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

I’m not sure what she’s referring to, but Arianna Huffington said this about Barack Obama:

“What he said about the teachers union was great. You could say that was
not progressive, or not from the left. I think it’s accurate, I think you need
to transform what’s happening in education, which includes transformation within
the union.”

Click here to read:

1) The Near-Future of the Teachers’ Unions
2) Changes to the NEA Agenda
3) Best Wishes, Mike Antonucci
4) Last Week’s Intercepts
5) Quote of the Week

There’s a lot of reporting out there about Obama’s AFT endorsement acceptance speech, but no one seems to have noticed it was virtually the same speech he delivered to NEA. I don’t mean he covered the same ground; I mean it was the same speech.

The only substantial differences were the substitution of AFT officer names in place of NEA officer names in his opening remarks, and his inclusion of the “These Kids Syndrome” story, which, I remember clearly, he used in his speech to NEA last year. He also noted that the United Federation of Teachers operates its own charter schools, as an intro to his support for charters.

Obama has been delivering stump speeches almost daily for more than a year, and it’s too much to ask for entirely new and original content every time. But hearing him repeat a speech before a core constituency of advocates can’t be very encouraging for people who want education on the front burner.

And for those who think too much was made of the relative weakness of Obama’s NEA endorsement vote margin, or the boos during his speech, we now have the AFT for contrast. His AFT endorsement received only one audible “no” vote, and no one booed performance pay.

I’m not sure what to make of Ray Fisman’s piece on teacher quality in Slate, but I suspect it will cause heartburn in the usual circles.

Three worth reading today:

* Richard Whitmire has a go at NEA with “NEA too big for its britches.”

* Diana Furchtgott-Roth turns an eye on SEIU’s finances, noting the union’s pension for members is only 75% funded, while the pension for SEIU’s officers and employees is 103% funded.

* North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, honored by NEA as America’s Greatest Education Governor last week, is so good at raising educators’ salaries that one North Carolina State University senior lecturer just received an 88% pay raise. Her name is Mary Easley, and she’s the governor’s wife.

The Council of Chief State School Officers has done a pretty good job over the years selecting the National Teacher of the Year. The winners all have different styles, but share an obvious enthusiasm about their work.

This year, Oregon middle school science Teacher Michael Geisen demonstrated his abilities, entertaining the NEA convention delegates with one-liners, and a routine comparing teaching to airline travel.

NEA has the video of his speech posted here.

As funny as he was, my favorite part of his presentation was when he said, “We need to collaborate on solutions and not whine about the problems.” At this, the crowd rose to its feet as one and brought down the house with thunderous applause and cheering.

No, not really. In fact, about 10 people clapped weakly.