Accountability or Chaos?

Like a discordant drum roll, announcements recently poured out from state education departments listing schools that had not yet met the requirements of the new federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, now called the No Child Left Behind Act.

The result? Confusion so widespread that many are now asking "where's the common sense?" in all those so-called high standards. Consider this St. Petersburg (Florida) Times editorial: "Gov. Jeb Bush says that Gulfport Elementary School did so well academically last year it is due for a state bonus check of roughly $40,000. President George W. Bush says Gulfport ... performed so poorly that its parents must be allowed ... to pull their children out. Which brother is right?"

Gulfport is hardly the only school left befuddled. Coast to coast, schools long deemed excellent got Fs from Washington under the new rules. Some 70 percent of California schools missed the mark. More than half of North Carolina schools fell short.

Why are so many good schools being tarred? Because the law's complicated math requires that states set their standards high enough to automatically put 20 percent of their students in schools considered below standard. Then it adds dozens of extra hurdles that trip up thousands more schools. In California, for example, the most common cause of failure was not unreachable academic standards, but a rule that requires at least 95 percent of students in each of several categories--students with disabilities, low-income students, and others--show up on test day.

NEA has proposed changes to restore sanity by putting final decisions about school quality back into the hands of educators and their local communities. Who knows best what really goes on inside a school? Certainly not the feds. As the St. Petersburg Times pointed out, "They know only the results of one set of standardized tests."

5 Ways to (Happily) Survive Back-to-School Night

For some, this is a to-die-for event. For others, an annual ritual that's an adventure in disappointment--or disaster. Some advice from those who've been there:

1. Call ahead. Touch base with your new parents and personally encourage them to come out. It may be a little extra work, but it signals--dare we say--that you care.

2. Let them eat cake. The PTA usually serves treats, but just in case, encourage it. Nothing like a little ice cream beforehand to "sweeten" the air.

3. Be enthusiastic. Show you love the stuff you're teaching--and that you have the ability to teach it. Highlight special activities you plan, or training you've received. It'll put those anxious parents at ease.

4. Grin and bear it. You're bound to get a few zingers from the overly eager, but make nice; the next day you'll be glad you did.

5. Follow up. Make a courtesy call or send an e-mail to parents who didn't show. Better now than later to get those communication lines opened.

Lobbying for the Littlest Ones

It's no secret: Almost every teacher begins the school year with students who lag way behind. But it doesn't always have to be that way. Academic readiness begins early--very early. That's why NEA is sounding the call for mandatory, full-day kindergarten and publicly funded, universal preschool programs for three- and four-year-olds whose parents want them. The Association gave a thumbs up to this new policy at its Representative Assembly last summer--a nod to research that shows quality early programs help boost student achievement in the early years and beyond.

"It's a great step for NEA to take," says Patricia Reeves, a 27-year kindergarten teacher in Maryville, Tennessee, and chair of the NEA Early Childhood Educators Caucus. Currently only 10 states require districts to offer full day kindergarten. And while 43 states fund some kind of early learning program, none serve even half of all three- and four-year-olds. "The nationwide push for student achievement demands that we start up front," says Reeves. "I see kids every year who aren't ready for what I'm asked to teach."

As NEA gears up for a nationwide lobbying push, teachers at every level need to get on board. "All of us must educate parents, the community, the school districts, and the states so that we can get these programs funded and working," Reeves says. "Every teacher has a role to play."

Notepad

A Whole Lotto Nothin' for Education?
Voters are frequently sold on the value of state-run lottery gambling by the promise that lottery proceeds will benefit education. But according to a report by the Christian Science Monitor, while some state school systems have benefited from lottery revenues, others have received scant additional funding--and some education budgets have actually declined since lotteries were introduced. Currently, 39 U.S. states and the District of Columbia operate lotteries, and 22 states earmark some funds for education. In Illinois, last year's lottery revenue accounted for only 3 percent of state education spending.

Condoms Don't Equal More Sex
Students who attend schools where condoms are available are no more likely to have sex than their peers at schools that bar them, a study in Massachusetts found. In fact, the study reported, teens who can get condoms--from school staff, from school-based health centers--are actually less likely to be sexually active.

The study, published last June in the American Journal of Public Health, also found that schools providing condoms are more likely to give students usage instructions, which helps decrease condom failure rates.

NJEA: They've Got the Power

If you work in a state with collective bargaining, a "last best offer" from your employer is hardly a free magazine subscription. It can be a package of substandard raises, benefits, or conditions you're forced to accept--without even the signature of your Association.

For more than a decade, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has pushed for a law barring school boards from imposing their "last best" contract offers on employees. That hard work paid off last summer with passage of a law prohibiting any school employer from "unilaterally imposing" its own terms or conditions on its employees.

The legislation addresses a troubling trend in New Jersey bargaining: Since 1968, management negotiators have imposed contracts on nearly 20 local Associations representing public school and county college employees. The new law requires locals and school boards locked in contract disputes to engage in mandatory fact-finding, with full public disclosure of the fact-finder's report. The statute then empowers the state to appoint a "super conciliator" with power to hold investigatory proceedings and order round-the-clock negotiations until a voluntary settlement is reached.

NJEA won strong bipartisan support for the legislation and thwarted efforts to introduce provisions that allow harsh penalties for striking school employees. Association members are thrilled.

This new law "levels the playing field and returns a sense of fairness and balance to the bargaining process," says NJEA President Edithe Fulton. "It eliminates the unfair advantage managers have had over unions, and it will restore employee morale."

Fuzzy Math

Why would you call a nearly 40 percent student drop-out rate a 1.5 percent drop-out rate?

A) Because you want to look good.

B) Because you're very sloppy.

Houston school officials recently picked (B) in a frenzied effort to explain the ingenious bit of bookkeeping unveiled by a state audit. Turns out that thousands of students who should have been recorded as drop-outs had been swapped to other categories, such as "transferred" or "moved." Across this school district once led by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige--the man President George W. Bush boasted had made the Texas school system a model in accountability--revelation of the trickery was beyond embarrassing. A New York Times editorial called the official drop-out numbers "the educational equivalent of Enron's accounting results."

Ten days later, the Times reported New York City schools fudge their numbers, too, though (thankfully) not as much as Houston.

Grooming World Leaders

In 2002, he was named National Teacher of the Year for the expertise and passion he brought to high school history and social studies. This year, Chauncey Veatch of Riverside County, California, has created an International Leadership Academy for students of all ages.

"As Teacher of the Year, I was able to travel throughout Europe as an education ambassador," says Veatch. What he noticed, he says, were widespread fears--reflected in the media, in the voices of people in war-torn countries--"that America was leading the world without producing enough world leaders."

Veatch says thoughts of his students inspired him at those moments. "My students are exactly the kind of people we want to project onto the world stage," he says. "Why not provide them with the experience and confidence to lead?" Veatch kicked off his project by sending four of his own students to the NASA-sponsored International Space Camp in Alabama.

Veatch sees his Leadership Academy as a national and international entity someday, but he wants to keep making his biggest contribution from the classroom: He'll split his time teaching high school and Head Start and Even Start. "I know the students of California's Coachella Valley," he says. "I know the literacy needs, and the needs of children of migrant workers. That's where I'll keep focusing most of my energy."

Working That Body?

Must mean you're taking the NEA Fitness Challenge! So let us hear from you. Send your team pics and trail tales to www.neahin.org/challenge, where you can always find fresh health tips and advice, and (if you're not yet on board) discover how to sign up for this year-long wellness program.

When High Tuition Pays--And Big

For most of its 30 years, Sallie Mae, or SLM Corp., has been known for giving a helping hand to students by providing them with federally guaranteed loans. Now, with tuition costs soaring and more students seeking loans, the helping hand is reporting deep pockets--and gigantic profits.

Sallie Mae, which has diversified over the years and now offers a variety of education loans, including loans to attend private K-12 schools, nearly tripled its earnings in the past year. The corporation reported a net income of $372.7 million in the second quarter of 2003--up from $126 million in the second quarter of 2002. The corporation currently manages more than $80 billion in student loans for more than seven million borrowers.

Cut Up By Costs? Tell Congress!

If you're still trying to remember where all your hard-earned cash went last year, here's something to put in your pencil case: Teachers spend, on average, $501 a year for classroom supplies not provided by their districts--and new teachers shell out more than $700.

Congress acknowledged this little secret last year by passing a law that allows teachers and paraeducators a $250 maximum deduction for classroom supplies--even if they don't itemize. This statute expires on December 31, and NEA is lobbying hard for replacement legislation--but with improvements.

The proposed bill, the Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2003, or H.R. 785, would make the tax relief in the old bill permanent, increase the maximum deduction to $400, and extend the write-off to professional development expenses. The bill recognizes that "teachers and paraeducators need help to meet some of the costs of becoming 'highly qualified' under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," says NEA lobbyist Steve Nousen.

As of August, H.R. 785 had 148 House cosponsors, but it needs a strong push from NEA members to become law. Contact your House member through www.nea.org/lac, and note how long you've been in the classroom and how much you spend out of pocket annually for classroom supplies or training not provided by your district.

Book Focus
Talking With Parents--Effectively

If you get a little clammy at the mere thought of conferences with parents, a noted Harvard education professor says she understands why.

In her new book, The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn From Each Other (Random House), Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot argues that too many parent-teacher meetings are anxious, unconscious replays of the adults' own haunting childhood experiences--rather than productive sessions focused on the needs of the child.

"There's too little training in parent-teacher dialogue, and too much ritual surrounding the meetings, so adults are likely to act out their own defensiveness rather than make real progress," says Lawrence-Lightfoot. "We know from research that the proper involvement of the parent in a child's education is critical--more important than social or economic background--so we need to reshape the parent-teacher relationship."

How to do it? The author says by building trust, including children in meetings, and shooing the "ghosts" that say conferences are confrontational, criticism-driven events. Most importantly, she says teachers must broaden the very definition of the parent-teacher "conversation." No longer should it revolve around a twice-a-year meeting. Essential, she says, is a nurturing, year-long partnership--for the good of the child.

A Great Start

The Hempfield Area Induction and Mentor Program must be doing something right, because in the last six years, only one new hire has left the local school district, located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Under the program, which has evolved since it began in 1983, all new hires spend three years with their mentors, attending full-day workshops, conferences, and sessions on the legal aspects of teaching. It's been so successful that it received national recognition this summer by winning a 2003 NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award. The annual awards recognize local Associations and school administrations that have developed effective new teacher programs.

The day-to-day, practical advice mentors give new teachers is crucial to their success, says social studies teacher Rich Redmerski, one of the district's mentors. But good mentoring is not just providing information, he says. "It's making sure that person becomes part of the community of educators," says Redmerski, vice president of the Hempfield Area Education Association.

Good mentoring also takes time--and money. Hempfield spends more than $3,000 per new teacher to pay for substitutes on workshop days and provide $600 annual stipends for the mentors. The result is a highly skilled staff with dramatically low turnover. "Our new hires are the best we can get," says NEA member Sue Bosley, Hempfield's staff development leader, "and we want to keep them."

--Cheryl Ross

Baby Face

I started teaching special education at the middle school level 24 years ago. At the time, I shared a classroom and a desk drawer with another special education teacher. One day I was sitting with my older students discussing a lesson when a distinguished looking woman hurriedly threw open the door to my room. She asked, in a rather stern voice, "Where is your teacher?" I slowly raised my hand and meekly said, "Here I am." Later, when I went to get my lunch in the cafeteria line, the cook also thought I was a student and reprimanded me, saying that only teachers could cut ahead of the students! I laugh just thinking about those "good old days" when people mistook me for a student.

--Nancy Grant
Special education teacher
Villisca, Iowa

Got a story?
Do you have a funny or interesting story about your early years in the classroom? E-mail kloschert@nea.org. Please include your name, job title, and the city and state where you work.

Two-Minute Tips

Oops, My Name!
Sometimes it is difficult to get students to put their names on their assignments, so I leave a container of highlighters next to the assignment shelves. I ask my students to highlight their names before turning in their papers. If their names are not there, they notice and remember to include them before submitting their work.

--Denise White
Winder, Georgia

Buddy Sticks
At the beginning of the year, I write each student's name on a large craft stick, which I store in a container labeled "buddy sticks." I use the buddy sticks to team students for group activities, select classroom helpers, choose giveaway winners, and call on students during question-and-answer sessions. This ensures students are chosen fairly and I don't feel like I favor one student over another.

--Kim Downs
Columbia, Kentucky

Spray It Clean
When I use the overhead projector, I keep a spray bottle of water and a roll of paper towels by the machine. That way I don't have to constantly get wet paper towels to clean the transparencies.

-Debbie Barber
Canby, Oregon

NEA 200, Laidlaw 0

Score one for the home team. Members of the Salem-Keizer Association of Classified Employees in Oregon saved the jobs of 200 transportation employees by convincing their school board not to privatize the services.

With help from NEA, the Oregon Education Association, and UniServ consultants, ESP members met with parents, school district officials, and school board members to rally support against a proposed takeover by Laidlaw, a private transportation company.

Laidlaw offered to save the system $500,000 a year, but the Association showed the district the cost effectiveness of the existing system, says Janet McIntire, past president of the local. In fact, Salem-Keizer has one of the lowest per pupil transportation costs in the state. But, more importantly, notes McIntire, the ESPs impressed school officials with their commitment to their jobs and to their students.

"We work to make the ride home and to school a continuation of what happens in the classroom," says Susan Wheeler, a driver for 11 years. "If there were private drivers, there would be a RIF and that would be a disservice to the students."

Double Standard?

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, but apparently it isn't good enough for administrators.

After three years as superintendent of schools in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Wilfredo Laboy has never passed the state's basic teacher licensure exam, a requirement for all state educators. But even after three failures, he's managed to keep his job.

Amazing? More than you know. Turns out that Laboy suspended 24 teachers earlier this year for failing a separate English proficiency test.

But not to fear. Laboy could be next. The state board of education has given him until year's end to pass the exam--or take a hike.

Moving Declaration

In 1776, colonists carried fresh copies of the newly printed Declaration of Independence on horseback up and down the east coast, reading them out loud in town squares to galvanize their compatriots to take government into their own hands.

This year, one copy from that original mass printing (from July 4 and 5, 1776, in Philadelphia) is being carried around the country to galvanize young people to take matters into their own hands--by voting. This copy, one of only 25 known to exist, was discovered in 1989, tucked behind a painting bought at a flea market for $4. Television and film producer Norman Lear bought it as the centerpiece for a campaign to boost participation in democracy by young people.

"I had a great sense that people need to connect with the values, 'All men are created equal, endowed by their creator with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' those great words," said Lear.

He was right. "People stand in line, kids in tow, for an hour and a half to experience the document," he says. "And they walk away palpably moved--you can see eyes puddling in some cases. We've had 700,000 people so far."

A teacher guide and curriculum materials, including a reading of the document by a galaxy of television and movie stars, are available for downloading free at www.IndependenceRoadTrip.org. You'll also find a schedule for the journey.

Ghosts, Goblins, Sugar Rushes, Oh Yeah?

Well, not everywhere. From coast to coast, schools are swapping traditional Halloween festivities for "Fall Harvest" parties, canceling costume parades and candy-filled celebrations, and allowing students to opt out of class. What's spurring the trend? Health and safety concerns, aversions to scary costumes, and religious opposition to "pagan" and "satanic" themes. But don't ponder the thought of Halloween carrot sticks and celery for too long. For the most part, sugar-filled school afternoons continue full throttle. And is it any wonder? According to parentcenter.com, Halloween candy grosses about $1.93 billion annually; indeed, one-quarter of all candy sales occur between September 15 and November 10. Costumes are right behind in the running; some $1.5 billion gets spent on them yearly. Brace yourselves.

Smile

Teachers hear all kinds of stories about why students don't have their homework. Here's my favorite:
A mother picked up her sick first-grade son's homework and while driving home, she noticed a bag of "birthday treats." Having had a rough day--sick child, doctor's office, etc.--she helped herself to a few of the treats.

Later in the evening, she panicked when she tried to help her son with his homework: all five worksheets had to do with the gummy bears she thought were a "birthday treat." How many did she eat? Were they orange, green, or red? Rather than risk her son's teacher thinking her child couldn't read, write, or calculate, the mom had to confess: "I ate my son's homework."

--Barbara Koski
Warren, Ohio

One of my junior high students just got her braces. I asked her about the experience and who her orthodontist was.
Amazingly, it was the same one I had used when I was in junior high, since I still live in my hometown. I commented, "Wow, I didn't realize that he was still practicing."

She responded, "Oh, he's not--he's doing it for real now."

--Kristi Morris
Goleta, California

Have a funny school story, anecdote or vignette you'd like to share?

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

By e-mail:
neatoday@nea.org

Through the Web:
www.nea.org/neatoday