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1) NEA Selects Public Policy Groups
for Schoolyard Scrap. No one really expected the
teachers' unions to be chastened by the results of the November 2004
elections, but it is remarkable how quickly they went back to business as
usual.
From various sources and at various
levels, EIA is picking up indications that NEA and AFT will utilize what can
only be called a "back to the future" strategy – an attempt to brighten
their future by revisiting and refighting past battles. AFT seems determined
to win the standard political fight, while NEA's focus appears to be on the
world of conservative policy groups and think tanks – what NEA called "The
Conservative Network" in a 1998 report.
* This July, delegates to the NEA
Representative Assembly will debate and vote on an amendment to Resolution
G-3, which covers teacher licensure. EIA does not have the draft text, but
the amendment is said to set minimum standards for becoming a teacher, and
is seen as a direct swipe at the American Board for Certification of Teacher
Excellence (ABCTE), an organization that received discretionary grants from
the U.S. Department of Education to develop alternative means of teacher
certification. While ABCTE is too new to have been a member of the
Conservative Network, its forebears (the Education Leaders Council and the
National Council on Teacher Quality) have been NEA nemeses for years.
* NEA claims to have been exonerated by
the U.S. Department of Labor after an extensive investigation of the union's
political expenditure reporting. The investigation was launched after
complaints were filed by the Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative legal
group. No official word has come from NEA headquarters, which is still
undergoing an IRS audit, but EIA expects something on this front in the near
future.
* NEA has promised additional resources
to state affiliates dealing with model legislation that emanates from the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). NEA identified ALEC as "The
Skeleton" of the Conservative Network in 1998 and sees the organization of
state legislators as the glue that binds right-wing ideas to public policy.
The union also plans major efforts against Americans for Tax Reform and the
pro-voucher Alliance for School Choice.
* Lest you think NEA stands alone
against a policy institute onslaught, the union has its friends among
liberal think tanks. NEA will tout the latest People for the American Way (PFAW)
report on the DC voucher program, released today. Unsurprisingly titled
Flaws and Failings, the PFAW report will make the rounds of union
publications and conferences, cited as an independent examination of the
program. NEA also financially supports the Economic Policy Institute, a
pro-union group that has produced reports supporting NEA's positions on
vouchers, teacher pay, and spending. And let us not forget Communities for
Quality Education (CQE) and its various offshoots (see the
August 30, 2004 EIA Communiqué), which were created by NEA for
the 2004 elections and haven't been heard from since. NEA is still
discussing how to utilize them.
* For its part, AFT announced plans to
create a "member activist network" to "boost our political involvement" (as
if such a thing were possible). The national union will produce talking
points, the state and local affiliates will identify the activists, and the
foot soldiers will visit their congressional representatives to "discuss one
or two unionwide priorities." The activists will then notify AFT of the
results online.
After the enormous efforts put into the
election, it's hard to see how visiting Congressmen and whacking at ALEC is
going to make much difference for the unions, much less motivate the
members. This inspirational bankruptcy is much more of threat to NEA and AFT
than any Republican legislator or taxpayer group.
2) Flood of Initiatives Muddy
Political Picture in California. Today's San
Francisco Chronicle reports that some 63 proposed California ballot
initiatives were submitted last month, most in response to Gov.
Schwarzenegger's agenda and many to do with public education.
Most of these won't make it to the
ballot for various reasons and, indeed, not all are designed to. Some
organizations have submitted several versions of the same initiative. While
each of these initiatives will be debated on its own relative merits, the
global effect will be to so overwhelm the state's voters that they will
choose the safest course and vote "no" on everything – effectively sinking
the governor's plan.
Attorneys linked to the California
Teachers Association have submitted several measures. One would ban any
limits on school appropriations or spending unless state per-pupil spending
meets or exceeds the average of the 10 highest spending states, and the
state class size average is at or beneath the class size average of the 10
smallest class size states. This one appears bogus because while all states
compute student/teacher ratio, virtually no one maintains reputable class
size statistics.
Another proposed initiative revives the
Improving Classroom Education Act. CTA and NEA spent $3.4 million gathering
signatures for this measure to increase commercial property taxes by 55
percent before abandoning it in April 2004, ostensibly because of the
"complicated nature of the November ballot." The two versions of this
initiative call for tax increases of 30 percent and 50 percent.
Amid the tax hike proposals,
conservative groups are also adding to the noise. A paycheck protection
initiative has been submitted, as well as a merit pay measure.
In a very blue state, CTA and its
Democratic allies are likely to win an up-or-down vote on the Schwarzenegger
initiatives, but the governor's personal popularity makes such a strategy
too risky. With such a mess on the ballot, Californians will probably wake
up the morning after Election Day to a status quo ante Arnold, which
would suit CTA just fine.
3) SEIU President Andrew Stern Meets
With NEA. EIA hears that Service Employees
International Union President Andrew Stern met with a high-ranking NEA
official recently to discuss the labor movement. Stern was the subject of a
lengthy New York Times profile last week, detailing his efforts to
reform the AFL-CIO. It is unlikely Stern repeated this quote from last July,
"I'm tired of hearing if we just pay teachers more, you know, life will be
terrific." (Hat tip to Eduwonk.com) It can be heard at this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/politics/072604-12s.htm.
4) Circular Logic
* "This country was the moral leader of the world until George Bush became
President." – Howard Dean on CNN, September 16, 2004.
* "[S]eeking common ground with the
Administration in the name of great public schools tops the NEA agenda." –
NEA Today, January 2005.
* "In short, he shares our vision for
working together with parents, teachers, and education support professionals
to make public schools great for every child." – NEA press release, "NEA
Endorses Dean for DNC Chair," February 2, 2005.
5) Black Market in School Choice:
Teacher Edition. Veteran readers of the EIA
Communiqué may recall many items about the issue dubbed "the black
market in school choice" – that is, parents using residential subterfuge to
get their children into the public school district of their choice (for the
original story, see the
August 27, 2001 EIA Communiqué). Some districts are very
aggressive about catching the perpetrators. One of these is the Fair Lawn
school district in Clifton, New Jersey.
Fair Lawn hired one full-time and
several part-time private investigators to track down illegally enrolled
students, and also offers a $100 bounty to those who provide information on
such students, some of whom are illegal immigrants.
"Our community feels strongly and our
board feels strongly that we educate only Clifton children and Clifton
children alone," Superintendent Michael Rice told the Bergen Record.
Stories like these tend to undermine the
"we accept everyone" anti-voucher arguments from the public school
establishment. But even more fascinating is what you hear when the shoe is
on the other foot.
The Chicago Public Schools is one of the
last large school districts with a residency requirement for teachers. To
teach in Chicago, you must live in Chicago. The district has recently beefed
up enforcement procedures to ensure the rules are being followed, or, as an
editorial in the December 2004 Chicago Union Teacher put it, the
district turned administrators into "mini-CIA agents whose role it is to spy
on employees at every turn."
The editors called the residency
requirement for teachers "a laughable concept," and Chicago Teachers Union
President Marilyn Stewart is quoted saying, "The reality is a great number
of our members can't even afford to live in this city where real estate
prices are steadily climbing."
If residency requirements are bad for
teachers, why are they good for children?
6) AFT Organizes Pennsylvania
Charter School. The 27 employees at the Germantown
Settlement Charter School voted unanimously to join the Pennsylvania
Federation of Teachers. The school became the third unionized charter in the
state. Pennsylvania has 103 charter schools.
7) DC Teachers Union Runoff
Challenged. Elections are getting to be a messy
business for AFT affiliates. The first round of elections to select a new
president for the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) was challenged by
third-place finisher Elizabeth Davis (see
January 10, 2005 EIA Communiqué). Now Rachel Hicks, the loser in
the runoff to WTU president-elect George Parker, also filed a challenge,
alleging the AFT administrator made numerous violations of the union's
constitution that tended to favor Parker. Hicks also claims many WTU members
did not receive ballots. Expect the charges to be quickly dismissed and WTU
to just as quickly resume normal operations.
8) Teacher Glut in Australia.
Queensland, Australia, finds itself with an oversupply of teachers, leaving
newcomers to the profession pounding the pavement in search of jobs. The
reason? Fewer teachers retired than predicted. Could the same thing happen
here?
9) Quote of Super Bowl Week.
"I'm not struggling, but I'm not that well off. I have my
wedding ring. I don't need to wear nothing else. It paid for some of my
income tax. I never had a child go to school here and my school tax is
$5,116. School tax!" – Former Philadelphia Eagle Chuck Bednarik, explaining
why he sold his 1960 NFL Championship and Hall of Fame rings. (February 4
Associated Press) |
