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

Due process – AFT style.

If I missed something, I’ll gladly correct it here, but as far as I can tell the elected representatives of AFT Local 5017 were removed without being present at a formal hearing, without being allowed to face their accusers, and without a list of charges. Now AFT’s general counsel is telling them they can’t call their web site “Take Back Local 5017,” citing the Lanham Act.

Let me repeat my advice: Get a friggin’ lawyer. He or she might even be able to remind AFT of the First Amendment and a few anti-SLAPP laws and court decisions.

ES Intern at The Quick and the Ed thinks unions shouldn’t automatically be condemned for doing their job.

Greg Forster at Jay P. Greene’s Blog unpacks everything I’ve written in the last three weeks.

Craig Gordon at Real School Reform is the author of the NEA new business item that called for a two-day national teacher strike (it was ruled out of order).

The National Education Association’s board of directors approved the following recommendation of its Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs:

“That NEA advertising materials and publications portray a wider range of skin colors – especially darker shades in both Hispanics and African Americans. All phenotypes should be equitably represented in NEA materials and should convey the range of characteristics in ethnic and racial groups.”

Bravo, NEA! For too long you have featured Lombards at the expense of Neapolitans. Thank you for correcting this historic injustice.

So the takeaway bit from yesterday’s chat between U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the attendees at the American Federation of Teachers QuEST conference is that AFT will post a “collaboration meter” to measure the Obama administration’s promise to work with the teachers’ unions.

AFT measuring collaboration is a lot like R.J. Reynolds measuring indoor air quality. It’s like a referee counting over a fallen boxer. When he reaches 10, full “collaboration” has been achieved.

How much collaborating is going on in Portland?

How much collaborating is going on in Los Angeles?

How much collaborating is going on in Winona, Minnesota?

All this nonsense will dissipate quickly when Obama and Duncan spend weeks or months discussing and consulting with the unions on an issue, then decide to do something the unions don’t like. “Having a seat at the table” won’t bring much solace then.

Click here to read:

1) The World of Linda Darling-Hammond
2) AFT Running the Puerto Rico Playbook in Oregon
3) Why Are We Cheering Again?
4) Contract Hits
5) Last Week’s Intercepts
6) Quote of the Week

We have had analysis of the National Education Association from left, right and center over the past few days. The last place to check was inside, so I asked Hans Moleman, who first came to our attention in 2004, for his take. He was kind enough to provide this thoughtful view of what makes NEA tick, and what doesn’t. Well worth your time.

Let Hans know you’re glad he’s writing. There is no more lonely spot in the world than living among the Soylent Green eaters within the teachers’ unions.

Mickey Kaus points us to the latest report from the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, titled “National Teachers’ Unions and the Struggle Over School Reform.”

I thought about excerpting the stinging barbs from CCCR’s absolute flaying of NEA and AFT, but it’s really worth your time to read the entire 36-page report, then head over to this page for a list of the organization’s commissioners. Not a conservative right-wing bastard in the bunch.

The public perception battle is over, and the teachers’ unions have lost. But will it have any effect on Congress and state legislatures? The NRA, tobacco companies, PETA, the ACLU and Big Oil all have negative public images they can’t shed, yet they are still effective in getting their way. What if NEA and AFT stop caring what other people think?