International visitors at NEA's Representative Assembly speak out on education trends that sound painfully familiar.

They may not have held U.S. passports, but the ten "International Guests" at the 2001 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles could have easily held NEA membership cards.

They attended early-morning caucus meetings of their "host" state delegation, sat with their delegations during debates at the NEA Representative Assembly, and networked with grassroots educators from across the United States.

And as leaders of education unions in their respective countries, these ten visitors spoke our language and shared our concerns on issues ranging from low teacher pay to school rankings.

"Our schools are ranked by how well they perform [on national] exams," reported Kenya National Union of Teachers President John Katumanga at an international forum held right before the Representative Assembly. "Parents then move their children to perceived 'good' schools and teachers transfer as well. Then we need to find qualified teachers for schools that are not doing so 'well.'"

"The problem of how to attract and retain good teachers, I think, is common around the world," noted Sithun Lowe, general secretary of the Singapore Teachers Union. "You know, England comes to Singapore to lure teachers to London schools!

"Our governments are talking to each other, exchanging ideas," Lowe observed. "For instance, many things we see happening in Singapore are also happening in the United Kingdom, like school ranking and charter schools. There are worldwide trends in education, and we've got to learn from each other's experience."

In both the international forum and a pre-RA workshop on "Transcending National Borders," the visiting union leaders discussed these trends:

• The pressure of globalization.
  The International Guests disagreed on the merits of globalization, but agreed that it's now a reality, affecting educators in rich and poor nations alike.

  Lowe viewed the single world economy as an opportunity for high-tech Singapore to "reach out, regionalize, and export expertise and intellectual property."

  But unionists from developing nations noted that a condition-filled loan granted by the World Bank or a low market price dictated by the World Trade Organization can prompt a national government to slash public education spending or pursue privatization.

  In Nicaragua, charged union leader Brigida Rivera-Rodriguez, a World Bank-mandated restructuring plan has meant "automatic promotions of students, daily non-objective evaluations of teachers, and school closings."

  Even in affluent Norway, "We're in a globalized world," added union president Helga Hjetland. "Our politicians say they can't spend money on public education or the public sector because it will 'cause inflation' and make us unable to compete internationally."

• Underfunding and low teacher pay.
  Around the international forum table, there was grim talk of inferior salaries and teacher strikes.

  In Nicaragua, a primary teacher earns $50 a month, a secondary teacher $65. In the Ivory Coast, teachers slid from an average of $200 to $100 a month in 1999-2000. "After many strikes," said union leader Salimata Doumbia, "we went back to $200 a month-but there aren't enough teaching materials, teacher motivation is lacking, and the health system is bad."

  In spite of an economy floating on oil and natural gas revenues, many Norwegian local schools-especially those serving minority students and children with special needs-"have trouble with financing," reported Hjetland.

  Last year, her Norwegian Union of Teachers was forced to wage a three-month strike, the longest in the nation's history, to boost the pay of predominantly female kindergarten teachers.

• A push for quality education.
  To the nods of the other unionists, Hjetland said, "We're all concerned about quality for all students." Quality, emphasized her colleagues from developing countries, includes factors such as equal access to education, lower class sizes, adequate materials, decent teacher salaries, and more professional development.

  Different leaders outlined different union paths to quality. In Kenya, the union is pushing the government to establish boarding schools for the children of migratory families, and backing proposed legislation to "protect the children of parents who can't pay public school fees," said Kenya's Katumanga. "And we and the government have created machinery to ensure that talented girls are sent to school."

  In studious Singapore, where students score high in international math and science tests, the union is pushing the quality envelope by publicly campaigning for a more "relaxed" educational system that offers more reflective time for teachers.

  "Our children are highly motivated, but highly pressured," noted Singapore's Lowe. "We killed the joy of learning in so many of them. We are suggesting that you move certain subjects-like music, literature, and art-to the afternoon sessions and get community people involved in teaching them. Let's put some of the fun back into teaching and learning!"

• Resistance from politicians.
  "One common factor for all of us," said Turkish union president Alaaddin Dincer, "is that politicians say 'education is a national priority,' but every single one of us is experiencing tremendous underfunding. Our dilemma as education organizations is how to get beyond lip service to education."

  Another dilemma is how to get politicians to move beyond their distrust of public employee unions. In 1994, the Nicaraguan government fired Rivera-Rodriguez from her teaching job, and just before the 2001 NEA RA, the government of St. Kitts/Nevis in the Caribbean tried to prevent St. Kitts Teachers' Union President Hillery Hunkins from traveling to Los Angeles.

  Dincer reported that the ultraconservative party controlling the Turkish parliament has drafted legislation that bans public employees' right to bargain and strike, and favors docile "pro-government" unions.

  In spite of severe human rights violations, "Our union will keep up the struggle against government repression," Dincer said, "and we'll work for quality public education for all and job security for education employees."

• A need for New Unionism-and educator unity.
  In spite of the obstacles, Canadian Teachers Federation President Marilies Rettig recommended that education unions think outside of their "traditional roles," create a dialogue with governments on short- and long-term educational priorities, and become true partners in education reform.

  Politicians "must understand that investing in a stronger educational system now means less dependence later" on the justice system to keep social peace, Rettig stressed.

  In a time of globalization, educators need a global voice to be heard by policy-makers. The best platform available: Education International, uniting 24 million unionized education workers in 155 countries.

  "Without EI support, I wouldn't be here at the NEA Representative Assembly-it's as simple as that," stressed Lowe of Singapore.

  "EI gives our small organization the means to work with other education unions in the Asian region, internationally with organizations like NEA, and even with American classroom teachers," he said. "I've now met lots of teachers with whom I can network."

For more on Education International and worldwide trends, go to www.ei-ie.org.

Two Jobs, One Passion

Name and profession:
Hillery Hunkins, high school remedial teacher
Position: President, St. Kitts Teachers' Union

Goals: We're fighting for official recognition of the SKTU as the bargaining agent for teachers in St. Kitts. We also want to make starting teacher salaries more competitive and increase the top pay of trained teachers by three increments. Finally, we need to have a structured grievance procedure.

Obstacles: I'm the president of a national union, plus a full-time teacher. The government didn't want to send me to the NEA Representative Assembly, and its chief education officer has told my principal I am not to be permitted to conduct any union business during school time.

Something to consider: Education is an "us" thing, it is not us versus them. It belongs to all of us, and therefore we must share equal responsibility. Our union can make important contacts and access facilities from internationally funded organizations to help build the profession. We may even be able to attract private funding and support.

The promise of St. Kitts: More than anything else, our young people are very keen on education and take it very seriously. They see it as a gateway, the single most important connection between the now and then.

The promise of our union: We've been able to open an office where we can meet and organize our materials. And we plan to set up a resource area for teachers and start our own union newsletter. We want to be able to build our own headquarters at some point, so there's a permanent home for teachers. (Hillery Hunkins may be contacted at Hhunkins@hotmail.com)