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U.S. Newswire October 20, 1999
Copyright 1999 U.S. Newswire, Inc.
U.S. Newswire
October 20, 1999 11:49 Eastern Time
SECTION: NATIONAL DESK, EDUCATION REPORTER
LENGTH: 236 words
HEADLINE: AFT President Sandra Feldman Statement on Education Legislation Under
Consideration in the House
BYLINE: Gregory King of American Federation of Teachers, 888-530-8174; Web site:
http://www.teachers.org
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct. 20
BODY:
Following is a statement by American Federation of Teachers President Sandra Feldman today
on education legislation under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives:
STATEMENT BY AFT PRESIDENT SANDRA FELDMAN
"Today, the U.S. House of Representatives considers bipartisan legislation that preserves Title I's
focus on helping disadvantaged students reach high academic standards. We would be opposed to
any destructive attempts to add vouchers to this compromise legislation.
"Tomorrow, however, the Republican leadership in the House will be engaged in a Kafkaesque
maneuver to eliminate the federal role in education, undermine standards and accountability, and
permit states to use federal education funds for private school voucher programs. By promoting
the so- called 'Straight A's Act,' the leadership would undermine the compromise legislation being
considered today. More importantly, they would wreak havoc on education programs designed to
help the poorest children in our country. The House leadership is engaged in a cynical, dishonest
political move that hurts our country's children, our schools and our future."
The American Federation of Teachers represents more than 1 million teachers, school support
staff, higher education faculty and staff, healthcare professionals, and state and municipal
employees.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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The New York Times, October 19, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
October 19, 1999, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk
LENGTH: 1347 words
HEADLINE: New York Psychologists Forming Alliance With a Teachers' Union
BYLINE: By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
BODY:
Unhappy that managed care has cut into psychologists' income and autonomy, the New York
State Psychological Association and its 3,200 members agreed this month to join the American
Federation of Teachers -- the first time a group of American psychologists has affiliated with a
union.
Officials in the psychologists' association, mostly therapists with doctoral degrees in psychology,
said they were affiliating with the A.F.T. largely because the powerful teachers' union would have
more clout in lobbying for legislation, in Albany and in Washington, that would force managed care
organizations to provide better mental health coverage.
The psychologists' decision to affiliate with the teachers' federation is unusual because the union
will not be able to bargain collectively for the psychologists: since 80 percent of them do therapy in
private practice, they are considered independent contractors, not employees.
Officials with the American Psychological Association said psychologists in dozens of other states
were studying the New York agreement to see whether it should serve as a model for them.
The psychological association and the teachers' union share many legislative interests in Albany
and in Washington, like a strong patients' bill of rights and bills to require that H.M.O.
reimbursement for mental health treatment be on a par with those for medical treatment.
Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the agreement calls
for a new experimental arrangement in which the teachers' union will do lobbying for the
psychologists, offer them a variety of benefits and explore other ways to assist them. The teachers'
union will gain a larger membership and get guidance and support from the psychologists on
teachers' issues.
It will be a major departure for organized labor, not only because psychologists are not traditional
employees, but because they have far different concerns -- like gaining higher H.M.O.
reimbursements than most union members.
"The professional sector is the fastest-growing sector of jobs, and we are trying to provide a
leadership role in developing programs to represent these people," Ms. Feldman said. "I think we'll
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see that labor can adapt and change to new forms of representing people. We're showing people
we can represent them in very different ways as we see the nature of work changing."
The psychologists' decision comes after thousands of medical doctors have joined unions in recent
years, with the psychologists, like the physicians, frustrated that managed care companies have
cut reimbursements and restricted treatment and the frequency of patient visits.
Typically, a psychologist in New York City might charge a patient $100 a session. But when the
psychologist belongs to an H.M.O., the reimbursement is often about $70, and the therapist cannot
ask the patient to make up the difference. And some H.M.O.'s limit the number of visits covered. If
a patient wishes to go beyond a five-session treatment maximum, for example, the H.M.O. must
approve it.
The New York psychologists had debated joining the teachers' union for three years, and
association officials said the momentum grew as psychologists grew increasingly frustrated with
aspects of managed care.
The association also represents dozens of salaried psychologists at state and city mental hospitals
and dozens of school psychologists with doctorates. It generally does not include psychotherapists
with other degrees, like master's degrees in social work or degrees from psychoanalytic institutes.
"There were some members who thought that as professionals, we shouldn't be part of a union,"
said Marianne Jackson, president of the New York State Psychological Association. "But I believe
that with managed care, we are being deprofessionalized and we have to face that fact. We are
being made into people just paid to do things. We don't have control over our work the way we
should have."
Several psychologists said they favored affiliating with the teachers so the union could use its
lobbying might to make it harder for other mental health practitioners with less advanced degrees,
like art therapists and marriage and family counselors, to take away their patients. The
psychologists' association has lobbied hard in Albany, but with little success, for legislation that
would define the scope of practice for doctoral-level psychologists as well as other mental health
practitioners -- for example, which professions can diagnose mental illness and which ones cannot.
"We have put energy and resources into our lobbying, but we could never hope to have the
operation that the teachers' union has," said June Feder, a psychologist in Manhattan.
Some psychologists said they wanted more lobbying power because they feared that the New York
State Psychiatric Association might seek to change the proposed legislation in a way that would
give psychiatrists more of the business now done by psychologists. But Seth Stein, executive
director of the 5,000-member psychiatric association, said that the psychiatrists were in no way
promoting legislation that would take away some of the psychologists' patients.
Diane Brenner, chief executive of the psychological association, said her group was now working
cooperatively with the psychiatrists on "scope of practice" language.
Psychiatrists and psychologists both treat the mentally ill, although they often use different
techniques. While all of them provide therapy, psychiatrists are medical doctors with the power to
prescribe drugs.
Under the affiliation agreement, which takes full effect on Jan. 1, the psychologists will be
associate members of the million-member teachers' federation, rather than full members. They will
be offered many union benefits and will be counted as members of the union, but they will not
have to pay individual union dues. Instead, the psychologists' association will pay an affiliation fee
of $46,000 in the first year, with the fee rising in later years.
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Dr. Jackson said the affiliation with the teachers' union would provide several advantages other
than the formidable lobbying clout of its New York affiliate, New York State United Teachers, which
has more than 400,000 members.
The psychologists will be offered many union fringe benefits, including the teachers' health plan,
disability insurance, life insurance and legal services.
Since only one-third of the 10,000 doctoral-level psychologists in New York are in the state
psychological association, the association is looking to the teachers' union to use its size, energy
and expertise to recruit more members to the association.
This would increase dues income to the association while also increasing its power. And as the
union attracts more psychologists to the association, its affiliation payments to the union would
rise proportionately.
Russ Newman, executive director of professional practice for the American Psychological
Association, which has 159,000 members, said many state psychological groups would study how
much the New York action benefits New York's psychologists and customers.
"We are very concerned nowadays about the one-sided bargaining power that has been developed
in the marketplace, with insurance and managed-care companies having so much leverage that
consumers and health-care professionals are left out in the cold," he said. "We think it is important
to re-establish better balance and leverage for consumers and health-care professionals. It will be
interesting to see whether this turns out to provide some help for that."
Neil Berger, director of the Metropolitan Center for Mental Health on West 97th Street in
Manhattan, said he originally opposed affiliating with the teachers because he feared it would cost
the psychologists a lot of money. But he said he was reassured that the association had negotiated
a fee that was not extravagant.
"Psychologists as a group are looking for some magical fix for the problems of managed care," he
said. "I don't see the union as being a magical fix."
http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photo: Dr. Marianne Jackson, president of the New York State Psychological
Association, in her office at a Harlem clinic. "With managed care, we are being deprofessionalized
and we have to face that fact," she said. (Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)(pg. B8)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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USA TODAY, October 18, 1999
Copyright 1999 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
October 18, 1999, Monday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LIFE; Pg. 5D
LENGTH: 454 words
HEADLINE: Accountability becoming teachers' pet issue, poll finds
BYLINE: Richard Whitmire; Gannett News Service
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
WASHINGTON -- A national poll of teachers shows strong backing
for the standards-and-accountability movement.
Even teachers in schools in low-income neighborhoods, where students
are most likely to feel the sting of accountability measures such
as grade retention, support the movement, according to the poll
from the Albert Shanker Institute.
And the longer teachers work with standards (setting grade-by-grade
content goals in each subject), the more likely they are to support
them.
That indicates teachers are unlikely to join what has been dubbed
the "pushback" movement -- those who resist accountability measures,
said Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Accountability measures for students can include repeating a grade
or having to pass a test to receive a diploma; for teachers and
principals, accountability can include removing the staffs of
failing schools.
"Teachers are very supportive of the standards movement, including
teachers in the most difficult schools," Feldman said.
"I was concerned that teachers were beginning to feel the pressures
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were too great," she said, "so I was happy to see the unflagging
support."
But there are some warning flags: Teachers said too much classroom
time is devoted to test preparation. Plus, the accountability
system produces a curriculum that is too narrow, they said.
The thrust of the polls, however, shows teachers supporting standards
and accountability.
The poll comes at a time when signs of "pushback" are appearing
across the country.
In Chicago, a small group of students has refused to take any
more tests; in Wisconsin, the legislature denied Gov. Tommy Thompson
a test he wanted students to pass before they could receive a
diploma.
The most obvious sign of a pushback is in Texas, where a Mexican-American
group launched a legal challenge to the high school exit exam
used there. Minorities fail that test at twice the rate of whites.
The poll involved 825 principals and 1,075 teachers. The margin
of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for principals,
plus or minus 4.4 percentage points for teachers.
Other results of the poll:
* 73% of teachers and 92% of the principals favor the standards
movement.
* 74% of those teachers who have worked with the standards
movement for at least six years favor standards, compared with
62% of the teachers who have worked with standards for three years
or fewer.
* 68% of the teachers said the standards movement had changed
the way their school operates either a "great deal" or a "fair
amount."
* 69% of teachers in urban schools cited the standards
movement as positive.
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Los Angeles Times October 11, 1999, Monday,
Copyright 1999 Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
View Related Topics
October 11, 1999, Monday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 3; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 1071 words
HEADLINE: CALIFORNIA AND THE WEST;
TEACHER'S FIRING OVER GENDER CHANGE STIRS CONTROVERSY;
SCHOOLS: TRUSTEES SAY DANA RIVERS IGNORED AN ADMONITION NOT TO DISCUSS TOPIC
WITH STUDENTS. HER BACKERS LAUNCH RECALL DRIVE.
BYLINE: ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SACRAMENTO
BODY:
At Center High School, David Warfield was the teacher who helped low achievers turn it
around. His media department won countless awards. He coached baseball, announced at football
games. School leaders gave him their award for most inspirational teacher.
Then David Warfield made a momentous change. He became a woman. He became Dana Rivers.
Now the 44-year-old is out of a job, banned from the classroom for failing to heed warnings from
district leaders to avoid discussing the sex change with students.
Rivers has sued the district in an attempt to return to the classroom. Last week, the teacher's
supporters launched a recall drive against three Center Unified School District trustees who voted
for the firing.
The teacher has found a national audience for the dispute, and has appeared in recent days on the
"Today" and "Good Morning America" television programs.
"I just want my job back," Rivers said. "This is all about a very tiny segment of the community
believing people like me shouldn't be in the classroom."
Center Unified, a 5,500-student district in a Sacramento County suburb, has been in turmoil since
Rivers revealed plans for the sex change in May.
Many colleagues and students accepted it. But a few parents complained. The teacher, they griped,
had violated parental rights by confiding in a couple of students and giving an emotional interview
with the student newspaper.
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"These kids are at an impressionable age," said Donna Earnest, whose son is a junior at Center
High. "This teacher went way beyond the bounds of what's appropriate. What's to say it won't
happen again?"
Supporters of Rivers say they believe that the firing was engineered by conservative Christian
parents who don't want a transgender teacher in the classroom.
"Fear and ignorance are their agenda," said Bob Spore, the recall drive leader. "They're trying to
get a very valuable teacher out of the district because they're uncomfortable with her personal
decision."
The three trustees who voted to oust Rivers say religious beliefs were not a factor.
"I don't even belong to a church," said Scott Rodowick, board president. "This is about a tenured
teacher who went way over the line by sharing private issues with students."
For years, Rivers kept such personal concerns under wraps.
Growing up in the San Francisco area, Rivers said, she yearned to slip on a sister's dress in private.
And the internal conflict continued as an adult. Rivers struggled through a stint in the Navy,
battled alcoholism, tried and failed at marriage three times.
But her resume was solid. Rivers served as a labor leader in Orange County for the American
Federation of Teachers and was elected twice to the Huntington Beach Union High School
District board in the 1980s.
Eventually, the walls seemed to close in. Rivers recalled being recruited by Democrats to run for an
Assembly seat in Orange County. She balked for fear that the long-hidden secret would come out.
Moving to Northern California, Rivers decided to try teaching, and in 1990 found a home at Center
High. The teacher also went into counseling, and ultimately was diagnosed with "gender
dysphoria," a medical condition that causes a person to believe that he or she should be the
opposite sex.
Rivers began hormone therapy and electrolysis treatments in January, the initial steps toward a
sex change operation planned for next year. A few weeks before the end of the school year, Rivers
told administrators about her plans. This fall, the teacher said, she would return to school as Dana
Rivers.
She figured the announcement would blow over quickly. She had learned of other teachers around
the state making the change without much fanfare, Rivers said, including a performing arts
instructor in Red Bluff and a high school teacher in Orange County.
"I didn't think it would be a big hullabaloo," said Rivers, who has an 18-year-old daughter.
Before the end of school, the board mailed a letter to more than 2,000 parents saying that Rivers,
while making a life change that would offend some people on moral grounds, was a tenured
teacher protected by anti-discrimination laws.
District administrators also told Rivers to avoid discussing the issue with students.
But that gag order proved daunting. A couple of teenagers who had worked closely with Rivers in
media classes approached with questions.
Wanting to soften the blow, Rivers said, she took time outside of class to explain a life of inner
turmoil and the transformation from man to woman. Later, Rivers gave an interview with the
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school paper, discussing the failed marriages, recovery from alcoholism, the therapy, the fear of
rejection by students who might label the teacher a freak.
Four parents complained, and they were joined by the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative legal
group that focuses on parental rights and religious liberty issues.
Rivers' discussions with students "were unprofessional, outrageous," said Brad Dacus, the group's
president. "No parent should have to worry about that sort of bombardment on their child."
The board, which fired a teacher three years ago for showing an R-rated movie in the classroom,
agreed. Despite a recommendation from district administrators that Rivers receive a reprimand,
the board voted 3 to 2 to fire the teacher. Rivers learned of the decision in late September.
A crowd of 200 students and teachers waved placards outside the board meeting, shouting, "Two,
four, six, eight--we demand a reinstate!"
"We're not third-graders--we're young adults," said Roberta Hillebert, Center's student body
president and a protest leader. "They're saying that tolerance should be preached but never
reached. It's giving us the message that you can't come forward and say, 'I'm different.' You have
to hide because otherwise society will go against you."
The furor has caused rifts at the high school. Although many students see the sex change as no big
deal, a few say they are relieved that Rivers is gone.
Rachael Crandall, a senior and evangelical Christian, said she is disappointed that the debate has
focused on religion instead of a teacher who she believes is guilty of speaking inappropriately with
students.
"Seeing a man in a dress would be a distraction" for some students in the classroom, she said,
adding that, when it comes to gender, "I don't believe God makes mistakes."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Dana Rivers PHOTOGRAPHER: Associated Press
LANGUAGE: English
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The New York Times, October 9, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
October 9, 1999, Saturday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 13; Column 1; National Desk
LENGTH: 153 words
HEADLINE: Largest Teachers' Union Endorses Gore
BYLINE: AP
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct. 8
BODY:
The nation's largest teachers' union today endorsed Vice President Al Gore for President, saying
he "understands what children need to start school ready to learn."
The endorsement, by the National Education Association, was the second by a teachers' union in
three days for Mr. Gore, who is running against former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey for the
Democratic Presidential nomination. On Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers
announced its support for Mr. Gore.
The Vice President is still courting the endorsement of the American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations, which has 13 million members and holds its convention next
week.
Mr. Gore was once thought to be assured of the endorsement, but Mr. Bradley has been aggressive
in seeking it, and some of the federation's member organizations have questioned Mr. Gore's
ability to win in a general election.
http://www.nytimes.com
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The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 4, 1999
Copyright 1999 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
View Related Topics
October 4, 1999, Monday
SECTION: NEWS Pg. A-3
LENGTH: 662 words
HEADLINE: Top teachers union backing of new charter school a rarity
SOURCE: ED MENDEL is Sacramento bureau chief for the Union-Tribune.
BYLINE: ED MENDEL
DATELINE: SACRAMENTO
BODY:
SACRAMENTO A new charter school that opened in San Diego this fall has an unusual name,
Kwachiiyoa, and an unusual sponsor, the largest and most powerful teachers union in California.
The school, with an American Indian name meaning "everyone can learn," is sponsored by the
California Teachers Association, even though teachers unions have historically resisted charter
schools because they are usually nonunion.
Charter schools receive government funds but are free of most state regulations, allowing a variety
of innovative teaching methods that appeal to parents unhappy with conventional public schools.
The alternative methods authorized under a charter granted by a school district range from formal
techniques, such as Waldorf and Montessori, to informal home schooling supervised by parents.
Kwachiiyoa is a teacher-led elementary school without a principal. The faculty is said to be
passionately committed to demonstrating that teachers can get superior results when free to use
their own professional judgment.
The rapid growth of charter schools, which have been embraced by President Clinton and other
political leaders, is a challenge for the teachers union. California has added 70 charter schools this
year, bringing the current total to 250.
The CTA's decision to join and perhaps shape the trend, rather than resist it outright, has produced
a split with a smaller teachers union and some friction with school administrators and school
boards.
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The CTA and a wealthy Silicon Valley businessman, Reed Hastings, are sponsoring an initiative for
the March ballot that does something long sought by educators: lower the threshold for approving
a local school construction bond from a two-thirds to a majority vote.
A similar measure in 1993 was rejected by 70 percent of the voters. The CTA broadened the new
drive by joining with the deep-pocketed Hastings, who added an initiative provision requiring
districts to give charter schools facilities equivalent to those at other district schools.
The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators
support the initiative. But they did so only after the CTA and Hastings agreed, if the measure
passes, to seek changes protecting districts from giving too much to charter schools.
In a close vote, the state council of the California Federation of Teachers opposed the initiative.
The union representing teachers in Los Angeles and San Francisco said that despite the powerful
appeal of a lower bond threshold, the initiative unfairly gives preference to charter schools.
The CFT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, whose former
president, Albert Shanker, was an early advocate of charter schools. CFT officials acknowledge that
their opposition to the initiative is uncomfortable and ironic.
"It puts us at odds with our normal allies, and it puts us in bed with our normal opponents," said
Martin Hittelman, CFT senior vice president.
Still, the California Teacher Association's basic attitude toward charter schools remains ambiguous.
The CTA backed legislation this year that would have forced the unionization of charter schools,
triggering complaints that the CTA was trying to kill the movement.
The legislation was watered down after Gov. Gray Davis said he would only sign a guarantee of the
right to unionize. Another wealthy Silicon Valley businessman believes the education establishment
will use incremental regulations to erode charter schools.
"They have more staying power than we freedom fighters," said Tim Draper. " It's their job. They
can win the test of time."
Draper plans to put an initiative on the November ballot next year giving parents a taxpayer-paid
voucher or scholarship to allow them to choose a public or private school for their children. But like
the bond threshold, a voucher initiative was rejected by 70 percent of the voters in 1993.
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The New York Times, October 2, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
October 2, 1999, Saturday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 5; National Desk
LENGTH: 1037 words
HEADLINE: Course of Action
BYLINE: By JACQUES STEINBERG
DATELINE: PALISADES, N.Y., Oct. 1
BODY:
Hugh B. Price, the president of the National Urban League, recalls fuming as he left the last
National Educational Summit, held here in 1996.
The talk then was of establishing standards for what students should know, and dealing forcefully
with those who came up short, none of which Mr. Price opposed. But whenever Mr. Price or anyone
else tried to discuss how to help those in danger of falling behind, particularly minority children, he
says such concerns were "ruled out of order."
Not so at this year's conference, which concluded here today, after two days of discussion, with the
release of a five-page pledge approved by 24 governors, 34 corporate executives, 21 state
education superintendents and the presidents of the two biggest teachers unions, among other
leaders.
The document was sprinkled with seeds of the kinds of ideas that Mr. Price felt were lacking at the
last conference, including commitments to work toward raising teacher salaries in proportion to
student performance, linking professional development courses that teachers are rewarded for
taking to what they are actually teaching and, most important to those like Mr. Price, helping
failing students before they are held back or denied diplomas.
Though the good intentions of policymakers are no guarantee of good works -- many here made
promises, out of earshot of their legislatures, that were not theirs alone to keep -- all involved said
they would report back with "specific targets and time lines for action" within six months.
"I'm very encouraged," Mr. Price said, "given when you think about where the discussion has been,
even in the last year: 'You've got to end social promotion. You've got to hold students back.' This
conversation was more sophisticated than that."
The conversion noted by Mr. Price and others came about, in part, out of fear. Several governors
acknowledged that they had not expected that imposing standards and high-stakes tests would set
back and stigmatize so many children. As a result, the governors committed themselves to
extending the school day, and school year, for students identified as most at risk of failing, and to
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train volunteers from colleges and local businesses to tutor them.
Govs. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, Gray Davis of California and James B. Hunt Jr. of
North Carolina were among those who joined business leaders in resolving to create alternatives to
teacher certification programs that would make it possible for technology workers, among others,
to more easily change their careers to teaching.
The business leaders, including Kurt Landgraf, executive vice president and chief operating officer
at DuPont, and John E. Pepper Jr., chairman of Procter & Gamble, said they would work with any
interested states to rewrite teacher salary plans "to incorporate pay for performance," an idea once
strenuously opposed by teachers unions but now, however tentatively, on the table. Though no
states stepped forward to initiate such discussions, similar plans are in place in North Carolina and
California.
For all that it promised, the conference, which was convened by Louis V. Gerstner Jr., the chairman
of I.B.M., and Gov. Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin, had its flaws.
The final statement, worked over by more than 100 pairs of hands, was often deliberately vague,
offering ample room for representatives of the bipartisan delegation to read into it what they
wanted. The participants emphasized, for example, that they were for "choice," especially for
students wanting to attend public schools outside their neighborhoods, but the organizers barely
touched the debate over publicly financed vouchers to private schools.
The participants' work is sure to ripple across districts. Since the last gathering, the number of
states that have adopted or drafted standards in at least some grades has soared to 49, from 14.
But attendance at this year's conference was spotty. While 41 governors traveled here in March
1996, only 24 did this year. Among the noticeable no-shows were Gov. George W. Bush of Texas,
who cited Presidential campaign obligations, and Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, who,
organizers said, had initially committed to attend but was fund-raising in California.
Moreover, the discussions, in halls and in small committee rooms on a wooded I.B.M. campus here,
were often conducted on a rarefied plane, with no speeches by rank-and-file teachers or principals,
and little acknowledgment of the large class sizes and dilapidated school buildings that can
undermine even the best learning standards.
This morning in Room B-340, an eighth-grade science student from Detroit and her teacher made
a 10-minute presentation to a dozen conference participants about a meteorology CD-ROM that
they use in their class. When the presentation was over, the teacher and student were promptly
whisked out of the room by conference organizers, so that the participants, including at least two
governors, could discuss the question of what teachers and students needed most to do their jobs.
"What they're talking about is really affecting the children," said the student, Kimberly Glenn, 13,
whose science class at Lessenger Middle School in Detroit has 35 children, and one old computer.
"There should be kids and teachers in that room."
The participants took pains to emphasize their unity, but there were fissures beyond those on
vouchers.
Even the two big teachers' unions were divided. Sandra Feldman, the president of the American
Federation of Teachers, and Bob Chase, her counterpart at the National Education Association,
urged caution on linking pay to performance, but Ms. Feldman was critical of pilot programs, like
those endorsed by Mr. Chase in Denver, that would pay teachers based on student test scores.
In the end, it was the governors who seemed to have learned the most, cramming notebooks full
of potential initiatives. Mr. Davis of California, for example, said he was eager to supplement a
program that paid teachers and schools for their good work with an idea, borrowed from Michigan,
that would give scholarships to students who make great gains.
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"It's been very instructional for me," Mr. Davis said.
http://www.nytimes.com
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U.S. Newswire, September 29, 1999
Copyright 1999 U.S. Newswire, Inc.
U.S. Newswire
View Related Topics
September 29, 1999 11:34 Eastern Time
SECTION: NATIONAL DESK, EDUCATION REPORTER
LENGTH: 344 words
HEADLINE: American Federation of Teachers Launches Television Advertising Campaign
Supporting Public Education
CONTACT: Gregory King of the American Federation of Teachers, 202-393-6387 or
888-530-8174 (pager); Web site: http://www.aft.org
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Sept. 29
BODY:
As government, business and educational leaders gather for the 1999 National Education Summit
in Palisades, N.Y., the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) today announced the launch of a
$1 million national television advertising campaign focusing on real teachers, real reforms and real
improvements that are being made in public schools around the country.
"The standards agenda supported by the governors is taking hold, and we want education to
remain high on the country's agenda," said AFT President Sandra Feldman. "As teachers, we care
about our schools and the kids who attend them, and we want to continue the work of improving
public education."
"At a time when the opponents of public education are pushing diversions such as vouchers, we
want to focus attention on the progress that is being made in our public schools as well as the
work that still needs to be done," Feldman said.
"Public schools are working with parents to raise standards, restore discipline and reduce class
sizes," Feldman said. "Ninety percent of our kids go to public schools, and we need to support
them. These ads tell that story and let viewers know that now is the time to strengthen our
support for public schools."
Two 30-second spots will air nationally for several months. Four teachers are featured in the
commercials: James Beirne of Ft. Thomas, Ky.; Danielle Montes and Tyrone C. Hill Sr. of North
Miami Beach, Fla.; and Lucy Londono of Pembroke Pines, Fla. All are AFT members.
"The AFT is proud of our support for reforms that work. At a time when parents, teachers and
students are making real progress, it would be unconscionable for us to turn our backs away from
the schools and students that still need more help," Feldman said.
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The ad campaign is the first national television campaign for the AFT. The commercials were
produced by Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns & Associates Inc. of Washington, D.C. The ads can be
viewed on the Internet at: http://www.aft.org/multimedia
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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Daily Press September 16, 1999, Thursday,
Copyright 1999 Daily Press, Inc.
Daily Press
September 16, 1999, Thursday, FINAL
SECTION: Newport News Life, Pg. D7, Answer Desk
LENGTH: 249 words
HEADLINE: BOOKLET TELLS STUDENTS HOW TO FIND SUCCESS
BYLINE: PERNELL WATSON
BODY:
Q: I remember reading something about a booklet for kids that outlines how to work hard and be
successful. Can you tell me where I can get this for my son? - P.S., Gloucester
A: Chris Gardner, a wealthy Wall Street investor, recently gave the American Federation of
Teachers $25, 000 to publish a how-to booklet for students. The publication, "Hard Work Pays", is
aimed at seventh- through ninth-graders and their parents. The key to success, according to this
publication, is for students to start early taking challenging courses such as algebra, calculus,
chemistry, physics, American history, English literature and at least three years of a foreign
language.
Some middle school students don't know how to make the right course choices to be successful in
college or to get a good job. The booklet outlines how to choose the right high school courses to
prepare for college or a good job; how to get extra help when it's needed; how to prepare and take
college-entrance exams; how to find out about good vocational or technical programs and how to
choose a college and seek financial aid.
One hundred thousand copies of the book will be distributed during the school year to students in
Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, New Orleans and other large metropolitan areas.
The American Federation of Teachers' goal is to make "Hard Work Pays" available to every
child who needs it. I'll keep you posted as to when it will be available locally.
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CBS News Transcripts, September 5, 1999, Sunday
Copyright 1999 Burrelle's Information Services
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SHOW: FACE THE NATION (10:30 AM ET)
September 5, 1999, Sunday
TYPE: Interview
LENGTH: 1801 words
HEADLINE: SANDRA FELDMAN AND KENNETH BLACKWELL DISCUSS SCHOOL VOUCHERS
ANCHORS: GLORIA BORGER
BODY:
GLORIA BORGER, host:
Last month in Ohio, a judge created a firestorm when he ruled to suspend the voucher program for
4,000 children at 46 schools. He questioned the constitutionality of the program, but he later
reversed his decision. He allowed those students already in the voucher program to go to school,
but did not allow any new students to sign up. Once again, the issue of vouchers and school choice
is in the forefront. Will providing tax money for kids to go to private and parochial schools ruin the
public school system? With us to debate that issue today, Sandra Feldman, president of the
American Federation of Teachers. And she joins us from Holtsville, New York. And in the studio
with me, Kenneth Blackwell, the secretary of state for Ohio, who's also the chairman of the Steve
Forbes campaign.
First, I'll go to Sandra Feldman for the basic question here, and that is, how would a voucher
program actually ruin the public school system?
Ms. SANDRA FELDMAN (American Federation of Teachers): Well, I think the big problem with
vouchers is that they're a terrible diversion from all of the wonderful school improvement work
that's presently going on. You know, we have 90 percent of the American children in the public
schools. And all across the states, governors and state legislatures and mayors have been raising
standards, ending social promotion and having an effect on improving the public schools. The job
is far from done, but vouchers are at best a diversion. Ultimately, they'll be decided by the
Supreme Court, but we want to see the children have smaller class sizes. We want them to have
proven programs in their schools. We want the schools to be fixed so that they don't have to go to
school with leaks in the ceilings. A--and vouchers simply don't respond to what the real issue is
BORGER: But Ms. Feldman
Ms. FELDMAN: which is how to improve the education of the 90 percent of the children in the
schools.
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BORGER: If they're only--if they're only a "diversion," as you call them, if they've only been done
on such a small scale, why are they so dangerous?
Ms. FELDMAN: Well, what's dangerous is that we're in the process of really improving our public
schools. The voucher programs that are in place take quite a bit of money away from the public
schools and especially in places where the children need that money. In Cleveland, for example, $
10 million was spent on vouchers, and for $ 10 million, you not only could have put in place a
reading program that has been proven to work, especially with disadvantaged children, a program
called Success For All, developed at Johns Hopkins University, you could have lowered class size in
the first grade for every single first-grader in the city of Cleveland. And every--every bit of
research shows that lower class size really works. So that is
BORGER: Mr. Blackwell, let's let you respond here--let's let you respond here. Are--are these
vouchers a diversion or...
Secretary of State KENNETH BLACKWELL (Ohio): No, they're not a diversion. What they are is a--is
a vehicle to empower parents. What--what--what--what vouchers do is open up the--the--the
system for--for competition. What we are looking for is a way to free millions of kids in this country
who are now trapped in schools and school districts who don't work. The education establishment
is more concerned about power and control than it is about freeing these young people up so that
they, in fact, can close the knowledge divide that will separate many of them out from the
prosperous US economy.
Look, 57 percent of public schoolteachers send their kids to private schools. Bill Clinton and Al
Gore, who live in public housing, send--sent their kids to public schools. What we're trying to do is
to say, 'Look, parents of poor children are entitled to the right to choose best--the best education
for--for their kids.'
BORGER: Well, Ms. F
Ms. FELDMAN: Can I just.
BORGER: Let me--let me ask you this, so why not let parents choose? In Florida, for example, if
the school system is deemed to be bad, the parents can--can get a voucher and, say, get their kids
out of that school system. What's so wrong with allowing a parent that kind of choice?
Ms. FELDMAN: Let me just say, first of all, that that figure of 57 percent of public schoolteachers of
sending their children to private school is just not correct.
BORGER: OK. OK, but...
Sec. BLACKWELL: That is--that is correct.
Ms. FELDMAN: I do believe--I do believe in parental choice. I think that parents should have a
choice of any public school, and they ought to be able to have the information that they need to
send their child to any public school. That is quite a different thing from saying that we're going to
open private schools just for the purpose of being able to get this voucher money, which is what
happened in Cleveland. Schools opened just for the purpose of taking voucher children and,
ultimately, they closed because the children did terribly in those schools.
Sec. BLACKWELL: Well, I...
Ms. FELDMAN: They were not accountable--they were not accountable to the state for the
curriculum, for tests, for having licensed people teaching the children. And children...
Sec. BLACKWELL: Well, that's just not--that's just not true, Sandra. No, look, let--let--let's--let's
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get it--let's get it straight.
Ms. FELDMAN: Well, no, the children did much worse in those voucher schools.
Sec. BLACKWELL: I--I doubt--I doubt that you've ever been to Cleveland and talked with those
parents and those children, as I have.
Ms. FELDMAN: Actually, I have.
Sec. BLACKWELL: I--I--I have been across the state of Ohio, and we do know, both of us know,
that the performance--the academic performance measurement of those youngsters went up. Now
what--what--what..
Ms. FELDMAN: No.
Sec. BLACKWELL: ...those parents want is the right--the same right that you and I have, and that
is to choose the best education for their children. Poor people instinctively have a parental instinct
to do what is right for their kids. They don't need the educational establishment to tell them that
they must keep their kids locked into schools and--and school districts that are poorly performing.
You can't name me a school district or a school--a public school that has closed down because it
has failed schoolchildren. The present system--the--the present..
Ms. FELDMAN: Well, that--that is not so.
Sec. BLACKWELL: .the present system protects poor-performing students and poor-performing
schools and poor-performing principals and teachers. What we need is competition that will open
up the system and improve the quality of education.
BORGER: Why would competition.
Ms. FELDMAN: You th
BORGER: .open up the system, answer that then?
Ms. FELDMAN: Look, you have 53 million children going to school in the United States of America,
and vouchers can't possibly provide an education for all those children. There just aren't enough
seats in private schools even if you did have good private schools out there. Parents want their
children to get a good education. They're not thinking private-public; they're thinking, 'Let me
have a good school for my child.'
Sec. BLACKWELL: Absolutely, we agree on that.
Ms. FELDMAN: And it is--a--and it is--and--and the fact of the matter is that in the voucher
program, children did not do any better than they did in the public schools. In fact, if you measure
children who are in a special small class-size program against children.
Sec. BLACKWELL: Let's stick to Cleveland. Let's stick to Cleveland.
Ms. FELDMAN: who went to private schools, the children--the children actually did much better
in smaller--smaller class size.
BORGER: Well, why...
Ms. FELDMAN: Now let me just say one other thing, because I am in favor of closing down and
redesigning schools that aren't working for children, that have been failing for years. And I have
been very clear about this, and the American Federation of Teachers has called for the closing
and reopening of schools that are failing.
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BORGER: OK.
Ms. FELDMAN: We do not want children in failing schools.
BORGER: OK. Mr. Blackwell
Sec. BLACKWELL: Well, it--it's that
BORGER: Mr. Blackwell, go ahead.
Ms. FELDMAN: And across America, children are doing better.
Sec. BLACKWELL: that--that--that.
BORGER: OK.
Sec. BLACKWELL: OK. Let me just say this real--real quick. We know that school
choice--expanding school choice, whether you're talking charter schools, magnet schools, more
expanded home schooling and vouchers, that full toolbox of choice is what should be presented to
American families and particularly the--the families of those children who are locked into
underperforming and poorly performing schools.
BORGER: Very quickly. Obviously
Ms. FELDMAN: I would
BORGER: this is a political issue right now in the campaign. I'd like to ask Ms. Feldman first:
Would the American Federation of Teachers rule out supporting any Democratic candidate
who--who was for vouchers or who thought you might experiment with vouchers, like Bill Bradley?
Ms. FELDMAN: We are in favor of good, public schools and we're looking at
BORGER: But answer the question.
Ms. FELDMAN: No. No, I would say that's--that wouldn't be a total litmus test for us. We're
interested in someone having a full program of support for the public schools, and just saying
choice is not going to be an answer for the 90 percent
BORGER: OK.
Sec. BLACKWELL: Well, w--w--w...
Ms. FELDMAN: of the American children who are in the public schools. We need smaller class
sizes
BORGER: Mis--OK.
Ms. FELDMAN: ..good discipline, good schools.
Sec. BLACKWELL: Wait.
BORGER: Mr. Blackwell, you're with--you're--you're clearly working for Steve Forbes. We know he
supports vouchers.
Sec. BLACKWELL: Yeah. And I think--I--I--I--he is--he is the only conservative candidate that can
win the presidency next November. And let me just--let me just--let me just explain this to you.
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She--she--she is focused on--she's focused on schools and buildings and bureaucrats. We're
focused on children. Forty-two years ago in Little Rock, Arkansas, the problem was bigotry. Today
the problem is bureaucrats protecting their turf.
BORGER: That's all. That's all we have--no, that's all we have time for today
Ms. FELDMAN: May I--may I please say something. I've spent my entire life working with children.
And I--I (unintelligible).
BORGER: Ms. Feldman. I'm very sorry. That's all we have time for today. And I'll be back with a
final word in a minute. I'm sorry.
(Announcements)
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The New York Times, August 28, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
August 28, 1999, Saturday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 7; Column 5; National Desk
LENGTH: 904 words
HEADLINE: A Judge Revises His Order, Allowing Vouchers, for Now
BYLINE: By PAM BELLUCK
DATELINE: CHICAGO, Aug. 27
BODY:
A Federal judge who, on the day before school started this week, blocked a Cleveland program
that uses taxpayer money for vouchers to send several thousand children to private and parochial
schools, changed his decision today, allowing most of the children to stay in the program, at least
temporarily.
The judge, Solomon Oliver Jr. of Federal District Court in Cleveland, said today that he would allow
those students who had been in the program last year to receive the tuition money for private
school for the first semester. But Judge Oliver said that could change if he decided before the
semester ended that the program violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
After an outcry by thousands of parents and some public officials about the initial ruling, Judge
Oliver said today that he recognized that his decision had "caused disruption to the children
previously enrolled in the program beyond that normally associated with a student's transferring
from one school to another."
Today's ruling means that all but 587 of the 4,000 children enrolled in the program will receive the
vouchers for the fall semester. The vouchers pay up to $2,250 in tuition costs for elementary
school children in low-income families.
The judge's original decision on Tuesday had been the most significant court setback to proponents
of school vouchers, especially since it involved the first city to use vouchers for religious schools.
The ruling generated discussion around the country, as some cities and states have also adopted
voucher programs and many others are considering such programs.
Noting that the vast majority of the 56 private schools in the four-year-old Cleveland program
were religious schools, the judge had declared that the program "has the primary effect of
advancing religion."
And while that decision involved only an injunction to allow him to consider a lawsuit challenging
the program's constitutionality, the judge also said there was "no substantial possibility" he would
ultimately rule in favor of the program.
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On Tuesday, Judge Oliver had said he felt that issuing an injunction before the start of the school
year would be less inconvenient than potentially having to yank students out of school after classes
had started. But thousands of parents and some public officials did not agree. Ohio's Attorney
General, Betty D. Montgomery, filed an emergency appeal with the United States Court of Appeals
for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, after Judge Oliver's decision. As a result of the outcry, the judge
issued a limited stay of his injunction.
After that ruling, Clint Bolick, the litigation director for the Institute for Justice, which argued for
the voucher program, said: "We're obviously very pleased. I think it's safe to say the judge got the
message."
Mr. Bolick said that just before the close of court today his organization filed an appeal seeking to
have the judge's reprieve apply to all of the children in the program. But he said that, regardless,
private donors should be able to raise money for the rest of the students to stay in private schools.
Mr. Bolick's group has also filed an appeal of Judge's Oliver's initial decision.
But no one expects the matter to be stable for very long.
"I certainly don't see this as a reversal or as the judge backing off," said Gregory King, a
spokesman for the American Federation of Teachers, which fought the vouchers. "My reading of
the order is that the judge simply wants to insure that these students have a smooth school year
and can begin school without being troubled by where they are going to be. This is just a
short-term decision. We're confident the judge will maintain his initial indication that we're going
to win on the constitutional grounds."
Advocates on both sides of the issue believe the Cleveland case stands a good chance of winding
up before the Supreme Court.
Begun in 1995, the Cleveland program was challenged in court almost immediately and three
months ago, the Ohio Supreme Court court ruled it was unconstitutional because it was created as
an amendment to the state budget rather than in a separate piece of legislation. But the court also
said the program did not violate the separation of church and state, leaving the door open for state
legislators to revive it. They did so last month, prompting voucher opponents to file the lawsuit
now before Judge Oliver.
The Cleveland program has experienced financial, academic and safety problems over the years.
But a 1997 Harvard University study also found that the program raised test scores of students and
seemed to "create an educational environment that parents see as safer, more focused on
academics and giving more individual attention to the child."
After Tuesday's ruling, the private schools had encouraged parents not to jump immediately back
to the public system, and most parents had decided they would find some way to continue the
private enrollment.
Today, some parents seemed relieved, but wary of the long-term results.
"This really means nothing," said Steve Suma, who has three children in a Roman Catholic school
and a fourth on the waiting list. Mr. Suma said he expected that Judge Oliver would ultimately rule
against vouchers and he hoped the Court of Appeals would overturn that decision.
"This ruling today just adds more confusion to the whole thing," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com
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The New York Times, August 25, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
August 25, 1999, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 5; National Desk
LENGTH: 1039 words
HEADLINE: Cleveland Voucher Program Is Blocked at Start of School
BYLINE: By PAM BELLUCK
DATELINE: CHICAGO, Aug. 24
BODY:
One day before the start of the school year in Cleveland, a Federal judge issued an injunction
today blocking the city's four-year-old voucher program, preventing several thousand children from
attending private and parochial schools at taxpayer expense.
In his decision, Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. of Federal District Court in Cleveland said there was
probable cause to believe that the school voucher program violated the constitutional separation of
church and state. Noting that the vast majority of the private schools in the program were religious
schools, the judge declared that "the Cleveland program has the primary effect of advancing
religion."
In his decision today, Judge Oliver said he was blocking the voucher program until he had time to
consider a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality, but he also said there was "no substantial
possibility" that he would ultimately rule in favor of the program.
The decision is expected to be closely watched around the country as cities, including New York,
face calls from advocates of school choice to use public money to send children to private schools.
The decision could also influence a challenge in Florida courts to the nation's first statewide
voucher program, which began this year. Some of the same plaintiffs who sued to block
Cleveland's program are involved in that challenge.
Judge Oliver's decision is only the second time a Federal court has ruled on the issue of vouchers,
legal experts said. The first was a ruling earlier this year that denied a request by three families in
Maine to use public money for tuition at a Roman Catholic School.
The Cleveland decision is considered especially significant because it halts a program that had
already been under way for years and was the nation's first program to allow vouchers to be used
for religious schools.
One other city, Milwaukee, began its voucher program in 1990, but did not allow religious schools
to participate until after Cleveland did. The Milwaukee program was upheld by the Wisconsin
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Supreme Court last year, and the United States Supreme Court refused to hear appeals of that
decision.
"We see this as a tremendous victory," said Joseph L. Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, part of a coalition of civil liberties and public education
organizations that sued to block the Cleveland program. "Basically, this brings the voucher train to
a screeching halt," he added.
Clint Bolick, the litigation director for the Institute for Justice, which argued for the voucher
program, called the decision "an outrageous abuse of judicial power."
He said his organization had already filed an appeal, and hoped to have the injunction lifted on
Wednesday.
"Normally, you would see an injunction like this come with a program that had not yet started,"
Mr. Bolick said. "Literally, on the eve of the fourth year of this program, the court has seen fit to
turn the world upside down."
With about 4,000 children expecting to start classes at 56 private and parochial schools, Judge
Oliver said he recognized that his ruling would be disruptive. But he added that allowing the
voucher program to continue until he had made his final decision could "cause an even greater
harm to the children by setting them up for greater disruption at a later time."
The Cleveland program, created by the Ohio Legislature in 1995, pays up to $2,500 in tuition costs
for children in low-income families. For the 1999-2000 school year, about 5 percent of the 77,000
children in Cleveland's public schools were signed up for the voucher program.
William Wendling, a spokesman for the Cleveland Municipal School District, said that all the
children would be welcome but that "clearly, it is going to be a scramble to find teachers and
facilities and transportation for all of these students."
Mr. Wendling said the voucher students would not start school on Wednesday with the rest of the
district's schoolchildren because it would take a few days to make arrangements and decide how
many of the 4,000 students would stay in their private schools anyway.
Christine Sula, who sends three of her children, ages 6, 8 and 10, to Our Lady of Good Counsel
School under the voucher program, found out about the ruling as she was painting hopscotch
squares on the school's playground.
"I think it's discrimination against people of faith and I think the state has the ability to fund public
schools and help with private schools at the same time," said Mrs. Sula, who added that her
husband, a guard at the county jail, planned to work double shifts to continue sending her children
to the Catholic school. "It's going to hurt a lot financially, but we're just going to have to bite the
bullet," she said.
Mr. Bolick said his organization would try to drum up private donations to pay tuition costs for
those in the voucher program.
The Cleveland program was challenged in court almost immediately after it began four years ago,
and the legal battle worked its way to the Ohio Supreme Court. That court ruled in May that the
program was unconstitutional because it was created as an amendment to the state budget rather
than in a separate piece of legislation. But the court also said the program did not violate the
separation of church and state, leaving the door open for state legislators to revive it.
Last month the Legislature did so, with a separate education bill, prompting opponents of the
voucher program to file the lawsuit that Judge Oliver ruled on Tuesday.
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Over the years, the Cleveland program has been buffeted by financial and academic problems.
Most recently, state education officials recommended removing three schools from the program
after a newspaper detailed potentially unsafe conditions and a predominantly unlicensed staff at
one of the private schools.
Voucher opponents had seized on such flaws to claim the program did not work.
"The Cleveland voucher program was bad law, bad policy, bad education for the kids," Sandra
Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said today. "Now we can make
sure the money will be in the public schools, where there is a real school improvement effort going
on."
http://www.nytimes.com
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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The New York Times, August 8, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
August 8, 1999, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 4; Page 16; Column 4; Week in Review Desk
LENGTH: 1168 words
HEADLINE: The Nation: Teachers' Pay;
Adding Up the Impact Of Raising Salaries
BYLINE: By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
BODY:
THE news that two-thirds of New York City's fourth graders failed a state reading test was
embarrassing, to say the least. The results, announced in May, followed too many other tests with
unhappy results, including one in which American eighth graders ranked below South Korea, the
Czech Republic and two dozen other countries in math and science performance.
Ask a teacher what needs to be done to improve such dismal performance, and it's a good bet the
first answer will be to raise teachers' salaries, thereby attracting and keeping better teachers.
There is scant evidence, though, that higher salaries alone make a difference in student
performance. In fact, there is little evidence that tinkering with any single element of the education
system does any good at all, when so many variables come into play, like class size, curriculum,
early childhood education, discipline, homework and parental involvement, just to mention a few.
But teachers' salaries seems always to top the list of problems, perhaps because teachers'
organizations make forceful arguments on the issue. They say, for instance, that one thing is clear:
Beginning teachers usually earn less than other college graduates, and that discourages many
top-notch people from going into teaching. Average starting pay for public school teachers
nationwide is $25,735, ranging from $19,146 in North Dakota to $33,162 in Alaska. While the
most experienced teachers in some affluent suburbs earn more than $90,000 a year, the average
salary for teachers nationwide is $39,347 just a fraction of the annual bonus received by many
thirty-somethings on Wall Street. Just try to raise a family or send a child through college on that
amount, many teachers say.
"If we want to improve the quality of our public schools," said Sandra Feldman, president of the
American Federation of Teachers, "a major part of that is to make sure we can, to be cliched,
attract the best and the brightest, and you're not going to do that without increasing salaries."
Pointing to the higher status of teachers in Japan, advocates say raising pay is a sine qua non to
upgrade the status of American teachers and to show that the nation is paying more than lip
service to improving education. What signal does it send about teaching, many educators ask,
when a 45-year-old teacher with a masters degree earns $45,000 a year and a 25-year-old out of
law school often starts at $90,000?
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"Teaching should be a profession, not a philanthropic act," said David Haselkorn, president of
Recruiting New Teachers, a nonprofit group that encourages college graduates to become teachers.
But many experts question whether raising teacher salaries, by itself, will translate into better
educational performance. And some conservatives maintain that this push for higher pay is an
attempt by powerful teachers unions to line their members' pockets at taxpayer expense.
I F you just increase salaries, it's going to buy you very little," said Richard Murnane, a professor at
Harvard's School of Education. "Right now schools are not places where well-educated college
graduates want to work for very long. There is very little collegiality, very little opportunity to work
on projects with other adults. It's a lonely job, and in many communities, it's seen as very low
status."
One argument that undermines the push for higher pay is the experience of private and parochial
schools, whose teachers are generally paid less than public school teachers, but whose students
often out-perform public school students. At the nation's Catholic schools, pay averaged $22,000
last year, 45 percent below the public school average. At other private schools, teachers averaged
about $35,000, 11 percent below public school levels.
Catholic school administrators say their schools perform well notwithstanding their low salaries
because their teachers are dedicated, their curriculum is highly structured and discipline is
maintained. But many educators say Catholic schools often outperform public schools largely
because they are free to kick out students who misbehave. Private schools often outdo public
schools, educators say, because they have smaller class sizes and student bodies often culled from
the nation's elite.
"Certainly our salaries are a lot lower, but the general question is, will paying higher salaries
produce better learning?" said Leonard DeFiore, president of the National Catholic Education
Association. "Everyone in the teaching profession hopes teachers will get paid more, but whether
that is correlated with more learning is an open question. For most people who go into teaching,
money is not an issue. It's like in other helping professions -- it's what you want to do and you
know you're not going to make a lot of money doing it."
b UT for many teachers, money is definitely an issue. Take Daniel Perez, a 27-year-old graduate of
New York University with a master's from Hunter College. After five years of teaching math at a
Queens intermediate school, he earns $38,600, but this fall he is jumping to a Suffolk County high
school where he will earn $47,900.
"It was O.K. to start at $28,000 when I was still living with my parents, but it doesn't cut the
mustard when you have a family or want to own a home," he said.
New York City teachers often seize on Scarsdale's pay scale -- a teacher with five years' experience
and a master's degree earns $60,000 versus $38,600 for a city teacher -- to argue that they
should earn far more because their jobs are harder.
"In the high-wealth suburbs, salaries are higher, working conditions are better, facilities are newer,
social conditions are less impacted and class sizes tend to be lower," said Mr. Haselkorn of
Recruiting New Teachers. "So urban districts tend to lose out all the time in the bidding war for
qualified teachers. That's a scandal. You can't say that we're providing equal education
opportunities in this country when there are such imbalances between low-wealth and high-wealth
districts."
In arguing for higher pay, many education experts cite studies showing that the nation, which has
2.7 million public school teachers, will need to hire 2 million new teachers over the next decade
because of increased enrollment and a wave of retirements. Another factor experts point to is that
a generation or two ago many talented women and blacks entered teaching, despite the low pay,
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because many other careers were closed off to them, but that is no longer the case. Now they can
go into engineering, accounting, medicine or law, all of which pay considerably more than
teaching.
Many educators say that if school districts raise teacher pay while taking other steps like increasing
expectations, cutting class sizes and demanding more teacher training, then those steps, taken
together, will improve student performance.
"I don't think salaries in and of themselves are a magic bullet, but they're an important piece in a
larger puzzle," said Mr. Haselkorn.
http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photo: Among the problems of public schools, teachers' pay gets a lot of attention.
(Angel Franco/The New York Times)
Chart: "Salaries 101"
Average annual salaries of selected white-collar occupations in 1998.
ATTORNEY $71,530
ENGINEER $64,489
SYSTEMS ANALYST -- $63,072
ACOUNTANT -- $45,919
TEACHER $39,347
(Source: American Federation of Teachers)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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The New York Times, July 11, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
July 11, 1999, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk
LENGTH: 1687 words
HEADLINE: Despite Low Prestige and Pay, More Answer the Call to Teach
BYLINE: By MARY B. W. TABOR
BODY:
After years of shying away from the field, a growing number of college students, including those
from elite liberal arts colleges, now say they want to be schoolteachers.
Just over 10 percent of all freshmen say they want to teach in elementary or secondary schools,
according to a new survey by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of
California at Los Angeles. The percentages, for 1998, the latest year available, are the highest
since the early 1970's and nearly twice what they were at their low point, in 1982.
Students at some of the nation's top universities, like Harvard and Princeton, are also showing a
growing interest.
Education and policy experts say these numbers reflect a shift in attitudes about teaching -- from a
career plagued by low pay and low prestige to a career that is attracting smart and altruistic
people.
Interest in teaching, the experts say, is being fueled by students' search for meaningful work,
concern about the plight of at-risk children and a response to the national call for teachers with
degrees in academic subjects, as well as in education.
"I'm seeing a significant shift toward education, toward government and public policy and
community action type work," said Maureen Tobin, director of the career development center at
Kenyon College, the oldest private liberal arts college in Ohio, where about 20 percent of the class
of 1998 planned to become teachers.
The U.C.L.A. survey, first conducted in 1966, polls 300,000 freshmen at over 600 American
colleges and universities each year about their lives and interests, including what they want to do
after graduating.
The survey does not necessarily reflect actual career choices, which may change after freshman
year. Still, other signs of renewed interest in teaching are appearing as well.
Applications to many of the nation's top graduate schools of education, which can also include
programs in counseling, human development or psychology, are on the rise. While the number of
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students graduating from medical schools, law schools and business schools has dropped or held
steady in recent years, the number of students earning degrees in education has increased, the
National Center for Education Statistics said.
The number of bachelor's and master's degrees in education rose 31 percent from 1986 to 1996
(the last year available), compared with 22 percent in other fields.
Recruiters at some teacher-placement organizations say applicant pools are steady or growing.
Teach for America, for example, says it has recorded a strong increase in applications in recent
years, especially from schools like Spelman College, Cornell University, the University of Michigan,
Stanford University and Princeton. Last fall, Teach for America, which recruits college graduates to
teach in low-income districts for a minimum of two years, received applications from 3,025 people
for 500 positions, up from 2,745 applicants the year before.
"We've certainly noticed over the past two years that there is an increase in interest from college
students," said Wendy Kopp, president of Teach for America.
"Part of that can be attributed to the fact that we have become more sophisticated in our recruiting
efforts. But there is also a mood on college campuses right now that is conducive to people being
interested in teaching. People are looking for ways to assume a significant challenge and to make a
difference right out of college."
In response to the growing interest in improving the quality of teachers, many top liberal arts
colleges are setting up or revitalizing teacher education programs. These programs, which provide
the necessary coursework to get a teaching degree or certification, have seen a surge in enrollment
as well.
At Princeton University, for example, the number of students enrolled in its teacher preparation
program has risen to 25 from 5 since 1990. (The high was in 1975, when 77 students were
enrolled.)
In the last 10 years, the number of students in Colby College's education and human development
program has doubled, to almost 100, said Mark Tappan, who directs the program with his wife, Lyn
Mikel Brown.
And Bennington College's teacher education program has grown to 24 students from 2 since its
inception two years ago. The program allows students to obtain both a bachelor's degree in liberal
arts and a master's in education in five years.
Rosalind A. Hoffa, an associate dean at Amherst College and director of its career center, has been
watching interest in teaching grow on her campus as well.
In early 1998, after years of refusing to give credits for teacher education courses taken at nearby
Mount Holyoke College, Amherst reversed itself, Ms. Hoffa said. The college is now formally helping
students earn teaching credentials through the Holyoke program. To date, 35 students have asked
to participate.
Many liberal arts colleges do not offer the necessary coursework and student teaching experience
required by most states for certification. As a result, many graduate schools of education are
reporting growing numbers of applications from new college graduates with liberal arts degrees.
Harvard's Graduate School of Education, for one, has reported a 34 percent increase in applications
since 1990, said Roland Hence, a university spokesman.
The number of applications to the teacher education programs at Columbia University's Teachers
College has risen to more than 830 this year from 700 in 1994.
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"We are getting a lot of career changers," said Barry M. Rosen, a spokesman for Teachers College.
"But there is also a rise in applications from new college graduates and the average G.R.E. scores
of the applicants has been going up as well."
Many career counselors and college administrators say students are responding, in part, to the
national call for new teachers. The Federal Department of Education has estimated that schools will
need to hire 2.2 million teachers over the next 10 years to meet a wave of retirements, rising
enrollments and demands for smaller class sizes.
It is precisely that call and the desire to make a difference that has drawn students like Sarah
Bertucci into teaching.
When she arrived at Princeton in the fall of 1993, Ms. Bertucci figured she would major in geology
and use her passion for nature and numbers to make a name for herself doing scientific research,
architecture or engineering.
"I saw myself in a nontraditional job for women," said Ms. Bertucci, who grew up in Rochester. "I
did not want to be a teacher."
But that summer after freshman year, she got a job as a teacher's assistant at an alternative high
school in Colorado.
"I loved the relationships with the students," she said. "I learned so much from them. It hooked
me pretty fast. The minute I got back to college, I ran over to the teacher education program and
said, 'Sign me up.'"
Now 23, she finished her student teaching requirements last November and is looking for a job at a
school near Boston.
David Robinson, a 23-year-old graduate student from Albany, said he decided to become a teacher
instead of a corporate executive after an unsatisfactory internship he had while he was a student
at the University of Notre Dame.
"I just got a feeling for the corporate life and realized it wasn't for me," said Mr. Robinson, who
graduated with a bachelor's degree in English literature in 1998 and is finishing up his master's at
Teachers College. "I realized that it was my tutoring experiences that were the most rewarding on
a personal level."
This fall, Mr. Robinson will begin teaching 9th and 10th grade English at the Bronx Leadership
Academy in the South Bronx.
Still, despite indications of growing interest in teaching, the realities of the job can still be
discouraging, especially in urban schools, which find it hard to compete with suburban ones for
new teachers.
Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of urban
school systems, said schools in big cities can expect half of their new teachers to quit within the
first three to five years as a result of stress, long hours and difficult working conditions.
"The fact that the numbers are up is a good sign," Mr. Casserly said. "The challenge for us is to
draw more of those new teachers into the urban systems, where the shortages are greatest and
burnout is so high."
And while teachers' salaries are rising, they still lag behind those in other fields. The American
Federation of Teachers said first-year teachers made an average of $25,735 in 1997-98. By
contrast, new engineers were making about $42,862 and those working in business administration
made $34,831.
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It was in part the pay issue that derailed Jonathan W. Thatcher. Mr. Thatcher, 21, who will be a
senior at Amherst this fall, decided recently to scrap his plans to become a teacher and to go
instead to law school.
"It was a combination of things," Mr. Thatcher said from his home in Mechanicsburg, Pa. "Coming
out of Amherst, there are heavy expectations that you are going to do something and do
something big. That pressure is there."
After a minute, he added: "On a more personal level, my father lost his job several years ago and
his pension is not that much. If I could make the kind of salary so that someday I could help them
out if they got in a pinch, that would make me very happy."
But others think that teaching is worth the sacrifice.
Sheldon K. Reid went to Harvard University in 1992 with plans to head to medical school after
graduation. But after sophomore year, Mr. Reid, 25, took a year off to do community service and
tutor at-risk high school students. By the middle of his senior year, the Long Island native decided
to put medical school on hold and get his master's degree in education. He is now using his degree
in biochemistry to teach science at Newton North High School outside of Boston.
"I feel I'm really making a difference," said Mr. Reid, who also teaches music at the school. "And as
long as I can keep giving it my all, I'll definitely keep doing it."
http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photo: David Robinson, who is finishing his master's degree at Columbia University's
Teachers College, has been hired to teach English this fall to 9th- and 10th-graders at the Bronx
Leadership Academy in the South Bronx. (Philip Greenberg for The New York Times)(pg. 17)
Graph: "Enticing Teachers" tracks percentage of college freshmen expressing an interest in
teaching careers, from 1973 to 1998. (Source: U.C.L.A. Cooperative Institutional Research
Program) 1)
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The New York Times, July 10, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
July 10, 1999, Saturday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; National Desk
LENGTH: 570 words
HEADLINE: Teachers' Union Head Urges More Flexibility in Contract Talks
BYLINE: By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
BODY:
The president of the American Federation of Teachers called yesterday for a drastic change in
the way union contracts are negotiated with the nation's 17,000 school districts, saying individual
schools should have far more power to make educational decisions in consultation with their
teachers.
In a major concession for a union that has jealously guarded the prerogatives of seniority, the
president, Sandra Feldman, said school administrators should have the freedom to select the
teachers who best suit their school's needs without being bound by seniority.
But Ms. Feldman said the million-member union would make such a concession on seniority only if
there was trust and respect between labor and management.
Her proposal, in a speech in Washington to 2,000 teachers and educational administrators, was
part of a broader call for greater spending for education, increased training for teachers and
tougher standards for the nation's schools.
Ms. Feldman proposed having local teachers' unions negotiate streamlined contracts with school
districts covering basic issues like salaries and benefits. Most educational decisions, like class size,
the length of classes and how many classes teachers could teach, would be left to individual
schools, where they would be worked out by administrators and teachers.
In this way, Ms. Feldman said, teachers would have more responsibility to develop their schedules
and formulate the curriculum. The proposal seeks to treat teachers as professionals who would
share major instructional decisions with principals at individual schools. That is a sharp departure
from the current system, in which unions and school boards negotiate most details at the district
level, leaving little room for individual schools to stray from the general agreement.
Ms. Feldman's proposal is in part a response to the growing movement for charter schools,
independent public schools that are not bound by district rules and that, to the union's chagrin, are
often allowed to operate without union rules.
It also has much in common with a new plan sponsored by the United Federation of Teachers in
New York City, where Ms. Feldman was president before becoming head of the A.F.T. two years
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ago. Under that plan, endorsed last month by Chancellor Rudy Crew, teachers who agree to work
in 40 of the city's failing schools will get a 15 percent pay increase and a stronger role in school
management in exchange for longer hours and mandatory teacher training.
In her speech yesterday, Ms. Feldman said the new contracts she envisioned "would be vehicles for
the continuing reform of our educational system -- a way to maximize resources to classrooms and
to slim down administration."
Educators praised Ms. Feldman's proposal, but they said it would play out differently in large urban
districts with scores of schools than in smaller suburban districts.
"The underlying principal is basically right on," said Karen Zumwalt, dean of Columbia University
Teachers College. "It's where those of us who have worked with teachers have been arguing we
should be moving toward."
A spokeswoman for the nation's largest teachers' union, the 2.4-million-member National
Education Association, said Ms. Feldman's proposal was in keeping with its own calls for "a new
unionism -- advocating for quality at the bargaining table and a less confrontational approach"
with school districts.
http://www.nytimes.com
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The New York Times, January 29, 1999
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
View Related Topics
January 29, 1999, Friday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 5; National Desk
LENGTH: 431 words
HEADLINE: Only a Fifth of Teachers Say They Feel Qualified
BYLINE: By WILLIAM H. HONAN
BODY:
Only 1 in 5 full-time public school teachers said they felt well qualified to teach in a modern
classroom, according to a new report, and Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said that
represented "a cry for help."
The report, "Teacher Quality: A Report on the Preparation and Qualifications of Public School
Teachers," said only about 20 percent of more than 4,000 teachers surveyed nationwide said they
were confident in using modern technology or in working with students with disabilities or from
diverse backgrounds. Less than half reported feeling very well prepared for the challenges facing
public schools.
Only 28 percent said they felt very qualified to use student performance assessment techniques.
"These data confirm our dramatic need to get serious about better preparing for and supporting
teachers in our classrooms," Mr. Riley said yesterday at a Washington news conference at which
the report was released.
Celia Lose, a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Teachers, the nation's
second-largest teachers union, said more was being demanded of teachers because of rising
academic standards, the importance of technology and the desire to put increasing numbers of
students with physical or learning disabilities into the classroom.
Ms. Lose said the survey was "absolutely not" an indictment of teachers.
"Teachers are professionals and want to do their jobs well," she said. "No one starts a job with the
skills of a veteran. Teachers need the sort of help and mentoring that doctors, for example, give
their peers. The schools are not supportive enough."
Mr. Riley said in an interview that although he expected state and local governments to come up
with remedies, the Federal Government could help by attracting "more bright and enthusiastic
people into teaching."
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Arthur Levine, president of Columbia Teachers College, called teacher quality "a huge issue,"
exacerbated by the fact that many teachers, especially those of math, science and English as a
second language, had not been trained in the subjects they were required to teach.
Another cause of difficulty, Mr. Levine said, is that in the past the field of education took advantage
of bright women and members of minorities whose only career options were teaching and nursing,
but now that many of these people had been able to get higher-paying jobs in business "the field
of education has lost a captive pool of potential teachers."
The report arises from a 1998 survey of 4,049 full-time public school teachers in the 50 states and
the District of Columbia.
http://www.nytimes.com
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The New York Times, May 7, 1997
Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company
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May 7, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
NAME: Sandra Feldman
SECTION: Section B; Page 14; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk; Education Page
LENGTH: 836 words
HEADLINE: Feldman Elected Head of National Teachers Union
BYLINE: By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 6
BODY:
Just minutes after being elected president of the 940,000-member American Federation of
Teachers, Sandra Feldman made clear today in her spirited style that she had multiple missions,
not just to raise teachers' pay but to improve public education and defend it against its attackers.
Using unflinching language, Ms. Feldman -- who said she would remain president of the New York
City teachers' union while heading the national union -- spoke at a news conference about the
importance of creating high standards and denounced using vouchers that channel students and
dollars from public schools to private schools.
But her most passionate words came as she described public schools as a salvation, especially for
poor children.
"Public education was everything for me," said Ms. Feldman, who recalled how public schools
opened her eyes to art, music and books as she was growing up in Brooklyn, the daughter of a
poor milkman. "I would not be sitting here if it were not for public schools. If a public school across
from my house in Coney Island did not give me a good education, I don't know what I'd be doing. I
want every child to have the chance I had. That may sound corny, but it's what I have devoted my
life to."
The union's 39-member executive council unanimously elected Ms. Feldman today to succeed her
mentor, the late Albert Shanker, as president. Ms. Feldman not only gains a nationwide forum but
becomes one of a handful of women to lead a national union.
In taking the leadership of the nation's second-largest teachers' union, after the
2.2-million-member National Education Association, Ms. Feldman said she would use her new post
as a pulpit to push for better schools. She acknowledged that much of her thinking parallels that of
Mr. Shanker, whom she succeeded in 1986 as president of New York's 90,000-member United
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Federation of Teachers.
"We know what works," she said. "We know what parents and the public want. And we know what
teachers need to do their jobs well. Not vouchers. Not privatization. Certainly not mindless budget
cutting. We need high standards, quality teachers and safe, orderly classrooms."
Some teachers questioned whether Ms. Feldman could juggle the national job and the New York
job, asserting that both posts require full-time attention.
"She was just elected as president of the U.F.T. on the premise that she would serve as a full-time
leader," said Cary Goodman, a teacher at Central Park East, an elementary school in East Harlem.
"One divided by two is not two. She can't be in Washington and New York at the same time."
But Ms. Feldman insisted that she could handle both, as Mr. Shanker did. He was elected
president of the American Federation of Teachers in 1974 and held that job along with the New
York presidency until 1986.
"I intend to divide my time doing whatever is needed," she said, asserting that there is great
overlap in the two jobs. For instance, she said that if as head of the national union she lobbied
Congress for greater education spending, that would also benefit New York's teachers and schools.
She intends to keep her main residence in New York, she said, but she acknowledged she has not
figured out how many days she will spend in Washington each week. Nor has she decided, she
said, whether she will write a column each Sunday, as Mr. Shanker did. His column appeared as a
paid advertisement in The Week in Review section of The New York Times.
In outlining her vision, Ms. Feldman called for expanding education programs for early childhood,
in day care, pre-school and kindergarten.
She said the nation's school systems should define core goals and curriculums for each grade,
although she indicated she was not calling for identical curriculums nationwide.
While many Americans say teachers' unions are obstacles to improved education, Ms. Feldman
insisted that her union has worked with parents, business and boards of education to improve
schooling.
In New York, she has fought for smaller classes and for more money to repair dilapidated schools,
and she has helped schools allow for more flexibility by loosening union work rules at experimental
academies.
Her most vehement words were directed at vouchers, which she called "radical schemes that don't
have a shred of evidence behind them."
"I don't think any parents should have to send their children to failing, troubled schools," she said.
"I have fully supported the complete restructuring and redesign of such schools, and I have seen
them improve. That's why it's obscene to me that there are ideologues who exploit that situation"
by pushing for vouchers.
But one supporter of vouchers, Chester E. Finn Jr., senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, criticized
her for her opposition.
"Do we have schools for the benefit of the system or for the benefit of students?" he said. 'Should
we deny students the opportunity to leave because we care more about the storekeepers or the
customers? I submit she cares more about the storekeepers."
GRAPHIC: Photo: "Public education was everything for me," Sandra Feldman said after she was
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AFT: Where We Stand: October 1999 - First Choice
http://www.aft.org/stand/index.html
Where We Stand
aft.org
AFT Home > Where We Stand
About AFT
Contact AFT
Search
Index
Previous Articles
First Choice
by AFT President Sandra Feldman
October 1999
Most Americans
want to improve
public education,
not trade it in
for a new system.
People who want to know where Americans stand on education issues look forward to
the yearly Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll. They take its findings seriously because it is
careful and nonpartisan--interested in probing the public's ideas about education rather
than winning converts to a particular point of view. The most recent poll, which came
out last month, shows that a big majority of the American public supports public
education. (One author of the report said it affirms "our national commitment to
educating all our children in the public schools." ) It also reveals that most Americans
who support vouchers favor a very different kind of program from the one voucher
advocates are pushing.
While close to 50 percent of Americans find some version of vouchers or tax credits
acceptable, over 70 percent come out strongly in support of public education. When
asked to choose the best way of improving education, nearly three-quarters said we
should reform the public schools rather than go with a different system. The numbers
were approximately the same when people were offered vouchers as the alternative. In
short, Americans certainly have not given up on public education. They greatly prefer it
to vouchers, and they consider improving the current public school system something
that can and should be done.
Stumbling Blocks
What do Americans see as the impediments to improving public education?
Respondents were asked to volunteer their own ideas, and the "obstacles" that top the
list are "finances/funding," "parents/lack of parent involvement," and "government," with
"finances" as number one. Despite what the pundits say, the public knows that schools
need money to reach higher standards, and it is willing to foot the bill.
Furthermore--politicians take note--none of the major problems was laid at the door of
the schools. Few people think that administrators, teachers, or teacher unions are the
big culprits. The major impediments in their view are officials' unwillingness to improve
school funding and parents who aren't involved in supporting their children's education.
Accountability
Another finding should seriously concern voucher advocates, most of whom are
opposed to making voucher schools publicly accountable. More than 75 percent of
Americans--including those who support giving public dollars to private schools--say
that private schools getting public funds should be open to the same public scrutiny and
regulation as public schools.
People think private schools enjoying public funding should be more like public schools
in another important way: They want these schools to be open to all students and thus
to include the same broad range of social class, race, and academic ability that public
schools do. Yet most voucher proposals insist on having "no strings attached." In fact,
studies show that most private and religious schools would be unwilling to accept
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AFT: Where We Stand: October 1999 - First Choice
http://www.aft.org/stand/index.html
money on the terms the public thinks should be required of them. And understandably
so. Many of these schools don't publish their budgets or salary schedules or reveal
curriculum details or participate in statewide testing--and they like it that way. For
religious schools, public scrutiny and accountability raise issues of religious freedom;
the deep infusion of religion throughout their curriculum and lessons is essential to
them, as is their freedom to require children to attend religious services. They don't
want state interference in any of that. Yet, accountability to the broader public must
come with public dollars. The public demands it, and it is right.
A recent study by the independent Center on Education Policy of the few countries that
give payments to private and religious schools shows that the more public dollars
schools get, the more they are regulated, until the differences between private and
public schools are practically erased, with national curricula, national exams, and
national teacher certification requirements applied to all schools, public and private.
Americans are smart. They value the education they received in public schools and
while they want to see today's schools improved, they firmly believe that public is the
way to go. Furthermore, Americans are not interested in spending public money without
public oversight.
If political leaders are also smart, they'll support the movement for higher standards,
smaller classes, better discipline, ending social promotion, and repairing our aging
buildings rather than push for vouchers. Why focus on what divides Americans--and
doesn't work--when they can focus on what unites us and works!
American Federation of Teachers, AFLCIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001
Copyright by the American Federation of Teachers, AFLCIO. All rights reserved. Photographs
and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFT.
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Sep-29-99 03:32pm
From-AFFILIATE CAMPAIGNS
+2028794726
T-660
P.02/02
F-692
Preliminary Agenda
Government Relations Conference
Hyatt Regency Hotel
October 20-22, 1999
Wednesday, October 20th
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Registration/Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Keynote Address/Speaker: AFT President Sandra Feldman
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Break
10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Panel Discussion/2000 Elections and Labor 2000
Invited Speakers: Donna Brazile, Political Director, Gore 2000; Steve Rosenthal,
Political Director, AFL-CIO; Rob Engel, Executive Director, Democratic National
Committee; Moderator: Nat LaCour, AFT Executive Vice President
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Luncheon and Speaker
2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Workshops: Fundraising Strategies: Political/Legislative Infrastructure; Utilizing
Technology; Delegate Selection; Key Races in the States; Lobbying Strategies;
Census 2000
3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Break
3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Workshops Repeat
hursday, October 21st
:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
9:16
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Briefing on Reconciliation Package/Invited Speaker: John Podesta, Chief of Staff
to the President
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Issues Briefing/Speaker: Charlotte Fraas, AFT Legislative Director
10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Lobbying on the Hill
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Reception on the Hill
Friday, October 22ⁿᵈ
8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Seated Breakfast
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Regulations: It's Not Over 'Til It's Over/Speakers: Jerry Morris, AFT Legislative
Research Director; Mary Cross, AFT Legislative Research Associate Director
9:00a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
Winning Back the House/Speaker: House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt
9:45 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Retaining the White House/Invited Speaker: Tony Coehlo, Chair, Gore 2000
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Wrap-up/Speaker: Ed McElroy, AFT Secretary-Treasurer
Office of Government Relations
Gigi Georges, Assistant to the President and Secretary-Treasurer for Government Relations
Juanita Dunlap Smith, Director, Political & Legislative Mobilization Department
Charlotte Fraas, Director, Legislation Department
Gerald Morris, Director, Legislative Research Department
Liz Smith, Director, Political Department
Draft 10/20/99 11:30pm
Josh Gottheimer
CHIEF OF STAFF JOHN D. PODESTA
REMARKS TO AFT
WASHINGTON, DC
October 18, 1999
Acknowledge: Sandy Feldman; Ed McElroy (Secretary Treasurer of the
AFT); Charlotte Fraas.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here today, to thank
you in person for your leadership and commitment, and to address some
of the issues on the minds of many of us here in Washington.
But first, I would like to congratulate all of you on another
successful year. A year marked by an even higher level of strength,
innovation, and commitment. Devoted to public education, to the
welfare and working conditions of education employees, and to
educational excellence for every single child in America. It's these
values that keep your membership growing strong - improving the lives
of our nation's education employees and health care professionals, and
securing social and economic equity for all America's workers.
I also want to salute Sandy Feldman for her unwavering devotion
to improving public education - and to making the AFT a bigger,
stronger, better union.
1
Yeats once said, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the
lighting of a fire." For over 80 years now, your organization has kept
that fire lit. It's all of your work, and the efforts of each and every
member that has made a real difference, and helped us move the
President's agenda forward. Strengthening our families, nurturing our
children, providing a quality education, improving access to healthcare,
creating safer neighborhoods, and maintaining our leadership around the
world.
These values are at the core of the policies we have pursued over
the last six and a half years. And because of these priorities and the hard
work of the American people, our country has made a seismic shift. The
American people have created more than 19 million new jobs, with
rising wages, the longest peacetime expansion in history, the highest
home ownership rate ever recorded, a 30 year-low in unemployment, a
32-year low in the welfare rolls, and a 26 year-low in the crime rate.
And by balancing the budget for the first time in a generation, we have
changed red ink into black - turning a budget deficit of $290 million into
a budget surplus of more than $115 billion this year, with growing
surpluses projected for years to come.
2
The progress that we have made together is something the
the im take off
American people see every day - in higher paychecks; in the Family and
Medical Leave Bill, in lower interest rates for owning a home and for
buying a car.
And the prosperity we have created gives us an opportunity few
generations have ever enjoyed: An opportunity to meet the long-term
needs of our nation -- the aging of America, the health of our citizens,
the education of our children, and the continued long-term growth of our
economy.
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Our Administration has worked hard to make education our
number one priority, even as we've worked hard to bring fiscal
discipline to Washington. Over the past six-and-a-half years, as we've
balanced the budget, we have nearly doubled our investment in
education and training - providing states and school districts with the
tools they need to improve learning. We have increased investment in
early childhood learning through Head Start. We have opened wide the
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doors of college with HOPE scholarships, more Pell grants, and
education IRAs. We have begun to organize an army of tutors to help
elementary school children learn to read and middle and high school
students prepare for college.
3
We are making progress towards connecting every classroom to the
Internet, and investing in afterschool programs to keep our kids safe.
And last fall, we fought for and won from Congress a down payment on
100,000 new, highly-trained teachers to reduce class sizes in the early
grades.
We are at a critical moment. We are beginning to reap the benefits
of our efforts to improve education. With the help of our Goals 2000
legislation and Title I reforms, nearly every state now has standards in
hard new resed comm les
place. Test scores are going up, even in our inner cities. And there is a
new consensus about education, in this room and out among the
American people: To invest more in our public schools, but also to
demand more from our public schools. For only by holding schools,
students, and ourselves accountable for meeting the standards we have
set, will we reach the goals we have set.
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That is why back in May, the President, with your support, sent
Congress his Education Accountability Act. It says that every state and
school district accepting federal money must do five things. Turn
around failing schools
ensure teachers know the subjects they are
teaching have reasonable discipline codes empower parents with
report cards on their schools and, finally, end social promotion, but
end it the right way, by providing preschool programs, qualified
teachers, afterschool and summers school, and identifying early the
children who need extra help.
4
If we do all those things, especially in schools with the most
disadvantaged students, we will be able to promote more students, and
hold back fewer than we do now.
These ideas are not ones we dreamt up here in Washington. We
got them from you, and your members are proving their effectiveness in
classrooms around the country. or day.
The President recognizes that the federal government must do its
part toyou the tools you need to help your students meet higher
standards. That's why he called on Congress to hire a 100,000 new
teachers to bring down class sizes, to build or modernize 6,000 schools,
and provide states and school districts with the resources they need to
turn around failing schools.
Unfortunately, earlier this month, the House Republicans acted on
a Labor, HHS bill that fails to make these vital investments. It
undermines our class size initiative. Whdermines our teacher quality
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efforts. Underfunds after school programs. Eliminates our GEAR UP
mentoring program, and fails to provide the resources to turn around
failing schools.
5
The Republicans failure to invest in our nation's priorities in
education, in healthcare, in the environment, in fighting crime, and in
other areas, has brought us to the point where we are now. As you may
know, today the resolution that funds our government programs will run
out, and Congress has still not sent the President a budget.
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On Tuesday, the President and congressional leaders from both
parties agreed to work together in a spirit of bipartisanship to move the
process forward. They pledged to resolve their differences and make the
tough choices necessary to reach a budget agreement that lets
government live within its means while living up to the values of the
American people.
Yesterday, we saw what we can accomplish when we work
together in a bipartisan fashion. The President signed bipartisan
legislation that makes good on our commitment to veterans, housing,
science and technology programs, and funds part of his New Markets
proposal to help ensure all Americans share in our prosperity.
We need to d use that same spirit of bipartisanship and common
sense to pass abudget that honors the values that brought all of you here
to Washington. But bipartisanship is a two-way street.
6
Yesterday, less than twenty-four hours after meeting with the President,
and agreeing that we would not touch the Social Security surplus^ the
Republican majority leaders accused the President of spending the
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Social Security surplus.
This is a very familiar pattern. Time and again, the Republican
leaders let bitter partisanship get in the way of progress - from building
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more schools, to reforming the campaign finance system, to closing the
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gun show loophole. I am convinced Dick Armey and Tom DeLay wake
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up each morning and think what common sense effort for the American
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Let me tell you, the President of the United States has exactly the
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opposite mentality. He comes to work each day thinking what progress
can we make for the American people. That's his agenda. That's what
he inspires in those of us who work for him. And I know it's that same
spirit that brought you here to Washington today. And we are going to
continue to work with you and with Congress to meet our priorities -
from building or repairing 6,000 schools to hiring those 100,000
teachers. [I cannot emphasize enough how critical a role you have
played and will continue to in the months ahead.
7
After all, it's because of your support, the campaigns you've mounted,
and the events you've planned, that we have come as far as we've have
in advancing our education agenda - especially our school construction
effort. If you don't believe me - just ask Congressman Rengel and all
the support he's received for his school construction legislation.]
7
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Outside of education, there is no issue on the minds of the
American people and of your members than the right to an affordable,
accountable, quality health care system. Earlier this month, the House
Democrats and Republicans took a big step in that direction by passing a
strong, enforceable Patients Bill of Rights The bipartisan legislation 4
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provides working families with the real health care protections they
sorely need: the right to the nearest emergency room care, the right to z
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see a specialist, the right to know you can't be forced to switch doctors
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in the middle of a cancer treatment or a period of pregnancy, and the
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right to hold your health care plan accountable if it causes you or a loved
one grave harm.
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The overwhelming victory in the House reflected the will of the
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American people to put patients first. But its protections will not be real havey
until the bill becomes law. Republican leaders must not water down the spedid
bill or load it with special interest poison pills. Many of you and your
frt
representatives have helped us in this fight.
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We've won a major victory, but the battle is not over. This legislation
must go through the Congress and emerge intact. If we succeed, it will
be a long overdue victory for patients nationwide, and with your help, I
think we can achieve that end.
With the prosperity our nation enjoys, the confidence we share,
and the surplus we have created, we have an opportunity, her in the last
months of the 20th Century, to truly prepare our nation for the 21st
Century. It is a century that will be remembered as a time when millions
of working men and women fought for and won basic freedoms too long
denied to them. I have little doubt that as we cross into the next century,
the AFT will continue to build on that progress - standing up for
America's workers and their families and adapting old-fashioned values
to the modern classroom and workplace. Thank you.
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9
American Federation of Teachers
Government Relations Conference
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Capitol Hill-Yorktown, Valley Forge Room
400 New Jersey Ave. NW
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Reminder: Q+A
Liz Smith, the Director of the Political Department within the Office of Government Relations
at the AFT, will meet you at the Entrance to the hotel on New Jersey Ave.
The Conference hosts about 250 of AFT's key political activists from across the country and is
designed to provide information and discussion on a variety of issues, including successful
strategies for participation in the 2000 elections.