Education Policy Institute

PMB #294, 4401-A Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202) 244-7535, Fax: (202) 244-7584

Charlene K. Haar photo
Charlene K. Haar
President

Welcome to our home
on the Internet!

Myron Lieberman photo
Dr. Myron Lieberman
Chairman

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American education

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Public education in the United States does not fulfill either the educational or social needs of children. Its deficiencies have serious negative consequences in our political system, our economy, and within our social and cultural affairs. Accordingly, EPI seeks to improve education through research, policy analysis, and the development of responsible alternatives to existing policies and practices. In these activities, EPI strives to promote greater parental choice in education, a competitive education industry, and other policies that address the problems of both public and private schools.

EPI's chairman and president are nationally prominent for their contributions on education policy issues. EPI Chairman, Dr. Myron Lieberman, is widely recognized as the nation's leading authority on education employment relations and teacher unions. EPI President, Charlene K. Haar, is the author of groundbreaking studies of the National PTA. Her publications have led to widespread scrutiny of the PTA as an NEA-dominated organization with a liberal social agenda. In addition, Ms. Haar is a coauthor of The NEA and AFT: Teacher Unions in Power and Politics.

At long last, the Education Policy Institute is delighted to announce the publication of The Politics of the PTA by Charlene K. Haar.


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From the Education Policy Institute - AUTOGRAPHED COPY
Send your check for $30 for each paperback copy to:
4401-A Connecticut Avenue, NW
PMB #294
Washington, DC 20008-2322

The Politics of the PTA is a fascinating account of the transformation of the National PTA from a mothers-only organization to an NEA-dominated one that explicitly denies that it is an educational organization. In fact, as Haar shows, the PTA has adopted policies that prohibit local and state affiliates from challenging union positions on the issues of greatest concern to parents. Consequently, on issues of concern to parents, the PTA does not and cannot represent parents whenever parent interests conflict with teacher union interest, as is often the case.

The Politics of the PTA also shows that parent membership in independent parent/teacher organizations (PTOs) not affiliated with the PTA greatly exceeds PTA membership. When the PTA asserts that it "speaks for parents," it is merely repeating an indefensible claim about its support. For parents who are unhappy about, or unaware of, the PTA's hardcore left educational and social agenda, The Politics of the PTA provides practical suggestions on how to leave the PTA and become a PTO.

The Politics of the PTA would make a great gift for parents, teachers, school administrators, and policymakers who are interested in education. All will be astonished by the gap between the PTA's image and the realities of its contemporary existence.

Introducing a New Project from the Capital Research Center: www.educationwatch.org

EducationWatch is a free web-based service that monitors and reports on the leadership, activities and funding for kindergarten through 12th-grade education advocacy groups, particularly those that take a position on school choice issues.

At the heart of the EducationWatch web site is a searchable database presenting profiles and financial information on approximately 200 non-profit public policy and advocacy groups that seek to influence the direction of education reform. Some of these include: Association of School Administrators, NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union, National Center for Policy Analysis, American Federation of Teachers, National PTA, Black Alliance for Educational Opportunity, National School Boards Association, Center for Education Reform, Progressive Policy Institute, Center on Education Policy, and United Federation of Teachers.

CRC knows that some of these non-profits provide education-related services at the same time that they lobby government to satisfy their special interests. They may apply for government grants in the name of the former but use them to support their own political advocacy. The CRC database aims to track both private and public funders of these organizations. It is searchable by non-profit name, grantmaker name, FEIN, and state. It replicates Green-Watch.com, the CRC database established to monitor the environmental movement.

EducationWatch hopes to provide useful information for the media, policymakers and parents on school choice and education reform. CRC will look at advocacy regarding school vouchers, privately-funded education scholarships; tax-credits for education, charter schools, privatization of services, homeschooling, curriculum options, merit pay for teachers, and unionization.

The Education Policy Institute welcomes the Capital Research Center as it joins the campaign for education reform by presenting EducationWatch, a source of information on nonprofit organizations fighting the battle for the education of our children.

Read Dr. Myron Lieberman's Online Column

"Building a Competitive Education Industry" 

That Was Then, And This Is Now - Or Is It?
Address of Professor Myron Lieberman On Equity
and Collective Bargaining in Education
Titles in the EPI Series on Teacher Unions

Disassociation from the NEA
Agency Fees: How Fair Are "Fair Share" Fees?
Teacher Unions and Parent Involvement
NEA/AFT Membership: The Critical Issues

EPI's bookstore, in association with Amazon.com, is now open for business at EPI Bookstore. Dr. Lieberman's newest books are also available through EPI. See ordering links to the right. 

The Teacher Unions book coverDr. Lieberman has done it again! His newly revised and updated book, The Teacher Unions, has been released by Encounter Books in paperback. Drop by the EPI Bookstore to purchase your copy.

Other recent books by Myron Lieberman include Understanding the Teacher Union Contract: A Citizen's Handbook, Teachers Evaluating Teachers: Peer Review and the New Unionism and The Teacher Unions (1997). They are available now through EPI, or through Amazon.com. In them, he offers an in-depth analysis of how the teacher unions block reform, pursue a liberal social agenda, conceal their political expenditures, and more. 

Read EPI's exclusive NEA Convention 2000 Report and Commentary. Myron Lieberman and Charlene K. Haar provide all the sordid details you won't find elsewhere -- particularly emphasizing the activities that fall outside of the Representative Assembly and business meeting.

The National Education Association directed its efforts toward gearing up for Election 2000 at its Orlando convention in July 1999. Check out EPI's 1999 NEA report for a view you won't find anywhere else. Click on 1998 NEA Convention report or 1997 report for EPI's take on previous conventions.

At the 1999 QuEST conference, the AFT included a revealing look at their view of the Edison Project. Read the 1999 EPI report on AFT's Edison session. For EPI's write-up of the 1998 AFT Convention, click here.

EPI is one of the only sources providing inside information about the National PTA that has not come directly from the PTA's press shop. Read Charlene K. Haar's report from the 2001 National PTA convention, PTA Members Challenge Leaders at Annual Convention, for a complete update on the current status of PTA activities. For historical reference, let Lessons Learned at the 1999 PTA Convention inform you about an organization that is not all Chevrolets and apple pie. For a look at the 1998 National PTA Convention, click here.

Read about How the NEA/AFT Hinder Excellence in Teaching in archives from the EPI Press Conference -- May 6, 1999, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Education Reform Briefs Check out our "hot" review of current news in the world of education reform. Past issues were updated twice a month, and brought dozens of sources together in one location! This page is currently suspended.
Myron Lieberman's Online Column Read the archived columns from Dr. Lieberman's thoughts on building a competitive education industry. 
Education Exchange Review the archives of EPI's Education Exchangemonthly newsletter to find a wide variety of short articles addressing the "education cartel" and its tentacled reach into virtually all aspects of public education. 
EPI Speakers Page Choose from EPI's list of education experts for your group's professional speaker needs. They address affirmative action, charter schools, education funding, home schooling, parent issues, school choice, teacher unions, and everything in between. 
EPI Bookstore Visit EPI's online bookstore. In association with Amazon.com, EPI now offers site visitors a selection of top notch books on teacher unions, education finance, organized labor, and peer review. 
EPI Series on Teacher Unions Learn about the critical issues of NEA/AFT membership. Discover how fair "fair share" fees really are. Gain insights into teacher unions and parent involvement. Receive advice on disassociating from the NEA. 
Articles and Books Review EPI's articles scrutinizing teacher unions, the National PTA, and other issues currently being debated in the field of education reform. 
News Releases Review EPI news releases as they are issued. 
EPI Bios Read about EPI's personnel, their backgrounds and experience in the field of education, and the progression that led to their current positions with EPI. 
PAC Data Get the scoop on teacher union PAC money -- where they get it, where it goes, what the dollars are. Can you say "special interest?" 
State Education Agencies Find your state and visit its department of education web site to learn of numerous ways in which it is addressing education policy and other areas of current concern in education. 
Links Link to a variety of other sites involved in education reform. Working together, we will improve the educational outlook for all American children. 

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Education Policy Institute, PMB 294, 4401-A Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008-2322 202/244-7535, Fax 202/244-7584 http://www.educationpolicy.org, revised 10/17/02