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4401-A
Connecticut Avenue, Box 294, Washington, DC
20008
Tel: (202) 244-7535, Fax: (202) 244-7584
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Education Exchange
Volume 1, Issue 4 -- November
1997
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Focusing on
Education Reforms at Your School, in Your State
Legislature, and in Congress
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National
Education Partnership to Evaluate Member Programs
Will Results be Valid?
Last month the U.S. Department of Education awarded a
five-year, $23 million contract to the National Partnership
for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching. The new group
will study more than two dozen teaching and teacher-related
issues, including teacher recruitment, pre-service
preparation, continuing education, and programs that
champion excellence in teaching. However, in a move that
raises early doubts about possible results, the National
Partnership will evaluate its own members' programs.
The basis for part of the research studies will be an
investigation of recommendations developed by the National
Commission on Teaching & America's Future. NCTAF's 1996
report suggested several programs and $5 billion more in
federal, state, and local money each year to upgrade the
nation's 2.7 million public school teachers. Among the
suggestions:
- subsidize teachers in some specialized fields through
the certification process offered by the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards;
- reform the licensing and certification processes by
adopting the standards set by the National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education; and
- improve professional development opportunities for
teachers.
After an infusion of more than $80 million and 10 years
in operation, NBPTS has certified only 595 teachers in 36
states. President Clinton has proposed another $21 million
for NBPTS for fiscal year 1998.
It's a case with obvious conflicts of interest. The
National Commission on Teaching & America's Future is a
member of the new National Partnership for Excellence and
Accountability in Teaching, as is NBPTS. So are the NEA and
AFT. Both teacher unions also have members on the 63 member
board of the NBPTS (NEA provides 20 board members, including
its president, Bob Chase).
The non-profit publisher of Education Week and Teacher
magazine is also a partner. The University of
Maryland-College Park will coordinate the study.
The 1996 NCTAF study was recently discredited by a
critical analysis completed by economists Michael Podgursky
at the University of Missouri and Dale Ballou at the
University of Massachusetts. They report that NCTAF
distorted the crisis in teacher education, and NCTAF's
recommendations are likely to impede workable solutions.
(See Education Exchange, October 1997.)
$20,000
to be Awarded in Privatization Contest
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) is conducting its
6th annual California privatization competition, the first
phase of which begins with an entry deadline of December 15,
1997. This year's contest emphasizes private initiatives in
education.
In keeping with its mission of applying market solutions
to public policy problems, PRI believes independent programs
are better suited than government to address education
reform issues.
Competition submissions may fall under any of the
following five categories: pre-kindergarten education, K-12
education, higher programs education, adult and vocational
programs, and specialized educational services. The
submissions must include a mission statement, program
description with two or three specific case success stories,
a list of the program's criteria for success, and the
measurements used to judge that success -- all within 10 or
fewer pages.
Judges will evaluate each entry according to four
criteria:
- Effectiveness - What educational needs are being met?
Why is this education program better than existing
government education programs?
- Efficiency - Does this education program save money
over similar government programs?
- Innovation - How does this private program help more
people obtain better educational services?
- Equity - What makes this program unique or different
from others?
The best entry in each category will compete for a grand
prize of $20,000. The grand prize winner and honor roll
entries will be recognized at a gala dinner in spring 1998.
Winning programs from PRI's 1997 California
privatiza-tion competition included the Criminal Justice
Legal Foundation in Sacramento, the Bay Area Crisis Nursery
in Concord, South Bay Community Services in Chula Vista, the
Cambodian Family, Inc. in Santa Ana, and the Alliance for
Children's Rights in Los Angeles.
For additional information about PRI's California
privatiza-tion competition, or to request an application,
contact Royce Van Tassell at (916)448-1926 or e-mail
vtroyce2@aol.com.
Application guidelines are also available on PRI's web
site at http://www.pacificresearch.org.
Teacher
Union Scrutiny Gains Momentum
In The Teacher Unions, Myron Lieberman
analyzes the teacher union impact on student achievement by
listing several provisions of a typical union contract. All
would potentially have a negative impact on student
achievement. These items remind the reader that despite
their unflagging rhetoric about concern for children, the
teacher unions represent teachers, first, last and always.
Each union demand must represent a gain for union members
or the union structure; whether it helps students is
secondary, or a non-issue altogether. Lieberman's analysis
destroys the NEA/AFT position that unions are not
responsible for educational decline.
Others have also begun to scrutinize teacher union
contracts. In their study, researchers Howard Fuller, George
Mitchell and Michael Hartmann reveal that the 174-page
contract between the Milwaukee Public System and Milwaukee
Teachers Education Association is an almost "impenetrable
document."
Making it even more complicated, they discovered "...a
'contract behind the contract' comprised of nearly 2,000
amendments (memoranda of understanding),
grievance-arbitration rulings, and various state declaratory
rulings." They conclude, "collective bargaining, as
practiced in the Milwaukee Public System, has had a negative
impact on educational outcomes."
Furthermore, the MPS/MTEA contract undermines a
school-based atmosphere of high expectations, teamwork and
cooperation -- necessary components for student learning to
occur. It should come as no surprise that the unions,
especially their officers and staff, are the main
beneficiaries.
NEA's business agents, also known as UniServ directors,
negotiate most NEA affiliate contracts; whereas, in the AFT,
the locally elected union officers usually perform that
task. In some cases, AFT affiliates are assisted by the
union's national representatives.
In both unions, officers and staff who negotiate
contracts are intimately familiar with the details of the
lengthy contracts which cannot be understood apart from a
knowledge of grievance-arbitration rulings, and a host of
state statutes on educational employment relations.
In many states, NEA UniServ directors are paid more than
$100,000 each year in salaries and benefits. They have a
vested interest in ensuring that the teacher union contract
contains provisions for high levels of union revenues.
Individual school board members and teachers rarely read
these contracts or have a thorough understanding of their
implications.
Taxpayers and taxpayer groups who are concerned about
skyrocketing tax increases should obtain a copy of their
local teacher union contract. Likewise, parents who wonder
how the teacher union contract affects their children's
education could find many answers by studying the contract.
To obtain a copy of The Teacher Unions,
contact the Education Policy Institute (202) 244-7535; for
the Milwaukee Public Schools' Teacher Union Contract,
contact Marquette University, (414) 288-5775.
States
Show Interest in Alternative Teacher Certification
In Alternative Teacher Certification, A State-by-State
Analysis 1997, C. Emily Feistritzer reports, "Despite
widespread claims that the nation is facing a possible
teacher shortage, state officials continue to report
somewhat grim prospects for people with varying backgrounds
getting hired to teach in their states."
Survey findings also note "24 states reported that state
legislators have shown greater interest in alternative
teacher certification. Only three states said that interest
among state legislators had decreased."
For a copy of the study, contact the National Center for
Education Information, (202) 362-3444.
NEA Drops
Megabucks into its UniServ Coffers
According to its "Strategic Focus Plan and Budget," the
NEA will provide $41,377,615 to support its UniServ program
in 1997-98.
The grants are awarded in order to maintain unified
service to NEA's affiliates through its national network of
UniServ staff. Among other duties, the 1,500 UniServ
directors act as political operatives in nearly every
political jurisdiction in the country.
National
Lobbying the PTA Way
The National PTA Office of Governmental Relations in
Washington, D.C. employs six staffers to monitor
legislation, publish its newsletter, and lobby Members of
Congress. State affiliates of the National PTA routinely
adopt the legislative agenda of the national organization,
often adding state-specific agenda items as well. Several of
the PTA's state affiliates also employ lobbyists, although
most of its advocates are local leaders and other volunteers
whose expenses are paid by state or local groups.
The National PTA is "...opposed to comparing students and
schools to each other," and "opposes mandated national tests
or actions that would lead to such tests." In responding to
the report of the National Testing Panel, the PTA recommends
several items not included the Panel's report. The PTA
favors parental involvement in test development and in
determining whether the test will be used at the state and
local school levels. The PTA also opposes the Panel's
intention to give the reading test only in English.
PTA policies prohibit its state and local affiliates from
officially opposing a stand taken by the National PTA,
although its affiliates are not required to actively work
for its positions. Violation of this prohibition could cause
the dissenting group to lose its PTA charter.
Virginia
County Proposes Over-Crowding Solution
To reduce crowding in its public schools and the need for
new school construction, an advisory committee in Loudoun
County, Virginia recommended tax credits for parents in the
district. The plan would give parents a maximum of $3,000
per family ($1,250 per child) credit on their real estate
and personal property tax bills. Under the proposal, parents
who send their child to a private school or who homeschool
their children would be eligible.
A nine-member panel appointed by the Board of Supervisors
to study the fairness of the county's tax structure
developed the Loudoun tax credit proposal. One committee
member said the tax break would encourage parents to send
their children to private schools, thus relieving pressure
on the public school system's budget. The Tax Equity panel
estimates that 1,600 students currently attend private
schools or are homeschooled in the county. Based on rising
enrollments, school officials predict the county will need
to build 12 schools at a cost of $245 million over the next
five years.
Opposing views on the Board of Supervisors leave the
decision up for grabs. The NEA, AFT and PTA will certainly
lobby hard against this proposal. All three groups
vehemently oppose any proposition that might jeopardize
unionized jobs.
Dallas
Exclusive Consultation Election Termed a Sham
Citing many irregularities, the Dallas Independent School
District threw out the results of the recent election which
would have recognized "exclusive consultation" with one
group representing the district's 15,000 teachers.
Violations included logo shirts being worn at polling sites
and several inaccuracies involving ballots. Although the
DISD has rescheduled the election for November 13, two of
four groups vying for recognition have signed a request to
delay the election indefinitely. Critics charge the election
was a sham, adding it was a waste of money the first time.
Why waste more on a second election?
EPI's
Education Quick Facts
- Among the four million young adults aged 16-24 who
are not enrolled in school, 30 percent of dropouts are
Hispanic, 12.1 percent are blacks, and 8.6 percent are
whites.
(Source: November 1997 School Reform News)
- 59,291 registered voters signed petitions over a
90-day period in Maine to put the "People's Veto"
referendum against a law banning "discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation with respect to jobs,
housing, and credit" on the ballot. A special election
will be held early in 1998.
(Source: November 1997 Washington Watch)
- $500 million is spent each year on California's
bilingual education program, and yet only 5 percent of
its public school students gain any real proficiency in
English. Additionally, 1.3 million California public
school students are "not" proficient in English. In the
LAUSD, 310,000 of the district's 680,000 students are
enrolled in the bilingual education program.
(Source: October 1997 Chalk Talk)
- The total number of privately owned buses providing
school service nationwide is 109,498. This comprises 31.5
percent of the combined total of contractor owned and
district owned buses.
(Source: 1997-1998 School Year School Transportation
News)
- A U.S. Department of Agriculture study reported in
1994 that Michigan ranked fourth among the 50 states in
the number of food-service management contracts -- with
73 school districts having privatized food service. A law
passed by the legislature that same year made it much
easier for school districts to pursue this option, and
many have. The Michigan Education Association's (MEA)
credibility on its opposition to privatization of school
support services was damaged when it was revealed that it
contracts with a nonunion company for food service at its
own East Lansing headquarters.
(Source: Fall 1997 Michigan Privatization Report)
Copyright 1997
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
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