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

Read all about it in Las Vegas CityLife.

Key quote:

“Am I supposed to be penalized for doing a good job?”

I’m not sure what prompts a newspaper to publish a story headlined “Doverite attends hearing for No Child Left Behind draft” because I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who would read it. Nevertheless, we learn from Vicky Cairns, director of instructional advocacy for the Delaware State Education Association, that “We’re not rejecting No Child Left Behind. I just don’t think it’s accomplishing what it needs to accomplish.”

Today at 10:30 a.m. “Bay Area educators” and activists from the California Teachers Association will demonstrate their policy of non-rejection by delivering a giant postcard signed by 1,000 public school educators to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, protesting her support of the Miller-McKeon discussion draft.

Isn’t today a school day?

Finally we have Kathy Newman, president of the Hillsboro Education Association in Oregon, who is the subject of the sure-to-be-Pulitzer-nominated story, “Teachers union president works to change No Child Left Behind.” From her we learn: “The tests are multiple choice, and they’re designed to throw in zingers that confuse students. Some students in the classroom do exceptional work, but they don’t do well on these types of tests. We think there should be other measures such as a portfolio for each student that demonstrates proficiency.”

Yep, those zingers can get you, like whether it was the battle of the Alamo that brought the American Revolution to an end, or if federalism is “the belief that America should be unified with a trans-continental railroad.” I’d like to see the student portfolio explaining those answers in depth.

Today’s award goes to Roger Biles, chairman of Illinois State University’s history department. Presented with the news that college students, including the ones at ISU, were deficient in their knowledge of U.S. history, Biles had this response:

“He believes part of the problem is the No Child Left Behind Act put too much emphasis on students in elementary and high school doing well on multiple-choice standardized tests.”

How do we know that college students are deficient in their knowledge of U.S. history? You guessed it. They were given a 60-question multiple-choice standardized test.

I encourage you to take the test yourself. It’s not an easy one. I’m happy to report I scored a 54 out of 60 (90%).

In Monday’s EIA Communiqué, I observed the rather obvious:

“But on NCLB, you have liberals on both sides, moderates on both sides, and conservatives on both sides. In a political atmosphere where you can easily predict which group will support what position, I find this refreshing, if a bit weird.”

Now I find a whole article about the phenomenon in yesterday’s Politico. It has lots of quotes with chewy goodness, like these:

“These were our friends, but those days are over.” – California Teachers Association Vice President Dean Vogel, speaking of Reps. Nancy Pelosi and George Miller.

“This issue has made for a weird mixture of groups. You can’t tell the players without the score card. It’s not like there are two sides neatly lined up.” – Joel Packer, NEA’s chief lobbyist.

Other neat stuff:

* “According to Packer, the lobbying coalitions have attracted such a motley crew of interest groups that lobbyists are struggling to judge how members of Congress will align themselves when the bill hits the floor.”

* “Some lobbying efforts are severing interest groups from politicians they have supported for years — a move that political experts say could encourage some party-loyal voters to swing in the congressional elections.”

* “One of the most unusual relationships has formed between major corporations such as Microsoft and large civil rights groups such as the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights — both members of the Business Coalition for Student Achievement. Sponsored by the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the coalition is pushing for higher school standards to produce a stronger workforce through its NCLB Works! campaign. Other members of the coalition include Nationwide insurance, Motorola, Easter Seals and the National Council of La Raza.”

Ryan Bedford of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation tipped me off that the Utah state government web page with the list of campaign financial disclosure reports had been updated. You can thumb through them yourself, but Communities for Quality Education does have one, and the NEA front group spent $133,400 – mostly on consultants and staff.

Two of the three $500,000 grants from NEA to the Utah Education Association were immediately passed along to Utahns for Public Schools, which then immediately sent the cash to Media Strategies and Research – a Democratic media-buying firm based in Denver, Colorado, that is an NEA favorite for this task. MS&R undoubtedly is using the money to buy up air time in the Utah media.

The next set of financial disclosure reports aren’t due until seven days before the election so we won’t see updated numbers until October 30.

As executive director of the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition (Pro-Vote) and a former union organizer for the Communications Workers of America, John Hickey has well burnished liberal credentials. And he’s used his knowledge of the playbook to keep his employees from unionizing.

Megan Peterson, who quit her job as a Pro-Vote organizer after Labor Day, says Hickey not only refused to recognize the union but went to great lengths to thwart the effort. STLog reported, “Peterson says Hickey, who frowns on lunch breaks, grew more controlling, for example, telling the staff fundraiser that she could not leave the building without his permission.”

The fledgling staff union has filed a complaint against Hickey with the National Labor Relations Board.

Oh, and congratulations to former Missouri NEA President Greg Jung, who will receive Pro-Vote’s Lifetime Achievement Award on October 13.