Intercepts
A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions.

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1) Ohio Education Association Plans Constitutional Amendment for 2007 Ballot
2) NEA Disclaims NCLB “Dismantling” Petition
3) Alabama Education Association Increases PAC Deduction
4) Scheduling Note
5) Last Week’s Intercepts
6) Quote of the Week

One would think an educational proposal that was denounced all along the political spectrum (from Rush Limbaugh to Al Sharpton, for example) would not become the topic of a nostalgic 10th anniversary remembrance. But on AmericanHeritage.com, contributing editor Joshua Zeitz pens a paean to Ebonics, which he calls “a highly defensible intellectual concept” that simply “had too much political baggage to work.”

If American Heritage wants to publish a lament to a school district’s folly, it’s entitled. But there’s one point on which I have a first-hand recollection. Zeitz writes that “the Oakland Unified School District never intended to introduce classes in Ebonics or to substitute it for standard English. It hoped that by classifying Ebonics as a language, it could compel teachers to treat Ebonics-speakers in much the same way they treated native Spanish-speakers—that is, it would get them to develop curricula that would acknowledge the linguistic heritage of black students while helping them master standard English, rather than criticize them for their linguistic deficiencies.”

Ten years ago, a Bay Area source sent to me the Ebonics material the Oakland district was distributing. It included workbooks and teacher guides, all with exercises in which the questions and answers were delivered in Ebonics (I’m afraid I’ve long since discarded that material). The claim that Oakland’s Ebonics plan was never meant to substitute for standard English is simply untrue.

For those of you who still think the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act is actually about protecting workers from intimidation by employers before secret ballot elections, I give you Richard Stutman.

Stutman is the president of the Boston Teachers Union. Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe does an excellent job describing how Stutman went to work when members voted to become a pilot school.

And if you need a good laugh, examine the result when unions discover religion.

It was a big job, but the National Council on Teacher Quality has put together a database that will allow you to “easily search the contents of collective bargaining agreements and board policies from the nation’s 50 largest public school districts.”

NCTQ will unveil it in DC on January 4. I’m guessing that somewhere in the halls of Harlem Success Charter School, Eva Moskowitz is smiling.

The Phoenix has a fascinating story about newly elected Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and whether he is really in the pocket of the labor unions or the guy who might actually force through some changes. And yes, the “Nixon to China” analogy is deployed.

Most intriguing factoid:

“Labor activists are also keenly aware that Patrick’s wife, Diane, has spent her
career fighting on the employer side of the equation. Currently a partner in the
labor and employment department of the Ropes & Gray law firm, she
‘specializes in advising and representing employers’ on employment law and
collective-bargaining agreements, according to the firm’s Web site.”

On the other hand, Diane Patrick also used to be a teacher in New York.

I haven’t seen evidence that Democratic governors are more effective in pushing reforms past unions than are Republican governors (or Jesse Ventura), but there is no question that Democratic governors often catch unions by surprise and give them more headaches (see Item #6 here).

Stephen Murmer has been suspended from his position teaching art in the Chesterfield County, Virginia, public schools for what is – in my experience – a unique reason.

The Associated Press described it this way:

“Outside of class and under an alter ego, the self-proclaimed ‘butt-printing
artist’ creates floral and abstract art by plastering his posterior and genitals
with paint and pressing them against canvas. His cheeky creations sell for
hundreds of dollars.”

The district suspended Murmer for five days with pay upon learning of his unusual art, but threatened him with further sanctions. Murmer sought help from the ACLU.

“As a public employee, he has constitutional rights, and he certainly has the right to engage in private legal activities protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution,” said ACLU executive director Kent Willis.

The AP story provided links to Murmer’s web site (http://www.buttprintart.com) and a YouTube video of him at work, both of which seem to be down at the moment.

I was going to put in a line about what the letters “ACLU” can now stand for, but I’ll let you work that one out yourself.