Learning: Inside Scoop
Better Grades for Public Schools

The public gives high marks, weighs in on testing, funding, and achievement.

For the first time in the 33 years of the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, the majority of Americans give their local public schools high marks. And the more people interact with schools, they more they like them. Also, most people don't blame the public schools for the achievement gap between white and minority students��but do look to the schools to close the gap. These are among the findings in the 2001 survey.

How do people rate their public schools?
After taking a beating in the years that followed the Reagan administration's A Nation At Risk report and the torrent of criticism that followed it, the reputation of America's public schools is on the rise. In the 2001 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, 51 percent of Americans rated the schools in their community either A or B.

What's more, public school parents, who actually have experience with the schools, have a considerably higher opinion: 62 percent give them A or B. When asked to rate their oldest child's school, the number with a favorable impression jumps to 68 percent.

But asked about public schools in the nation as a whole, 51 percent of Americans give them a C. This pattern--a higher opinion of the schools you know than of schools you only hear about--is true year after year, say the pollsters.

While people think education in America needs to be improved, they are strongly and increasingly committed to doing it through public schools. A resounding 72 percent think we should work to improve the public school system we already have, rather than finding an alternative to that system. That's a 13 percent increase over the previous year.

This is consistent with the finding that 62 percent oppose publicly funded vouchers for private schools, a percentage that's up 12 points since 1998.

What school problems capture the public's attention?
Lack of funding and lack of discipline tie for first place among problems the public believes schools face, each garnering 15 percent. Almost 60 percent also recognize that funding differs "a great deal" or "quite a lot" from district to district, both nationally and within individual states. More than two-thirds see a close link between the amount of money spent and the quality of education.

That number jumps to almost three-quarters when respondents are public school parents.

When divided along party lines, 64 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Democrats believe that the amount of funding strongly affects quality.

What's the public's attitude toward standardized testing?
Reaction is mixed. Sentiment is growing, the pollsters found, that there's too much emphasis on testing as a strategy for school improvement (31 percent of respondents said so in the 2001 poll, compared with 20 percent in 1997).

Two new poll questions sought opinions on using high-stakes tests to determine promotion and high school graduation.

Nationally, 53 percent favor linking promotion to a single test, while 57 percent feel the same about graduation. Despite the general nod to high-stakes tests, 66 percent think testing's real value lies in determining instructional needs. That opinion is especially strong among nonwhites (77 percent) and those between the ages of 18 and 29 (79 percent).

About 65 percent believe classroom work and homework are the best measures of academic achievement.

The reason for the majority support for high-stakes tests may be indicated by the answers to a question about student achievement: 81 percent feel most students are achieving only a small part of their potential.

Do all children have equal opportunity to learn?
Although 79 percent say yes, white and nonwhite respondents react differently to this question: 83 percent of whites say opportunities are the same, but only 57 percent of nonwhites agree. The 57 percent figure for nonwhites is up 19 percent since 1978.

What's the public's perception of the achievement gap?
Forty-eight percent of Americans think the academic achievement of white students is higher than that of Blacks or Hispanics.

Nonwhites express this view very strongly, with 61 percent saying whites achieve at higher levels.

Closing the gap is very important or somewhat important to 88 percent of Americans (59 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of Democrats say it's very important).

What are the causes of the gap, and who should fix it?
A whopping 73 percent believe the achievement gap is mostly related to factors other than the quality of schooling. But 55 percent of those polled say it's up to the public schools to close the gap.

Lowell Rose, co-author of the study, says people aren't being irrational when they expect the schools to solve a problem whose main causes are elsewhere, they're just being practical.

Says Rose, "If there's a problem that has to be solved, the only institution that can reach out to all kids is the public schools." And that holds true whether the problem is hunger, health care, or multiplication tables.

--Mary Anne Hess

For more: Visit www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kappan.htm.

Resources
Low Grades for High Tech in Schools

Computers' effects on learning fall short of expectations.

EXCERPT
"Without attention to the workplace conditions in which teachers labor and without respect for the expertise they bring to the task, there is little hope that the new technologies will have more than a minimal impact on teaching and learning."

Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom
By Larry Cuban
256 pp. $27.95 (Harvard University Press)
To order visit: www.hup.harvard.edu or call 800/448-2242.

Over the past two decades government, corporations, and individual donors have pumped billions into hardware and software for U.S. schools. Politicians, parents, CEOs, school administrators, and many educators tout this push for technology in the classroom as essential to getting U.S. students equipped to compete in the global marketplace. Yet, walk into the average classroom and you're likely to see students working with paper, pencils, and textbooks, says Larry Cuban, professor of education at Stanford University and former high school history teacher.

Using national data and his own school surveys in the high-tech capital of Silicon Valley, Cuban offers a thought-provoking analysis of why technology has failed to live up to its promises. His findings contradict those who label educators as technophobes, wedded to traditional methods and materials. Instead, he points the finger at reformers who assumed technology would transform teaching and learning, but neglected to consider school organization, teachers' classroom experiences, or the broader purpose of education in a democratic society.

The book first focuses on several preschools and kindergartens where many of the children used computers at home. Most teachers also owned home computers and thought they had a place in the classroom, but mostly for enrichment or as an additional "center" for children to choose. Few teachers felt competent in computer troubleshooting and, in one amusing example, a four-year-old showed the teacher how to change the desktop settings. The teachers and parents surveyed did believe children would need tech skills to succeed in the workplace, but they all saw school as providing a lot more.

"Preschools and kindergartens ... seem to offer the continuity, care, attention, character building, and stimulation that traditional families once offered children at home.... Teachers opted for building emotional, social, and intellectual ties that reached well beyond proficiency with machines."

For high school students in Cuban's book, the situation wasn't much different. Almost 90 percent had home computers (higher than the national average of 56 percent), and their schools were well equipped. Teachers reported heavy computer use for planning, downloading materials, record keeping, research, and E-mailing colleagues and parents. Yet, as part of instruction, computer use was "uneven and infrequent," writes Cuban. Why? Not surprisingly, most teachers cited lack of time to choose and test relevant software and lack of training to meet their specific needs.

But Cuban, who found similar results in classrooms at Stanford University, says the reasons go deeper. Teachers have a lot of discretion about what goes on in their classrooms, and before deciding which electronic tools to use, they ask practical questions about reliability, simplicity of use, skills covered, ability to motivate students, how it fits into allotted class time, and tech support. High-tech tools that don't merit positive answers may gather dust. So, Cuban says, policymakers must fully involve teachers in technology planning.

The problems facing many urban and rural schools--inequitable funding, health and social needs of students, crumbling facilities--have little to do with lack of technology, says Cuban. Faster access to more and more information also doesn't mean that students will have the critical thinking skills to turn that information into knowledge. So, he's not really surprised that the money and time spent on computers "have yet to yield even modest returns ... in academic achievement ..." He fears that bulging technology budgets will eat up money for smaller class sizes, higher entry-level teacher salaries, full-day kindergartens, and cross-disciplinary high school programs.

Above all, he says, as a nation we need to reaffirm the broad democratic purposes of schooling. Without that vision, he says, "Our current excessive focus on technology use in schools runs the danger of trivializing our nation's core ideals."

--Mary Anne Hess

New from the NEA Professional Library

Innovative Discipline (revised edition)
Teacher-to-Teacher Series
96 pp. $9.95 NEA Members
$12.95 nonmembers
#2916-X-00-FN

Updated to include a section on school safety! You'll find a brand-new, extensive resource list of books, videos, audiotapes, Web sites, and organizations that promote school safety. This popular book also covers peer mediation, self-help sessions, a student-operated court in middle school, and other discipline programs that have transformed the cultures of schools.

To order, call 800/229-4200, or check the Web at www.nea.org/books.

Books by NEA Members

We Rode the Orphan Trains
By Andrea Warren
This is NEA member Andrea Warren's second book about the parentless children who, between 1854 and 1929, boarded westbound trains in search of a home. Warren, a former high school teacher, authored Orphan Train Rider, which won the 1996 Horn Book Award for nonfiction as well as many state awards. $18. Order from Houghton Mifflin at 617/351-5000 or go to www.hhmco.com.

Kyoto Connection
By Deborah Kemp
NEA member Deborah Kemp spent many years visiting Kyoto and other areas of Japan. In writing Kyoto Connec-tion, she combined her years of learning about Japan with her personal experiences in that country. The book is a work of fiction about romance, intrigue, murder, and revenge. It is intended for a mature audience and isn't suitable for children. $10.95 plus s&h from www.1stbooks.com.

The Way it Was
By Alana Myles
The Way it Was is a story based on the real-life events of a young African-American girl facing prejudice in the South during the 1950s. It offers fresh insight into matters of race and America, while serving as a valuable new account of an era that should never be forgotten. $9.95 plus s&h from www.buybooksontheweb.com or call toll free 877/289-2665.

Tools for Building
By Jerome Leavitt
Looking for a unique way to channel a child's creative impulses? Tools for Building is more than just a guide to tools and how to use them safely. You and your child will begin a journey of creativity and accomplishment that will last a lifetime. Under adult supervision, tools can encourage children to turn off the TV, step out of their shell, and enter a new world of personal achievement. $8.95 plus s&h from www.buybooksontheweb.com or call toll free 877/289-2665.

Team Building Through Physical Challenges
By Donald R. Glover and Daniel W. Midura
Students will develop self-confidence and new skills as they explore the activities presented in Team Building Through Physical Challenges. They will be required to work together to achieve a common goal. They'll learn to value teamwork, practice leadership skills, improve listening skills, and appreciate individual differences. To order this book, call 763/553-1374 or E-mail dan.midura@fh.roseville.k12.mn.us.

Getaway Guide to Agatha Christie's England
By Judith Hurdle
Visit Christie's London, Harrogate, Wallingford, and Torquay. Travel to Burgh Island, ride the Orient Express, see the Christie homes and the hotels that inspired her famed books read by over two billion mystery lovers. $16.95 from RDR Books. To order call 1/800/861-1952.

Teaching Music at the Secondary Level: A Pedagogical and Curricular Guide
By Steven Porter and Joel Smales
If you aspire to teach music in a secondary school or are already doing so, this book will be an indispensable aid. It explores virtually every aspect of classroom and performance music with candor, wit, and expertise. From writing lesson plans to computerizing your library to dealing with student behavior, every page is chock full of the information that will help make your programs outstanding. $28.95. Order from Empire Publishing Services, P.O. Box 1344, Studio City, CA 91614-0344 or call 818/784-8918.

Counting on Your Fingers is Not Immoral
By John Mudore
Volume I of this series is designed for middle school mathematics, pre-algebra courses, and special education classes to help make math accessible to every student. The author presents ways to stress the real world application of math and encourages active student involvement. Volume II of Counting on Your Fingers is Not Immoral, concerning integers and equations, is a fitting sequel to Volume I's fractions, decimals, and percents. Each lesson demands that students fully understand a concept and not just memorize information. $25 and $20, respectively, from Infinity Publishers, P.O. Box 333, Black Earth, WI 53515, or call 608/767-2381.

TV Tips

The Rosa Parks Story
CBS, February 24, 9:00 p.m. ET, check local listings.
This two-hour documentary is based on the life of Rosa Parks, whose moment of peaceful defiance on a segregated bus in 1955 sparked the modern-day civil rights movement. The film explores salient moments in Parks's childhood and early adult life that reveal the development of her dignity, pride, quiet strength, and courage, as she is drawn to social activism prior to her historic moment. KIDSNET has produced a six-page curriculum guide and poster and an online interactive guide for social studies teachers and chairs. For more information or to read the online guide, visit www.kidsnet.org/cbs/rosaparks.

African-American Landmarks
The History Channel, February 13, 10:00 p.m., ET, check local listings.
Renowned historian James Horton guides viewers on a tour of some of the known and little-known African-American landmarks in America. Through these sites, a story is told of African-American life, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries, the abolition movement, and the Civil War. The program also touches on important 20th century connections to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

American Experience - Monkey Trial
PBS, February 17, 9:00 p.m., ET, check local listings.
This American Experience special explores one of the epic legal battles of the 20th century. In 1925, John Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching evolution in defiance of state law. His trial became an all-out debate between science and religion.

American Masters - Ralph Ellison: An American Journey
PBS, February 19, 9:00 p.m., ET, check local listings.
This American Masters special explores the life and work of Ralph Ellison, whose landmark novel Invisible Man won him a lifetime of awards and honors. The program features a tribute from Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and interviews with critic Stanley Crouch, author Shelby Steele, author and political activist Amiri Baraka, and Harvard University Professor Cornel West. The program also includes rare archival footage, never-before-seen photos from Ellison's family albums, and powerful re-creations of scenes from Invisible Man, the first time any of the novel has been filmed.

The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
PBS, February, check local listings.
Since the early 1800s, Black newspapers have existed in almost every major city in the United States. This documentary provides an in-depth examination of the history and contributions of African-American newspapers. The program features interviews with editors, photographers, and journalists of the Black press, combined with archival footage and photographs.

The Middle Passage and Lumumba
HBO, February, check local listings.
In honor of Black History Month, HBO will feature two presentations that examine different facets of the ongoing and complex relationship between Africa and America.

The Middle Passage takes a realistic look at the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, capturing the beginning moment of African-American history. Structured as a poetic rumination, this presentation is told through the voiceover of a dead African captive whose spirit haunts the ocean route along which millions of Africans were deported to the Americas or died en route. Lumumba reflects the interaction of African independence and U.S. foreign policy in the 1960s. Based on the true story of Patrice Lumumba, this film offers an emotional and authentic portrait of the man who became the first head of government of the newly independent Congo, only to be deposed and executed eight months later.

CNN Newsroom - The Gullah Series
CNN, February, check local listings.
The coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina are two of the most culturally rich areas in the United States, and they are also home to America's Gullah people. The Gullah people are a community of a half-million African-Americans, descendants of slaves from various African ethnic groups. Their slave ancestors were forced together on South Carolina plantations, and the Gullah people have held onto century-old traditions that can be traced back to their ancestors from West Africa. This CNN Newsroom presentation explores the efforts to preserve this branch of the African family tree that's taken root in America.

Egypt's Golden Empire
PBS, February 27, 9:00 p.m., ET, check local listings.
This three-part presentation tells the story of the Egyptian empire from its beginning in 1560 BC to its collapse in 1080 BC. In Part 1, "The Warrior Pharaohs," the concept of "empire" is born, as Egypt is united under Hatshepsut. In Part 2, "Pharaohs of the Sun," the Egyptian empire reaches from Northern Syria to the Sudan in Africa. This time period is characterized by wealth, power, and prosperity. In Part 3, "The Last Great Pharaoh," a new dynasty emerges. However, foreign powers threaten, and Egypt is once again divided. Interviews with scholars and dramatic recreations bring the story to life.

__________________
KIDSNET, a national resource for children's media in Washington, D.C., provides these listings. For additional listings, check the web at www.kidsnet.org.

Web Winners

Science/Math Web Site
A new free science and math Web site, www.getsmarter.org, offers K-12 students a chance to test their skills against their international peers--and have fun in the process. Students can compare their performance based on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 1995-99. Access hints, tutorials, and links to the best Web sites for increased understanding and improved performance in math and science.

Ed Tech Resources
This free, non-commercial service lists more than 1,700 high-quality "ed tech" resources. The site, www.netdaycompass.org, provides teachers, administrators, and tech staff with a valuable tool for making decisions about technology and maximizing its impact in the classroom. Resources focus on technology planning, infrastructure, funding, classroom support, and best practices.

New Methods of Learning Math
Students are learning math in many new ways these days, due in part to schools adopting new math curriculum meeting rigorous standards. If you're curious about how math is being taught in today's schools, Teacher2Teacher is for you. Visit http://mathforum.org/t2t for a question-and-answer service to learn more about both the teaching and learning of mathematics. Every question is archived for easy reference and is searchable by keyword, grade level, and math or educational topic.

Ask the Experts
Here's a unique Web site, perfect for kids who are struggling with their handwriting. The site, www.handwritinghelpforkids.com, features hands-on activities for righties and lefties, practice worksheets, and tips to improve pencil grasp. Teacher tips are provided, including bilateral coordination help and writing instrument selection guidelines.

Homework Help
Students never need get stuck on math homework again. Now there's an online Web site for high school (and college) students to work through the actual homework problems assigned by their teachers. Students will find guided solutions to problems in standard algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, and calculus textbooks on www.hotmath.com. Hotmath has solutions for all the homework problems in the leading math textbooks. Membership is from $4 to $9 per month, and there's free access to algebra and geometry textbooks during the school day. Check out the site by logging on as a "guest."

Learning: Reading
The Dollar Difference

Thanks to a federal grant, NEA members at five Maryland schools have solid training and research, and resources to teach low-income students.

It's reading time in her second grade classroom at William Paca Old Post Road Elementary School, and Maryland member Ellen Harris says she can't quite believe her eyes or ears.

"In the past for some students, it was a struggle to read even one book, let alone two or three," explains Harris, a 34-year classroom veteran." For others, it was a chore or a bore."

These days, the students in Harris's classroom are not only reading, they're recommending books to one another, books they can pull off the shelves of an 800-book classroom library.

The library is just one of the benefits of belonging to the Harford County Reading Excellence Act program, funded by a two-year $2 million federal grant for literacy programs. Set up for K-3 teachers in five Harford County Schools, this program combines a summer teaching institute, monthly training sessions led by reading specialists, and an extensive classroom library.

The five elementary schools--Havre de Grace, Hall's Cross Road, William Paca/Old Post Road, Magnolia, and Edgewood--serve the poorest children in the county, a requirement of the federal program established during the Clinton administration. "The idea is that children in these schools need even more attention and resources to help them learn to read," explains program coordinator June Clark.

What distinguished Harford County from other literacy programs is how the money is used. "Our program is broader in scope, combining teacher training and classroom resources," says Clark. "The summer institute and monthly meetings offer teachers the latest in reading research, and we have three teacher specialists who work with teachers in the program.

Sandra Leonard is one of those specialists. "We're here to guide the teachers in their efforts to help struggling readers succeed and fluent readers stay challenged," explains Leonard. "We also offer technical assistance. If something we suggest doesn't work for the teacher, we're there to help them through it."

Teachers like Ellen Harris value that extra help. "It's great to know someone is there to support your work and to help you if you don't understand a particular teaching strategy," says Harris. "They follow up with us and help us understand the research behind the work."

They also help organize each classroom library into reading levels and help the teachers guide readers through the levels. "Before, you had a library with a mix of books picked up at garage sales and library sales," says Harris. "Now, I've got a library that challenges and invites students to read."

The results are plain to see. "I've got students pulling out books and telling others, 'Just wait 'till you get to this level, this book's really great,'" says Harris. "It's every teacher's dream."

--Anita Merina

How To...
Win a Million for Your Program

The Reading Excellence Act grant program may be over, but grant possibilities aren't. The Bush administration recently designated $900 million in literacy funds in its Elementary and Secondary Education Act. How can you win one of these grants? Carol Hepler, creator of the Harford County Reading Excellence Act program, shares her tips.

Read the research. Know what you're talking about and how your program addresses critical needs and applies more recent research. Demonstrate your knowledge of what works and what doesn't.

Create a solid foundation of staff development. Invest heavily in staff development. Create programs that provide training, provide follow-up, and technical assistance. Programs with ongoing support mean you'll be able to handle problems and adjust to new challenges.

Offer high-quality reading materials. Choose books and supporting materials that provide the best reading for students.

Establish strong administrative and community support. Administrators must buy into the program and not impede its progress. And a strong family and parental involvement component is key--Harford County's program offered regular family reading nights and training for parents. Parents are also able to check out books from the classroom library to take home and read to their children--a critical key to success.

Learning: Problems and Solutions
Sooner, Longer, Better

Parent conferencing gets a stronger focus in Tacoma, Washington.

When Elizabeth Nem's son, Vatt, started first grade at Point Defiance Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington last fall, she had one nagging concern: her child's persistence in using his fingers to count. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Nem, her son, and his teacher met for the first of their "partnership conferences," a new and improved take on the traditional parent-teacher conference that has now spread throughout the district's 37 elementary schools.

These meetings differ from traditional conferences in several ways:

• They start early in the school year.

• There are at least two per year.

• Each conference is fairly long--about 40 minutes.

• Students are full participants.

• Goals emerge from the conference; they aren't pre-set by the teacher.

• Parents and students develop goals to work on at home.

"I told the teacher that I want my son to count with his mind," says Nem. So, at the teacher's suggestion, Nem is using flash cards and other math exercises at home to gradually reduce Vatt's reliance on his fingers. Involving parents and children in setting such a goal and then giving them the tools to reach it--that's what partnership conferencing is all about.

"We have a conversation, with structure," says Gayle Nakayama, who, as a reading teacher at Tacoma's Larchmont Elementary School, was in the group that pioneered the practice about six years ago. "It's about relationship building and goal setting."

Teachers are trained to listen, ask open-ended questions and adjust their body language to be more approachable. Translators are on hand whenever possible. Sometimes the students themselves translate.

The first conference takes place by early October. There's a second in November or March, depending on the child's progress.

The idea grew out of school improvement discussions at Larchmont Elementary. A grant from the NEA's Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE) and training from the Washington Education Association made the proposal a reality.

The old way of waiting until November report cards for conferences and then cramming everything parents should know into 15 or 20 minutes wasn't working, says Nakayama, who is now vice president of the Tacoma Education Association.

In contrast, partnership conferencing offers everybody in the room "a chance to dream about the child, about what we want him or her to learn this year," says Vatt Nem's first-grade teacher, Judy Jarvits. Before conference time, Jarvits and her colleagues all over the district talk to students about setting goals. Even the youngest children start using the vocabulary. Parents fill out an information form in advance, providing a conversation opener.

"Most children are very pleased to be the focus of the conference," says Jarvits, an educator for 35 years. "They enjoy hearing their parents and the teacher talking about their education." Having the children present brings other benefit: Parents are more likely to come when their children have to be there, too, Jarvits notes.

Generally, parents begin with very broad goals, such as wanting their child to learn to read or to add and subtract, she says. So she suggests more specific targets, such as learning the letter sounds or consonant clusters. At that point, she notes, parents will say, "That's something I can do."

At the end, everybody signs a plan setting goals for math, literacy, and social skills. Included are details on how all the partners--the teacher, school, parents, and child--will work to reach the goals. "It is very beneficial," says Nem, who makes sure she spends an hour or two each day helping Vatt and his brother with schoolwork.

Jarvits has already had a second conference with most parents of her 20 students. For children with difficulties, she'll go beyond what's required.

Each conference sees the goals revised or continued. "The more times the parents hear the expectations, the more apt they are to follow through," says Jarvits.

The conferences also help parents understand what is going on in the classroom, Jarvits adds.

Nakayama says this enhanced conference program is especially useful for children and families living in poverty, who have difficulty setting goals when mere survival is a struggle. And it offers a non-threatening way to introduce school to parents from different cultures who may not be accustomed to participating.

"As teachers, we're used to taking it upon ourselves to be givers of knowledge," says Nakayama. "But with this model of partnership and parent participation, parents aren't being told what to do.

"Once we get them to a conference, they'll come back. If you connect with them just once, you're going to make the whole year easier."

--Mary Anne Hess

For more: Contact Gayle Nakayama at gnakaya@tacoma.k12.wa.us.

Dilemma
What do you do when a student cheats on an exam?

One of my son's very good friends was in my seventh grade class, and I caught him cheating. I just walked over and took his paper without making a big deal of it.

Years later, we're still friends. When I saw him, he asked, "Do you remember when you caught me cheating?" I actually didn't--but he did! I think the fact that he was caught made a bigger impression on him than if I had made a big deal of it.

Margie Steinberg
Seventh grade communications teacher
Mason City, Iowa

I teach writing. If a student plagiarizes, they receive a zero, may not make up the work, and must call or write a note home explaining the grade. This is in our student handbook. Several times in the last year I have had students try to copy work from the Internet--if the writing seems too good, it is worth a few minutes to search and see if the work pops up.

June Shultz
Eighth grade English teacher
Quarryville, Pennsylvania

I allow students to retake exams as many times as they want to. But if they are caught cheating, they receive a zero with no chance to retake the exam. This seems to work quite well. Students realize that if they didn't study for the exam, they still have another chance to succeed.

Barbara Daniels
Music educator
Elkhart, Indiana

The last time I had someone cheat on a major test, the punishment was as follows:

1) Take a new test and average the new grade with a zero.

2) Tell parents about the cheating, and have a parent write me to confirm he or she was told.

I also did this for an athlete who "mooned" a car on a school bus.

Lee Berger
High school English teacher
Franklin, North Carolina

I take the student aside and explain how serious cheating could be later in life. If it is the first time, I give the student another test. The second time, the student gets a zero.

Pamela Clark
Second grade teacher
Wyandanch, New York

I have the student write home explaining what they did. The parents must sign the letter and the student and parents must suggest an appropriate consequence. I then usually consult with the parents to decide on the consequence. This system helps the students take responsibility, and the parents are usually very appreciative.

Susan Bray
Eighth grade mathematics teacher
Ellisville, Missouri

I staple the exam paper to the cheat sheet, mark the date, give the student a zero, and drop the subject. Usu-ally, the student apologizes. In 11 years, only one student did not.

Angela Herron
Eighth grade English teacher
Ripley, Tennessee

If I catch the student early in the exam, I change their seat and mark the paper to show how far they had gotten before I noticed. If the test is nearly over, I let them finish. Then they must take the test again in a private setting. Most often, cheating is due to nervousness over the exam. Students need an opportunity to show what they know without the stress.

Kate Axlund
Sixth grade math and English teacher
Sturgis, South Dakota

Got an Answer?
How do you deal with a colleague who isn't doing his or her job?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include your name, city, state, and job title. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug!

Idea Exchange

Four Corner Questions
During our extended block schedule period, my sixth grade students get restless and need an activity. I ask a multiple choice question about the current topic of study and assign each corner of the room a possible answer. To avoid having everyone follow the smart kids to the correct corner, I tell them I've struck a deal with the "brains" for them to purposely pick the incorrect corner sometimes. The kids love it because it involves everyone. It's an easy way to check for understanding, and after a couple of times, they're ready to return to their seats for more learning!"

Janice Vinco
Concord, California

Promoting Praise
When things get out of hand in the classroom, I take a break and have students write all the good things about every other student in the class.

I write the name of each student on a piece of paper and copy what everyone said about that student. Then, I give the student the paper with all the comments.

Before long, the entire class is smiling and saying, "Really? I never knew that meant anything to anyone. I never knew others liked me."

You'll find students treasure this paper and keep it with them forever.

Eileen Durgin-Clinchard
Omaha, Nebraska

Student Heritage
My students speak a variety of languages and come from many countries. To help them appreciate each other, I have them fill out cards with their names in English and their native language, a few phrases in their native language, and other information such as their likes and dislikes and how many siblings they have. I display the cards outside my room with a photo and a string leading to where they're from on the map. Parents look at these while waiting for conferences. It helps them learn about the other students and also be proud of their own heritage.

Barbara Pollak
Manalapan, New Jersey

Have a great idea? You can pass along your tip to NEA Today's 2.6 million readers in one of five ways:

• By mail: NEA Today, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036

• By phone: 202/822-7201

• By fax: 202/822-7206

• By E-mail: Ideas@neatoday.nea.org

• Through the Web: www.nea.org/neatoday

President's Viewpoint
New Respect, Not Reproach

America's lowest-performing public schools must be our highest priority.

At a conference on high-priority schools last fall, I asked one teacher why she was there. She replied: "Because my school is 'on the wall.'" I asked: "What do you mean by on the wall?'" She explained: "We're on the wall of shame. That's what we say about schools like mine that have been labeled 'low performing' by the state department of education."

She explained further: "We work our hearts out in that school. Almost half of the students are immigrants, just learning English. Ninety percent of the kids live in poverty. But because of the way our school is labeled by the state, all the teachers feel like they have a scarlet F [for failure] sewn on their collar."

I was appalled. This teacher was smart, conscientious, and obviously very professional. She deserves respect, not reproach.

Let's be clear. She and her colleagues in high-poverty schools across America are not failures, they are quiet heroes. They are grappling with the most difficult--and compelling--challenge we face in our public schools: successfully educating children of poverty and disadvantage.

Last summer at our NEA Representative Assembly, I pledged that I would seize every opportunity to visit priority schools. Since then, I have toured struggling school districts from Oakland to Atlanta, Milwaukee to Omaha. Everywhere I've gone, I have met teachers, support professionals, and administrators who are passionate about bringing out the best in their students.

But these dedicated folks can't do it alone. And they can't do it without resources.

On that score, it bears remembering that not all schools in poor communities are "low performing." In December, the Education Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group, released a study showing that some 4,500 public elementary and secondary schools serving mostly poor and minority students are among the top academic achievers in their states.

How do they do it? Well, it turns out that these schools share a number of traits in common: high standards and expectations, increased instructional time for reading and math, major investments in staff professional development, and a strong emphasis on parental involvement. In addition, these schools use tests not to punish, but to identify students who need extra assistance.

Interestingly, the education reform legislation passed by Congress in December is full of excellent ideas and initiatives. For example, it requires low-performing schools to ensure that 100 percent of their teachers are "highly qualified" within four years. The problem is that the legislation utterly fails to provide sufficient funding to make good on this promise.

Some in Congress argue that there is simply not enough money to fully fund reform. Funny how Congress has no difficulty finding $1.3 trillion for tax cuts or $20 billion to bail out the airline industry, but public schools must make do with less than $4 billion in new annual funding--a sum that is simply inadequate.

In poor communities across America, teachers and other school staff struggle heroically to make "leave no child behind" something more than a hollow slogan. They deserve our respect. They also deserve adequate resources to get the job done.

Comments? E-mail Bob Chase at BobChase@nea.org.

People
United In Song

Florida's Marie Jo Thum is proving that music has a deep power to both heal and connect.

Two weeks after September 11, the music teacher at Coral Sunset Elementary School in Boca Raton wrote and recorded a song for her students to help them address and affirm their feelings about the tragedies.

Today, "Rise Up, America!" has become a patriotic anthem for children across Palm Beach County. It's also gaining national attention among students and teachers.

"Words didn't seem enough to comfort and console my students after 9-11," says Thum, who has composed more than 100 songs during her 31-year teaching career. "Music is how I express my own life, and writing the song was my way of helping the children validate their feelings."

The children reacted so strongly to the song that Thum arranged for them to record it on their own CD, which also contains the Pledge of Allegiance and "Yellow Ribbons," a song she wrote during the Gulf War.

Proceeds from the $10 disc have been going to the September 11 Fund, a charity providing aid to terrorist attack victims' families.

"I've been getting calls from teachers and students across the country who say the song is providing a much-needed outlet," she says. "It's made the world smaller, in a way. Children across the country are connecting and uniting."

The song includes the lyrics: "Rise up, America! Rise up and shake the dust! We uncover, we discover, courage, kindness, love and trust. We are taller than a building; We're united shore to shore; So we must rise up, America! Stand prouder, love stronger, shine brighter than before!"

Thum says she's heard her students singing it on the playground, in stores, and even in church choirs. "I think we've all learned that when the worst happens, people dig down deep for their best. We've become kinder and more compassionate because of what happened September 11. We became united like a family, and if this song has helped facilitate that, then I've accomplished what I wanted to."

For more: E-mail Thum at eaglerun@bellsouth.net or visit the Web: http://home.bellsouth.net/personalpages/PWP-mjthum.

Guatemala Comes to Milwaukee

As part of a sister city project, the principal and four teachers from the Flavio Rojas Elementary School in Chichicastenango, Guatemala trekked to Wisconsin last November and shared their culture with students in Waukesha.

The Guatelmalans came in part to personally thank Wisconsin NEA member Christine Diaz-Arntzen (left) and her husband, who had gone to Chichicastenango in the summer. The couple packed camping gear, a tent, two sets of clothing--and 900 books for the 900-student school.

"For many of these children, it was first book they'd ever had," says Diaz-Arntzen, coordinator of the sister-city project between Chichicastenango and Waukesha.

Diaz-Arntzen, other school staff, and the students raised $500 to purchase the books. The publishing house Scholastic then matched that amount. The Guatelmalan visitors returned home from their most recent visit with even more books.

The celebration in Wisconsin marked a growing relationship. "In the past, we've painted the school, created a playground, and built 20 bathrooms--they only had two for 900 students,'' adds Diaz-Arntzen."We're building a real bond between the two communities."

Helping Immigrants Achieve College

Two years ago, one of Gerry Maak's former students--brought to America from Mexico as a child by her undocumented parents--went to register for classes at the University of Utah. She was turned away because of immigration laws that prohibit undocumented persons from attending college unless they have a student visa, can afford to pay out-of-state tuition, and can prove that they can pay their living expenses.

"This student grew up in Utah and she won scholarship money to attend college," says Maak, a Spanish teacher at Park City High. Maak spent months meeting with the University's board of regents and president to try to change the policy. "While everyone agreed that it was totally unfair," says Maak, "there was nothing we could do because it's a federal law."

So the 20-year veteran took her cause to Capitol Hill and solely lobbied Representative Chris Connors and Senator Orrin Hatch, both of whom will introduce bills in 2002 to change the "terribly out-of-date immigration laws," she says.

"We are raising a generation of people who will be a huge underclass in society because they are not allowed to receive financial aid, even if they want to go to college," she says. "We're telling our immigrant students to strive for the American dream, and then policy turns them away when they go to reach for it."

Though she's gained the ear of Congress, Maak doesn't consider herself a political activist. "I wasn't looking for a political cause," she notes, "but now I can't stop thinking about it."

In October, Maak received a Milken Family Foundation 2001 National Educator Award. She's putting the $25,000 prize money into an endowment fund to help her school's undocumented Latino students attend college when the laws are finally changed.

A Mission of Quality

Since September, Texas physics teacher Celani Dominguez has been helping some of the world's premier scientists better understand K-12 education.

As an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, which offers math and science teachers year-long fellowships to serve on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies, Dominguez is working through the Department of Commerce at the Maryland-based National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Her assignment: to study the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program--a coveted tool used by thousands of organizations to improve performance--and make recommendations to help the program better understand the needs of education organizations.

"Education has traditionally shied away from business tools in the past, but the Baldrige criteria has so much to offer educators," says Dominguez, who's taught at Reagan High School in Austin. "I believe the tools could help us put best practices and quality programs into schools that need it most."

The nine-year veteran, who is finishing her doctorate in educational administration with an emphasis in public school leadership, wants to return to Texas when she's done with her fellowship to put her learnings into place.

On to Active Duty

Veteran's Day held special significance for Pauline Geraci, an adult basic education teacher at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. She's now on active duty in the U.S. Army.

Geraci was mobilized after the tragic events of September 11. Her orders specify that she will serve a minimum of one year on active duty, that she will initially go to Japan, and that she will work in public affairs. She doesn't know whether she will eventually serve in Afghanistan.

The new orders left her scrambling. She had to pack, make arrangements for her four pets (her fiancé will watch them), and to organize her work so that someone could fill in for her--not an easy assignment.

Geraci has used several grants from the Education Minnesota Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to advance the cause of her at-risk students. And it's these students who will miss her the most. As one of them told her, "There is no one else like you, Ms. G. I don't know how we're going to replace you."

News
Serious About Their Jobs--and Kids

Education support professionals have become the fastest-growing membership group in NEA and a force for improving public education.

Every school day, NEA member Jim Fox sees to it that dozens of kids in Santa Fe, New Mexico ride safely to and from school. But for Fox, a bus driver for Santa Fe Public Schools, that's just where his job--and his service to students and their schools--begins.

Two years ago, Fox noticed that the school district was unconcerned when he and other drivers complained about low pay and wage freezes. Fox decided to start working for change through his local affiliate, and became an NEA Santa Fe Association representative.

Since then, he's spent countless hours of his own time visiting work sites, talking to members about the benefits of NEA representation, and working through the Association to improve bus drivers' jobs.

Not only has Fox singlehandedly signed up 20 drivers, but he and fellow activists have brought Association membership in their unit up to 60 percent. One payoff: The unit mobilized last year to win 7 percent pay raises when 4 percent was initially offered.

"It was a lesson to me in getting involved," says Fox. "I found out we had a voice as bus drivers."

Record ESP Growth
The success of Fox and his co-workers in Santa Fe is anything but isolated. Nationwide, education support professionals--including secretaries, paraeducators, custodians, maintenance employees, bus drivers, food service workers, nurses, and security employees--are joining NEA in record numbers and taking collective action to improve their jobs and their schools.

ESPs are now the fastest-growing membership sector of NEA. During the 2000-01 school year, 21 percent of new NEA members were ESPs. More than 22,000 ESPs joined NEA that year, producing a 6.8 percent increase in ESP membership over 1999-2000.

Forty-one percent of NEA state affiliates had an increase in ESP membership last year, and in five states, ESP membership grew by 14 percent or more.

"ESPs are very serious about their jobs and the children they serve," says Sandra Rice, a UniServ director and ESP liaison in North Carolina, where state ESP membership grew by more than 20 percent last year. "And they are willing to step up to the plate."

According to Rice, support professionals are more eager to get involved in NEA because their diverse jobs are often low-paying, and tough economic times are making it harder than ever for ESPs to support their families.

"I started as an ESP," says Rice, "and I've found that the first problem is trying to define us. Each ESP unit is unique. We're bus drivers, food service workers, and media employees. It's not easy to figure out that this diverse group of workers can have a common voice.

"But when North Carolina's most recent budget cuts hit," Rice notes, "employees saw that the North Carolina Association of Educators/NEA was fighting for them, and they responded by joining the Association and getting involved."

And NCAE ESP leaders and members demonstrated their resolve in 2001 by winning a new state law, signed by the governor, that grants hearing and appeal rights to ESPs.

"When it comes to winning community support for schools and school employees, nobody does it better than an ESP," Rice concludes. "ESPs live in the community, they know the community, they are the community. And the community listens to them."

Issues That Unite ESPs
The common resolve of ESPs nationwide should be no mystery.

One need only look at just a few of the serious issues confronting these employees to understand why they are working with such urgency to gain a collective voice. ESP issues include:

1. Concern for students. "Every survey and study shows beyond a doubt that the number one concern of ESPs is students," says Al Perez, director of NEA's national ESP program.

   ESPs in every job category have a relationship with and responsibility to kids that is every bit as important as the teacher-student relationship. Yet ESPs responsible for student safety, security, and development are often given little or no training.

2. Low pay. ESPs hold jobs that are traditionally nonunion and low paying. Many work at or below the poverty level. Like other American workers, ESPs strongly favor federal and state legislation to raise the minimum wage.

3. Disparity in benefits. Full-time support professionals are generally pleased with their benefits. But the many ESP who work part time--or are employed by private contractors--are often denied basic benefits such as health insurance and pensions.

4. Lack of professional development opportunities. ESPs are often thwarted from turning their jobs into careers, or gaining promotion opportunities, because of a lack of professional development and advanced training. Most say they want professional development programs but can't pay for them.

   NEA is responding nationwide by providing direct training programs or subsidizing ESP professional development.

5. Licensure. ESPs often have little documented proof of their qualifications. Even if they have earned local licenses or certificates, these may not be recognized in the next county.

   NEA is working in many states to certify ESPs with licenses that are portable--recognized in other school districts and even nationally.

Despite the many challenging issues facing ESPs, surveys show that nationally, they rate satisfaction with their jobs higher than do many other education workers.

"ESPs are uniquely devoted to schools and kids," says UniServ Director Rice.

Which brings us back to Jim Fox. In 2001, he expanded his organizing efforts beyond his community in Santa Fe to the town of Las Cruces, where school bus drivers were preparing for a union election.

Fox traveled there and spoke to employees, one-to-one as well as from a podium. They won their election.

"I told them the truth--that it makes a huge difference for them to belong to NEA," says Fox.

--Matt Simon

For more information on ESP organizing, contact your UniServ office or the ESP contact at your state NEA affiliate.

Your Dues Did It
ESP On the Web

Education support professionals have a home of their own on the NEA Web site. Go to www.nea.org/esp to learn more about:

• The 2002 NEA ESP Conference, to be held in Birmingham, Alabama.

• NEA "Quality Workforce" publications on bus drivers and custodians.

• The lively E-mail discussion listserv for NEA ESP members and staff.

Pennsylvanians Run Model ESP Campaign

Two years ago, the Pennsylvania State Education Association became concerned that the number of unorganized education support professionals in the state had grown extremely high.

PSEA applied for and received a grant from NEA to conduct a statewide census of locals and members to determine how many ESPs were working without representation.

Called "Census 2000: Every Member Counts," the project found that in areas where PSEA had teacher locals there were nearly 5,000 unorganized ESPs.

PSEA launched an internal organizing campaign that raised its membership from 22,000 to 27,000.

Nowhere were the results more dramatic than in East Stroudsburg. ESPs concerned about wages and other job issues embraced the organizing campaign and raised local membership by more than 100 percent, to more than 200 members.

PSEA is already providing requested programs such as safety training--as well as strong bargaining support--in the districts where its campaign has been focused.

In the next phase of its campaign, PSEA will begin external organizing of ESPs.

"This campaign is succeeding because our approach from the beginning was to learn, not tell," says Fran Pierce, director of ESP programs for PSEA. "ESP members talked to other ESP members and listened to their concerns. That was how the unorganized learned that their issues were being resolved in other NEA units around the state.

"Our success can be easily replicated in any state," Pierce emphasizes. "All you have to do is listen. You need to listen to individual ESPs' concerns before you can respond."

Facts and Figures
ESP Database

Education support professionals are on the move. They help carry out NEA's core mission--delivery of high-quality teaching and learning--and they comprise the fastest-growing membership segment of NEA.

What do the numbers tell us about ESPs? An overview:

• At more than 330,000 strong, ESPs make up 14 percent of NEA's overall membership.

• ESPs account for 21 percent of all new NEA members.

• 41 percent of NEA state affiliates gained ESP members in 2001.

• 81 percent of ESPs plan to stay on the job until they retire.

• 42 percent of ESPs have more than 10 years on the job.

• 48 percent of ESPs provide services to students with special needs.

• 54 percent of ESPs have completed some college coursework; 29 percent have completed trade, vocational, secretarial, or technical training.

• 78 percent of ESPs volunteer in community organizations.

News
Retiring on Next to Nothing

NEA campaigns for repeal of two Social Security rules that reduce retired educators to poverty.

Back in the late 1980s, a colleague warned Maine teacher Junita Drisko that she'd "be sorry" if she didn't pay attention to two provisions in the Social Security law that could reduce her retirement income.

"I was too busy to listen," recalls Drisko, who teaches English and journalism at Bangor High School. "I was very preoccupied with creating lesson plans and correcting papers."

Fast forward to the 2001 NEA Representative Assembly, where Drisko found herself addressing 9,000 fellow delegates about these same two provisions, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision.

Drisko's passionate speech prompted the delegates to pass a new business item mandating that NEA "develop and financially support a grassroots coalition" to educate state and local affiliates on the need to "work toward the elimination of the GPO and WEP."

That campaign, now underway, is focused on the passage of companion bills S. 1523 and H.R. 2638, which would amend the Social Security Act to repeal the GPO and WEP.

Because of these two provisions, Drisko told RA delegates, educators and other public employees in 15 states who do not pay into the Social Security system are "often reduced to living in poverty during their retirement years."

To drive that point home, Drisko related the true story of a Maine teacher, "Julia," who fell victim to the Windfall Elimination Provision. The WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security.

"Julia worked in restaurants for 20 years before she went back to school to become a teacher at the age of 53. She taught for 15 years," Drisko told the delegates. "The Windfall Elimination Provision reduced her $525 Social Security monthly benefit to $152. Medicare takes $45."

Julia, who gets a small Maine state pension, is left with just $431 after other essential deductions. "Her husband receives $700 a month as a Social Security benefit," Drisko noted. "But if he predeceases Julia, the Government Pension Offset will prevent her from receiving any survivor benefits."

That's because the GPO reduces a public employee's Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by an amount equal to two-thirds of his or her public pension.

The GPO and WEP aren't simple to explain. They were adopted by Congress in the 1980s as a snap solution to problems such as pension "double dipping" abuses and budget deficits.

But these provisions are easier to grasp when one understands that the wrong people, often low-income women like Julia, are hurt by them.

And for NEA members, the hurt is massive. The GPO and WEP affect at least one-third of America's education workforce, concentrated in 15 "non-Social Security" states, literally from Maine to Alaska. The list also includes highly populated states like California, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Texas.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the GPO alone reduces benefits for some 300,000 individuals by more than $3,600 a year.

Junita Drisko, who's treasurer/membership coordinator of the Bangor Education Association, points out that "All kinds of educators out there have no idea of the impact the GPO and WEP have on their retirement."

That's less the case in Maine, where Sue Shaw, a physical education/health teacher from Ellsworth High School, travels the state to make presentations on the dangers of the GPO and WEP.

"I'm telling people that they may not get the Social Security benefits they planned on," says Shaw. "If you work in a non-Social Security state and get a letter from Social Security saying you have your 'quarters' and will get certain projected benefits when you retire, it does not include the words, 'if you are not on a public pension.'"

That comes as a shock to the many Maine teachers and ESPs who supplement their modest salaries by working second jobs or owning small businesses, and hope to boost their even more modest state pension by paying into the Social Security system.

Some Mainers react to the bad news about GPO/WEP by delaying retirement into their 70s. Others, sadly, question their career choice after years of teaching. Yet others think twice about entering teaching later in life from other careers, at a time of a teacher shortage.

While affected teachers, ESP, and other public employees--from firefighters to social workers--can't sue the federal government over the GPO and WEP, they can certainly change the law if they get together and put their minds to it.

Junita Drisko's RA new business item is helping jump start that process. Nationwide, NEA is now pressing for total repeal of the GPO and WEP through media outreach, coalition building, grassroots lobbying, and regional training sessions for local leaders and activists.

At a recent training session in Maine, NEA chief lobbyist Diane Shust urged activists to call members of Congress in support of GPO/WEP repeal bills S. 1523 and H.R. 2638, contact President Bush, write to editors, and build coalitions with other unions and retired groups.

An invaluable partner in the drive for total repeal of GPO and WEP will be the growing membership of NEA-Retired.

"We've been working heavily for more than five years to bring this issue to the forefront of the national legislative agenda," says NEA-Retired President Jim Sproul. "Many of our 187,000 members are either directly affected by the GPO or WEP or indirectly affected through a spouse. And don't forget, in this highly mobile society, educators never know when they'll move to a non-Social Security state and be hit by these provisions."

Sproul urges all NEA members, active and retired alike, to bring the GPO/WEP issue to their members of Congress. "Tell stories about how these provisions affect people and how they penalize people for public service," he advises, "and urge your senators and representatives to sign on as co-sponsors of S. 1523 and H.R. 2638."

For more about Social Security's GPO and WEP provisions, go to www.nea.org/lac/socsec.

Basics for Beginners
How To Take On The Pension Offset

If you want to work for total repeal of the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision, here's some advice from two Maine NEA activists:

• Tell your friends, family, and colleagues about how the GPO and WEP help impoverish public employees. And don't forget to clue in other public workers. "One legislator, a retired state transportation department employee, told me, 'I'm working on getting my Social Security quarters,'" recalls physical education/health teacher Sue Shaw. "I told him, 'I've got bad news for you.' We need to educate more people like him."

• If you've been hurt by the Government Pension Offset or Windfall Elimination Provision, tell your story to the press and members of Congress. English teacher Junita Drisko teaches journalism, so she knows that "so many stories bring an issue to life." She and other Maine activists have learned that "we're not going to win repeal of these provisions by getting too academic and difficult to understand."

Breaking News
Congress Reauthorizes ESEA

At press time in December, Congress passed a bill amending and reauthorizing the largest single federal education statute, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Authorizing funding of $26.5 billion for Fiscal Year 2002 alone, this 1,184-page law will greatly impact the lives of educators over the life of its term, from FY 2002 to FY 2007.

Before the ESEA bill went to President Bush for his signature, NEA President Bob Chase noted that it "sets out noble goals to raise student achievement and raise accountability, but fails to deliver the support required to help children achieve required standards."

NEA will not oppose the bill, he said, "but we cannot in good conscience support it."

Chase stressed that the new ESEA fails to fulfill a 26-year-old federal promise to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education.

Moreover, NEA is now warning that the bill imposes six years of requirements on schools and cash-strapped state governments with no guarantee of resources after an initial $3.5 billion (20 percent) funding increase in FY 2002.

"While there was a huge federal surplus at the beginning of the fiscal year," notes NEA lobbyist Joel Packer, "we're now back to a budget deficit because of tax cuts, the economic downturn, and the war on terrorism."

In the plus column, however, NEA and its allies did succeed in keeping some damaging proposals out of ESEA, including private tuition vouchers, huge statewide block grants, mandatory testing of current teachers, and the weakening of civil rights protections.

NEA also helped improve ESEA's accountability provisions, making them less punitive, more flexible, and more focused on the achievement of all students.

Among ESEA's many features:

• A 12-year goal to make every student "proficient" in state reading and math tests. By the 2005-06 school year, every state must administer annual reading and math tests of its own design in grades 3-8, and once between grades 9-12. The tests must be aligned to state standards and must include multiple measures of achievement.

  State achievement tests must measure both the performance of a whole school and that of disadvantaged "subgroups," to ensure that no single group of students is allowed to consistently underperform.

  A school that displays a lack of "adequate yearly progress" will be placed on a long-term improvement schedule with progressively stronger corrective measures, culminating in school "reconstitution" in the seventh year.

• Stronger teacher quality provisions. By the end of the 2005-6 school year, all public school teachers must be both licensed and certified and must demonstrate competency in the subjects they teach. ESEA does, however, contain an explicit ban on any type of federal teacher certification or test.

  To further the quality goal, ESEA expands and improves programs for teacher recruitment, retention, mentoring, and training.

• Stronger civil rights protections. ESEA bans the federal funding of any education provider that practices bias--based on anything from disability to religion.

(For more on ESEA: www.nea.org/lac.)