What March Madness Has to Do With the NEA
March 24, 2008 - A whole lot, according to one member.

The $125,000 Salary Experiment
March 21, 2008 - Will high salaries attract the best teachers?

Dropout Prevention 2.0
March 20, 2008 - Some districts are spending millions on media campaigns to "rebrand" school to would-be and recent dropouts.

Teacher Pay Falls into the Gap
March 18, 2008 - Public school teachers are paid about 15 percent less a week than people in similar professions with similar educations.

Bus Drivers are Educators Too
March 14, 2008 - A story about a school district's effort to get bus drivers involved in cutting down on inter-ethnic bullying on the ride to school.

Arts Smarts
March 13, 2008 - Turns out the arts do play a vital role in education.

Read Across on the Web
March 11, 2008 - Last week NEA celebrated the 51st birthday of The Cat in the Hat and the birthday of Dr. Seuss with its nation-wide reading event, Read Across America.

 

April 2008

Teacher Retention

Readers Respond to "Why They Leave"

The April cover story, "Why They Leave," struck a chord with NEA Today readers, and the responses have been flooding in. Join the discussion.

Here's a sampling:

Adversarial Relationship Between Teachers and District

You addressed the problem of teacher retention very well, and I hope to use the article in my own efforts to educate our school board members in Martin County, Florida, about why the adversarial relationship between teachers and the district is causing a problem here.  We have been battling for months and still, the district is planning to impose its contract on us, now using our retroactive backpay as leverage to ensure ratification of the contract we've been opposed to all along.  It is a matter of respect, or lack thereof, that is fueling the teachers here to voice their discontent and raise public awareness before the election this fall when we hope to elect a new superintendent and two new board members. Thanks again for your article and voicing a nationwide epidemic.

--Amy Robertson, Language Arts, Martin County, Florida

The Heart of Teaching Hijacked by Tests

Over my career, I have experienced many of the scenarios depicted in your article.  Yet, somehow I had the "juice" to ride over those hurdles in the past, because I believed in what was happening once I was able to close the door and teach my classes.  That is no longer the case, because the heart of our teaching has been hijacked by the standardized tests, the increasingly impossible standard of achievement that is required of our students, and our administrators' fear in response to this.  Gone are the moments when we can pursue an idea down a new road for a week or two, or sit for an hour and talk about a social issue that has arisen in our classroom. Each moment is strung with expectations that are directly connected to the curriculum - which, by the way, has been totally rewritten to align directly with the Mastery Tests.  

--Cory Kern, Sixth-grade teacher, Manchester, Connecticut

Counselors Also Get Short End of Stick

I completely and sadly agree with all the reasons teachers leave the profession.  I wanted to add, however, that teachers are not the only ones getting the short end of the stick.  I am a high school counselor and we are absolutely overwhelmed with the NCLB testing responsibilities.  In our District the counselors have all of the testing responsibilities.  At the high school level all of those tests come in the spring (6 of them) when we are also responsibility for pre-registration, graduation, summer school registration and inputting registration data into the computer so the principal can do the master schedule.  We just wanted to know who will do our job while we are testing?

--Debbie Stanchak, Jacksonville, Arkansas  

Decline in Morale

As a teacher of 12 years, I found myself nodding as I read the article silently.  I have definitely noticed a decline in morale for our profession over the last 5 years.  As stated in the article, the public often thinks teachers complain unnecessarily or that our main problem is money.  We all know the real problems go far beyond that to a sense of worth, respect, and professionalism.  Although many people say, "every job has it's problems", teaching is not like "every job".  What other job is constantly under public scrutiny without practical support (not just nice words)? What other job treats highly educated individuals like children?  

--Regina Johnson, Bonanza High School-English/AP Language, Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Working Years Longer Than I Planned

The Welfare  Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset are impacting my own  potential retirement profoundly. I am working years longer than I had planned  because of the devastating effect of those two provisions upon my retirement  income, so I'm actually STAYING longer than I had hoped. New hires in  Alaska no longer have a defined benefit for their eventual retirement, so new  people are not entering the profession in Alaska. The solution in my district  seems to be to give all of us older, and very tired, workers far more  responsibilities than we can reasonably handle. When the occasional new person  does appear, he or she is invariably amazed at the heavy workload and soon  looks for other employment.

--Terry Wilson, Speech-Language Pathologist, High School and Middle School, Fairbanks AK

I Stuck it Out -- But Wouldn't Ask Others to do the Same

When I started teaching, in August of 1989, I was fresh out of college with a general Special Education degree.  The majority of my courses focused on Mentally Handicapped and Learning Disabled students and strategies; my student teaching was done with primary-aged children.  My first job?  Working with Intermediate Emotionally Handicapped/Behavior Disordered students in a self-contained setting. On teacher workday, my "mentor" introduced herself, showed me to my classroom, and walked away.  I was faced with an empty room (literally nothing inside, except student and teacher desks) and a looming time-out room in the corner, which I had no idea what to do with.  My first day of teaching, I got a student freshly released from an institution.  He was in my classroom for about an hour before he lost control and trashed everything I had worked hard to create.  Eventually, he was taken away on a stretcher in a straight jacket. A lot of the teachers expected me to walk away.  Yet I stuck it out, teaching in that classroom for almost six years...Would I ask anyone else to do the same?  Never.  Nor would I, given the opportunity, leave a new teacher to fend for herself in that environment. But it appears that my experience is not entirely unusual, nor is it new.  The lack of support and true "mentoring" has been an ongoing problem, which clearly needs addressing. No one should be left behind.

--Lin Steele, Pahrump, Nevada

April 2008

Teacher Retention

Teacher Exits—The Devil’s in the Details

The April NEA Today cover story focuses on how lack of respect, NCLB mandates, and underfunding are driving teachers from the profession. Determining definitively just how many teachers that is has proven tricky for researchers and they don’t always agree.

In the story, we highlight that the National Center for Education Statistics puts the average annual turnover for all teachers at 17 percent and at 20 percent for urban school districts. We also point out that the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future estimates that one-third of all new teachers leave after three years, and 46 percent are gone within five years. That last number is cited frequently, but it’s also often notched up to “nearly 50 percent” or “50 percent,” says the University of Pennsylvania ’s Richard Ingersoll, whose research generated the figure.

“Those are rough estimates,” says Ingersoll, a professor of education and sociology. “The devil’s in the details.” But between 2002 (when the commission released its report using Ingersoll’s numbers) and 2006 (when he recalculated them based on the most recent national Schools and Staffing Survey) they haven’t changed with any significance.

Critics of the 46 percent statistic typically point to research done by others in the field who use a different approach and come up with a lower number. They don’t count teachers who leave and then return years later to the profession. But Ingersoll says he approaches his statistical analysis from the perspective of an administrator who must evaluate staffing shortages on a year-to-year basis—not an academic with the luxury of a five-year look at the teaching pool landscape. “It’s not that one data set is wrong and one is right, it’s that they measure things slightly differently,” he says.

The end result is the same, though. Teachers are leaving in higher percentages than in previous decades and their departure through what researchers call the “revolving door” costs roughly $7 billion a year. [For more on the consequences of the departure and some of the solutions offered by NEA read “Why They Leave.”] “Those who want to argue it’s all been exaggerated sort of miss the point,” says Ingersoll. “Roughly a million of these people in this job are in transition every year and that has consequences for those running the show.”

As for Ingersoll? The controversy over the numbers has provided enough material for him to write a whole new research paper on the matter.

Return to Why They Leave

Send comments on this story to ckopkowski@nea.org.

February 2008
	Teacher Retention

Why They Leave

Lack of respect, NCLB, and underfunding—in a topsy-turvy profession, what can make today's teachers stay?

By Cynthia Kopkowski

One afternoon, the public address system at Janet Griggs' school—where administrators have done away with paper memos—crackles with the announcement that staff heading to impending team meetings should refer to the room assignments listed in the e-mail they received that day.

If it were a Dilbert comic strip, readers would chuckle. But when what's at stake is the professionalism of educators like Griggs, a 61-year-old communication arts teacher in St. Louis, Missouri, and the quality of instruction for the children they want so desperately to teach, well, it's no laughing matter. Yet every day, workplace conditions are sometimes so surreal they make leaving the profession seem like their best or only option.

Nationally, the average turnover for all teachers is 17 percent, and in urban school districts specifically, the number jumps to 20 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future proffers starker numbers, estimating that one-third of all new teachers leave after three years, and 46 percent are gone within five years.

Their departure through what researchers call the "revolving door" that's spinning ever faster—the commission estimates teacher attrition has grown by 50 percent over the past 15 years—costs roughly $7 billion a year, as districts and states recruit, hire, and try to retain new teachers. "There is this idea that we can solve the teaching shortage with recruitment," says commission President Tom Carroll. "What we have is a retention crisis." Likening it to continually dumping sand into a bucket with holes in the bottom, Carroll says, "as fast as [the districts] are moving teachers into schools, they're leaving."

Marta Nielson, an elementary school teacher in Vista, California, is leaving. Her current classroom is packed with up to 38 students. There are no aides and the obsessive focus on cramming for standardized tests means "an atmosphere of constant stress and fear," she says. The result? She's leaving at the end of the year for a small private school.

"The whole retirement thing has been consistently exaggerated," says University of Pennsylvania researcher Richard Ingersoll. Policymakers and administrators blame retirement in a case of "wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription," he says. "You can't do a whole lot about retirement, but you can do something about the way schools are organized, operated, and managed."    

What is it about the day-to-day experiences of teachers that has so many heading for the door each year? Researchers across the country devoted much time during the past two years polling the group they call "the leavers." Last year's report from the National Center for Education Statistics outlined a series of reasons why that group is swelling, based on interviews with more than 7,000 current and former teachers. Some states have conducted their own polling of tens of thousands of members.

What they're hearing from educators is at times surprising and disheartening, but it's also spurring efforts to improve the system.

NCLB Mandates

You Mean You Didn't Sign On to Teach Bubble-Filling?

State standardized testing preparation is in full swing for Griggs and her colleagues. An administrator sends an e-mail late one day demanding that the seventh-grade teachers immediately respond to her with a list of their "power standards." Griggs stares at the computer screen. She doesn't have a clue what a "power standard" is or how it's going to help her students. She turns off the computer and heads home for the night.

It's one thing to have to labor daily under the weight of testing and unfunded accountability standards wrought by the so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). It's another to know that they spell the end of your teaching career.

Elizabeth (whose name has been changed to protect her identity), a young elementary special education teacher in New Jersey, knows that she will leave the profession because of what she sees as the unfair demands placed on her by the law. Her classroom is increasingly loaded with students and the benchmarks for those students are creeping up senselessly. "They are in special education for a reason," she says. There will always be children who perform below others on standardized tests, but under the current accountability mandates, their teachers "are looked at like we're not doing a good job, even if we've been doing good work with them," she says. "I say to myself more and more often that I don't know how much longer I can do this." Last fall, she sat down with her fiancé, reviewed their financial plans, and came up with an answer: not more than five years at the current rate of pay.

It's not just test scores. After NCLB was enacted, Arizona schools sent home letters with all students in classes taught by those suddenly derided for not being "highly qualified" under the law. "It was one of the most demoralizing incidents we've seen," says Arizona Education Association President John Wright, who fielded calls from teachers in tears afterward. "The pressure to meet these unrealistic testing expectations breaks down teacher morale, and in too many communities, parents and leaders are not affording teachers professional respect."

Fallout from the accountability movement will naturally affect retention rates, says Penn researcher Ingersoll. "We want to increase accountability, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't make sense to hold people accountable for things over which they have no control," (like students' disadvantages before they even walk through the classroom door) he says. "Management 101 says you're going to drive out the best if you do that."

Too Little Support

There's Your Classroom, Best of Luck

It's one of the harsh paradoxes of teaching: the schools least prepared to support new teachers—that is, low-income, low-performing facilities—are the ones where most new teachers are sent. When they arrive, they often encounter an isolated, everyone-for-themselves system vastly different from the collaborative school of education or student teaching environment they just left.

When Boomers arrived full of independent spirit decades ago, they "went into the classroom, closed the door, and figured it out," says Mary Ann Jandoli, associate director of Research and Economic Services for the New Jersey Education Association. Earlier generations might not realize that many Millennials now entering the workforce are "more team- and process-oriented."

So many teachers say they crave a connection to their peers. But while "there's a lot of talk about creating collaborative learning, it isn't the norm," says Jandoli. Many states offer some form of mentoring for brand new teachers—the number of first-year teachers getting such support doubled during the last 10 years—but there's a broad range from an involved, routine presence to a sporadic visitor. (And in New Jersey, unless their district is picking up the tab, new teachers must shell out $1,000 to the state to get a mentor.)

All these factors are confronting a generation of young employees who don't view jobs with the permanence that their parents did. They'll move within districts or states looking for a position that suits them, says Jandoli, and if they don't find one they like, they'll leave altogether.

Departures are particularly acute at those high-needs schools. As a result, "there's no professional continuity, parents don't know the teachers, and the teachers don't even know each other," Carroll says. "The sink-or-swim placement of new teachers in the most challenging schools and classrooms is unacceptable, and it has to end."

Student discipline

They're Your Problem

While many of the students in Tammy McCartney's Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, middle school classroom were attentive, more than a handful preferred to horseplay and wander the room. Administrators signed off on her plan to place troublesome students at an isolated desk in the corner, but that became a pipe dream in a room so crammed with students that one needed to turn sideways to walk the aisles. Administrators discouraged sending students to the office. When one absolutely needed to be sent, the teacher had to first stop and fill out a referral form, and even then the student was usually sent right back to the classroom, his or her behavior unchanged.

Compounding the problem were phone calls to parents that yielded indifference or blatant animosity. McCartney's breaking point came the day that a boy put a sweatshirt on as a pair of pants and waddled around the classroom, creating havoc. When she called his house, his mother said he must have just been cold, and hung up. "I said, 'I think I've had enough,'" McCartney, 29, says. She quit last spring.

Unmanageable discipline problems mean more than a headache in the classroom. For teachers like McCartney, they erode desire to invest time and energy in lesson plans that make the content come alive for students. Preservice training is often of little help, too. "We spent very little, if any, time on discipline," McCartney says of the training she received the summer before entering the classroom. "I entered the profession completely unprepared for discipline problems."

Deciding to leave devastated McCartney, a once optimistic and enthusiastic young teacher. "Gosh, it was a really big defeat," she says, letting out a deep breath. "Teaching is important, but I got to the point where I wasn't willing to sacrifice so much anymore."

Resources you can use today

• Teacher TV video clips of colleagues handling students who talk too much and work too little
• Sample classroom rules for elementary, middle, and high school students
• A checklist of classroom disciplinary procedures
• Excerpts from NEA Professional Library books on discipline
• Quick tips on dealing with clowns, tattletales, and kids who can't sit still.

Underfunded and Underpaid

Follow the Money...and You'll Find a Lack of Respect

A district administrator has decreed that worksheets, like memos, are verboten at Griggs' school. When she absolutely has to have materials copied for the classroom, she is required to give them to a secretary with a request form. That form is sent to a principal for approval. If it's approved and the teacher doesn't need more than 100 copies, they are made. If she needs more than 100 copies, the print job is sent out of the building to the district copy center and then shipped back to the school.

Feeling that she doesn't have all the tools or the time she needs to do her job the way the self-confessed "perfectionist" would like weighs on Mann. "It's really depressing sometimes. You get to the point where you just can't handle it."

The issue of inadequate pay arises when educators like Mann, battered by a slew of such obstacles, grow increasingly dissatisfied. They begin to look around, says Susan Moore Johnson, a researcher with the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "Other lines of work offer higher pay, and when there's not such a stigma attached to leaving one job and going to another, the pay elsewhere becomes more attractive." Elizabeth, the young New Jersey teacher, puts it this way: "You see your friends coming out of college getting jobs making the same or more than you do for less work, and it's tempting to go find a job that pays more and is more relaxing."

The bottom line for many educators, especially new ones, is that their income doesn't pay the rent and bills. "Teachers have to be able to afford to teach," says Johnson, "Even for the most committed, the pay has to be sufficient to live a reasonable, middle class life."

Figuring out how to tackle pay problems has proven tricky in states where officials have focused largely on bonuses to woo new teachers. South Carolina offered an $18,000 bonus for teachers to come to its weakest schools, but because of a lack of administrative support, poor working conditions, and inadequate induction and mentoring, only 20 percent of the teachers sought took the bonuses and stuck it out. In Massachusetts, a $20,000 signing bonus program failed for similar reasons. When recipients figured out what they'd actually net in bonus money over the program's four-year term, they often decided it wasn't worth it, says Johnson.

Bonuses are not the answer to pay problems. That's why one goal of NEA's national Salary Campaign  is a $40,000 starting salary for every preK–12 teacher.

Lack of Influence and Respect

Educators Should Be Seen and Not Heard

Instead of a dynamic presentation giving the educators a chance to demonstrate the scope of their work with the children, they end up meeting only for a few minutes with parents who wander through their rooms. When the event is over, Griggs sinks into her chair and wonders if anyone will ever listen to teachers' ideas.

In survey after survey, teachers say they want a sense that they are making progress in their career, that they can extend their knowledge and expertise beyond the walls of their own classroom, and that they are being valued, says Harvard's Johnson. "It can be very demoralizing if people believe the world thinks they are not smart and doesn't value their work." Yet that's the message reinforced daily for educators nationwide.

Ingersoll saw it happen himself, when he made the transition from teaching high school to becoming a college professor. "It was day to night," he says, laughing incredulously. "We have a societal image there that this is not worthy of the prestige of being a lawyer, doctor, or an engineer. That's going to make recruitment and retention difficult."

Even within the profession, educators all too often feel their expertise is discounted. Take Elizabeth. Working with her special education students, she realized the mandated reading program was ineffective. But she got nowhere when trying to explain that to administrators.

Whether the teachers arrived fresh from college or from another career, the problem is often the same when it comes to lack of influence, says Carroll of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. "After they've been teaching a few years, they don't see a rewarding career path ahead of them. The only way to advance is to leave and go into administration or just leave altogether."

And What of Janet Griggs?

Will She Make it Another Year?

Yes. "I'm determined that I will leave on my terms," says Griggs. "The reasons I will stay are, No. 1, money; No. 2, my wonderful coworkers; and No. 3, sheer stubbornness."

She worries though that the cumulative effect of all the bureaucracy, substandard working conditions, and NCLB mandates is too much for her newer counterparts to bear. "I don't know how long they can hang on," she says. "And that's what's scary. Who's going to teach our children when new teachers coming in are so quickly demoralized by the headaches and the pressures put on them?"

Griggs believes Association membership is integral to sticking it out. "I have seen that our local is very strong," she says. She advises fellow teachers that they can't afford not to be a union member. "The power of the numbers and the protection NEA offers is important," Griggs says. "I've seen all of these issues, but I've also seen how remaining a united voice can help us." 

Online Exclusive: Audio Slideshow about a new teacher in Las Vegas

Send comments on this story to ckopkowski@nea.org.

April 2008

Try This!

How can you deal with angry parents?

Very carefully.

By Alain Jehlen

Dad and Mom, eyes wild, barge into your room screaming, "How dare you give Susie an F?!"

Susie smirks. The class cheers. The principal walks in.

OK, that's probably not going to happen. But furious parents can do a lot of damage, whether or not there's any basis for their anger. So in case Dad and Mom ever do show up mad, here are some ideas on how to cope, and maybe even turn the encounter into an opportunity for everybody—parents, kid, and you—to do better.

Our advice comes from experienced teachers we contacted, from NEA members who posted their ideas on an nea.org discussion board, and from Jerry Newberry, head of the NEA Health Information Network, who used to train teachers to work with parents.

Success, they agree, depends on moving from confrontation to problem-solving. That may not always be possible. "Sometimes parents are angry about other things in their lives and choose to take it out on teachers," wrote Leadville, Colorado, sixth-grade science teacher Peggy Pothast. "In that case, there is nothing you can do but let them vent."

But these techniques can greatly improve your chances of moving beyond the venting.

If possible, before meeting  with the parents:

Document the child's problem behavior and your conversations about it.

"I document every time I talk with a parent or a student and keep enough details to answer questions," says Leavenworth, Kansas, elementary school counselor Janice Troyer.

If you want parents to help you get the homework turned in, you need to tell them how often it hasn't been, because their child is not likely to 'fess up.

"A lot of kids, if they are not doing well, will hide information from their parents," says Newberry. "So the parent is missing information. The parent's tendency is to defend the child and assume the teacher is wrong. Then the teacher gets defensive. The solution is concrete evidence."

Don't talk to a parent—or write—when you're mad.

"Never ever reply immediately to an angry e-mail," says Linda Robb, a high school English teacher in Indianapolis. "Wait. Do not delay more than 24 hours, but give it time. And then call them instead of writing an answer."

Talk to other teachers who work with the child.

Often, a student with academic problems in one class is finding success in other subjects. If so, you want to be able to let the parents know. That may help them feel less defensive when you describe their child's performance in your class.

Decide what you want to come out of the meeting.

"Don't let the only goals at the meeting be the parents' goals," says Newberry. "They may just come in and yell at you because they think you've been unfair. Your goals should be child-centered—a clear plan of action.

At the meeting:

Start on a positive note.

"Robert is doing really well in ______."

Remember? That's why you talked to other teachers beforehand.

"Many parents come to a conference highly defensive," says Newberry. "Year after year, for 12 or 24 conferences, maybe all they've heard has been bad news. You have to be different: 'I'm here to help your child be successful.'"

Don't propose your solution first.

If the teacher lays out a plan, there's a good chance the parent will come back with, "We tried those things and they were an utter failure," says Newberry.

Instead, he advises, ask the parents to explain what's been done in the past and whether it worked. "Often a meeting fails just because the teacher talked first," he says.

Use 'active' or reflective listening.

"I hear you saying ______. Is that correct?" That's how Diane Postman, an early childhood special education teacher in Gloucester County, Virginia, summarizes this very effective technique, which lets the parent know you're sincerely listening. It also makes sure you understand.

"Often, the angry person is part right and part wrong," notes Postman. "If you begin by agreeing or acknowledging what they are saying, they will calm down."

Describe the problem in behavioral, nonjudgmental terms.

"Robert is not turning in his homework."

"Janet is distracting the students she sits next to. She argues with me and won't follow rules."

Don't bring the student in until you and the parents are on the same side.

If the parent is upset, it's better to work that out before the child is in the room, says Newberry. "Children need to see their teacher and parents singing off the same song sheet."

Agree on specific steps that you and the parents will take.

Pick two or three practical steps each of you can take. "Perhaps you and the parents can use a school Web site to communicate about schoolwork," says Newberry. "You will post the assignments, and the parents will check the site to see what's due and sign off on each completed task. You'll follow up with them when something isn't handed in."

If you're going to find something out for the parent, tell them when you'll get back to them.

After the meeting:

Follow up.

Agree to meet again, or at least to talk, in a few weeks. Don't wait half a semester to find out how your plan needs to be adjusted.

If you're unable to get information that you promised by the date you set, call them anyway with a progress report.

April 2008

Rights Watch

Cautionary tales from the 'what-were-you-thinking' department.

Way back in 1974, California teacher and aspiring actor Lou Zivkovich famously was fired for posing nude in Playgirl magazine. His response, as reported by Newsweek, "I didn't murder anyone."

Nowadays, thanks to advances in technology, you don't even need a major publisher to get fired; just post your racy photos, sexually graphic writings, or wild party stories on a personal Web blog. You'll be amazed by how quickly tech-savvy students can disseminate your postings to their friends and your employer.

Here's a roundup of just some of the horror stories from last year:

In Virginia, high school art teacher Stephen Murmer was fired after posting photos of his "butt art" on the Web, which were viewed by scores of students. The budding artist applied paint to his posterior and genitalia, which he then pressed onto canvases. With the help of the ACLU, he sued the school district last fall claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights.

Band director Scott Davis from Broward County, Florida, was dismissed after school officials viewed his MySpace profile that included his musings about sex, drugs, and depression.

A Colorado English teacher lost her job after composing and posting sexually explicit poetry on her MySpace site. Police were even called in to investigate.

Nashville teacher Margaret Thompson was removed from teaching after posting "racy pictures" of herself, along with candid photos of her students, on her MySpace profile.

Florida middle school teacher John Bush was terminated because of "offensive" and "unacceptable " photos and information on his MySpace page.

Massachusetts teacher Keath Driscoll was suspended for his MySpace postings including "sexually suggestive" photographs, videos of drinking alcohol, and references to women as "whores." [Update: Driscoll, a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, subsequently was fired from his job as a teacher's assistant because of his MySpace postings.  MTA took his case to arbitration and won almost a complete victory. In a decision dated March 24, 2008, the arbitrator ruled that Driscoll should not have been fired and ordered him reinstated with back pay, seniority, and benefits. The arbitrator did conclude, however, that Driscoll had engaged in misconduct that warranted some form of discipline, which he determined to be a three-day suspension.]

But the clueless award goes to Atlanta-area high school football coach Donald Shockley, who was forced to resign last January for storing on his school computer photos of his assistant principal dressed in lingerie and posing in sexually suggestive ways. The photos were discovered by a student whom Shockley had asked to work on his computer and who then posted the photos on the Internet and sent them to other students at the school.

Last October, reporters for The Columbus Dispatch conducted an investigation of MySpace profiles posted by Ohio teachers. The newspaper quoted one 25-year-old teacher bragging that she's "an aggressive freak in bed," "sexy," and "an outstanding kisser." Another teacher wrote on her page that she had recently "gotten drunk," "taken drugs," and "gone skinny-dipping."

In the wake of these reports, the Ohio Education Association urged all OEA members to remove any personal profiles they may have posted on MySpace or Facebook. The Association also warned members that such profiles "can be used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings," which could "affect not only a teacher's current job but his/her teaching license" as well.

But what about free speech? Don't school employees have the right, on their own time, to blog about their private lives without fear of losing their jobs? Probably not.

While the courts have not yet decided any of these teacher blogging cases, it's the general rule that school employees can be disciplined for off-duty conduct if the school district can show that the conduct had an adverse impact on the school or the teacher's ability to teach. And it wouldn't be too difficult to make that showing if the teacher's blog includes sexually explicit or other inappropriate content and is widely viewed by students.

As to a possible free speech claim, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that it was not a violation of the First Amendment for the City of San Diego to fire a police officer for posting a sexually explicit video of himself on the Internet. The unanimous Court said that such speech was "detrimental to the mission and functions of the employer."

There's an old lawyer's saw that goes something like this: Never put in writing anything that you wouldn't want read in open court or by your mother.

Maybe it's time for an updated adage: Never put in electronic form anything that you wouldn't want viewed by a million people, including your colleagues, students, and supervisors—and your mother.

—Michael D. Simpson
NEA Office of General Counsel

Photo: Superstock

April 2008

Last Bell

Visitors

The DOE stopped by to see why I underperform.

by Nikki Connery

I am stunned. A dozen men and women file into my room like a colony of ants, invading every nook and cranny of my second-grade classroom. Poking into files, looking for evidence to prove that I, the teacher, am the reason my students are not passing MCAS, the Massachusetts state test.

Observers from the Department of Education (DOE) want to see if I use "best practices" to teach my 7-year-olds "higher level thinking skills." In this 30-minute period, I must demonstrate that I use probing questions, a technique called "think-pair-share," that I am not the center of attention but a "facilitator," and any and all other current catch phrases. My head is spinning. I cannot concentrate on the little child in front of me.

When my "guests" arrive, my 23 second- and third-graders are working at several centers—learning arithmetic, seeing numbers in different contexts, and writing descriptive sentences, all with the help of colorful, personalized materials that I have spent a great deal of time making for them.

When they finish, they color in a Christmas present that shows the activity they were working on. This may be "too cute" and not what the DOE are seeking.

But that is what I, an individual, bring to my teaching. Just as we are told to differentiate instruction because children are different, I bring to my classroom my strengths and talents, which include art and music.

From my perspective, I see my students working together, engaged, learning. But I am certain the people from DOE are observing through a very different lens. They have their own opinion of teachers in "under-performing" city schools. They pay no attention to the lack of staff and materials, or the neglected physical surroundings—the falling tiles, leaking bathrooms, rodents galore.

A few days ago, one of the wall tiles fell off the wall and landed atop my nicely made games. I am thankful that it missed my head, but I was worried about asbestos and spent the evening calling people trying to find out if was dangerous for me or for my students.

On our faculty, we all have rodent stories to tell. Once, I was being evaluated by the vice principal and trying to interest my students in a lesson about summarizing the plot of a story, when a particularly inattentive child raised her hand with such gusto I was overjoyed at her enthusiastic response. But when she spoke, it was to point out a little mouse poking his head between my metal racks, somewhere in the midst of the glue cups and scissors. Well, that certainly got the children’s attention off the point I was trying to make.

Luckily, our morning visitor didn’t drown in the white gooey mess and the assistant principal, always the professional and used to dealing with bizarre situations, said off the cuff, “Well, maybe he wanted to learn, too.” Strangely enough, it all fit into the story we were reading, “The Mouse and the Motorcycle.”

But the men and women sent by the Department of education don’t pay much attention to these mundane issues.

It seems they also don’t want to acknowledge the issues surrounding the lives of many of our students, the lack of stimulation and learning experiences in their first five years, and for most, little or no English spoken at home. Nearly 90 percent are poor enough to receive subsidized lunch. 

If we mention these problems, the educational establishment glibly responds that we must be saying poor children cannot learn. Of course we are not saying our students cannot learn. We work hard at teaching them every day, or at least the majority of us do. But we are acutely aware of the obstacles. Whether their parents are extremely young, uneducated, addicted, unemployed, or just have too many children at home, many cannot help their children excel in school. I am always surprised at the number of children who come to kindergarten not able to count to five and not knowing any of their colors.

I have seen wannabe gang members wearing their gang colors in second grade. I was beaten by a child on the playground when I tried to stop him from striking another child’s head into the ground.

The reality is, we teachers provide some of these adorable, innocent, and some not-so-innocent, children with the only structure and security they have in their lives, and a chance to experience another kind of life where caring, kindness, and respect are modeled.

Why don’t we trade places with those teachers in affluent communities whose children do so well on the MCAS, and learn their “more effective” methods, or just have them come to our school and take over for a few months to watch their “best practices.”

We give the DRA Reading test, Dibbles fluency tests and the MCAS test in September and October, followed by a week of MEPA testing of the ESL students. In January and May we repeat most of these tests again—almost a quarter of the school year spent testing instead of teaching.

Even students who have only been speaking English for a year are expected to take the MCAS. Is it a surprise that they score “not proficient” in English?

Any good teacher could predict those test results after two weeks with her students. This push to standardize is turning the humanity and joy of learning into dry data analysis and test-driven instruction. The only thing this amount of testing does is deplete the resources that could be used to lower class size, renovate crumbling buildings, and buy basic supplies.

This year I bought 500 pencils, a case of paper. crayons, glue sticks, scotch tape, masking tape, magnets, magic markers, two dozen scissors, games, treasure box items, spray-painted broken down chairs, and dozens of colored folders and matching notebooks. I have bought paper towels, toilet paper, soap, tissues, soapless cleaners for the dirty hands, and cleaners for the desks. Why? Because the schools have no money for such things. Instead they change math and reading programs, which requires buying new books, and do this for a couple years until the next “new” idea comes along that promises to magically fix all of the problems.

When that doesn’t work, they figure they have to fix the teachers, so they spend money for more teacher training. We must be the problem in these “underperforming” schools. In the past year, we have taken a vocabulary and writing course, ESL courses, courses on the Skillful Teacher and Differentiating Instruction and Efficacy training, to prove to the Department of Education that we are improving our teaching. We take courses in the summer, and then they make us all take the same course again at required teacher meetings during the school year. But what I really would like is to have common planning time with other teachers in my building, because I learn more from sharing ideas with them for a few minutes than in two hours reading new, unrealistic, and irrelevant theories.

Last Friday when the DOE people all came into my room, I am certain that they didn’t consider the obstacles. They did not know that I have done the best that I can, and have stayed at school until 6 pm many nights trying to incorporate what everyone told me to do. I just saw 12 figures in my room with their clipboards and solemn faces watching me and my nervous class.

Well, I am proud of what I have accomplished. I kept my mind focused on my last year’s scores, which showed my students made a two-year gain in one year, even though many still didn’t pass the MCAS.

Hopefully, I have done some good in my 30 years teaching. This year, one of my students had a fire in her house. When the alarm went off, she was there with her brother and his friends. She told everyone that “her teacher”—that would be me—told her they should all get out right away if they heard a smoke alarm. It warms my heart to think that what I said to this beautiful little girl just may have saved her life.

Nikki Connery teaches at the Chandler Magnet School in Worcester, Massachusetts. You can contact her by e-mail. A shorter version of this essay ran in the April issue of NEA Today.

Photo: Chris Christo

April 2008
	In Person

Kathy Cowan

Kent, Washington
Special education paraeducator
Horsewoman, trail preservationist

You’re in the John Wayne Pioneer Wagons and Riders. What is that?

An organization dedicated to preserving trails for future generations to enjoy.  The group helps keep part of our American heritage—wagons and horses—alive.

What got you into trail preservation?

The love of the outdoors and horses; wanting to help make sure there will always be some place for people, not just equestrians, to enjoy our beautiful state.

How long have you ridden horses?

Almost 30 years.

Favorite horse movie?

More than one—Seabiscuit, The Horse Whisperer, Hidalgo, Black Beauty, The Black Stallion.

Favorite tunes to hum while out on the trail?

John Denver. We often sit around after a long day’s ride and sing “Rocky Mountain High,” “Eagles and Horses,” “Ponies,” and “Back Home Again.”

What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you on horseback?

On my very first cross-state ride I was an hour out on the trail when my new horse shied and I went flying off like from a slingshot! I got a concussion and other minor injuries. At my demand, I rode another six hours to the end of the trail. Needless to say, I now advocate for riding with a helmet.

Does working with horses have any impact on your classroom philosophy?

Yes, it takes a lot of patience, good communication, trust, and a passion for what you do.

Why did you decide to become an NEA member?

I joined the paraeducators union at its inception. I hoped to help make a difference in our profession as educators.

David Ely

Hinesburg, Vermont
Science teacher
Biologist, world traveler

Is there any secret to having students be so successful on the AP Biology exam?

No, they work for it. Many of them see it as a way to personally demonstrate how our journey together has been one of great effort, pride, and respect. (Also, scoring a five gets them a free group dinner and they can call me ‘Dave.’)

You take your students on treks to Costa Rica. What do you hope most that they learn from that trip?

They can experience more natural diversity in one square mile of rainforest than in the whole of New England. More importantly, I want them to experience a very different culture and provide community service, like reforestation.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve done on one of those trips?

Swimming with leatherback turtles last April. Years ago, I was first introduced to Costa Rica on a trip to help protect their nesting sites. Now here I was perhaps swimming with some of those I’d helped protect. I felt it was nature’s way of reminding me that altruism and mutualism may be one and the same.

On a trip to Kenya you gave a school run by women disowned by their tribe a cow. Did you pick the cow personally?

No, a nice Vermont Holstein wouldn’t do well in that heat! Our naturalist guide picked out the cow. Three other teachers also provided funds so we we increased the women’s herd from three to seven. In this culture, wealth is measured by the number of cows owned, so this was a small gift of independence.

Any tips for traveling with youngsters?

Set high expectations and remind them they’re ambassadors for their country; make sure they understand that the group’s experience is more important than the individual’s; fully explain rules, expectations and consequences then justly administer them as necessary.

Why did you decide to become an NEA member?

I’m a dedicated professional educator and VEA and NEA represent and advocate for my profession.

April 2008

Student Life

 

In a Gangster's Paradise

How they're banging in the 'burbs

By Mary Ellen Flannery

You may not think you have gang members in your school. You may think that your students aren't those kinds of kids. Maybe you think they're too rich, too suburban, too smart, or too White.

Think again.

"If you don't think you have a gang problem, you're in the wrong business," says Detective Javier Castellanos, a New Jersey gang specialist, in a recent training for school staff in northern New Jersey.

"You do," he adds firmly.

"We know it!" says a voice from the back.

For decades, gang membership in America has been stretching out from the inner cities of Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, into such places as small town Wisconsin. Past the gates in South Florida's cul-de-sac communities, into the big houses of Washington, D.C.'s, suburbs, even down the street from the Billy Graham Center in the most churched-up town in this country, you will find boys and girls in gangs. And that means you'll find them in your schools, too.

According to the most recent U.S. Justice Department surveys, somewhere around 760,000 kids are hanging, fighting, and pushing drugs in 24,000 different gangs. In 2000, 95 percent of law enforcement respondents "identified [gang] activity within one or more of the high schools in their jurisdictions. Ninety-one percent reported gang activity within one or more intermediate schools."

Since then, according to the 2004 National Youth Gang Survey, about half of the surveyed agencies say things have gotten better or stayed the same, but the other half say it's even bloodier than before. At the same time, the federal data collectors say their numbers, which rely on reports from local police, may not provide an accurate accounting. Not surprisingly, not all want to admit they have a gang problem. It's not such a great thing for property values, notes Castellanos dryly.

And not all school districts want to admit it either.

"What constitutes a problem?" asks a suburban Connecticut high school teacher. "Our district has gangs—but we're in denial."

WHA'S CRAKKIN?

Castellanos and his partners in the Passaic County Sheriff's Department have perfected a Rambo-style, take-no-prisoners presentation on youth gangs that leaves at least one school nurse wiping tears off her cheek and a few veteran truant officers shaking their heads. "I've been in that kid's house," whispers one, as the detective clicks past a PowerPoint slide of a bullet-scarred teenager.

"You ever hear a kid go 'Bla-a-a-a-att!' like simulated gunfire, when he's walking into your classroom?" Castellanos asks.

"Oh my God. I hear that!"

"And then, if you get another one answering 'Suuu-wooo!' you'd better duck!" Castellanos says. The first is a popular East Coast Bloods greeting, while the latter is pure West Coast.

Ready for a history lesson?

Basically, there are two major gang alliances in the United States: Folk Nation and People Nation. Within those alliances are the actual gangs (in the same way that the American League includes the Yankees and Red Sox). The Folk Nation, for example, boasts of big names like the Los Angeles-based Crips and Chicago-based Gangster Disciples. Within the People Nation are the Bloods and Latin Kings.

Each gang has its own set of identifiers. Remember the big deal about bandannas in schools? You'd see a kid draped in red scarves, tied around their heads and legs, and know they belonged—or wanted to look like they belonged—to a chapter of Bloods. In response, many schools have banned them. But the kids have moved on. There are new ways to signal affiliation.

"You see a kid with a jacket hanging on their left shoulder— they're telling you they're Folk Nation, could be Crip," Castellanos warns. They might pull their left pocket out, roll up their left pant leg, or wear their belt buckle to the left. Regular baseball caps are very big. Why are all the kids in one New Jersey project wearing Pittsburgh Steelers caps? Because the team's colors also are Latin Kings colors. Why are other East Coast kids wearing Kansas City Chiefs caps?

Because "KC" means "Kill Crips."

Tattoos are telling, too. Don't believe the kid who tells you that his "MOB" tattoo means "man of business," or "money over bitches," Castellanos says. It means "member of Bloods." Or look for strands of colored beads, sometimes modified rosaries, which are popular among the most faithful gang members.

The other day, Castellanos, who has moved from New Jersey to a wooded suburb of Pennsylvania, ran into an obvious Bloods member in his local grocery store. "The salad dressing aisle!" he recalls with amazement. The street-wise officer flashed a few elaborate hand signals, shouted, "What's poppin', dawg?" and the gang member greeted him with delight: "You Blood?"

"Nah, man. I'm a cop."

KEEP YA HEAD UP

How far does the detective have to move his two daughters? Is there a nice little town where boys don't get "beat in" and girls don't get "sexed in"?

He doesn't think so. "Gangs go everywhere," he says. (He just got a photo of gang-related graffiti in Afghanistan.) His colleagues in law enforcement, all over the United States, see the same problems. "We've had gangs in Northern Virginia for some years, for the most part in the inner suburbs," says Leesburg, Virginia, Chief of Police Joe Price. "In the early parts of this decade, we saw it moving to the outer suburbs, which is happening all over the country."

Price is co-chair of a regional taskforce that involves everybody from the Secret Service to the local school board—and it shares credit for reining in the rapid expansion of MS-13, a fast-growing, machete-wielding Central American gang. The task force also has trained every teacher in its region, much like the New Jersey team. (In New Jersey, teacher training in gang awareness is required by state law, and Castellanos is a regular guest at New Jersey Education Association-sponsored conferences.)

"One of the worst things that a community can do is put its head in the sand and say it doesn't have a problem," Price says. "Gangs will develop so rapidly that by the time they're forced to realize it, it's too late."

But all this red-button talk about gang-bangers in the suburbs—doesn't it all seem a little over the top? Just because a kid starts flashing shadow puppets with his hands, does it mean he's dealing dope? If he talks like Tupac, does it mean he's smacking his classmates after school? "Kids pose. They want to pretend to be part of something," says Josh Ajima, a teacher at Dominion High School in Northern Virginia.

Many classroom teachers say that they're overwhelmed with "wannabes," who are definitely annoying, but not necessarily illegal. By definition, a gang member must be engaged in criminal activity.

"I can't stand people who tap-dance around problems and say there is no problem. But I think this is such an over-dramatized issue," says Pam Smith, a Northern Virginia teacher with 20-plus years of experience. Smith had a student recently suspended for two weeks for spraying "gang-related" graffiti in school. "He's a great kid, so naïve. He's as much a gang member as my 80-year-old mother!"

But Emily Tusin tells a different story. Tusin, a second-year elementary teacher in suburban Wheaton, Illinois, home to the Billy Graham Center and the most churches per capita in America, knows she had a gang member in her classroom last year. "He was a new kid and he came in with notches in his eyebrow to show he was a member of a gang. He came right in, saw another kid—who he didn't know—and he actually punched that kid in the face because he was wearing the wrong color."

Both Smith and Tusin are likely right. Would-be gangsters are walking around on campuses, as are the real deal. What's important is to learn the difference. "Keep your eyes and ears open. If you get any kind of inkling that a young person is involved in gang activity—gang graffiti on their notebook, they're wearing colors, hats—talk to your local police," advises Wheaton Deputy Chief Tom Meloni.

"It might be nothing more than a comic book club, but the best course of action is to be vigilant," he says. "The more you tolerate, the worse it gets. And once they get entrenched, they're very difficult to eradicate. I worked in South Central L.A.—I know!"

GANGSTER 4 LIFE

 Once a kid gets into a gang, there are basically two ways out: the back of a police car or a hearse, Castellanos says. "Unless a parent has the resources to pack up and move, there really aren't any options," he adds.

Prevention is the key. If you're a parent, get your child's MySpace password, he urges. Gangs do recruitment and organization on social networking sites. He's not a big fan of gangster rap. Nor does he care much for gang-related video games, like the Grand Theft Auto series. "Would you let a sex offender in your house? Would you invite a gang member into your house? That's what you're doing when you buy these games for your kids."

Ask your kids where they're going, who they're going with, and what time they'll be home. Most of all, as parents and educators, seek out ways to spend time with kids and involve them in after-school activities, he says.

Dan Korem, the Dallas-based author of Suburban Gangs: The Affluent Rebels, has found success with a prevention program that partners at-risk kids with "protectors," usually teachers. That person promises to call the student every week and stop by twice a month. "How could an hour have so much impact?" Korem asks. "Because so many kids don't have anybody in their corner. That small amount of time has an out-of-proportion impact."

Kids join gangs for a variety of reasons—including money and access to drugs—but the primary one shared by members in inner-cities, suburbs, and country towns is this: A sense of belonging.

"When you go into some of these homes and see the way these kids live—they have everything they want!" Castellanos says. "But they don't have everything they need, which is love."

Send comments on this story to mflannery@nea.org

 

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What’s Your Gang IQ?

---

Gang Glossary

“Yo, my man is food.” – Food is a code word for assault.

“Dawg” – A member of the Bloods

“Blood drop” – A child of the Bloods

“Crakalak!” – A Crips shout.

“I’m going to pop his top and drink his milk.” – Somebody’s going to get hurt.

“Tomatoes” – What a Latin King might call a Blood.

“T.O.S.” – A Latin King order to Terminate On Sight.2

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 April 2008 Table of Contents

NEA Today Home | Archives

Teacher Retention Why They Leave Sometimes today's schools feel more like a Dilbert cartoon than places of learning. But educators aren't laughing. Lack of funding, disrespect, and NCLB are driving many to leave the profession. What can we do to get them to stay?

Talk Back! » Contact the Editor » Share a Story Idea » Free E-mail Newsletter » Advertise

Student Life In a Gangster's Paradise Learn how to identify the gang-bangers in your classroom and ways to stop the spread in schools. Rights Watch The Whole World (Wide Web) is Watching What you post on MySpace in your free time might just cost you your job. Try This! How can you deal with angry parents? Tips for defusing tense situations and getting the parent-teacher relationship back on positive ground. Editor's Note Searching for a Cure Resources President's Viewpoint It's Not Brain Surgery! Why teachers leave and why they stay Leading the Way A Win-Win Partnership Minority educators get help from an NEA-Tom Joyner Foundation partnership. ESP New Jersey bus drivers take counter-terrorism training. The Guide... ...to Living Green Becoming more eco-friendly without breaking the bank. Last Bell Visitors When the Department of Education visits a classroom, what do they see? That's Funny!

 

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April 2008

The Guide...to Living Green

Talk Back!

» Contact the Editor » Share a Story Idea » Free E-mail Newsletter » Advertise

Living Green Without Spending It

How you can be environmentally friendly—and frugal

By Mary Ellen Flannery

It's not easy bein' green, especially when you earn a teacher's salary or struggle to make a living wage. (That recycled timber flooring from an old Adirondack barn? Not gonna happen on a beginning educator's salary.) But it's not impossible to make a few positive changes that will save you money—and the Earth, too, if you think creatively.

"It's absolutely doable!" exclaims Randi Hacker, author of How to Live Green, Cheap and Happy: Save Money! Save the Planet! And here are a few ways to get you started:

Stop buying bottled water. Americans will buy about 25 billion single-serving, plastic bottles of water this year—and nearly 80 percent will end up in a landfill, according to the Container Recycling Institute. "The less plastic you can buy, the better," Hacker says. "And the water that you're getting in that bottle isn't any different from the water in your tap." (Consider selling reusable bottles as a school fundraiser.)

Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. They last about 10 times longer than traditional bulbs—and use less juice. Just a single switcheroo will save about $36 in electricity bills, on average over the life of the bulb, and cut carbon dioxide emissions (a significant culprit in global warming) by more than 600 pounds, according to Energy Federation Incorporated.

How I…Save the Earth Brenda Khayat, a Pennsylvania fifth-grade teacher whose class regularly participates in Earth Force projects (www.earthforce.org), tries to live what she teaches. She packs her lunch in a reusable bag with reusable containers and drinks from a reusable bottle. On Earth Day, her students also will go "garbage-free" at lunch. Like many, she's switched to compact fluorescent light bulbs at home—and this year, her students will be buying them for every Park Forest Elementary family. "All of us fifth-grade teachers feel teaching the students to be good stewards of the environment makes us more environmentally conscious in our own daily lives," she says.

Eat more pot roast! Roasting a chicken for an hour in the oven uses about three times as much energy as tossing it in a slow cooker for seven hours, according to the authors of The Home Energy Diet. Toaster ovens or microwaves also are more energy-efficient. (Meat, on the whole, however, does use a lot of energy in its production, so eating less of it also saves resources.)

Give up paper towels. Okay, maybe keep a few for greasing your cast-iron pan. But using cloth dishtowels regularly might save a few trees. Consider saying no to tissues, too. A soft cotton handkerchief will be kinder to your nose.

Sweat a little. This summer, ease off the air conditioning. Hacker never uses it herself—"Sweat is the body's air conditioner." And, in winter, she keeps her thermostat at 58 degrees when she's out, at 64 when she's home. "Keep piles of blankets near," she advises.

Walk or bicycle. Maybe you can't afford a new hybrid Highlander. (The 2008 MSRP is close to the average annual teacher salary in South Dakota!) Strap on a bike helmet and follow Kathy Dollar, a Maryland special education teacher, who has been bicycling to school since 2000. "I just felt I could be healthier that way," she says. Plus, "It's very positive, going by a gas station and seeing it say three dollars and change for a gallon of gasoline, knowing that I'm not spending that and I'm also helping the environment!"

1 Tree The average college student buys a tree's worth of textbooks over a single school year, according to www.CaféScribe.com, a web site that sells digital versions of textbooks and assumes that the average student buys about 8,300 pages per year.

Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket. This is a cinch! And it'll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, according to the experts at www. climatecrisis.net. Also consider insulating the 10 feet of hot-water pipe nearest to the tank to further cut your bills.

Say no to shopping bags. While paper is better than plastic, reusable totes are best. If you're feeling crafty, steal a stitch from Dollar, who knits her shopping bags. "I probably paid a dollar for the skein," she says. "And it's wearing like iron."

What do you do to make your life greener? Join the discussion and share your own tips on saving the Earth—and dollars.

 

Sites to help you tread lightly
	Find Your Shoe Size Measuring your carbon footprint—the amount of climate-changing emissions your daily activities produce—is the first step on the green path. But don't just focus on the actual number. What's key is seeing how your footprint compares to your neighbors', locally and globally, and then working to reduce it. The Nature Conservancy offers a basic calculator or try the EPA's number-cruncher, which also lets you see how a few simple changes can reduce your impact.
	Green Up Your Plate Unless you live in California, Florida, or Washington, chances are most of your fruits and veggies travel thousands of highway (or ocean) miles to your table, burning tons of fossil fuels along the way. What to do? Eat as much locally grown and raised food as possible. At www.localharvest.org, search by zip code for farmers markets, grocery stores, and restaurants that sell food from your region. Or, do the same at the Eat Well Guide, which also lists purveyors of meat, eggs, and dairy items produced using Earth-friendly methods.
	Turn Trash into Treasure Does the thought of throwing a perfectly good crockpot in the trash rankle you? Check out Freecycle, a nonprofit organization that provides an online meeting place for people who believe reuse is better than recycle (or landfill). Just go to www.freecycle.org to find a local Yahoo group, view the lists of freebies, and post your own, all at no cost of course

 

Get Greener Goods A look at eco-friendly products, with comments from green author Randi Hacker
	A gallon of vinegar	Recycled paper towels	Compact Fluorescent Lights	Organic food	Cloth diaper
Cost	Cheap! About $3 a gallon.	Marcal towels cost about $2 a roll; Seventh Generation's do too if you buy in bulk.	About $3 each—a good value over the long run.	Expensive	Cheaper than disposables—if you wash them yourself.