Up Front

Who’s Really Getting Ahead?

First the good news: the U.S. population has never been better educated. In fact, 85 percent of Americans 25 years and older have at least a high school diploma, while 27 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree—all-time highs on both counts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But the news isn’t so rosy for the nation’s Hispanic population, which lags behind all racial groups in high school and college completion rates. Just 57 percent of Hispanics 25 years or older have a high school degree, while only 11 percent have a bachelor’s. The picture isn’t much better for the younger set: only 62 percent of Hispanic 25- to 29-year-olds have completed high school and only 10 percent have finished college.

Limited access to college aid information could be keeping many students off campus, according to The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.

Many Hispanic students don’t take the PSAT or SAT, which means their names aren’t submitted to financial aid and academic institutions, says Celina Torres, an education researcher with the institute. Others encounter obstacles enrolling in college preparation tracks in school, which further alienates them from useful resources, she adds.

Those who do attend college face an uphill battle. They are half as likely as their white classmates to graduate, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, partly because Hispanic

students attend less selective colleges and universities. Research shows students enrolled in more selective schools have a greater chance of earning degrees.    

Charter School Update

The results are in: Low-income and minority students score higher at regular public schools than they do at charter schools, according to results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a nationwide testing program. That interesting finding appeared very quietly on the U.S. Department of Education Web site nearly a year ago, buried under other statistics. Federal officials deny trying to hide anything. “I guess that was poor publicity on our part,” Robert Lerner, federal commissioner for education statistics, told The New York Times, which reported the finding in August. 

Capitol Report Voc-Ed Gets a Voice Funding for career and technical education (CTE) got plenty of attention over the summer. Congress began to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, which provides $1.3 billion annually to secondary and postsecondary schools for career-focused education. It’s the largest source of federal funding to high schools and a critical source of program support money to community colleges. Ninety-six percent of high school students take at least one CTE course. Although the reauthorization bills introduced by the House of Representatives and the Senate have their merits, they are not without flaws. Most notably, both bills contain provisions that ultimately could tie Perkins funding to students’ academic performance under the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). The House and Senate are considering changes suggested by NEA to ensure that NCLB is not the only measure used to evaluate CTE programs. If changes are not made, however, schools failing to make adequate yearly progress under NCLB could lose their Perkins funding. The House and Senate were scheduled to continue work on their bills in September. Have a great idea? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Pint-Size Politico

On a recent evening, Lily Thorpe rushes to prepare for a candidates debate in Grand Junction, Colorado. Still, she has time to talk about her own politics, just as soon as her mom finishes braiding her hair.

This is life when you’re the 10-year-old founder of Kids Campaign, a political action committee dedicated to raising awareness of children’s issues. You think about politics constantly—like why haven’t President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry responded to her questionnaires?

“I’ve written to both of them—twice!” says Lily, who runs a “non-partisan” campaign. “I just want to know what they’re going to do for kids!”

Lily first got hooked on politics while researching a history project at her school, Mesa View Elementary School, with 14-year-old encyclopedias. Since then, her political acumen has developed to include a reasoned analysis of the revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act (the so-called No Child Left Behind law)—”A good law, but when President Bush signed it, he didn’t put any money to the schools and that’s what is wrong.”

This combination of youth and political maturity has made Lily a sought-after guest at political events. But she’s still a kid too—”I think I’ll wear a pink shirt and a pink skirt with flowers on it,” she muses. “And my blue-flowered sneakers.”

Techno Teaching

Feel like that new teacher down the hall is leaving you in the chalk dust with her high-tech lessons? Think again. Turns out veteran teachers are just as tech savvy as their younger colleagues.

Nearly 90 percent of teachers believe technology plays an important role in their professional lives, contributing to richer lesson plans, more engaged learners, and more personalized instruction, according to a new survey conducted by the nonprofit education technology group NetDay in cooperation with NEA.

Yet, while teachers of all  experience levels strive to provide a technology-rich learning environment, they say lack of time and lack of computers present the greatest obstacles.

Nearly 40 percent of teachers also believe their preservice training did little to prepare them to teach with technology. (Although, among younger teachers, 90 percent found their college training at least somewhat useful.)

By contrast, 91 percent say their schools provide sufficient professional development.

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

How do you track 45,000 students coming and going each day? The answer could be at your fingertips.

Over the summer, school officials in Pinellas County, Florida, installed a new electronic fingerprint system to keep tabs on students who ride the district’s 750 school buses.

As students board the bus, they place their thumbs on a scanner that tells the driver whether the student is on the right bus. The system does not catalog a student’s exact fingerprint, says Terry Palmer, the district’s transportation director. Instead, it picks up unique characteristics of each print, encrypts them, and stores the file in a district database with the student’s identification number and transportation information. Parents can choose to keep their children out of the tracking system, Palmer adds.

“Obviously the more parents and kids who participate, the better off we’ll be,” says Palmer, since the program tracks only those students enrolled in the program.

The $2.3 million technology, which also includes a global positioning system to track the location of the buses, does not require students to use a badge or identification card either, which could be broken, lost, or left at home.

“Part of the attraction of this is kids are not going to forget their thumbs,” Palmer adds.

Smile for the Camera

It never fails: School picture day always arrives on the same day as a huge pimple or bad hairstyle. Despite it all, moms and dads shelled out, on average, $22.58 each for portrait packages last year, kicking the $1.6 billion school portrait industry into high gear after years of downward trends, according to Photo Marketing Association International. The increase in purchases could be linked to the emergence of new technology, including retouching and electronic options, and the wider range of portrait packages. Film still dominates the market, however—only 2.6 percent of school portraits have gone digital. Everyone say cheese!

—Emily Goodman

Global Takes Turning Oil Into Schools Recently, the African nation of Chad started pumping its own oil out of the ground, and the new revenue could mean good things for the nation’s schools, according to the Christian Science Monitor. To keep the new funds from being siphoned off through corruption, the country has created a committee with members from nonprofit groups and the government to allocate the income, which officials expect will boost national revenue 50 percent during the next 20 years. More importantly, the country plans to spend 80 percent of the money on schools, clinics, roads, and other basic needs. Building Character  Last month, 170,000 elementary and middle school students in the Chinese capital of Beijing began courses intended to teach them honesty. It’s the first time character building has been a formal part of the curriculum, reports the China Daily. “Youngsters are the future of China,” an official says in the report. “We hope we can bring them up as honest people.” The course’s three-volume textbook, which education officials began compiling in 2003, includes age-appropriate articles, discussion questions, and cartoon illustrations for younger students. Have a good story? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

This Is Just A Test—Again

It’s bad enough for students to suffer stomach butterflies and high-stakes test-taking anxiety once during their high school careers. Last year, some Arizona high schools asked juniors and seniors who already had performed well on the state test to grind it out once more. Read: take the same test over, because, well, you just may do better.

What’s up? Until 2003, the state’s school ranking formula included only the percentage of students who passed or failed the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards. But last school year, state officials allowed schools to receive “extra credit” for students who placed at the top of the reading, writing, and math sections.

“We’re being guided by an assessment system rather than the other way around—it’s just absurd,’’ says John Wright, president-elect of the Arizona Education Association.

In the Phoenix Union High School District, for instance, principals threw pizza parties and held raffles for repeat test-takers. Other districts honored the very best scorers during graduation ceremonies.

If at first you succeed, try and try again, principals said—in the name of looking better on state rankings.

Getting Spooked!

An estimated 41 million “trick-or-treaters”—5- to 14-year-olds—will haunt neighborhoods nationwide later this month, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And they will have plenty of places to stock up on goodies. These little ghosts and goblins will have

106 million potential stops (the number of housing units occupied year-round) to visit during their Halloween outings, the Census Bureau reports.

Instilling A Sense of Pride

Students in Tucson, Arizona, have heard an awful lot about Davy Crockett and the Alamo over the years, but now they’re also learning about the U.S.-Mexican War, how Mayans developed the concept of zero, and the origins of soccer.

“When a curriculum is relevant to a student, they want to learn,” said Tomás Martínez, a specialist in the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American/Raza Studies Department and an ESP board member of the Tucson Education Association.

Too many of Tucson’s Chicano students, who constitute more than half of its enrollment, have grim prospects for a diploma. But with a $5,000 NEA Urban Grant, Martínez and a team of union and district partners have worked to close the gap by offering students a glimpse into their own history.

Both teachers and ESPs can take a three-day course on Mexican-American issues that provides curriculum units and helps them develop lessons of their own. “It’s not going to be something that’s on the shelf, unlike a lot of in-services,” says Michael Gordy, a social studies teacher who took the course.

The Raza Studies department also teaches Chicano studies courses in secondary schools. “So far, students who take our courses are achieving at higher rates...and they’re graduating,” Martínez says. “We’re instilling pride in students who lacked it and we’re getting students interested in learning.”

[Book Focus]

A Battle with No End in Sight

The nearly century-long skirmish over the social studies reminds us just how contentious curriculum issues can be. And it’s not getting better.

In The Social Studies Wars: What Should We Teach the Children? (Teachers College Press, 2004) Ronald W. Evans, professor of education at San Diego State University, traces the embattled history of this hybrid field. From its nominal creation by a 1916 NEA commission to synthesize related disciplines, through the 1960s push to relate the subject to social issues of the time, to our current standards-driven narrowing of the field, social studies inevitably finds itself snagged in controversy.

In Evans’ view, social studies should be “about helping young people grow into effective human beings who care about their lives in the community.” So why the fuss?

Turns out, the concept of building a better citizen—whether to do it and how—is a matter of no small dispute. Social studies, in Evans’ account, finds itself embroiled in an ideological war over nothing less than the direction of society.

Can there be peace? Only in a “public forum shorn of...propaganda,” according to Evans. But it’s been a while since we’ve had one of those.

Two-Minute Tips One Day at a Time To keep my paperwork at a manageable level, I grade papers from just one class per day. In other words, I collect papers from first period on Monday, second period on Tuesday, and so forth. This keeps me up-to-date, and my students get almost immediate feedback. —Susan Dreyfus Memphis, Tennessee Clipboards for Lefties I discovered an easy way to use clipboards with left-handed note takers: Simply use the clipboard upside down! Take the papers out of the clip. Turn the board so the clip is at the bottom. And then clip the papers from the bottom. Lefties can write quite easily this way without the clip interfering. —Marcia Lee South Windsor, Connecticut Clapping for Attention When my class gets noisy, I make up clapping patterns to get my students’ attention. I clap a rhythm that the students must repeat. At other times, I clap a certain rhythm and students know to respond with a different rhythm I have taught them. I always get their full attention using this method. —Titus O. Peck Milwaukee, Wisconsin Have a good tip? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Survival of the Fittest

One out of every two new teachers quits within five years, and replacing them costs this country about $2.6 billion annually—not including the price paid by students, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national research and policy institute that acts on behalf of low-performing secondary students.

But the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance has a solution: Give new teachers more support so they can be successful and productive and, as a result, more satisfied in their jobs.

“About 1 percent of all new teachers get the kind of comprehensive induction we’re talking about,” says Susan Frost, senior advisor at the Alliance. And yet, after looking at programs in states like Connecticut and California, her researchers found a quality start cuts attrition in half.

This doesn’t mean a crash course in teaching, nor a few one-day workshops here and there. The Alliance recommends high-quality mentoring that involves classroom observations and assistance with lesson plans; common planning time; regular and ongoing seminars on classroom management tactics; and standards-based evaluations of new teachers.

The approach isn’t cheap—probably about $4,000 per teacher—but it ultimately saves money by avoiding new hiring and training costs. Every dollar spent creates a payoff of $1.37, says Frost, who calls for the federal government to put up some of the cash in “under-resourced” districts.

“It’s not some kind of out-there thing,” Frost adds. “It’s really about keeping our best new teachers in the classroom doing the work we want them to do.”

Bodies in Motion

Last year, NEA members sweated their way to better health in NEA’s Fitness Challenge. Now it’s time to get your students moving. This month, NEA’s Health Information Network will launch the SmartBody Fitness Info Center, an online community dedicated to helping kids, and their families, get active and get healthy. On the Web site, NEA members will find tips for creating engaging exercise programs, offering nutritional— and tasty—school lunches and snacks, and helping students reduce their stress. Teachers and ESPs also can exchange ideas and share their own school success stories.

Ready to start? Visit www.neahealthinfo.org and help your students get those smart bodies.

Comparable Pay

A Teacher’s Worth

By Dave Winans

A new study reveals that teacher pay lags behind that of comparable occupations—even though professional skills and responsibilities are remarkably similar.

Illustration: Photodisc

Sixth-grade English teacher Jack Costello is a guy who lives and breathes his profession—to the point  where he’ll sneak into his Columbia County (New York) classroom during vacations to do grading, lesson planning, or online research. For Costello and other educators in the semi-rural town of Chatham, teaching is a rigorous “lifestyle” that demands 70-plus-hour workweeks, frequent community contact with parents and students, and lots of workplace responsibility, flexibility, and creativity.

Some Chatham teachers may suspect their complex skills would command a heftier wage in another profession, but Costello knows it for a fact. A decade ago, he was a senior public relations director for a large consumer products firm. “I was responsible for hiring, continual staff development, sales, and customer relations,” he says. “If I had stayed there, I would most likely be well into a six-digit salary.”

This school year, Costello, who holds two master’s degrees, makes $44,105. While this NEA local affiliate president is proud of his organization’s bargaining progress—it wrapped up a three-year contract last spring with annual raises of 5 percent—he knows his 130 members are still playing a grinding game of catch-up while confronting the cruel myth that public educators are glorified babysitters who work fewer hours than other professionals and get better compensation.

At bargaining, lobbying, or family barbecue time, NEA members such as Costello need solid data to dispel the myth and effectively wage this wage debate. Now, finally, that information is available.

Pay: A Teacher Quality Issue

This summer, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., released a comprehensive teacher compensation study that found that between 1996 and 2003 inflation-adjusted weekly teacher wages rose just 0.8 percent—far less than the 11.8 percent growth of weekly wages of other college graduates.

Why should the public care? According to Lawrence Mishel, EPI president and a nationally recognized economist, this wage disparity “will make it harder over the long term to maintain and improve teacher quality.” Competition from better-paying professions for the best college graduates, he says, is simply too stiff. And as his report notes, public schools no longer can depend on the “captive” female labor pool it once enjoyed. 

EPI’s findings, based on several statistical analyses of wage data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), challenge the argument advanced by some conservative economists that teachers are actually well compensated when work hours, weeks of work, or benefits are taken into account.

“All in all, teachers do have a higher ratio of benefits to wages than other workers,” Mishel concedes, “but because non-wage benefits—such as pensions, health care, and payroll taxes—only represent about 20 percent of total compensation, it doesn’t change the picture very much of teachers being disadvantaged in the labor market. Moreover, teacher benefits have not grown more than those of other professionals over the last 10 years.”

Citing BLS’s own National Compensation Survey (NCS), critics also claim that the average teacher makes more per hour than, say, a lawyer or computer programmer. But the EPI study finds that the NCS “greatly understates” average teacher hours worked per week and notes that the typical teacher “spends a good deal more time devoted to her teaching responsibilities” than that required by the collective bargaining agreement.

That’s hardly a surprise to Jack Costello, who doesn’t get home each day before 9 p.m. “I’d love to get even minimum wage for every one of the hours I work,” he chuckles. “I’d make a helluva lot more than I do now!”

“I’ll argue with a teacher who says he or she makes ‘good money,’” adds Costello, “I say, ‘Compared to what?’ Teachers often don’t know they could take the same skill set to private industry and double their income!”

Your skill is my skill?

So just how do you compare the work of teaching to other professions? One way is by using something called “occupational leveling, ” criteria the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to assign point values to hundreds of different occupations found in workplaces. Among the job factors measured: the knowledge and level of supervision required for a given profession and its demands in terms of complexity, scope and effect of work, and face-to-face contacts with the public.

Using these criteria, EPI researchers identified 16 professional and managerial occupations they believe to be comparable to K–12 teaching—from accountant to personnel specialist—and then compared average pay for these professions with that of teachers. And they found a wage gap that has grown by a whopping 14.8 percent since 1993.

Again no big surprise to Costello. “I’m a big believer in the whole concept of ‘comparable worth,’ that people should be paid based on their value to an institution—and what position is more important to education and the economy than teaching?” he asks. You can almost hear the skill meter clicking as Costello describes the growing complexity of his profession.

 “I’m responsible for the emotional and physical well-being of students; I constantly face new requirements from politicians, from testing to data collection; and each day I determine how to modify a program to make it work for a child’s difficulties. Teaching isn’t routine anymore!”

Click and Find Out More

For more on the EPI study and the hot issue of educator pay, go to NEA Today Extra .

Truth in Numbers

Since 1993, weekly wages for all teachers have fallen behind comparably skilled workers by 11.5 percent and even more—13 percent—for female teachers. 

Teachers get less premium pay, less paid leave, and fewer wage bonuses than professionals with similar skills.

Though teachers receive somewhat better health and pension benefits than other professionals, these benefits are partly offset by lower employer payroll taxes because some teachers are not in the Social Security system. 

When compared with workers in 16 professions requiring similar skills, teachers earned $116 less per week in 2002, a wage disadvantage of 12.2 percent. Because teachers worked more hours per week, the hourly wage disadvantage is even larger, 14.1 percent.

Comparing Apples, Oranges, Peaches, and Pears

What makes one profession more or less ‘skilled’ than another? The federal government has a measuring tool.

Ever wondered how the experts can rank your profession in comparison with others? Here’s a glimpse of the Occupational Leveling Criteria used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its National Compensation Survey. The BLS gathers a sample of occupations within each surveyed workplace and then tallies up these factors to compute a total skill score for any given profession:

Knowledge (up to 1,850 possible points) measures the nature and extent of information or facts that the employee must understand to do acceptable work—and the nature and extent of skills needed to apply this knowledge. To count, such knowledge must be “required and applied” on the job.

Supervision received (up to 650 points) covers the nature and extent of direct or indirect controls exercised by the employee’s supervisor, the employee’s responsibility, and review of completed work. Supervisory duties (0 points) describe the level of supervisory responsibility for a position.

Guidelines (650 points) cover the nature of job guidelines—anything from desk manuals to traditional practices—and the individual judgment needed to apply them.

Complexity (450 points) gauges the nature, number, variety, and intricacy of tasks, steps, process, or methods in work performed; the difficulty in identifying what needs to be done; and the difficulty and originality involved in performing the work.

Scope and effect (450 points) covers the relationship between the nature of the work—such as the purpose, breadth, or depth of the assignment—and the effect of work products or services within and outside the organization.

Personal contacts (110 points) include the employee’s face-to-face contacts and telephone/radio dialogue with people not in the supervisory chain. The purpose of these contacts (220 points) range from factual exchanges of information to situations involving significant or controversial issues and differing viewpoints, goals, or objectives.

Physical demands (50 points) cover the physical requirements and demands placed on the employee by the work assignment.

Work environment (50 points) considers the risks and discomforts in the employee’s physical surroundings or the nature of the work assignment and the safety regulations required.

Too Much To Ask?

Urban Educators Speak Out On Teacher Pay

“I want to teach—it’s about loving children and seeing something positive happen in their lives. But in urban districts we need to pay a good starting salary and benefits package or we won’t match private industry.”

—Kindergarten teacher Robin C. Holcombe

Passaic, New Jersey, is a high-cost place with a low-income population speaking 22 languages. Even though the Education Association of Passaic has bargained a $40,000 starting teacher salary—like 220 other NEA local affiliates in New Jersey—it’s still hard for this district to entice young people into the profession. When it comes to compensation, three Passaic NEA activists have lots to say—about recruitment, retention, and the rigors of teaching:

Steve Boudalis, science teacher, Passaic High School:  “I see the right qualities in some of our students for teaching, but when I speak to them about a career in education, they don’t want to consider a ‘low income’ after living in borderline poverty. It’s important to give quality students incentives to attract them into the profession—plus it’s expensive to live here. Many of our lower-paid people are forced to work second and third jobs, from construction sites to supermarkets.”

Donna Mickolajczyk, remedial reading specialist for seven Passaic schools: “The cost of living is high in this region and the work of Passaic educators becomes more involved all the time. I’m the Reading First coordinator for No Child Left Behind and I’m writing a $1.7 million grant—while being paid on the teacher salary guide.  And we’ve got teachers on ‘school leadership teams’ who make decisions that top-level people used to make—everything from computing costs in their buildings to examining test data to improve student achievement.”

Robin C. Holcombe, kindergarten teacher, William B. Cruise Memorial School #11: “A teacher is constantly working, thinking about things, coming up with ideas for lessons, and staying late to get it all done. My paperwork alone has doubled. I constantly deal with parents, and I must make decisions concerning student safety and health and recognize situations that need intervention—by a nurse, an administrator, or a counselor. Teaching is still about loving children, but in urban districts we need to pay a good starting salary and benefits package or we won’t match private industry.”

What Does a Teacher Do, Anyway?

The day-to-day skill requirements are significant, and wildly underestimated. Here’s what sixth-grade teacher Jack Costello says he must know and do to be the kind of educator the public demands. Sound familiar?

1. Be knowledgeable in every elementary content area.
2. Meet mandates set by politicians—including standardized testing, student data collection, and continual professional development requirements.
3. Adapt and modify educational programs daily based on individual student needs.
4. Assume daily responsibility for students’ emotional and physical well-being.
5. Help every child meet state and federal standards through remediation, intervention, and extra planning.
6. Maintain contact with students and their families outside the school day—while constantly remaining professional.
7. Assume responsibility for dozens of students at a time.
8. Work with little direct supervision.
9. Interpret school district policy and exercise timely independent judgment in a variety of situations.
10. Work outside the regularly scheduled day—during evenings, weekends, and school vacations.

State Report

High Court Voids Vouchers

COLORADO The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s “pilot” voucher program is “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.” The court found that the 2003 voucher law violates the state constitution’s local control provisions, forcing school districts to “turn over a portion of their locally raised funds to nonpublic schools over whose instruction [they] have no control.”
The accountability issue has twice led Colorado voters to reject voucher-related ballot initiatives, reports Colorado Education Association (CEA) staffer Deborah Fallin. “Wherever voucher plans do exist in this country,” she says, “they have been done legislatively, not by a direct vote of the people.”

The plaintiffs in this suit, parents of children affected by the voucher plan, received support from an alliance of pro-public education groups. CEA and NEA were lead counsel in the case.

Is Florida Next in Line?

FLORIDA In a suit supported by the Florida Education Association and other pro-public education groups, a state appeals court has struck down a 1999 voucher law allowing students from struggling public schools to attend private or religious schools with taxpayer money. The court ruled that this
program violates a state constitutional provision specifying that no state revenue “shall ever be taken from the public treasury” to “directly or indirectly support” sectarian institutions. The case now goes to the Florida Supreme Court.

Charters Go to Public Vote

WASHINGTON As November Election Day nears, Washington Education Association members and other public school supporters are campaigning hard for a “reject” vote in Referendum 55. A “no” vote would enable voters to repeal a law allowing establishment of at least 45 new charter schools, operated without many of the rules governing regular public schools.

Diverting $100 million from existing public schools into experimental charter schools isn’t the answer,” says Vancouver teacher Fern Tresvan. “We should invest in proven solutions that will improve the quality of all schools.”

Costing Out Education

NEBRASKA School funding “adequacy and equity” (A&E) is a simple concept: You cost out what it takes to meet legislated educational standards and to provide a quality education, set aside sufficient cash on a regular basis, and fix funding inequities among districts.

With NEA media and research assistance, the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA) is working to educate voters and state legislators why A&E’s time has come. Nebraska schools, hard hit by recent state cutbacks, deserve a rational funding mechanism, argues NSEA Executive Director Jim Griess. “Nebraska has never done an official study costing out the needs of schools,” he says. “Funding is now based only on political expediency.”

Big Boost for Arkansas Kids

ARKANSAS The Arkansas Education Association worked with legislators to raise sufficient revenue and appropriate the largest increase in school funding in more than 25 years. Under the school funding act alone, the state will boost education funds this school year to approximately $391.5 million.

More Good Budget News

CALIFORNIA The California Teachers Association (CTA) reported passage of a 2004–05 budget that boosts K–14 spending by more than $2 billion from current levels and includes full funding for class size reduction and special education.
There’s still pain in this budget, says CTA President Barbara E. Kerr, “but I congratulate the governor and legislature for compromising and passing a state budget that provides cost-of-living and student growth increases for all K–12 schools and community colleges.”

Nevada at a Breaking Point

NEVADA Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) members are campaigning for a November ballot initiative to make the state’s annual per-pupil expenditure “equal or exceed” the national average. Nevada now ranks 45th in school funding, says NSEA Executive Director Ken Lange. “We want to ensure that classrooms crowded to the breaking point and teachers overextended to the breaking point are given priority in the legislature.”

Superintendent Sent Packing

NEW MEXICO Teacher and ESP members of the Roswell Education Association worked with their community to successfully force the ouster of Superintendent Manny Rodriguez, who, among other things, made “demeaning and degrading” remarks to employees and prompted “many quality educators and staff to leave,” reports UniServ consultant Andres Becerra.

Some 600 Roswell district staffers signed a no-confidence petition and backed a community-wide drive to
send Rodriguez packing. It all came to a head at a July 27 school board meeting, where 18 administrators made it clear they’d quit if the board didn’t discharge the superintendent “for cause” on a variety of malfeasance charges. The board then voted to accept Rodriguez’s resignation.

Spotlight

What Windfall?

Little-known Social Security provisions slash pension checks.

Photo by Paul Zoeller

Odessa, Texas, teacher John Duncan, who turns 70 in December, got a letter recently from the Social Security Administration. Just when, the feds wondered, did he plan to retire?

Duncan had to chuckle at the letter—but it was a bittersweet laugh. That’s because Duncan is one of hundreds of thousands of teachers and ESPs snared by one of two obscure laws that severely cuts the Social Security benefits of deserving public employees.

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)—which penalizes individuals who earn some income in jobs covered by Social Security, but who retire and draw a pension check from a system not covered by Social Security—will take a major bite out of Duncan’s benefit when he finally decides to call it quits.
Duncan worked in the oil industry in Texas for 20 years, paying into Social Security all the while, before taking a job teaching near his home in Odessa. Depending on when he retires, the WEP will reduce his Social Security benefit by as much as $300 a month.

“I paid into Social Security, so I don’t look at it as double-dipping, which is what some politicians call it,” Duncan says. “I just assumed all along that I would have that money, and, all of a sudden, I find out the money’s not there.”

The WEP, along with the Government Pension Offsets (GPO), penalize employees who retire with a public pension but who also qualify for some Social Security benefits. Most worked in 15 so-called “non-Social Security” states.

The WEP doesn’t just affect people like Duncan who come from the private-sector, either. It routinely slams teachers and ESPs who go from a district or state that participates in Social Security to one that doesn’t.

Georgia retiree Cheryl Sarvis found that out the hard way. Sarvis taught for 16 years in the Thomas County school district (which is covered by Social Security) before spending the last 12 years of her career in the Atlanta public schools (which isn’t). Had Sarvis worked in Atlanta first, then retired from Thomas County, she’d be eligible for a Social Security benefit of $800 a month. Instead, as she learned on the brink of retiring, she’ll lose nearly half of that amount.

“No one who depends on their Social Security and teacher retirement lives a lavish lifestyle,” says Sarvis. “What we get is not a windfall.”
NEA supports bills in both houses of Congress to fully repeal the GPO and WEP, says NEA’s Randy Moody. But congressional leaders have blocked action on those bills. In the meantime, NEA is backing the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act (PSRPA) that would change the formula by which the WEP is calculated and result in increased payments for many NEA members affected by the WEP. The new bill includes language to ensure that those affected by the WEP would earn the higher of either the benefit they would get under the current system or their benefit as calculated by the new formula. “It’s a first step,” Moody emphasizes.

Intense lobbying by NEA activists helped to win the PSRPA a hearing before a House subcommittee in July, and subcommittee chair Clay Shaw says he’ll move the bill forward as quickly as possible.

Time is running out on this session of Congress, though. Help overturn these unfair Social Security provisions by taking the time to:

Learn more about the offsets. Go to www.nea.org/lac/socsec and you’ll find a wealth of information about the WEP and GPO—and how they may affect your benefits.

Contact your member of Congress. Let ‘em know that you expect full repeal of the Social Security offsets, and that you support passage of the PSRPA as a first step. You can send messages directly from www.nea.org/lac/socsec.

—John O’Neil

Rights Watch

When Teachers Stand Up for Kids

Can teachers be punished for protesting discrimination against students? The federal courts weigh in.

When Pamela Settlegoode realized that her special needs students weren’t getting a fair shake, she did what any decent teacher would do. She spoke up.

Unfortunately, it cost Settlegoode her job—until a jury stepped in and made things right.

Settlegoode, who was a first-year teacher in the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, conducted physical education classes for students with disabilities in several district schools. Alarmed about the conditions under which she had to teach, she wrote to school administrators complaining that the facilities, materials, and equipment she was required to use often were inadequate and unsafe.

Settlegoode warned that the district might be in violation of federal disability law and compared the district’s mistreatment of her students to the discrimination once suffered by African-American students who were forced to take “a back seat on the American School bus.”

A jury later found that the district refused to renew her contract in retaliation for her complaints and that the reprisal violated her First Amendment rights. As compensation for her loss, the jury awarded Settlegoode a stunning $952,000 in damages. And the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in a landmark decision handed down in June. “Teachers are uniquely situated to know whether students are receiving the type of attention and education that they deserve and…are federally entitled to,” the Court wrote. It went on to emphasize that it is particularly important that teachers of special needs students be free to speak out because they may be “the only guardians of these children’s rights and interests during the school day.”

In a similar case, Decoma Love-Lane, an assistant principal in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sued her school superintendent, claiming that he demoted her in retaliation for complaining about racially discriminatory discipline practices at her school.

Love-Lane had frequently voiced her concern that a disproportionate number of African-American males were being sent to the “time-out room” where they were denied any instruction. The superintendent allegedly responded that it was “not her job to worry about the children;…it was her job to please her principal.”

Reversing a trial court ruling, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said earlier this year that Love-Lane’s comments were protected under the First Amendment. It is perfectly proper, the court ruled, for a teacher to advocate on behalf of an “underprivileged student” who’s been “warehoused in a time-out room,” because “[t]his student has been abandoned at the end of the road unless someone, like Love-Lane, is able to speak up for him.”

In yet another case, Roderick Jackson, the former head coach of a girls’ high school basketball team in Birmingham, Alabama, sued his school district, claiming he was removed as coach for complaining that his girls’ team had been denied equal funding and equal access to sports facilities and equipment in violation of Title IX. That’s the federal law that bars gender discrimination and requires public schools to provide girls with an equal opportunity to participate in sports.

Jackson represented himself in the lawsuit and failed to raise a First Amendment claim. Instead, he argued that the district’s reprisal violated his rights under Title IX. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed his case, holding that he couldn’t sue under Title IX because he himself was not the victim of sex discrimination.

In June, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Jackson’s case and will decide whether a coach or other school employee who endures retaliation for complaining about gen]]>http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0410/resources.htmlhttp://www.nea.org/neatoday/0410/resources.htmlMon, 01 Nov 2004 05:00:00 GMT

Resources

Youth Leaders for Literacy Grants

NEA will award 20 grants of $500 each to student-led initiatives through Youth Leaders for Literacy, a joint program of NEA and Youth Service America (YSA). The Youth Leaders for Literacy initiative helps youth direct their enthusiasm and creativity into reading-related service projects. During the seven-week program period and beyond, the program aims to create a groundswell of literacy service in communities across the country.

Grant applications should propose youth leadership in developing and implementing a project that begins on NEA’s Read Across America Day in March and culminates on YSA’s National Youth Service Day in April.

Grant applications must be postmarked by October 22, 2004. Winners will be announced in December 2004. Download an application.

Grants with Class

Across the country, NEA student members are making a difference in their own communities, and to support them, NEA provides grants of up to $1,000 to student chapters who want to launch CLASS (Community Learning through America’s Schools) projects.

CLASS Grants are the NEA Student Program’s answer for two of today’s most vital needs:

1. Building community support for public education, and
2. Addressing critical educational and social problems that face our communities.

Prior grants have funded local efforts to:

• Have a book drive
• Conduct a fund-raiser for school supplies and materials
• Offer after-school tutoring
• Work with a center for at-risk children
• Participate in adult-learning programs
• Support Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America Inc.

Tell us how your chapter would like to make a difference in the community, and you could be the recipient of our next CLASS grant! For more on applying, visit www.nea.org/student-program/programs/class.html or contact Malcolm Staples.

Student Poster and Essay Contest

The Heart of America Foundation, a nonsectarian, non-partisan, nonprofit, humanitarian organization, invites students in grades 1–12 to submit posters and essays illustrating the importance of one of its “Ten Core American Values.” The poster contest is open to students in grades 1–5, and the essay contest is open to students in grades 6–12. Posters in any medium should be a minimum size of  8 x 11-in. Essays should be titled, double-spaced, and not exceed 500 words.

For more information, go to www.heartofamerica.org. Each winner will receive a $100 Savings Bond; two-night trip to Sarasota, Florida, including airfare with one parent or guardian; and two tickets to Busch Gardens. The submission deadline is October 15, 2004.

Elementary Math grants

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics offers the Irene Etkowicz Eizen Grant for the 2005–06 school year. One grant with a maximum of $6,000 will be awarded to a teacher working collaboratively with other teachers of the same grade or within a grade band (K–2; 3–5) in one school or district to improve mathematics instruction.

The grant recipient must be committed to becoming a teacher-leader in elementary school math.

Applicants must (1) have taught elementary school mathematics for at least three years; (2) currently be assigned at least 50 percent of the time to teaching in an elementary classroom; (3) have mathematics as a regular teaching responsibility; and (4) have a demonstrated commitment to become a teacher-leader in elementary school mathematics.

For more information, including proposal guidelines, go to www.nctm.org/about/met/eizen.htm. Application packets must be postmarked by December 3, 2004.

Study in Japan

The Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program makes it possible for U.S. primary and secondary educators to visit Japan for a fully funded, three-week study. A minimum of six awards will be given to each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., to reflect a broad cross-section of the U.S. primary and secondary educational community.

Recipients of the grant will travel to Japan to participate in a three-week program that features an orientation to Japan followed by visits to primary and secondary schools, teacher training colleges, cultural sites, and industrial facilities. Meetings with Japanese teachers and students, and homestays with a Japanese family are also key components of the program.

The program is administered by the Japan-United States Educational Commission (JUSEC) through its program office in Tokyo. For more information, including applications, visit www.iie.org/fmf or call 888-527-2636. The application deadline for 2005 trips is December 10, 2004.

Intel Awards

The Intel Foundation will award $10,000 to 22 schools during its 2005 Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Awards, administered by the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation. This national award program recognizes outstanding American schools for academic, literacy, mathematics and science achievement, as well as technology excellence, technology innovation, leadership, professional development, collaboration, and teamwork.

An elementary-level and secondary-level school will be chosen in each of the 10 categories and will receive a grant of $10,000.

Applications for the 2005 year are due on December 1, 2004. To apply, or for more information, visit www.schoolsofdistinction.com.

What’s Up at HIN

“The Red Book” Will Soon Be Available in Spanish!

This popular booklet addresses how to manage blood on the job, the steps to take to protect yourself, and information on HIV and hepatitis. It is free for NEA ESP members by contacting Agnes Smith or 202-822-7195. Copies can also be downloaded by visiting www.neahin.org/resources/pubs.htm or purchased by calling 877-250-5795.

Let’s Cut Back on Diesel Exhaust from Idling School Buses!

While school buses are the safest way to get to and from school, diesel exhaust from idling school buses pollute the air and can affect the health of school bus drivers and the children they serve. This October please take part in Children’s Health Month and recognize October 6 as Clean School Bus Day! Ask your school district to put in place a “no idling” policy for school buses. Visit the U.S. EPA’s Web site on anti-idling at www.epa.gov/otaq/schoolbus/antiidling.htm for tips, resources, and links. For more information on Children’s Health Month, visit www.childrenshealth.gov/calendar.html.

Updated Sexual Health Fact Sheet Now Available

Did you know that the highest gonorrhea rates in the country are among teenage girls? Don’t be left in the dark, get the latest sexual health statistics from the best nationally recognized sources. Order or download NEA HIN’s free fact sheet, Sexual Health: By The Numbers by calling 202-822-7570 or visiting www.neahin.org/programs/reproductive/index.htm.

Evaluate Your School Facility Conditions

Thanks to a broad coalition of educational, environmental, health, and civic organizations, a 2004 School Environmental Checklist is now available to help parents, students, and school staff identify and fix environmental problems in their schools. This new tool also provides resources to develop a preventive and cost-effective action plan to protect children’s health and improve school facility conditions. To download a copy of the checklist, visit www.healthyschools.org.

In Print

Not Another Halloween Disaster

The troublesome Herdmans are back to stir up mischief in Barbara Robinson’s The Best Halloween Ever. To thwart their pranks, the mayor cancels Halloween—including the candy and trick-or-treating—for everyone. Can the Woodrow Wilson School students survive? Can the Herdmans turn the canceled holiday from the worst Halloween ever into the best one? Find out in this humorous book for ages 8 and up. 128 pp.

Say It Out Loud

In Read-Alouds and Performance Reading: A Handbook of Activities for the Middle School Classroom, Christine Boardman Moen outlines different ideas on how to make read-alouds and performance reading fun activities for the classroom. Each chapter in this best-practices book focuses on a single read-aloud or performance reading routine and includes sample preparation sheets, log sheets, tip sheets, and grading rubrics.

A Call for Change

In Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools, edited by Deborah Meier and George Wood, several education writers share their opinions and ideas about the shortcomings of NCLB. With essays by Alfie Kohn and Theodore Sizer, among others, the book serves as a guide to understanding what’s wrong with the law and where we should go from here. 144 pp.

Safely Surfing the Web

In Keep Your Kids Safe on the Internet, Simon Johnson gives parents a guide to what kids are finding on the Internet and how to protect them from bad sites. Chapters include discussions on how kids can avoid harmful sites and electronic messages; reviews of content-filtering, firewall, and antivirus software; and information on spyware and adware. 336 pp.

Old Wisdom For A New Life

After the death of her grandmother, a young girl embarks on a journey with two crows and the knowledge her grandmother bestowed upon her in The Crow-Girl, a translated Danish tale by Bodil Bredsdorff. The girl, who earns the nickname “Crow-Girl” while on her journey, also gains life experiences and lessons while in search of a new family. 160 pp.

It's a Fact

K–6 teachers looking to integrate nonfiction trade books into their language arts and other content area curricula may want to check out Barbara Moss’ Exploring the Literature of Fact: Children’s Nonfiction Trade Books in the Elementary Classroom. The book provides practical strategies, teacher-created lesson plans, examples of student work, and recommended book lists, all geared to help educators incorporate nonfiction into the classroom. 195 pp.

T is For Tyrannosaurus

In T Is for Terrible, Peter McCarty teaches preschoolers and elementary-age readers that the Tyrannosaurus Rex isn’t such a bad guy after all. The dinosaur, like many children, simply wants others to like him and tries to explain how he is just like other animals and people—for the most part. Beautiful illustrations enhance the book’s gentle humor. 32 pp.

Naptime

Re-released for its 20th anniversary with a CD-ROM recording included, The Napping House, written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood, delivers the classic tale of a household trying to settle down for naptime and an unexpected visitor who foils everyone’s plans. The included CD-ROM features a reading of the story, along with songs. 32 pp.

Take Note

UniServ Intern Program

As part of an ongoing commitment to state and local affiliates, NEA is seeking eligible candidates for the 2005 NEA Affirmative Action

UniServ Intern Program for Ethnic Minorities and Women. Individuals who successfully complete the four-and-a-half-week training program and the three-month field experience will be certified by NEA as eligible for UniServ staff work in an NEA state or local affiliate.

All individuals must be committed to moving for the three-month field experience and must:

1. Be an ethnic minority or female as designated by the U.S. Census
2. Be an Active NEA member for at least one year
3. Have basic knowledge and understanding of the Association at the local/state level
4. Be committed to pursuing UniServ staff employment upon successful completion of the program
5. Have excellent interpersonal skills
6. Have a willingness to participate in intensive training
7. Have a willingness to resign all Association offices at the local, state, and national level
8. Have a willingness to work in a learning environment during day and evening hours and learn new skills and attitudes.

NEA does not guarantee employment of UniServ staff; employment is a state/local decision. 

To apply, send a letter of interest to: Brenda Vincent, UniServ Intern Program, NEA Membership and Organizing, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036. All letters of interest must be received at NEA by December 2, 2004, by U.S. mail or Federal Express. Faxed copies and letters received after the deadline will not be accepted. Beginning December 2, an application packet along with basic instructions will be sent after a letter of interest is received at the NEA office. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2005. For questions, call your local UniServ director.

National Mock Election

On October 28, 2004, as part of the National Student/Parent Mock Election, American students and parents in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., will cast their votes for President, members of Congress, and governors (where there is a race), and on key national issues. The mock election makes students and parents aware of the power of their ballot by actively involving them in a full-fledged campaign and national election. The project is a great way to teach students about the electoral process and that their civic activities really do count. Anyone can participate in the mock election, you just need to enroll at the mock election Web site at www.nationalmockelection.com. The enrollment will be forwarded to a state coordinator who will contact you with all the information you need on getting your school’s votes counted and your students’ voices heard. While at the site, check out available curricula to help you plan lessons on the election.

Speak Up About Technology

In October 2003, NetDay, a nonprofit education technology group, launched the first Speak Up Day, an online student survey of technology use with more than 210,000 participants from all 50 states. Speak Up Day events collect input from all stakeholders in the education community on topics of interest such as technology. Speak Up Day for Students is being held again this year October 11–29 and your school can take part. Register at www.netday.org and subscribe to the Speak Up Day news list for information about this year’s event. While there, take a look at the results from last year’s survey, “Voices and Views from Today’s Tech-Savvy Students: NetDay National Report on Speak Up Day for Students 2003.” The site also includes lesson plans and discussion guides for educators to use with students when viewing the report.

Trick-or-Treat for Eyeglasses

Sight Night is a national event sponsored by LensCrafters and Lions Clubs International organized around Halloween or trick-or-treat nights in communities across the country. Volunteers across North America canvass their neighborhoods and collect used eyeglasses during trick-or-treating. All colors, shapes, and sizes of children’s and adults’ prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses are needed, as well as nonprescription sunglasses. Collected eyeglasses are cleaned, repaired, and hand-delivered during optical missions to developing countries. Children and families interested in participating in Sight Night can get free collection materials by contacting their local LensCrafters or going to: www.sightnight.org.

Helping Out on Halloween

Good ideas often have humble beginnings. Such is the story of “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF,” which started in 1950 when a group of trick-or-treaters went door-to-door on Halloween with their pastor in Philadelphia. At each door, they not only opened their bags for candy, but held out empty milk cartons to collect coins for children in need overseas. They collected $17 and sent it to UNICEF. The result was bigger than those children ever imagined. Since 1950, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has brought new meaning to Halloween. Through the years, the children of the United States have raised more than $119 million to help build a better future for children around the globe. This year, you and your students can continue the tradition by collecting for UNICEF during Halloween activities. For more on how to take part, go to www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/.

Free Election Lesson Plans

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lesley University has developed original, ready-to-use lesson plans and other curricular materials to help you integrate the 2004 election immediately into your classroom. Located at www.lesley.edu/election04, the site includes a series of grade-specific materials (appropriate for grades 1–12) to help you make the election relevant to students.

Developed and compiled by classroom teachers from around the country, the materials comprise modules organized around essential questions, accompanied by well-developed rubrics, and aligned to national standards. The units are designed to be used in parts or as a whole—pick and choose, mix and match. All of the units foster collaboration—within and between classes, grades, schools, districts, and states. The site also contains links to free, Web-based resources on the 2004 election. The links have been screened by teachers to ensure they are accurate and appropriate for students to explore.

The technology required for these lessons and activities is fairly basic: Internet access, and basic Microsoft Office tools such as Word, Powerpoint, and spreadsheets.

Science Friday Kids’ Connection

Every week during the school year, the Kids’ Connection translates information from National Public Radio’s Science Friday program into curriculum for middle school teachers. NPR’s Science Friday host Ira Flatow talks about the latest research with scientists and policy makers, authors and advocates during two hourlong segments, broadcast live from 2–4 p.m. ET. Flatow covers topics ranging from global warming to genetically modified foods. The Science Friday Kids’ Connection then takes that often complex material and translates it into easily digestible information available at www.sciencefriday.com.

Each topic contains a full summary of the discussion, with references, suggested questions for students, activities, and related resources available on the Web. Educators can review the content in light of appropriate McRel standards, listed on each topic, derived from the Mid Continent Research for Education and Learning. The Kids’ Connection is produced by KIDSNET, the nonprofit organization that helps children, families, and educators intelligently access educational opportunities available from the media.

Pocket Guide to Election ‘04

And they’re off....Election season is here and now there’s a handy pocket resource guide to help voters identify candidates committed to public education. The 2004 Candidates Pocket Reference Guide: How Do They Measure Up on Children and Education? covers a range of issues—from vouchers to full funding for special education. Jointly published by 15 education and minority organizations, the guide has questions and facts voters should consider before Election Day. For a copy, call NEA External Partnerships and Advocacy at 202-822-7446.

Walk for Change

Adopt universal health care. Hire more teachers. Build state-of-the-art school buildings. Launch a drive to end functional illiteracy in America.

Those are some of the demands of a group that’s calling for a “million worker march” October 17 in Washington, D.C. The group includes dozens of labor unions, community organizations, and prominent individuals from around the country—from Danny Glover and Dick Gregory to the San Francisco and Albany labor councils, the California Teachers Association, and the 2004 NEA Representative Assembly (RA).

The march will press for a change in national priorities that would benefit educators and students, says Andy Griggs, the West Los Angeles elementary school math coach who organized support for the march at the RA. He said public education today is under siege.

“We’re faced with increased class size, more paperwork, national standards, mandated scripted programs, and more hoops to jump through to certify that we’re highly qualified. Students are faced with high-stakes testing and with higher college tuitions that make it harder to get the education they need to succeed.

“Many students have just three options: Walmart or some other subsistence job, the military, or prison,” he said. “It shouldn’t be that way. That’s why I’ll be at the march.”

Griggs said the purpose of the October 17 event is to build an ongoing grassroots movement that “won’t stop with just one march, but will gain momentum from that march.”

For more, visit www.millionworkermarch.org.

On The Web

PDF Voter’s Guide

Public Education Network has created a voter’s guide that presents questions highlighting pressing issues in public education. The guide informs voters about education issues and helps them determine a candidate’s stance on public education. The questions help identify the education decisions candidates will have to make if elected and encourage voters to make ballot selections based on which candidates they believe have the strongest public education agenda.

Get out the girl vote

Vote, Run, Lead, a national nonpartisan initiative to ignite and mobilize the power of women’s votes and women’s voices, has launched a Web site with 18 activities designed to help girls (and boys) under the age of 18 learn about the election. The site also includes several links to voter and leadership organizations, an online discussion board, and information on women politicians and women’s suffrage.

Exploring Coral Reefs    

If your students have a hankering to do some underwater exploring, then dive into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s coral reef conservation program Web site. Teachers can access lesson plans and curriculum information as well as information on grants for coral reef study, while students can learn about reefs, the ocean, and weather. The education resources section of the site is separated into age levels, with a special section directed at higher education students.

Learning from Our Elders

There’s no better way to learn about history than from the people who were there when it happened. The Grandparent/Elder Project brings history to life by giving students the opportunity to learn about 20th century history from the people who lived through it. A teacher’s guide at this Library of Congress site outlines a project in which students become acquainted with the use of primary and secondary sources through interviews and research.

Share the Technology

If you’re looking for free computer equipment, you might want to try Share the Technology. The site provides a way for donors and potential recipients to search online message boards and databases to find computers and equipment available for free in their region. Donors can also post their goods here.

Books by NEA Members

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

By Jordan Sonnenblick

Revealing the emotional struggle of an eighth-grade boy who has found out that his younger brother has leukemia, this novel paints an honest and moving picture of how adolescents deal with tough issues. Written by a middle school teacher from the perspective of a 13-year-old boy, this book will open up conversation both inside and outside the classroom among students and teachers alike. 192 pp.

Kaipo & the Mighty ‘Ahi

By Leonard J. Villanueva

Concentrating on a young boy’s efforts to prove that he is worthy of going fishing with his older brothers, this illustrated children’s book teaches kids the value of persistence and patience. Written and illustrated by a fifth-grade teacher, the book’s engaging narrative and charming artwork will pull kids into its Hawaiian setting. 36 pp.

Happy Feet, Healthy Food

By Carol Goodrow

Written by an elementary teacher and founding editor of www.kidsrunning.com, this workbook is full of simple recipes for healthy snacks and suggestions for fun exercise. Easy-to-read information is paired with physical activity logs so kids can track their daily exercise and the healthy foods they eat. Designed for ages 6–16, the book would be good for the classroom, home, or for use in fitness or running clubs. 112 pp.

Heads Up From NEA Member Benefits

Service, Accessibility, Price, Features, Stability—These are the hallmarks of the NEA Seal of Excellence, a designation which assures NEA members that the products and services offered through NEA Member Benefits are of unparalleled quality:

Service—All our providers commit to giving the highest level of responsive service to members.

Accessibility—Products and services must be offered to the membership on a nationwide basis.

Price—Rates and prices for products are highly competitive in the marketplace.

Features—Products are tailored to meet the special needs of NEA members.

Stability—A thorough investigative process ensures that product providers have the stability and financial strength to remain viable well into the future.

When you make important financial decisions for your family, look for the NEA Seal of Excellence. Visit www.neamb .com for more information about the products that carry this proud mark of distinction.

Starting early to save for your retirement can have a big impact on how much you accumulate. Just look at these two savers.

Anne starts investing $100 per month in her retirement account at age 25 and keeps investing until age 65. Assuming an 8.5% interest rate compounded daily, her accumulated savings will be $370,968.20.

Bill, however, postpones his retirement savings program until age 35. Contributing the same $100 per month until age 65 and assuming the same 8.5% interest rate, his accumulated savings will be under $156,000. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the advantages of starting your retirement investment program early, contact your NEA Valuebuilder® Financial Counselor by calling toll-free, 1-800-NEA-VALU, or visit us online at www.neamb.com.

Diversity Calendar

October

October 1–31—Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History Month

A nationally designated month to remember efforts to end discrimination against and promote respect and understanding for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals. For more, go to www.glsen.org/templates/issues/?subjects=2.

October 7—Shemini Atzeret

Marked by prayer, including a prayer for rain, this holiday comes on the closing day of the Jewish festival of Sukkot and begins on sunset, October 6.

October 15—Ramadan, First Day

This day begins the Islamic holy month in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset each day. The period honors the revelation of the Koran.

October 17–23—National School Bus Safety Week

This week promotes school bus safety and is sponsored by the National Association for Pupil Transportation. For more, including this year’s theme and poster contest information , go to www.napt.org or call 518-452-3611.

November

November 1—All Saints Day

A Catholic and Protestant commemoration of all the saints.

November 12—Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Birthday

A early women’s rights promoter, Cady Stanton (1815–1902) helped organize the first women’s rights convention in 1848 in New York, ran for Congress in 1866, and  co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Assocation with Susan B. Anthony in 1869.

November 19—Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered this speech as part of the dedication of a national cemetery at the Gettysburg Battlefield.

November 21–27—National Family Week

A week to show appreciation to families and their role in contributing to a strong society. This year’s theme is “Connections Count.” For more, go to www.nationalfamilyweek.org.

On TV

Save Our History:
George Washington’s Workshop

History Channel, October 1, 6 a.m., ET.
A behind-the-scenes look at the private enterprise of the first U.S. President, from his Mount Vernon distillery operations to plans to increase farm production. The episode can be taped and used in the classroom for two years with teaching materials available at www.historychannel.com/classroom/workshop.

TLC Elementary

The Learning Channel, October 8, 6 a.m., ET.
This series, designed for grades K–6, consists of segments edited from original documentaries and can be taped and used in the classroom for two years. This month’s episode, “Earth’s Ecology,” focuses on ocean mapping; the states of water; food chains; and the water, oxygen, and nitrogen cycles.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee

Nickelodeon, October 18, 22, and 27, 6 a.m., ET, check local listings.
This 30-minute news magazine special, “Kids Pick the President: The Candidates,” will feature President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry as they answer questions asked by young people from across the country, so kids can vote on whom they think the next President of the U.S. should be. Nick News is created and produced for kids in grades 4–6 and can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

Broadway: An American Musical

PBS, October 19, 20, and 21, 9 p.m., ET, check local listings.
This year marks its 100th anniversary of musical theater.  Channel 13 in New York has produced not one, not two, but three nights of definitive history, beginning with the groundbreaking work of “impresario extraordinaire,” Florenz Ziegfeld. He created the Broadway musical, by using parts of vaudeville, minstrel shows, European opera, and knockabout comedy. Immigrants also played a prominent role: theater greats present and past declare it was the immigrants pouring into New York from every corner of the globe who provided the stories, jokes, and songs needed to create musical after musical. Carol

Channing, Tommy Tune, Stephen Sondheim, and others speak with a passion about Broadway. Additional resources can be found at www.pbs.org.

Biomes: Adapting to Deserts and Other Ecosystems

Discovery Channel, October 19, 9 a.m., ET.
Examine how the adaptive crocodile is a threat to prey both on land and under water, how creatures survive in extremely dry environments, and how birds’ bodies are specially adapted for flight in this hourlong program. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

The Haunted History of Halloween

The History Channel, October 22, 6 a.m., ET.
This documentary traces the history of the ancient celebration that began as a pagan harvest festival in Celtic Ireland and was later Christianized by Roman Catholic popes. Can be taped and used in the classroom for two years with teaching materials at www.historychannel.com/classroom.

On TV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and by Cable in the Classroom’s Access Learning magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Read Across Kicks Into High Gear

It’s never too early to spread the joy of reading and get ready for the NEA’s 2005 Read Across America celebration! October marks the deadlines for grant applications for the Youth Leaders for Literacy Grants from NEA and Youth Service America, and the Polar Express Reading Challenge, created by NEA’s Read Across America, Warner Brothers Pictures, and Houghton Mifflin. Your youth-led literacy project may win up to $500 in grant money—go to www.nea.org/readacross or www.ysa.org for information and a copy of the grant application. The Polar Express Reading Challenge, in which K–5 students and teachers can enter prizes, including screenings of the new Polar Express movie and signed books by author Chris Van Allsburg, will also result in book donations to under-resourced school libraries. For more, go to www.nea.org/readacross or www.polarexpressmovie.com. A]]>http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0410/people.htmlhttp://www.nea.org/neatoday/0410/people.htmlMon, 01 Nov 2004 05:00:00 GMT

People