December 18, 2007

Omnibus Budget Bill Makes Students and Public Schools Top Priorities 

Congressional Leaders Hampered by President’s Strict Budget Demands

Passing a budget bill is difficult.  However, congressional leaders managed to approve a spending bill earlier this week, despite the strict financial demands issued by the Bush administration.  NEA President Reg Weaver praised lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives for approving a bill that makes public education and children top priorities.

The following statement can be attributed to Weaver:

“NEA applauds leaders in the House of Representatives for making significant increases in education funding, despite the “Scrooge-like” constraints outlined by the White House. Clearly, we had hoped for higher funding levels, but the numbers show that lawmakers worked hard to make children winners in this budget battle.  A greater investment in education is needed to provide public schools with the resources to ensure that all children have access to a quality public education and a chance to compete in a global economy.  I strongly urge the U.S. Senate to follow the example set by the House and avoid any across-the-board cuts or reductions in education funding.”

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

December 10, 2007

Teacher Salary Lags Behind Inflation 

NEA president warns low teacher pay shortchanges students

WASHINGTON —Despite the value of education to Americans, the National Education Association published figures today showing that investments in America’s public schools remain stagnant, as the average increase in teacher salary continues to trail behind the rate of inflation for 2005–06. No state has achieved adequate and equitable funding despite years of court cases and education reform proposals.

According to NEA’s publication, Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the States 2006 and Estimates of School Statistics 2007, the average one-year increase in public schoolteacher salaries was 2.9 percent, while inflation escalated 3.9 percent. Over the past 10 years, the average salary for public schoolteachers increased only 1.3 percent after adjusting for inflation. Because of inflation and other economic factors, teachers have not been able to keep pace with basic household expenses.

“Low teacher pay comes at a very high cost,” said NEA President Reg Weaver. “How can we expect educators to be focused, committed and at their best on a daily basis when they are fearful of the consequences of not earning enough to support their families? Each year we lose excellent teachers because they can’t afford to make ends meet. Low teacher pay shortchanges the teaching profession, and students end up paying the price.”

Weaver continued: “The values we place on education must match the investments if we’re going to attract highly qualified teachers or close student achievement gaps and reduce the high school dropout rate.”

According to the report, the national average public schoolteacher salary for 2005–06 was $49,026. State average public schoolteacher salaries ranged from those in California ($59,825), Connecticut ($59,304) and the District of Columbia ($59,000) at the high end to South Dakota ($34,709), North Dakota ($37,764) and West Virginia ($38,284) at the low end.

Rankings & Estimates provides statistics to raise public understanding of key issues affecting teaching and learning conditions in the nation’s public schools. Other public education indicators, including school population and student-teacher ratio, can be found in the state-by-state report. Among the other highlights:
• Public school enrollment — Public school enrollment was 48,727,536, up 0.7 percent over fall 2004. The largest percentage of school enrollment increases from fall 2004 to fall 2005 were in Nevada (3.1%), Georgia (2.9%), Texas (2.8%) and Arizona (2.4%). Eighteen states and the District of Columbia experienced declines in student enrollment in fall 2005. The greatest declines were in Louisiana (-9.6%), North Dakota (-2.2%),
Utah (-1.9%) and the District of Colombia (-1.3%).
• Expenditures per student — Average per student expenditure for public elementary and secondary schools was $9,100 based on 2005–06 fall enrollment. States with the highest per student expenditures were New Jersey ($13,781), New York ($13,551), Massachusetts ($12,596), Vermont ($12,475) and Connecticut ($12,436). Among the states with the lowest per student expenditures were Utah ($5,347), Arizona ($5,585), Nevada ($6,755), Oklahoma ($6,944) and Tennessee ($6,979). These figures, in the context of adequacy and equity in school funding studies, are about 25 percent short in meeting student needs.
• Gender diversity in teaching — Males comprised 24.4 percent of public schoolteachers in 2006. Many of them taught in Kansas (33.3%), Oregon (31.4%), Alaska (30.9%) or Indiana (30.5%). States with the lowest percentage of male faculty were Arkansas (17.5%), Mississippi (17.7%), Louisiana (17.8%), South Carolina (17.9%), Virginia (18.8%) and Georgia (19.3%).

Rankings and Estimates has presented selected education statistics since the 1960s.
The complete report can be found at http://www.nea.org/edstats/images/07rankings.pdf

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

December 7, 2007

NEA President Reg Weaver Encouraged by Move Toward Better NCLB Accountability Model 

Weaver reminds Bush administration that children are more than standardized test scores

WASHINGTON —The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it is allowing more states to apply for a pilot program called a “growth model” to measure student progress under the accountability system of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Growth models are a more effective measure of student achievement than the existing adequate yearly progress system, which measures the percentage of students who score at the proficient level solely on the day of the test. The current "snapshot" model measures this year's third graders against future third graders, as opposed to measuring improvements in individual student learning.

Currently, nine states are participating in the NCLB growth model pilot program.

The following statement can be attributed to NEA President Reg Weaver:

“We are encouraged that the U.S. Department of Education is backing away from the existing one-day ‘snapshot’ accountability model and is moving toward providing more states with better tools to measure student progress. We believe that accountability systems should reward success and support educators to help students learn. And tracking individual student growth is more helpful than the current approach.

“Although this is promising news for educators who have been calling on the Bush administration to treat children as more than standardized test scores, we urge the administration to look beyond NCLB and AYP—and testing, labeling and punishing—and get serious about reducing class sizes, increasing the number of highly qualified teachers, and providing educators with the tools and resources to prepare children to succeed in the real world. Yet given President Bush’s recent veto of a bipartisan education spending bill, which left the neediest students without essential programs and services, we doubt that this administration is serious about supporting education."

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

December 4, 2007 

NEA Underscores Importance of Closing Achievement Gaps in Preparing Students for Global Economy

WASHINGTON  – The results of the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released today by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United States again rates in the lower half of 57 other participating countries and scored below average in student achievement.  PISA surveys the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in science, math and reading. Students from 30 OECD member countries and 27 additional countries and jurisdictions participated in the 2006 PISA.

NEA President Reg Weaver, who also serves as vice president of Education International, said, “Once again, Finland ranks number one in the world in the PISA survey.  Is it a coincidence that Finland has no standardized testing and provides each child with an individualized education plan?  Additionally, in Finland, teachers help to make key decisions regarding budget allocations, scheduling, and curriculum, which influence learning.  This country has designed an education system exclusively focused on helping students excel.”

The 2006 PISA results do not show significant increases in math and science compared to 2003 when the last assessments were performed.  The results, however, do suggest a correlation between equity and quality.   

The study recommends that educational policies should target disadvantaged children and that low performing schools and students would greatly benefit from specialized curricula and additional resources.  “These findings confirm what NEA has known all along—gaps in student achievement must be narrowed in order to level the playing field so that American children will be able to compete in the global economy of the future,” said Weaver.

The results also highlight that all students can benefit from expanded education opportunities such as providing early childhood education and increased learning time.  “No Child Left Behind has forced teachers to teach to the test and narrow curricula, depriving students of the well-rounded education they need,” Weaver said.  “Good science instruction requires teachers and students to become engaged in critical thinking and laboratory activities, which require sustained amounts of time and resources.  These are luxuries that today’s teachers don’t have.  We must provide teachers with the resources and time they need to teach—not test—our students.  Teachers also require ongoing training opportunities so they can keep up with constant innovations in science.” 

One of the major goals of Education International, which represents more than 30 million teachers and education workers, is to promote equality through the development of education.  “This must be made a priority in America so that U.S. children aren’t left paying the price for our education policy’s shortcomings,” Weaver said.

The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment is available at:
http://www.pisa.oecd.org

For more information on NEA’s initiatives regarding gaps in student achievement, please go to http://www.nea.org/achievement/index.html

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

Noviembre 16, 2007

La Autora de 'Harry Potter' Regresa al Colegio

La votación anual de la NEA para el Día del Educador Suplente selecciona a J. K. Rowling para el primer lugar

WASHINGTON—El pueblo ha votado. La celebridad que a América le gustaría más tener como educadora suplente por un día es J. K. Rowling, creadora de la serie de fantasía "Harry Potter."

Tal vez haya que agradecerle a los estudiantes de la "Escuela Hogwarts de Brujería y Magia" por el impulso de última hora que rompió un empate virtual triple por el primer lugar. Con el 25 por ciento del voto, Rowling arrebató los honores principales en la segunda votación anual del Día del Educador Suplente patrocinada por la Asociación Nacional de Educación. Entre los candidatos que ocuparon los cuatro primeros puestos después de la ganadora figuraron el fundador de Microsoft Bill Gates (23 por ciento), seguido de la super-estrella de golf Tiger Woods (21 por ciento), la actriz América Ferrara ("Ugly Betty") (18 por ciento) y el popularísimo director y productor de cine Steven Spielberg (13 por ciento). La NEA recibió más de 4,500 respuestas a la votación, que se celebró con anterioridad al Día del Educador Suplente.

"Los maestros hacen magia todos los días en el aula cuando enseñan a los jovencitos," dijo el Presidente de la NEA Reg Weaver. "J. K. Rowling ha hecho llegar su propio toque de magia a millones de niños al hacerles despertar su interés y cultivar el amor a la lectura. Ahora que la serie 'Harry Potter' ha llegado a su fin, tal vez la Srta. Rowling quisiera unirse al cuerpo docente —aunque no sea más que por un día— y mantener viva la aventura."

La votación tuvo lugar en unos tiempos en que los distritos escolares están enfrentando una escasez de educadores suplentes. En una encuesta realizada por la Universidad del Estado de Utah, el 96 por ciento de los distritos escolares del país tienen dificultades para contratar y retener suplentes.

El Comité de Educadores Suplentes de la NEA ofrece un remedio a esa puerta giratoria. Las soluciones incluyen aumentar la paga de los maestros suplentes, ofrecer incentivos a los suplentes que trabajen cierto número de días en un año determinado, y darles entrenamiento para asegurar su éxito en las aulas. 

"Los educadores suplentes desempeñan una importante función de apoyo para ayudar a ofrecer a los estudiantes escuelas de calidad y un proceso de aprendizaje ininterrumpido" señaló Weaver. "Este Día del Educador Suplente honraremos las contribuciones de aquellas personas que con regularidad se presentan cuando maestros y demás empleados de las escuelas tienen que perder clases."

Creado en 2003 y observado el viernes de la Semana de la Educación Americana, el Día del Educador Suplente está diseñado para despertar el interés en los educadores suplentes y su necesidad de recibir más respeto y mejores sueldos, beneficios y entrenamiento. El tema de la Semana de la Educación Americana: "Escuelas Públicas Excelentes: Un Derecho Básico y Nuestra Responsabilidad," representa la visión de la NEA de hacer unas escuelas públicas excelentes para cada niño y la responsabilidad compartida de todos los americanos de proporcionar a los estudiantes unas escuelas públicas de calidad.

Para obtener más información sobre el Día del Educador Suplente y la Semana de la Educación Americana, visite el sitio www.nea.org/aew.

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La  Asociación Nacional de Educación es la mayor organización de empleados profesionales del país, representando a 3.2 millones de maestros de escuelas primarias y secundarias, profesores universitarios, administradores de escuelas, profesionales auxiliares de la enseñanza, educadores retirados y estudiantes para maestros.