Lieberman went on. "Our greatest challenge is to break through the gridlock on this issue and build the popular support necessary to make school choice a national priority," he said.

NEA will not be releasing a statement on Lieberman’s selection, though spokeswoman Kathleen Lyons emphasized Vice President Gore’s promise at the recent NEA convention that he would "never, ever support private school vouchers." Lyons said that NEA officials and members "expect Sen. Lieberman will follow the Vice President’s lead."

No doubt she’s right. And if we were talking about just about any other U.S. Senator, we might expect the issue to disappear into the memory hole as quickly as Al Gore’s pro-life and pro-tobacco votes while he was in the Senate. But Lieberman is a man of integrity, and while he will certainly submerge his support for vouchers out of loyalty to the ticket, he will certainly not start spouting anti-voucher rhetoric.

Nor is school choice the only issue where Lieberman has opposed the unions. In the December 14, 1998 issue of The New Republic, Dana Millbank described Lieberman’s sponsorship of the Charter School Expansion Act against full-court union opposition. "Episodes like these," Millbank wrote, "are one reason that Connecticut Democrat Joseph Lieberman, who sponsored the charter legislation in the Senate, says he sees the makings of a revolt against the unions and the rest of the education establishment. ‘Things are moving in that direction,’ he says. ‘We just all have to get together and charge the wall.’ " (A quote that won Lieberman EIA’s "Quote of the Week" on December 7, 1998.)

NEA and AFT’s top officials and activists will likely employ a "don’t ask, don’t tell" position with regard to Lieberman and education and strongly support the Democrats. But it’s going to be difficult to rally the grassroots teacher union troops in support of a ticket that, with the addition of Lieberman, has done more to substantially advance the cause of school vouchers than Bush-Cheney has.

+ Serious Rift in Vermont Over Union Endorsement of Governor. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democrat, did not receive the endorsement of Vermont-NEA in 1994, 1996 or 1998. The union simply did not make an endorsement in those years. This year, Progressive Party candidate Anthony Pollina sought the union’s endorsement, prompting Gov. Dean to follow suit. The candidates went through the normal process of interviews and questionnaires before Vermont-NEA’s 40-member political action interview committee, after which a vote was taken. Pollina reportedly received a "favorable" vote, while Dean received a "neutral" vote, with only five committee members favoring an endorsement, according to one source. Nevertheless, when the recommendations came before the Vermont-NEA Board of Directors, Dean ended up with the endorsement. This infuriated a small group of directors and committee members so much that they sent a press release to the Vermont media attacking the decision and vowing to demand that the board reconsider its vote. "This is a complete travesty of our long-standing political action system," said Vermont-NEA board member Cate Lamb. "I have had conversations with many members of the committee who are angry, disappointed and have no intention of supporting Dean."

Vermont-NEA President Angelo Dorta defended the decision. "The board of directors is responsible for taking into account other factors when looking at each individual candidate," he said. The Vermont Press Bureau reported the board vote as 10-2 in favor of Dean, with one abstention.

The union’s Executive Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss the issue. While Pollina supporters want the vote revisited, others want disciplinary action taken against Lamb for her communications with the media.

+ Union Growth Vs. Workforce Growth: How Is NEA Really Doing? On Friday, the U.S. Census Bureau released statistics describing the growth in government payrolls over the past year. And while the Census Bureau’s categories don’t make for exact comparisons, they do help in analyzing the growth of the public education workforce against the growth of NEA active membership.

The Census Bureau provides figures for full-time instructional employees of elementary and secondary public school systems. These numbers include classroom teachers, teacher aides, librarians, library aides, guidance and psychological personnel, principals and instructional supervisors. Some of these are ineligible for union membership, but the error induced may be compensated for by the fact that NEA’s active membership figures include education support personnel (ESP), while the Census Bureau does not put ESPs in the "instructional employee" category. With those cautions, an examination of the figures gives a better picture of where NEA has made inroads in the year between March 1998 and March 1999.

Nationwide, NEA membership grew by 2.86 percent that year. And, strangely enough, the number of full-time instructional employees grew by 2.86 percent over the same period. This suggests that, on average, NEA is treading water in terms of attracting active members. The state-by-state figures also shed new light on which affiliates are really doing the best job organizing. For example, membership in the California Teachers Association grew by 5.2 percent. But the workforce growth was 10.2 percent. This moves CTA from near the top of the membership growth rankings to near the bottom of the organizing index ranking (-5.0). The Oklahoma Education Association, on the other hand, lost 1.9 percent of its members, but the full-time workforce declined by 6.1 percent in the state.

Here are the top ten state affiliates: 1) Nevada +13.2; 2) Oklahoma +4.2; 3) Pennsylvania +4.0; 4) Montana +3.9; 5) Alabama +3.2; 6) Illinois +3.0; 7) North Carolina +2.8; 8) Oregon +2.8; 9) Nebraska +2.8; 10) Washington +2.2

The bottom ten state affiliates are: 50) Vermont -15.5; 49) Mississippi -12.6; 48) Rhode Island -12.1; 47) Delaware -8.8; 46) Texas -6.0; 45) Louisiana -5.6; 44) South Carolina -5.2; 43) California -5.0; 42) Ohio -4.8; 41) North Dakota -4.4.

The full list, along with raw figures, will be available via e-mail from EIA upon request.

+ Will 2001-2002 Be Unions’ Last Stand on Charters? EIA has already reported that NEA is planning to put together a task force on charter schools, whose report will be delivered to the Representative Assembly in Los Angeles in 2001. The AFT also passed a resolution on charter schools that has particularly harsh language, and promises a report to be delivered to the next convention in 2002. The AFT resolution seems to follow a developing policy within the unions that charter schools have not adhered to their "original intent" and will require remedial efforts. At the same time, the California Teachers Association approved an effort to make the 42,000-student Capistrano Unified School District the largest charter district in the state. Will the unions be able to put the brakes on the charter movement, or is it a runaway train aboard which the unions will have to jump or get run over? The moment of truth is approaching.

+ EIA Report Reveals What’s to Come in 2001. Charters, standardized tests and tenure are just a few of the issues that will receive special NEA attention in 2001. Order EIA’s annual report to find out what else is on the way. Single print copies of The Stamp of Merit: Inside the 2000 National Education Association Representative Assembly are available free from EIA and the full report is also available on the Internet through a link on the EIA web page. Those desiring bulk orders should contact EIA for prices.

+ More from the EIEIO Convention. EIEIO President Antonucci opened the floor to debate. Delegate Antonucci introduced the first new business item -- a measure that called on the organization to support a new trial for Charles Manson. The item was ruled out of order on the grounds that anyone who would hang out with a woman named "Squeaky" deserved whatever he got. Delegate Antonucci challenged the ruling of the Chair, and asked that he be removed as biased. President Antonucci then called for a vote, instructing the assembly to "Stand to keep your Chair." Confused, Delegate Antonucci hovered above his seat long enough for the Chair to declare his authority upheld.