Debate

Q&A

Questions for  Dolores Huerta

Sí, Se Puede

Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers with César Chávez. At 76, she’s still fighting for social justice, leading a foundation that recruits and trains community organizers. Huerta taught elementary school in Stockton, California, in the 1950s. Her daughter teaches third grade in Los Angeles. Huerta talked recently with NEA Today’s Alain Jehlen.

What do educators need to understand to help farm workers’ children learn?

Answer: They need to understand that these children are very intelligent, even though they don’t speak English. If you don’t speak Spanish, you need to get an assistant who does.

It’s very difficult now for Latino children who don’t speak English in California and other states that have eliminated bilingual education. The children will learn English eventually, but if they are made to feel guilty for speaking Spanish, that leaves a terrible mark that’s very hard to get over.

How can we help them gain confidence and learn?

Answer: They shouldn’t be made to feel inferior. They should be proud of their parents. Farm workers do the most important work in the world: they feed the nation. I often ask people, if you had to be on a deserted island—like on Survivor—whom would you take with you, a farm worker or a lawyer?....And the second person I would take would be a teacher.

When students move so often, how can a teacher connect?

Answer: In states like California where farm workers can get unemployment insurance, the family can stay after the harvest is over and the children can go to school….Education is so important. You know, César Chávez only went as far as the eighth grade, but he always had a book under his arm. He was always learning and always promoting education. A farm worker’s daughter told me that when she was a girl, her father went to a Farm Workers rally and heard César say, “Your children need to go to school. They don’t belong in the fields, take them out.” The next day, her father sent all his children to school. Today, that daughter is a community college president.

For teaching materials on United Farm Workers organizing drives among migrant workers, go to www.chavezfoundation.org/.

A Certain Insight

After spending 10 years with Coco, Jessica, Boy George, and the other members of their extended family in the Bronx (and prison), journalist Adrian Nicole LeBlanc has put together a detailed, sometimes disturbing, always fascinating account of family life devastated by poverty and drugs. It’s called Random Family (Scribner), and it spent a little time on bestseller lists this summer. You know these kids—you have them in your classrooms, cafeterias, and school buses—but do you know enough about their lives after the last bell? Much of it is heartbreaking, like this development in a 5-year-old’s life: “In the meantime, Mercedes had continued to complain about her toothaches, and she was still taking lots of baths; Coco brought her to the clinic. The dentist said that five of her teeth were rotten and needed to be removed; the doctor diagnosed Mercedes with genital warts….Coco was devastated. Suddenly, this doctor was saying that her daughter might have been molested.”

Scholarly Showdown

Are We Losing Our Edge?

We’ve heard a lot about American competitiveness in math, science, and technology, but not from you! What’s happening in your classroom? Are you training the next Bill Gates? (Or do you think he’s studying somewhere in China?) Please help NEA Today with an upcoming story on the fact and fiction of global competitiveness—e-mail your thoughts and ideas to clong@nea.org.

Political Fluff

When Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett Barrios (D) found out his son was eating Fluffernutters—a favorite New England combination of peanut butter and marshmallow spread—for lunch at school, he proposed a junk-food bill to severely limit the gooey spread. “I’m not sure we should be even calling it a food!” he said. But Barrios had sorely underestimated the local Fluff following. Defiant lawmakers proposed making it the state sandwich instead, and the sticky controversy dominated regional news—that is, until Barrios withdrew his bill and refrained from uttering the F-word again.

Global Takes

Afghani Troubles

In Afghanistan, more than 120 schools have been set ablaze and another 200 forced to close by Islamic extremist groups during the past six months, according to the Afghan education ministry. Forty students and teachers also have been killed this year. The insurgents claim educating girls is anti-Islam, and they also oppose government-funded schools for boys because they teach subjects other than religion. But one 14-year-old boy told the Associated Press what he thinks is the real reason: “They [the Taliban] want us illiterate so we have nothing else to do but pick up a gun.”

Tear Gas and Teachers

Striking Mexican teachers, protesting over poor pay, clashed with police at a rally this summer that sent dozens of teachers to the hospital. The strike, organized by Section 22 of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, an affiliate of Education International, has closed all Oaxaca schools and blocked roads and hotel entrances. The state government has said it doesn’t have the money to raise pay. NEA has denounced the government-ordered violence against teachers, called for the investigation and prosecution of those responsible, and also sent $10,000 to help with medical bills.

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You Knew it All Along!

A new study, released by the U.S. Department of Education with remarkably little fanfare, shows that students in public schools—your kids, that is—do just as well or better than private-school students.

The report, done by the Educational Testing Service, looked at reading and math scores from 2003 and compared students of similar racial, economic, and social backgrounds. In math, public school fourth-graders were nearly half a year ahead of comparable students in private schools. The study also looked at different kinds of private schools—kids in conservative Christian schools did worst, while those in Lutheran schools did best. In eighth-grade math, children in Lutheran schools did better than public school students.

The Department released the study on a hot summer Friday afternoon—no press conference, no glowing statement. Indeed, a spokesman said he didn’t expect the study to influence policy. But NEA President Reg Weaver said the findings show public schools “doing an outstanding job.”

Stop Picking on Me!

You’ve seen them—the students who slide down in their seats when you ask a question, trying to be invisible. They might as well have a cartoon thought bubble over their heads, pleading, “Don’t call on me!”

 Thanks to research by former high school math teacher Paige Allison, those st udents may have to come out of hiding.

Allison found that when teachers use handheld computers running a Microsoft Excel program that randomly chooses names, students know everyone’s fair game, and they become more engaged in lessons. Plus, teachers were more likely to call on an equal number of girls, boys, and minorities.

 Allison, now an anthropologist specializing in issues of gender and ethnicity in math education, asked a programmer to create the program for her research. “The next step is to implement the study on a larger scale, and part of that is software development,” she said. In the meantime, try a quick, low-tech option—a cup of Popsicle sticks labeled with your students’ names.

Fat Tuesday in Texas

No one’s surprised to hear of bidding wars over the likes of Roger Clemens and Shaquille O’Neal…but over teachers? Is this a dream?
(If it is, don’t wake us up.)

In Texas, as the state provides more money to school districts this year and a shortage of qualified teachers persists, starting salaries are flying out of the park. In one Dallas-area district, teachers will start at $44,159. Nearby, other districts say they have no choice but to match. “Will we stay competitive? Absolutely,” one spokesman told The Dallas Morning News.

 At least one-third of Texas teachers, and probably more, will earn more than $40,000 this year. (That’s the minimum all teachers should make, NEA says.) But there is at least one big strike in this game. Remember our star rookie earning $44,159? After five years, he gets a not-so-whopping raise to $45,559. And after 10 years? Just $46,961.

Fuel from the Midwest, not from the Mideast

Mmmm, the smell of chicken on the griddle, potatoes in the fryer, and the school bus on the road ...

What’s that? More and more school bus drivers are discovering that “biodiesel” runs any diesel engine, burns cleaner than fossil fuels, is cost effective—and smells pretty good.

Last year, Darla Smith’s chemistry class at Bedford North Lawrence High School in Indiana whipped up a batch of the environmentally friendly fuel. Their recipe calls for vegetable oil—”We don’t call it ‘soybean oil,’ because they would shorten it to ‘soil,’” quips Smith—and a $415 kit from the Indiana Soybean Board (www.soybeansciencekit.com). Today, based on their results, all buses in their district run on a B20 blend (20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum), joining a trend that started in the late 1990s in Medford, New Jersey.

At that time, Terri Palmer-Shover drove the first experimental biodiesel school bus. Now, she no longer suffers headaches just from showing up to work. “The smell before would burn your sinuses,” she says. “Now, it smells like you’re cooking food.”
Burn the bean, baby.                                  

 —Rebecca L. Weber

Notepad

The Gift of Giving

A retired Illinois elementary teacher has bestowed one of the largest individual gifts in the NEA Foundation’s history. Nancy Buckles, 72, a teacher in the Homewood School District for 37 years, died this year, but directed in her will that $92,000 be used in the advancement of public education.

With her bequest, Buckles has ensured that her passions will be supported in perpetuity, said Foundation President Louis Lower, CEO of the Horace Mann Companies.
For more information about the Foundation’s work, including its grants to educators, or about making a donation, go to www.neafoundation.org .

A Positive Agenda

As lawmakers get ready to tackle reauthorization of No Child Left Behind and other elements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act next year, NEA and its members are ready to steer them in the right direction. Check out NEA’s Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization, a 34-page document that sets out seven criteria necessary for great public schools, and then shoot an e-mail to your members of Congress asking for their support, too. To read (and write), go to www.nea.org/lac/esea.

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Send it by mail:
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The Ice is Melting, Baby!

For students in several North Texas school districts, it might be time to turn off the heat. Mouth jewelry—called grills or “grillz”—has been banned from school. Too distracting, school officials say. But in the textbooks of Texas rap artists, this is the look to learn: “My mouth is similar to a disco ball,” raps Paul Wall, a national hit artist (who also claims to brush with Windex?!) “It got gold grills and platinum and ice, cause that’s how it is in the Lone Star State.”

Real Winners

After you carefully pick your candidates in November, are you sure the voting machine won’t chew up your virtual ballot and spit
it out?

Voting machines that create a paper trail, plus regular audits of the vote tallies, would provide an answer. And NEA, along with the League of Women Voters and the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice, has joined a growing movement calling for both.

Advocates point out it doesn’t take a nefarious plot for a voting machine to put the wrong person in office—a software glitch will do. And yet, the consequences could be very
bad indeed.

With that in mind, following bipartisan support at July’s Representative Assembly, NEA President Reg Weaver has written to officials in every state urging them to ensure a paper trail in all elections and also audit 3 to 5 percent of the votes. You can do the same. Read Weaver’s letter at www.nea.org/lac/ votingrights/0706ltr.html. Then back him up with a call to your own state’s top election official.

An Extreme Makeover

Teachers and staff returning to Eccleston Elementary in Orlando, Florida, found that someone—make that a lot of someones—had been in their school over the summer. But they certainly didn’t mind the intrusion.

Teachers and staff returning to Eccleston Elementary in Orlando, Florida, found
that someone—make that a lot of someones—had been in their school over the
summer. But they certainly didn’t mind the intrusion.

Nearly 300 attendees of NEA’s Student Leadership Conference and other pre-Representative Assembly meetings descended on the school in late June to landscape the grounds, and paint, clean, and decorate the building, which needed major improvements.

There was a glamorous addition to the agenda this year: Armed with a $10,000 donation from Volkswagen and labor from quite a few NEA friends, a designer from HGTV’s new decorating show FreeStyle custom-designed and executed a new look for the staff lounge. Gone are the worn carpeting, and sagging and mismatched furniture. In their place: A zen-like color palette, chic furniture, new appliances, and a layout more conducive to conversation and relaxation.

“It helps you feel like you’re respected,” says Eccleston teacher Michael Holt, whose students are mostly low-income or at-risk academically. “It just wasn’t a very visually happy place,” he said, then, with a laugh, added, “Now it’s so nice I’m worried the kids aren’t going to be paying any attention to me!”

Call It 100 Percent Wrong

NEA and AFt join forces against the
so-called ‘65 percent solution.’

Coming soon to your state—if it’s not there already—is the latest bad idea for improving schools at no cost. Dubbed the “65 percent solution,” it would require all school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their money on classroom instruction.

That sounds reasonable until you read the fine print. “Instruction” includes football and ice hockey, but leaves out librarians, nurses, counselors, cafeterias, and buses. So this isn’t necessarily about cutting central office bureaucracy.

Last year, the Austin American-Statesman got hold of an internal memo from First Class Education, the group pushing this idea. The memo spells out what it calls “The Political Benefits of 1st Class Education.” At the top of the list? “Republicans will have a viable answer to ‘in the classroom improvement of education’ without the need for a tax increase.”

The next benefit: “Splitting of the Education Union.”

So far, Georgia has mandated the 65 percent formula and Texas has a watered-down version.

NEA and the American Federation of Teachers are working together to defeat 65 percent referenda in Colorado and Oklahoma. It’s under consideration in many other states as well, but there are signs the tide may be turning. Many business and community leaders are joining educators in saying this arbitrary budget target has nothing to do with better schools.

Nationally, 61.3 percent of school spending fits the federal definition of “instruction.” There is no indication that districts that spend over 65 percent do a better job.
For more on the “65 percent solution” and a link to the secret memo, visit www.nea.org/65percent/65percentresources.html.

Eye of the Leopard

PBS, October 8, 9 p.m. ET/PT. Check local listings.
Three years of filming a single leopard in the wild—from cubhood through young adulthood—is distilled into two exciting hours by husband and wife filmmaking team Dereck and Beverly Joubert. “Legadema” was constantly under threat, but survived with the help of her attentive mother. Information is available at www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/index.html.

Modern African Art and Artisans

Discovery Channel, October 12, 5 a.m., ET/PT.
This show looks at modern-day African artisans and their work, culture, and legacy. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year. Teaching materials are at www.discoveryschool.com.

Thanksgiving Special: The Secret Life of Thanksgiving

Food Channel, October 14 & 28, 4:30 a.m. ET/1:30 a.m. PT.
From a traditional spread in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to a deep-fried turkey in New Orleans, this two-part program
travels to various U.S. cities exploring local Thanksgiving cuisine and the history behind it. Tape and use in the classroom for one year. Teaching materials are at www.foodtv.com/classroom.

The World According to Sesame Street

PBS, October 24, 9 p.m. ET/PT. Check local listings.
The children’s show is familiar to every student in America, but Sesame Street has gone global in a big way. This documentary follows members of the United States-based Sesame Workshop as they attempt to get the show on the air for children in Kosovo, Bangladesh, and South Africa. The “Sesame process” involves showing children playing on their own “street,” relating to their own language and customs. But in some places, just getting the creative team to work together is a challenge. Go to www.pbs.org/independentlens.

On TV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and by Cable in the Classroom’s Access Learning magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Bookplate Heaven

Few pleasures can equal that of pasting a well-designed bookplate in the covers of a cherished book. British author and previous Children’s Laureate Anne Fine has created a Web site with beautiful bookplates designed by artists and illustrators that can be downloaded for free. Although most will appeal to elementary and middle school students, there are choices for young adults. Visit www.myhomelibrary.org/.

Middle school teachers need google no more

No more criss-crossing the Web and making do with materials developed for other grades. Kean University has gathered a list of over 400 premium, hand-picked links to rich content exclusively for middle school educators on diverse topics including the arts, mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, and more, plus advisory, guidance, career, counseling, and professional development resources. Go to http://131.125.2.61/
~njcms/educationalhotlinks/index.php.

Help students prepare for college math

Many students enter college without realizing the level of
preparation required to succeed in math and science. The University of Utah has launched RUReady.net—a learning and self-assessment tool to help pre-college students gauge and improve their readiness to take college introductory math, such as calculus and intermediate algebra. It offers free access to tests and learning tools that analyze responses and provide feedback on error patterns. Any student at any level of ability can use these resources free of charge. Go to http://ruready.net.

Do the right thing

Every generation bemoans the rude behavior of young people. What’s an educator to do? Check out NEA’s new Web area designed to promote thoughtful, respectful behavior. You’ll find ideas that educators are using today—from teaching appropriate language to using positive humor to training kids how to solve problems on the playground. Educators who teach social skills make the learning environment more pleasant and productive for all. Bonus: offer your ideas to help shape future content! Go to www.nea.org/dotherightthing.

To join the biggest reading celebration in the nation! On March 2, 2007, NEA’s Read Across America will mark its 10th anniversary in style with reading parties to benefit school libraries in need and to share the joys of reading with students.

Would you like to let us know about your Read Across America plans and organizing tips? We want to hear from you. Go to www.nea.org/readacross and share your story. While you’re there, check out our resources. In addition to our event planning tool kit, you’ll find materials to help kids keep reading front and center all year long.

 And don’t forget to involve your students. NEA and Youth Service America are offering $500 Youth Leaders for Literacy Grants for student-led literacy projects.

The application and guidelines are at www.nea.org/readacross/volunteer/. The application deadline is November 24.

Your 403(b) Retirement Plan Could Be in Jeopardy!

You’ve spent years contributing to your supplemental 403(b) retirement savings plan. Now, because of proposed changes to IRS 403(b) regulations, your choice of retirement 403(b)/Tax-Sheltered Account (TSA) providers could change. The proposed changes may result in some school districts reducing the number of TSA providers from which you can choose. Fewer choices mean you may be forced to select a different TSA provider.

What can you do? In order to maintain the relationship with your current TSA provider, be proactive and contact your NEA UniServ staff and local education Association. Together you can work with your school district officials to help ensure that your current retir ement savings choice remains an option in your district.

The NEA RateSmartSM Credit Card—The card with one of the lowest rates anywhere

Thanks to the buying power of 3.2 million NEA members, we’ve been able to negotiate one of the lowest rates around. The new card’s Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is set to the Prime Rate—the best rate that banks typically offer their
customers.

The NEA RateSmart Credit Card is the perfect card for members who want to save money on interest. You could start saving on interest now with one of the lowest APRs available anywhere. Plus, there is no annual fee and no balance transfer fees if balances are transferred when applying.

Call (888) 758-7946 and mention priority code M261 for an instant decision. (TTY users call 800-833-6262.) Apply today!

Who is That Masked Man?

Forget goblins and ghosts. This Halloween, Kimin—a young Korean-American boy—is going to dress up as his grandfather. His friends tell him that an old man costume is not scary, but they don’t know that Kimin’s grandfather was a Korean mask dancer. Kimin honors his culture and remembers his deceased grandfather in author Yangsook Choi’s Behind the Mask, a gentle tale combining American and Korean folk traditions. Ages 4–8. 40 pp. $16 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Go to www.fsgkidsbooks.com to order.

A Fiesta for Skeletons

Calavera Abecedario from Jeanette Winter introduces young readers to Spanish vocabulary, the alphabet, and the art of making calaveras—the
papier-mâché skeletons used in Mexico’s el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations. Each letter depicts a different colorful calavera and its name in Spanish, such as the frizzy-haired químico (chemist) or the lasso-wielding vaquero (cowboy). A glossary in the back provides English translations. Ages 3–7. 48 pp. $6 from Voyager Books/Harcourt. To order, go to www.harcourtbooks.com.

A Halloween Love Story

that they do not get along. They each plan to throw a Halloween party, inviting everyone—except each other. But when a competing party ruins their fêtes, Boris and Bella find they do have something in common. Can opposites attract? Find out in Carolyn Crimi’s humorous Boris and Bella. Ages 4–7. 32 pp. $6 from Voyager Books/Harcourt. Go to www.harcourtbooks.com.

Monsters Have Problems Too

Although this book claims to be for ages 5 to 10, adults will find themselves snickering their way through Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex. Modern (and hilarious) poems on well-known monsters and their surprisingly un-scary problems, such as “Count Dracula Doesn’t Know He’s Been Walking Around All Night with Spinach in His Teeth,” fill the pages of this collection with illustration styles that pay homage to James Audubon, Charles Schultz, and others. 40 pp. $16 from Harcourt Children’s Books. To order, go to www.harcourtbooks.com.

The Thigh Bone's Connected to What?

Here’s a great tool to help kids learn about their skeletal structure. Like a 3-D puzzle, the 12-inch, 24-piece model skeleton is realistically designed with moving joints, each piece teaching the building blocks of the human form. Assembled, the skeleton can be displayed in its clear plastic bell jar. The Bones Book, written by archaeologist and vertebrate paleontologist Stephen Cumbaa, accompanies the model and is packed with projects and experiments to test reflexes and senses. Ages 8–12. 64 pp. $16.95 from Workman Publishing. Go to www. workman.com

Together Again, Once a Year

High in the Andes, Felipa misses her grandmother, who has just died. Felipa’s mother says that Abuelita’s soul lives on, so Felipa searches for her everywhere—even in the mountains. In the dark, her father finds her and explains that Abuelita’s soul will return, along with all of the village’s dearly departed, on the Day of the Dead. Felipa can hardly wait. She helps prepare the special foods and decorations for the day when everyone will be reunited. Felipa and the Day of the Dead by Birte Müller is a gentle introduction to an ancient tradition. PreK–2. 29 pp. $15.95 from North-South Books. Go to www.northsouth.com.

Time to Go In

If you know children who complain about being home before dark, let them read this retelling of an old Hispanic legend. La Llorona: The Weeping Woman is the story of a ghost who cries and searches nightly for her lost children—and perhaps children to replace them! Storyteller Joe Hayes presents the chilling tale in English and Spanish, and discussess the oral tradition of storytelling and the longevity of folk and cautionary tales. Eerie illustrations help bring this 20th anniversary edition to life. Ages 9+. 32 pp. $16.95 from Cinco Puntos Press. Go to www.cincopuntos.com .

Resources for GLBT History Month

NEA believes that a great public school is a fundamental right of every child. For a school to be great, it must be free from intimidation and harassment.

During Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender History Month and throughout the year, these free NEA resources will be useful to educators and parents working together to create schools where all children can learn and thrive.

Strengthening the Learning Environment
A guide for Association members and staff who may confront issues involving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) students or colleagues. Go to www.nea.org/takenote/glbtguide06.html.

FOCUS ON Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons
A brochure that examines our understanding of the achievement gaps for this vulnerable population. Available at www.nea.org/teachexperience/
achievgapfocus0405.html.

Safe schools for everyone
An interview with Kevin Jennings, founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. Go to www.nea.org/neatodayextra/safeschools.html.

The safe zone
A page with links to bullying resources, a brief glossary of bias terms, and a downloadable poster. Go to www.nea.org/schoolsafety/safezone.html.