Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for July 4, 2006 DAY 3 OF THE NEA RA

Coverage of today's events from the NEA website...

Delegates celebrate the 4th with tributes and deliberations.

Delegates celebrated their nation, proved through their work that they really are the nation's largest deliberative democratic body, watched the shuttle take off, and heard the national Teacher of the Year tell how her own classroom experience shows the need for universal preschool. Along the way, many delegates also found time to launch an intensive campaign to transform "No Child Left Behind."

It was a day packed with speeches, songs, and motions. The NEA's Fourth of July celebration featured the new "All-NEA Choir" and an emotional tribute to the centuries-long effort to build an America that belongs equally to all -- immigrants and native-born, men and women of all races and sexual orientations.

Delegates representing many groups that have struggled -- and are still struggling -- for their equal place in America told their stories and made their cases. "When the white man came to our shores, we were there to greet you," said Native American delegate Marty Meeden. "We shared what we had. But you have not always been the best of guests."

As the celebration reached its climax, NEA Executive Director John Wilson invited immigrant delegates to the front, and they streamed up, many waving -- or wearing -- American flags and singing, as proud native-born colleagues snapped their pictures.

Later in the day, delegates also warmly welcomed Kimberly Oliver, the 2006 National Teacher of the Year, from Broad Acres Elementary in Silver Spring, Maryland -- a model of school reform, NEA President Reg Weaver said. And, Oliver, a kindergarten teacher who achieved National Board Certification after just five years in the classroom, is a model for her colleagues, he said.

In her speech to delegates, Oliver extolled the "three E's -- equity, early childhood education and excellent teaching," and she called on her colleagues to embrace universal pre-K for all children, to support mandatory full-day kindergarten for all, and to insist that all learners be taught by excellent teachers.

"When we don't provide an excellent education to every child, we do an injustice to all of society," Oliver said. "Equity means believing that every child can learn... and when that doesn't happen, it means looking at ourselves."

In a busy day, RA delegates also:

- Amended NEA's Constitution so that it now reads that NEA will advance the cause of "public" education.

- Approved several New Business Items, including one that would preserve the exhibit commemorating the NEA/ATA merger.

The RA also voted to file legal briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of two school districts defending their racial integration plans.

Meanwhile, just one day after adopting a campaign plan to transform NCLB, hundreds of delegates started carrying it out at the Legislative Action Center near the NEA Café, documenting their personal stories about how NCLB affects them and their students. NEA lobbyists are collecting educators' stories as the Association?s most persuasive arguments.

The LAC will be open today from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., and NEA Government Relations is holding a contest for the best stories. The grand prize: a trip to Washington, D.C., to tell your story in person to members of Congress. To help advance the cause, palm-sized informational cards were distributed at state caucuses listing five things every member can do to change NCLB.

Same convention...same events...from a conservative perspective...

1) EIA Exclusive: Data from NEA's Most Recent Member and Local President Survey

2) NEA Fan Booster Club Defeated

3) National Toddlers of the Year

4) Other Action on NBIs and Legislative Amendments

5) Upcoming Business

6) Quote of the Day

1) EIA Exclusive: Data from NEA's Most Recent Member and Local President Survey. Last October, EIA brought you the results of NEA's annual and local president surveys, encapsulating them in a report titled, The NEA Pyramid: The View Changes As You Rise to the Top of the Nation's Largest Union. Today, I can bring you preliminary results from the union's 2006 survey, accumulated just prior to the convention.

The "political leanings" question of NEA members continues to provide the most controversial results. Only 9% of NEA members describe themselves as "more liberal than most." Of the rest, 29% describe themselves as "moderate liberals," 38% as "moderate conservatives," 16% as "more conservative than most," and 8% as "don't know."

Among NEA local affiliate presidents, the results are similar. Only 9% describe themselves as "more liberal than most." Of the rest, 27% describe themselves as "moderate liberals," 45% as "moderate conservatives," 17% as "more conservative than most," and 12% as "don't know."

If we were to take these results at face value, we must conclude that NEA is a majority conservative organization, and by a good margin. But there is reason not to take them at face value, because NEA "conservatives" still favor Democrats, though the margin is surprisingly close.

NEA asked which party did members and local presidents support most often when they voted. Of the members, 36% voted for "mostly Democrats," 17% for "more Democrats than Republicans," 21% "about as many Republicans as Democrats," 9% "more Republicans than Democrats," 8% "mostly Republicans," and 9% "didn't know."

Among local presidents, the results were: 35% voted for "mostly Democrats," 22% for "more Democrats than Republicans," 25% "about as many Republicans as Democrats," 9% "more Republicans than Democrats," 6% "mostly Republicans," and 3% "didn't know."

Two other questions worth perusing concern the relative knowledge that members and local presidents have about their union. Members were asked to rate their knowledge of how their dues were used on a scale of 1 to 5 – 1 meaning "not all familiar" to 5 meaning "very knowledgeable."

Only 13% of members rated themselves a 5, and another 13% rated themselves a 4. Of the rest, 30% gave themselves a 3, 22% gave themselves a 2, and 22 percent rated themselves "not at all familiar."

Among local presidents, dues knowledge improved dramatically, with 38% rating themselves "very knowledgeable," 28% giving themselves a 4, 18% giving themselves a 3, 8% giving themselves a 2, and only 7% scoring themselves at 1.

Knowledge of "the most important goals of the NEA" was not much better than dues knowledge. Only 5% of members rated themselves "very familiar," with the most – 37% - rating themselves as "not at all familiar."

Local presidents were better, but still surprisingly weak. Only 8% rated themselves "very familiar" with NEA's most important goals, with 14% rating themselves "not at all familiar."

2) NEA Fan Booster Club Defeated. Not swayed by the recommendation of their Board of Directors, NEA delegates defeated an attempt to create an "associate membership" category for those not employed in education. The authorizing constitutional amendment received only 48 percent of the vote, and needed to two-thirds to pass. Oddly enough, the accompanying required bylaw amendment did receive the simple majority it needed, creating some confusion on the convention floor.

In essence the delegates approved all the details of an associate membership category, but refused to give the union the authority to enact them. NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin later addressed the delegates and told them that because of the constitutional amendment defeat, the bylaw "is inoperative and has no effect," but will be "held in abeyance" in the case that future conventions pass the authorization.

With their action, the delegates effectively ended my chances of joining NEA. Quel dommage.

3) National Toddlers of the Year. I'm getting a little concerned about the selection of the National Teachers of the Year. It began last year when Jason Kamras, who clearly was about 15 years old, was chosen. But now I'm really worried after having seen and heard 2006 National Teacher of the Year Kimberly Oliver, who is all of 12 years old. Surely the so-called teacher shortage cannot be so bad that our public schools are violating the child labor laws?

4) Other Action on NBIs and Legislative Amendments. Here are some of the new business items delegates addressed today:

* NBI 33 was approved. It creates a committee to explore creating a website to defend public education against negative propaganda in the media. The voice vote produced a significant number of "nays," undoubtedly EIA readers who like negative propaganda in the media.

* NBI 37 passed, after the provision to organize a march on Washington was removed. The same delegate introduces a march on Washington NBI every year, but not always for the same reason. I think she might sell shoes on the side.

* NBI 39 – The anti-war measure was not considered by the delegates. Two-thirds of the delegates voted not to even bring it up for debate.

The delegates also debated amendments to NEA's legislative program:

* Legislative Amendment 6 was approved. It puts NEA in opposition to the use of voter ID. A delegate was kind enough to point out to me that NEA secret ballot elections, such as the ones that took place yesterday and today, require the delegates to produce photo ID before they can vote. Fraud in a vote for a one-year seat on the NEA Board of Directors is apparently more worrisome than fraud in a vote for President of the United States.

* Legislative Amendment 8 was defeated. It would have required NEA to work to repeal the No Child Left Behind Act, but the NEA Positive Agenda essentially precluded this amendment from passing.

* Legislative Amendment 10, restoring daylight savings time to its original dates, was defeated.

* Legislative Amendment 17 was approved, placing NEA in opposition to "federal legislation giving financial incentives or pay to teachers based solely on the subjects or fields in which they teach." The rationale for the item stated such programs "serve to advocate NCLB's priorities and create a hierarchy, thus breaking the union."

5) Upcoming Business. These new business items are on tomorrow's agenda:

* NBI 46 calls on NEA to publish an article on the implications of patronizing Costco. Well, they can always head on over to Sam's Club.

* NBI 59 directs NEA to investigate the test-handling practices of the Educational Testing Service and other Praxis testing companies.

* NBI 64 is one I love. It calls on NEA to "develop guidelines to assist state affiliates in the resolution of conflicts between state boards of directors, state elected officials, and the executive director." It was submitted by a delegate from South Carolina. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with this, could it?

* NBI 71 indicates some delegates are worried about the recent actions of Warren Buffett. The item directs NEA to solicit the opinion of its members "on the positive and negative impact of large-scale philanthropy as it relates to public education." Start with the Annenberg Challenge.

* NBI 79 requires NEA to form a task force to explore the idea of a U.S. Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing every child in America a free, high-quality, public education. I always thought a Constitutional Amendment that said this would be really, really great: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." But at least I know something like this could never make it into the Constitution.

Other business to be transacted:

* A proposed amendment to NEA's policy statement on charter schools would add a provision requiring a public hearing before a charter application is approved, at which teachers, school employees and the community can testify as to "the positive and negative impact of the charter on the authorizing school district."

* The debate on resolutions will take place tomorrow, including one referencing mayoral takeovers, one opposing the creation of charter schools as a remedy during a state takeover of schools and school districts, one on home schooling that requires passing assessments (not just "taking" them), and, of course, the B-10 resolution that has caused such an uproar over the last few weeks.

As to the latter, it will be debated on the floor, perhaps even heatedly, but I will stake my reputation that the compromise language worked out by the Resolutions Committee (first reported here), will pass, and fairly easily. And no more will be said about such things until, oh, 2011.

Note. Tomorrow is the final day of the convention. In recent years, the convention has ended in the early evening, and this one seems to be on track to do the same. However, one or more long debates or a roll call vote can unexpectedly throw off the timeline. In any event, EIA will be there until the bitter end, but it will take several hours after the close of the convention for the final communiqué to appear in your mailbox.

6) Quote of the Day. "Sometimes I vote with my brain, and sometimes I vote with my bladder." – a remark about today's new business item debates, overheard in the men's room.

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The Education Intelligence Agency conducts public education research, analysis and investigations. Director: Mike Antonucci. PO Box 580007, Elk Grove, CA 95758. Ph: 916-422-4373. Fax: 916-392-1482. E-Mail: EducationIntel@aol.com