February 2005 Table of Contents Cover Story Can All Your Kids Read? Features 'Hands Off, Heads Inside!' A Better IDEA 'She's My Mental Health' No Laughing Matter Departments Spotlight ESP Health & Fitness Bulletin Board 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!

Strike Three for Vouchers

Florida In an 8-5-1 decision, the First District Court of Appeal ruled that a 1999 voucher law, allowing students from struggling public schools to attend private or religious schools with taxpayer money, violates the state constitution. This is the third court defeat for the so-called "A+" voucher program. It's now up to the state Supreme Court to decide if it will review this case—launched by the Florida Education Association and other pro-public education groups.

School Funding Suit Pays Off

Montana The Montana Supreme Court ruled that the state's education finance system is not based on "educationally relevant factors" and fails to "adequately fund" Montana's public schools. And, to ice the cake, the court has found the state in violation of its constitution for showing "no commitment in its education goals to the preservation of Indian cultural identity." The court-ordered deadline to fix this mess: October 1.

The lawsuit leading to this decision was filed by the Montana Quality Education Coalition, which includes MEA-MFT.

A Knockout in Atlantic City

New Jersey For several months last year, state Education Commissioner William L. Librera blocked a union contract ratified by 700 teachers in the state-monitored Irvington school district. A big mistake. Irvington Education Association (IEA) members, backed by legal pressure from the New Jersey Education Association, wrote to legislators, picketed state Department of Education offices in three cities, and finally confronted Librera at the NJEA convention in Atlantic City on November 4.

That faceoff broke the deadlock. On November 15, Librera announced release of funds to pay for the Irvington contract.  Says IEA President Madeline Edwards, "We were united all the way, and winning was the only acceptable outcome."

Big District Breaks the Law

Massachusetts In the state's second-largest city, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission (MLRC) found "probable cause" for prohibited labor practices complaints filed by the Springfield Education Association (SEA) against the school committee. The MLRC has scheduled formal hearings in February on the complaints, which charge Springfield negotiators with "regressive" bad-faith bargaining, unilateral imposition of health care contract provisions, and refusal to vote on a tentative agreement with SEA.

A State Without Settlements 

Michigan In December, the Michigan Education Association reported that 124 of its teacher and education support professional (ESP) bargaining units were without new contracts for more than a year. Heading the list: teacher and ESP members of the Lakewood Education Association (LEA), who have been battling for a new agreement since June 2003. The school board has rejected LEA proposals that would save the district money in tough fiscal times.

The Lakewood board's own proposal: close elementary schools while granting the superintendent a 3 percent raise in each of three years.

Sunnier News from the South

Mississippi Members of the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE) made their presence felt in the 2004 legislative session through phone calls, e-mails, letters, and visits to lawmakers. Their hard work won an 8 percent raise for teachers and assistant teachers and full funding for health insurance costs—with a $30 million increase. And MAE will keep up the momentum in the 2005 session, lobbying for everything from full funding of the state education program to due process for teacher assistants.

Union is Legal on Campus

Washington Professors at Eastern Washington University (EWU) have become the second faculty group in the state to formally unionize under a higher education bargaining law passed in 2002. By a margin of 338–46, the EWU faculty voted in November to let the United Faculty of Eastern (UFE) continue to represent them in bargaining. Previous contracts were "voluntary" agreements between UFE and campus administrators; now UFE is the official, legal representative for Eastern faculty. UFE is affiliated with both NEA and the American Federation of Teachers.

Shut Up and Sit Down

Alabama Last autumn, Cindy Naylor and other teachers visited a Mobile County school board meeting to complain about excessive paperwork and student testing. The teacher applause during Naylor's remarks to the board so angered board President Lonnie Parsons that he ordered Naylor to stop talking and sit down. He then called a special meeting for the next morning—when teachers would be in class.

Helped by the Alabama Education Association, Naylor sued the board, charging it with violating her free speech rights. Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Rusty Johnson ordered the board to allow Naylor to appear at its next regular meeting to finish her remarks. "Speech cannot be curtailed on the mere basis that others react positively to it," the judge ruled. Says Naylor, "This proves that my freedom of speech is very, very valuable in this country."