October 2004 NEA Today
Table of Contents

Cover Story

Decision Time

What do educators most want from Washington? R-E-S-P-E-C-T. But after enduring budget cuts, attacks on their qualifications, and a law that shortchanges kids and schools, teachers and support professionals wonder if they’ll ever get it. Their best hope for change? Diving into politics and speaking up on Election Day.

Features

Getting Organized

In this South Carolina district, a new attitude about indoor air quality prompts a system-wide approach that has turned educators into well-trained IAQ watchdogs.

Media Center

In media centers around the country, librarians are spending more time helping kids navigate the Internet and create multimedia projects. But though the card catalog is a thing of the past, books remain crucial to today’s library.

Comparable Pay

Has anyone ever told you teachers make good money? Not when compared with other professions. A new compensation study measures the skills necessary to teach against the skills required for other jobs and finds teacher pay lags behind.

Departments

Spotlight

Two little-known laws—the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)—deny hundreds of thousands of NEA members their fair Social Security benefits. Are you headed for a nasty surprise as you near retirement? Learn who’s affected by the WEP and GPO, and how you can help push Congress to correct this injustice.

ESP

With just $400 a month in take-home pay, some Alabama support professionals couldn’t afford to write a rent check or pump gas into their cars. Instead, they lived in and out of homeless shelters, walking to work to save bus fare, and relying on government assistance to feed their kids. But on August 10, after a nine-month “living wage” campaign run by the local affiliate in Birmingham, that all began to change.

Money

With your Social Security number, credit card digits, account numbers, driver’s license, or passport, a complete stranger can silently steal your identity—and your money. Suddenly, you’ll find you can’t get a car loan or home mortgage, or your savings have been tapped. But there are ways to reduce your chances of ID theft, as well as ways to respond quickly if your identity has been looted.

People

Two relatives share the same passion for the classroom—and a set of kidneys. Meet Albert Paduano, a New York high school health teacher with long-time kidney problems, and Scott Stickney, a Pennsylvania Latin teacher and his uncle’s life-saver. Meanwhile, in Washington, librarian Sara Harlan, donates her time and energy to fund-raise for children in Haiti and Guatemala.

Last Bell

When a young Connecticut teacher died suddenly, tough teenagers became heartbroken children. But they found solace and healing by jotting in classroom journals and penning poetry to share.

Editor’s Note

UpFront

More Americans are graduating from high school and college, but Hispanic students are falling behind the trend.

Leading the Way

State Report

Rights Watch

Can teachers be punished for protesting discrimination against students? Federal courts on both coasts say no.

Debate

Should students be required to wear seat belts on school buses?

Resources

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