February 2004 Table of Contents In this Issue Cover Story Features Getting Organized NEAFT Retirement People Last Bell ESP Health & Fitness Spotlight Departments Editor's Note President's Viewpoint Up Front Rights Watch State Report Leading the Way Debate Dilemma Resources Books by NEA Members Online Change Your Address/ Write a Letter Past Issues

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Enough Already!

Teachers and paraeducators may be the ones on the front lines, but that certainly hasn't stopped a whole host of other folk from joining the march against the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—the so-called No Child Left Behind law. The public already expressed its confusion and angst over the federal education law in one recent poll. Now come principals, superintendents, state governors, and even legislators with the plea: fix it or forget it. Some school districts are so fed up they're now telling the government to keep its money—and the strings that come with it.

According to a survey by Public Agenda, nearly one-third of school principals and superintendents think the law "probably won't work," while the remaining two-thirds think it "will require many adjustments" before it's even palatable. Their biggest problem: the law simply "relies too much on standardized testing." From Maine to Montana, governors and legislators are expressing the same sentiment, and some are pummeling Secretary of Education Rod Paige with pleas for change, not to mention funds that will help the law work.

"We all want to help our schools succeed," writes Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine. "However,...the [federal] law is focusing public attention on the negative consequences and is punitive in nature, rather than reinforcing and highlighting positive elements of school success." School districts, meanwhile, are crying out. At least two in Connecticut, and a handful in Vermont, say they're rejecting their Title I funding, while officials in Suffolk County, Virginia, are exploring the idea. Vermont, Utah, and Hawaii even considered turning down their state allotments.

It's not that these bold moves promise to shield schools from the mandates—federal officials still are trying to decide how to react. But it certainly sends a message that states are reaching their limits. Or are already there.

I hereby resolve... to keep my resolutions

New Year's resolutions—we all make them and by this time each year most of us break them. But 2004 will be the year we stick with 'em! If you're feeling a little wishy-washy on those newly minted promises, check out these tips guaranteed to boost your willpower and keep you on track.

1. Pace yourself. Set a gradual schedule for attaining your goal and measure your progress in baby steps. Instead of getting super-fit, vow to exercise just one more time a week for February, then two times for March. Trying to save more money? Set aside a few extra bucks from each paycheck, rather than one large lump sum.
2. Find a buddy. Team up with a neighbor, relative, or friend who's made a similar resolution and cheer each other on to success. If your resolution involves losing weight, exercising more, or learning a new skill, find a class in your area and sign up.
3. Go public. Go on the Oprah show and announce your plans on national television. Not glitzy enough? Then consider videotaping your pledge and sending it to a friend who will keep you honest.
4. Cut yourself some slack. Missing a day of exercise or sneaking an extra donut doesn't mean it's time to throw in the towel. Keep your expectations realistic and celebrate the progress you make each day.

A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s

American students are well on their way to mastering their multiplication tables. Seventy-seven percent of fourth graders and 68 percent of eighth graders performed at the basic level on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), meaning students demonstrated a partial mastery of skills. That's up from 59 percent and 58 percent, respectively, 11 years ago. Students' reading performance, meanwhile, has remained relatively unchanged during that same time period—63 percent of fourth graders and 74 percent of eighth graders reached the basic level last year, compared to 62 percent and 69 percent in 1992. NAEP measures the academic performance of a sample of fourth and eighth graders in several subjects. The 2003 test covered math and reading.

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Strength in Solidarity

Photo: Nathan Ham

It wasn't easy. But in October, after a year and a half of negotiations, members of Michigan's Midland City Educational Support Personnel Association (MCESPA) secured their first contract as NEA members. The local, formerly part of the United Steel Workers of America, voted in May 2002 to join NEA. The switch made all the difference at the bargaining table, according to MCESPA Vice President Joseph Ostyn.

"Before, we had consecutive contracts where we had given monies away to the point of being ridiculous," says Ostyn, a custodian. "This time I felt like we didn't get walked over again."

The new contract implements a four-step wage schedule based on years of service and includes a 2.5 percent retroactive pay increase for the 2002-03 school year and a 1.75 percent increase this year. That brings the entry-level wage up to $10.42 an hour, with more experienced ESPs earning more than $12 an hour. Many ESPs had remained at an hourly rate of $9.64 since the wage was implemented in 1996.

"Our goal was basically to keep the same working conditions and improve pay," says UniServ Director Karen Sherwood. "In the end, that's about where we all arrived."

(Un)Healthy Bill of Fare

Think the new Medicare law only concerns gramps and granny?

Guess again. The 678-page law signed by President Bush in December is bad medicine for anyone who relies upon employer-provided comprehensive health insurance.

Most of the headlines about the NEA-opposed bill focused on the prescription drug provision for seniors, which doesn't even go into effect until 2006 and already has been attacked as inadequate in the face of increasing drug costs (up 17 percent last year).

But it's not just those on Medicare who stand to lose. An obscure provision in the law providing for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) could cause premiums for comprehensive health insurance to more than double, warns the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank.

Here's why. The new HSAs, which allow employees to put aside money tax-free to pay for qualifying medical expenses, will appeal primarily to healthier and wealthier employees: they won't lose much (since they're not using many health services now), and they gain a tax break. But pulling healthier employees out of comprehensive plans hurts those who remain because they're likely to be hit with higher out-of-pocket charges. That's hardly the only flaw in the new law. The bill also provides for a risky experiment to privatize Medicare services, and Congressional negotiators ignored an NEA-endorsed provision, passed by the Senate, that would have protected benefits for pre-Medicare retirees.

What to do? Oregon Education Association-Retired member Jerry Wilkins says think voting booth. "For those who pushed this [bill] through," he says, "there will be payback come election time." For more on why the Medicare law is bad medicine for you, go to www.nea.org/retired.

A Losing Bet

Edison Schools Inc., the for-profit management firm that can't seem to earn a profit, has a new—and rather unwilling—owner: school and other public employees in Florida.

In November, Edison shareholders approved the company's purchase by the Florida Retirement System, thanks to a questionable decision by one of the system's investment fund managers, Liberty Partners. In case you missed it, Edison is the private management firm launched by Chris Whittle that gets headlines by pledging to raise student achievement and provide more efficient management—and then skips out when it's clear it can't keep the promises.

That has Florida members like retiree Joan King hopping mad. "The Florida Retirement System receives contributions from our members to invest on their behalf. And now they're going to use our contributions to finance Edison, which could result in members losing their jobs," King says. "Why are they speculating on a dying company?"

Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has led a massive drive to privatize government jobs in the state, serves on the three-member board that reviews the retirement system's investment decisions. Officials with the pension system deny that the investment was political.

If not, it's simply bad business. Edison's stock price has plummeted from $36 to $2 per share, and the firm was $73 million in debt before the buyout. The buyout is a boon to the irrepressible Whittle, though. He'll get a raise—to $600,000 plus a 275 percent bonus if the company does well, The Miami Herald reports.

From the Page to the Stage

Photo: Sandy Schaeffer

With a $15,000 grant from NEA, the Ford's Theatre distributed more than 2,300 copies of The Grapes of Wrath to Washington, D.C.-area high schools in tandem with its production of the stage version of the story. About 150 local students also attended Ford's acclaimed theater appreciation workshop.

High-Tech Tots

Babies still in diapers might be more wired up and tech-savvy than a lot of adults you know. According to a study released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, even the very youngest children are growing up immersed in media, spending hours a day watching television, using computers, and playing video games.

Children six years and younger spend, on average, two hours a day using screen media, well more than the mere 39 minutes a day they spend reading on their own or with a parent. And nearly half of them are on a computer by their sixth birthday. Meanwhile, this wired lifestyle is showing in children's waistlines, according to a study by the City University of New York Graduate Center. Children ages 4 to 14 who use home computers more than eight hours a week weigh about 12 pounds more than children who do not use computers at home, according to the study. These high-tech kids generally spend about three hours less each week playing sports and outdoor activities than their peers who do not use computers at all. Is it any wonder children are getting heavier? —Urmila Subramanyam

Coca-Cola 'Swerves' To Stay in Schools

What do you call a drink with all the calories and twice the sodium of Coca-Cola Classic?

Well, the Coca-Cola Corporation calls it Swerve, a new flavored milk drink sold only in schools—a "healthy" alternative to the traditional sodas that many schools have banned because of concerns about child nutrition and obesity. Swerve, which features a cartoon of a cow in sunglasses on its can (remind anyone of the cigarette industry's "Joe Camel?"), joins Coke-owned Minute Maid orange juice, Powerade, and Dasani water as products the soft drink giant is marketing in its fight to stay on school grounds.

Living Her Dream

When she was growing up, Tara Sparks wanted to be her teachers. In preschool, she wanted to be Miss Alicia, keeper of the toys and guardian of naptime.

Photo: Debra Angstead

Her third-grade hero, Mr. Washington, gave the class fun math projects and rewarded them with boogie time. Her eighth-grade muse was Mrs. Schukai, a drama and English teacher who inspired Sparks to follow in her footsteps. Sparks even envied the kids whose parents were teachers. There was a brief stint in the sixth grade when Sparks wanted to be an architect, but luckily for Missouri's students, she came to her senses.

Today, Sparks teaches eighth-grade English at Sperring Middle School in St. Louis, and like the teachers who inspired her when she was growing up, she's making a powerful impact on the academic and personal lives of her students. Although only 28 years old, Sparks already has an impressive list of career accomplishments. Last year, Sparks became Missouri's 2003-04 Teacher of the Year, making her the second youngest in the state's history. And two years ago she earned her National Board Certification after just four years in the classroom. What is Sparks' message to other beginning teachers? "Keep learning! That's how you rejuvenate yourself and your classroom," she says. Self reflection has helped Sparks most in her teaching career, she says, while professional development has helped her focus that reflection. "The fun and challenge of teaching," says Sparks, "is helping your students travel from point A to point B, and watching them arrive at that magical 'a-ha!' moment."

[ Nobody Ever Told Me ]

Wet Behind the Ears

Like many, I did my student teaching in a university town that used a lot of student teachers during the year. My turn came in January. I wanted to look good for my first day, so I dressed in my best suit coat and tie.

I was told to report to the high school for work. When I arrived, I found I had been assigned to teach ninth grade, which was located at the junior high school about four blocks away. Rather than drive four blocks, I decided to walk across a snow-covered field between the two schools. As I made my way across the field, which had about a foot of snow on it, I saw what looked to me like a sidewalk connecting the two buildings. As I stepped onto the sidewalk I heard a crack and found myself waist deep in a cold partially-frozen creek. I struggled out and debated whether it was better to show up late or wet. I chose wet and sloshed sheepishly into the principal's office and told him I was the new student teacher for the quarter. At least he held his laughter until I went into the hall to dry off.

—Robert L. Nichols
Retired art teacher, Eureka, Montana

Good Headlines, Bad Bottom Line

If you thought former Minnesota Governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura was an "X-treme" kind of guy, take a look at the education plan of Minnesota's current governor, Tim Pawlenty. He has proposed replacing teachers at underachieving schools with "super teachers" who, if they succeed in raising test scores, could earn up to $100,000 a year in salary and bonuses. The trade-off? "Super teachers" would have to waive union rights including tenure and job protection, says Pawlenty, so "we can hire who we want, fire who we want, and assign them when we want and how we want."

So, how do teachers feel about a gold-for-grades system with educators serving at the state's pleasure?

"The governor continues to come up with proposals that make good headlines," says Education Minnesota President Judy Schaubach. "But he has failed to come to grips with many fundamental steps that need to be taken to raise student achievement. Every child deserves a super teacher. We need to increase compensation for all teachers so that we retain our quality teaching force and attract bright new teachers into the profession." Other ingredients for success include small class sizes, parental involvement, up-to-date materials, "and students who show up."

Too Little, Too Late

Poky urban school districts may be causing their own teacher shortages, according to a report by the New Teacher Project.

The report, Missed Opportunities: How We Keep High-Quality Teachers Out of Urban Classrooms, blames sluggish hiring schedules for the loss of qualified teachers to other schools or districts. The districts have no problems recruiting teachers, according to the study. In fact, they typically attract large numbers of highly qualified applicants who are committed to teaching in urban settings. (One school received 4,000 applications for 200 openings!) But, in all of the cases featured in the report, the schools did not offer any jobs until late summer, long after the more qualified candidates had accepted other offers. Nearly half of those candidates said they would have taken jobs in the urban district if those offers had come earlier. That's a clear message to urban schools: Hire your teachers early!

—Amir Shoucri

The Anti-Drug: Family Dinners

Who would have thunk? Frequent family dinners may help protect teens against illegal drug use and stress—and even help them do better in school, according to a study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

As teens move from middle to high school—the years when teen substance abuse risks are highest—they eat with their families 29 percent less frequently. Not good. The study found that 12- to 17-year-olds who miss the evening meal more than twice a week are seven times more likely to use illegal drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes than teens who eat with their families five or more times a week. They're also more likely to have sex, encounter stress, and get into fights. "This is true regardless of a teen's gender, family structure, or family socioeconomic level," said CASA's Lauren Elbaum.

Pass the word.

—Tiffany Mitchell

Be Mine

Love is in the air and teachers everywhere are reaching for those tasty candy hearts with the funny sayings. Each year, the New England Confectionery Company, better known as NECCO, manufactures 8 billion of these little treats, called Sweethearts Conversation Hearts. And plenty of them end up in classrooms. With this in mind, the candy company last year released 10 new sayings that honor education. You'll now find phrases like "Let's Read," "Teach Me," and "School Mate" mixed in with old favorites like "Be Mine" and "Hot Stuff." Grab a handful.