January 2005 Table of Contents Cover Story Closing the Gap Features What Now? Stop, Look and Listen Departments Spotlight ESP Money People Last Bell Editor's Note President's Viewpoint Up Front Leading the Way State Report Debate Resources Books by NEA Members Reader Services Weigh in on Debate Topics Change your address Write a letter View past issues Check out our bonus edition

Advertise in NEA Today!

Finally, a new IDEA!

Nearly three years in the making, a new version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal special education law, finally emerged from a tangle of last-minute fixes in November. And while it's far from perfect, it's a definite improvement, say NEA's special education policy leaders, who made every effort to shape this wide-reaching law into one that helps, not hurts, the many classrooms it affects.

Photos: Matthias Tunger

Among the highlights:

• Significant relief from the federal Department of Education's unreasonable "highly qualified" rules: Licensed special education teachers who teach several high school subjects must show they know the content but won't have to be certified in every subject.
• A clause that should speed help to young students who need it before they fall far behind.
• Rules that make it easier to remove violent special education students from classrooms if the disruptiveness is not due to their disability.

"We were able to turn a pretty bad bill into a fairly good one. But a lot depends on how it is carried out." —Patti Ralabate, a former Speech and Language Pathologist who heads up NEA's special education efforts

Then there were some bad ideas that NEA managed to keep out of the bill, like vouchers, and extending the "highly qualified" rules of the No Child Left Behind law to all special education paras. Currently, those rules apply only to Title I-funded paras.

One big disappointment: Congress and the President still did not carry out their 1975 promise to fully fund the law.

Find more details at www.nea.org/specialed/reauthorization.html.

No Exit?

State high school exit exams are now required by 20 states and five more will require them by 2009. Currently, 52 percent of all public school students live in states where they must pass a high school exit exam, according to a recent survey by the Center on Education Policy.

Notepad Breakthrough for E-Rate After a furious, full-court press from a broad coalition of education and state government groups, money is flowing again in the $2.25 billion "E-Rate" program. That's the program that funds  school Internet access and wiring, benefitting some 80 percent of U.S. schools. The clause needed to release the funds got tangled in last-minute maneuvering over other proposals, none relevant to E-Rate. But the logjam finally broke; the essential clause was part of the 108th Congress' last bill. E-Rate had stalled last August when federal officials ordered an accounting change that meant applications couldn't be approved until funds were actually in hand, even though the money was certain to arrive. About $400 million in grants got stuck in the pipeline. Many schools had to scale back or even eliminate their Internet connections. NEA asked Congress to let projects be approved based on money coming in, much like signing an apartment lease before you have enough for a full year's rent. And Congress finally agreed. "This win was the result of one of the most broad-based coalitions I've ever seen," says NEA lobbyist Kim Anderson. The fix lasts only one year, but Anderson is optimistic the same coalition will ensure a permanent solution. Have a great idea? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Sick Days

It's no fluke that flu season coincides with the school year. The close quarters of a classroom make it easier for yucky flu germs to take flight and, according to www.kidshealth.org, flu epidemics often originate in schools.

Photos: Digital Vision

With this year's shortage of flu shots, you may be looking for other ways to stay healthy. While everybody should keep their distance from sick friends and relatives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has specific recommendations for educators: Remind your students to cough and sneeze into tissues (and then throw them away!), then scrub those hands early and often. The CDC offers flu-prevention tip sheets and printable posters for use in schools at www.cdc.gov/flu/school/.

Sharalee Savage, president of Oklahoma's School Nurses Association, also suggests using virucide to spray tables, doorknobs, and other areas of the classroom that suffer frequent use. In addition, Savage advises, "Exercise, eat right, and cut stress," to stay healthy.

If you do all this and still catch the flu, then take some old advice—rest, drink plenty of liquids, and call your doctor. Staying home while sick will help prevent the flu from making the rounds in your school and beyond.

—Sarah Rabovsky

Baby Boom

Photos: Digital Vision

Welcoming a new baby into the community is always cause for celebration. But Royalview Elementary School in Willowick, Ohio, celebrated that event—count 'em—four times in a two-day span last spring. First-grade teacher Angel Patrick, second-grade teacher Heather Kiggins, and third-grade teacher Laura Parsons gave birth on April 20. Their colleague, kindergarten teacher Courtney Zapolla, delivered the next day. The final tally? Two boys and two girls.

"It made for some real bonding moments," Parsons says of the timing of their pregnancies.

But wait. The show's not over. Six other teachers expect to welcome new additions to their families before the end of the school year. The staff often jokes there must be something in the school's water that's stirring up the boom.

—Emily Goodman

Strong Medicine Saves Health Care

They were headed for a painful showdown with the state, but instead Kentucky educators are celebrating a big victory in their fight to preserve health insurance benefits.

Photos: Charles Main, KEA

With just eight days before a statewide strike deadline, the legislature voted to add nearly $200 million to the state health insurance program, staving off major cutbacks proposed by Governor Ernie Fletcher.

More than 10,000 school employees and supporters of public education rallied statewide in December to protest the changes. Twenty-two of the state's 176 school districts canceled classes to let educators participate. When Governor Fletcher refused to move, KEA threatened to strike.

This time, the governor got the message and called a special session of the general assembly to address the educators' concerns.

"We have won a great battle, but the war is far from over," said KEA President Frances Steenbergen. The fix only applies to 2005. But many Kentucky political observers are saying the hard-fought triumph has given the union tremendous momentum—and many hundreds of new members across the state.

Fourth-grade teacher and KEA board member Renee Yates told a television reporter that educators have learned political action works. "We're going to need to stay on our local representatives," she said, "not just at a critical issue time, but during the whole session."

And the winner is...!

"Teaching is a wonderful profession, but often overlooked," says Greensboro, North Carolina, kindergarten teacher and NEA member Stephanie Lemon.

Photos: Jerry Wolford

But not this time.

Lemon thought she was going to a normal school assembly one day last fall, but she walked out $25,000 richer.

She was one of dozens of NEA members across the country honored and surprised by a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. There's no formal nomination process, so the winners didn't even know they were being considered. Here's a complete list of honorees.

Global Takes 'Park & Stride' in Britain The British government is launching an effort to simultaneously help students get fit and ease traffic congestion by making it safer for kids to get to school on foot and bicycle. One approach: "park & stride" locations where students can be dropped off by their parents and then escorted to school. Another: safe cycle routes plus storage space for bicycles at schools. Education and Skills Secretary Charles Clarke said twice as many students are driven to school these days as 20 years ago. The effort will start with nearly $20 million for pilot programs involving more than 230 schools.  Sesame Street in Japan Japanese television has begun airing a homegrown version of Sesame Street aimed at 5- and 6-year-olds. While the American show focuses on teaching letters and numbers, the Japanese will put more emphasis on morality, reports the Japan Times. According to Education Week, the new program's creative director, Karen Fowler, explained that "in Japan, there's not the same kind of disparity of wealth, so we don't have to teach Japanese children their letters and numbers." But Japan is concerned about rising juvenile crime. Have a good story? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Who's 'Effective'?

The so-called No Child Left Behind law says schools that don't make "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) for three years must pay for tutoring for low-income students. But who provides the tutors?

Photos: Nathan Ham

The law says they can come from private companies, religious organizations—just about any group that has a "record of effectiveness" and meets "reasonable" criteria set by the state.

But under the federal Department of Education's interpretation, that often leaves out the most obvious source of tutors: the school district itself. The Department says that if the district hasn't met AYP, that proves the district is not effective. So Boston, Chicago, and other city school districts can't hire teachers to tutor students—not even someone who's a Teacher of the Year.

Not enough insanity? Chew on this: While these districts can't use their teachers as tutors, private companies can hire them to do the same work. And although school districts must employ 100 percent "highly qualified" teachers by the end of the 2005—06 year, states are forbidden to apply that standard to private companies and groups supplying tutors. Go figure.

Orphans of Beslan

Last September, terrorists seized School #1 in Beslan, Russia, on the first day of school. Within a few days, more than 329 people were dead, including 20 teachers and more than 100 children. The teachers left behind 35 orphan children, ages 8 to 15.

Education International (EI), the world federation of educators' unions to which NEA belongs, is raising money to pay these children's school fees and college education. EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen says that will take between $100,000 and $150,000 for all 35. To help, send a check (payable to Education International) to NEA's International Relations Department, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036. Write "Beslan Fund" on the envelope.

Qualified in Wisconsin

You're a Title I paraeducator, you're sweating because the so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) requires that you be "highly qualified" by January 2006, and your higher-ups are asleep at the helm. So, wake 'em up, and direct their gaze to the Wausau (Wisconsin) school district.

Photos: Rob Orcutt

With some prodding from the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and the 289-member Wausau District Secretaries and Aides (WDSA), that 18-school system has gotten every single Title 1 para "qualified" under the law, without the stress of a written test.

It all started in 2003 when WDSA activist Peg Bestul, a Title I kindergarten aide, and fellow Association leaders gave Wausau administrators an NCLB briefing and formally asked how the district would meet the para requirements.

The upshot: Wausau created its own "local academic assessment" for paras, permissible under NCLB, that consisted of a simple portfolio and three classroom observations. And the district funded workday classes—on paid release time—for Title I and other paras.

Into the simple portfolio went a list of completed classes and a written account of how paras like Bestul used their "new" knowledge with kids. "I realized that much of what I learned I was already doing in the classroom—the teacher just called it something else," says Bestul.

Where Are the Kids?

Although the number of students enrolling in kindergarten has increased since the 1970s, fewer students are making it to their sophomore year of high school. In fact, the rate of students disappearing between 9th and 10th grades has tripled during the past 30 years, according to a study from Boston College.

Photos: Nathan Ham

"It's definitely cause for concern," says Walter Haney, co-author of the study. "We know that students who don't move from 9th grade to 10th, either because they drop out or are held back, are less likely to graduate."

Among the 9th graders in the 1998–99 school year, 11.4 percent didn't make it to 10th grade the following year. The data suggest states may be holding those students back or even encouraging them to drop out, Haney says.

Moreover, despite a national push to reach a 90 percent graduation rate, only two states—New Jersey and Wisconsin—met that goal during the 2000–01 year. But 24 states had graduation rates of 75 percent or less, and 15 states saw their rates decline by 5 percent or more between 1988 and 2001.

Haney thinks high-stakes testing is to blame. For more, visit www.bc.edu/nbetpp.

Rethinking Your First Years

Are you a new teacher who got into this business to build a better America, one that takes seriously that "justice for all" idea? (And don't almost all new teachers fit that description?)

You might take a look at The New Teacher Handbook from the editors of Rethinking Schools, a national education journal that's

The book's introduction notes that turnover is high among teachers during their first three years, but quickly adds that the majority do get through. Then the authors proceed to offer numerous survival tips from how to establish discipline rules to "how to teach controversial content and not get fired," along with stories by veteran teachers who tackled first-year crises and lived to tell you about them.

Perhaps the best advice is that no teacher should go it alone. Seek advice, ideas, and support from colleagues, the book says. If the teacher next door isn't helpful, find someone else.

Just as students need to learn to be in a relationship with the classmates they spend so many waking hours with, their teachers also need a community that sustains them. 

—Sandra Gregg

Supersize Me

Photos: Nathan Ham

During the first few weeks of school, I teach my first-grade students the routine of turning in their lunch money to me first thing in the morning. After several days of doing this, one of my first-grade boys said to me, "Mrs. Farris, what do you do with all of that money we give you every day?" I replied, "It's for lunch each day." Looking rather surprised and confused, he stopped for a minute, looked me up and down, and asked, "How much lunch do you need?"

—Shari Farris
First- and second-grade teacher
Spokane, Washington

Have a funny school story you'd like to share?
Send it to neatoday@nea.org.