and Now
13) Last Week's Intercepts
14) Quote of the Week

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 16:21 | Permalink | Comments

"There are thousands and thousands of teachers without job opportunities in Michigan," says Michigan State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan.

Except when it comes to applying for federal supplemental loans for critical teacher shortage areas. Then the state of Michigan has a long, long list of openings for teachers.

Or is it indeed a glut? They are turning away candidates at the teacher colleges in Ontario, Canada, and part of the reason is the oversupply of teachers from "border schools" - that is, teacher colleges in Buffalo and other American cities.

"It's simple supply and demand," said a Canadian official.

Not so simple for some.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 08:19 | Permalink | Comments

There's an excellent book from 1997 called The Limits of Law-Based School Reform that I think everyone - especially lawmakers and public policy experts - should read. But the title alone should be enough for all of us who think passing a law to address a perceived education problem is sufficient to solve it.

It's only human nature after winning a tough legislative battle to want to declare victory and go home. I'm sure the 186 Republicans and 197 Democrats in the U.S. House who voted for the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 didn't think they would still be debating it five years later. The pattern is repeating itself in Utah.

Both houses of the Utah legislature passed a voucher bill last month, and it was signed into law by Gov. Jon Huntsman. End of process, right? Nope, only the beginning. Predictably, a union-led coalition is gathering signatures to suspend and overturn the law through a ballot referendum (to be followed by, or in conjunction with, a legal challenge, no doubt). But the text of the law itself may be its own undoing.

A financial threshold for schools to participate in the program may be so high it will limit the choices available to voucher students. "We may have a flawed voucher bill," said Sen. Howard Stephenson.

Before voucher opponents begin gloating, however, they have a stumbling block of their own. There's a question of whether the law can be challenged through a referendum. There are actually two bills to enact school vouchers in the state, and one passed by greater than a two-thirds majority, making it immune from challenge. So the question becomes: If one bill is overturned, is the second sufficient to implement the program?

Stuff like this illustrates why lawmakers prefer debates and votes on appropriations when it comes to education. Political fights over budgets may never end, but fights over this year's budget do end. No one likes capturing or defending the same territory over and over again.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 10:17 | Permalink | Comments

It's good to know that the one place NEA doesn't hold an absolute monopoly is nutty public policy proposals from its representative assemblies.

On March 18, delegates to the British Columbia Teachers Federation (BCTF) annual convention will meet and debate various agenda items in order to put the weight of the union behind them -- similar to the procedure for NEA's new business items. NEA requires the signatures of 50 delegates to put an item up for debate. I don't know what BCTF's threshold is, but I'm guessing it's even more lenient.

The proposal that's getting the most headlines is one requiring that teachers be informed which students have HIV or AIDS, along with other blood-borne diseases. The union members who submitted the proposal consider it a safety issue. This raises an obvious rejoinder, and EdNews.org was quick to get right to it. In an editorial comment accompanying its link to the story, EdNews posted, "Parents should have the right to know which teachers have AIDS, also!"

That should put a quick end to the idea.

But BCTF delegates have other brainstorms as well:

* One resolution calls on teachers to discourage the purchase of bottled water.

* Another resolution calls for changes to the criminal code to outlaw female or male circumcision, except where medically necessary ("My body! My choice!").

* Another resolution calls on the union to give $5,000 to support American soldiers seeking asylum in Canada.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:21 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 07:43 | Permalink | Comments

Hey everyone. I've returned from the Southern Hemisphere and will resume normal blogging in the morning. Bear with me as I catch up with the stacks of e-mails and messages left over from the past three weeks.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 14:35 | Permalink | Comments

By Jan Peterson

Why aren’t we all teachers? Oh, right. Lousy pay, working conditions, too many expectations, etc. Here are a few stories from the horrible, wretched trenches in the Northwest:

* A week at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas and a week in March just don’t do it for my daughter’s math teacher. She needed an extra week in November to go on a cruise… and our principal approved it. So much for math!

* That first day of school is SO important. My son’s Spanish teacher thought so. She took the day off to go with her daughter to her first day of kindergarten. “It only happens once,” she said. Indeed. That’s what I was thinking about my son’s first day of high school Spanish.

* Parenting is such a difference-maker. My daughter’s 8th-grade science teacher agrees. He’s taking “maternity” leave so he can be at home with his stay-at-home wife to help her care for their brand-new baby. He’ll only miss three weeks -and every Friday – through the end of the school year. Not to worry. He has a great substitute for the entire time. Three days in, and all she’s done is give “yellow cards” to the rabble rousers, but I’m sure the education of the children won’t be compromised.

* Student absences affect the state’s report card our schools get. The reminder about how important it is to have your child in school every day came from… you guessed it, the math teacher who took the cruise!

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 12:53 | Permalink | Comments

By Dr. Bernard F. Bull

Much has been published in the business world in recent years concerning “servant leadership.” Business and political leaders know that assisting people to reach their goals helps the leader reach his or her goal. We know that this attitude has been pervasive in education for centuries but little has been written about it. Now is the time to do something about that and I intend to make a collection of anecdotes about educators as servant leaders.

I began the collection through the American Association of Educators’ web site by survey and through my college’s alumni page. The stories are fascinating and inspiring. Two examples:

* A custodian was injured in an accident on a ladder and the principal assisted others in completing the job on the custodian’s house, and did some of the custodian’s work at the school.

* A teacher is donating a kidney to the parent of one of her students.

I need many more of these wonderful stories. Please send them via e-mail to bbull@cn.edu. Include your contact information and real life stories of teachers and administrators who are servant leaders. Submission is permission for me to publish the stories.

Posted by Mike Antonucci at 00:59 | Permalink | Comments