Calendar Survey 2011-12

If you have calendar preferences, please take the survey linked here no later than THIS COMING MONDAY, APRIL 4 AT NOON.

Link for NESPA Calendar Survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C5CH462Y5/

Tired of Teacher/Educator Bashing?

FOR NESPA, NSEA AND NEOPA MEMBERS:

WEAR RED ON TUESDAY AND
JOIN THE DISCUSSION!

Educators—certificated and non-certificated---and all public service employees are under attack. So are our schools and our unions. What’s behind it all? What can we do to turn around an increasingly perilous situation—nationally, in Washington, and even in Northshore?

Could this be your school in the near future? Imagine a scripted Gates curriculum consisting only of English, math, and science. No pretense that teachers or NESPA staff are professionals. We are human robots who compete for our pay and to keep our jobs. A climate of fear created by a punitive principal who monitors every minute, assisted by selected parents. Our Associations exists in name only. Only those who can’t find better work stay more than a few years. Most of our pay goes to cover our medical costs, and our hours can be cut at any time. This is not that far-fetched.

We now face a confluence of various efforts to 1) weaken and destroy unions; 2) privatize our schools; and 3) remake our schools in the image of how some corporate leaders believe all organizations should be “reformed”. These three efforts are sometimes distinct, and sometimes allied. Public education, educators, and their unions are their common targets.

The current Great Recession is a perfect opportunity for scapegoating, particularly by those who created and benefit from the policies that caused this Recession. These policies include deregulation, trade and economic policies that hollowed out our economy, the obliteration of private sector unions, and other policies that have transferred wealth to the top as never before. Blaming educators, public employees, unions, and even immigrants for the current state of affairs is a time-tested way to keep the public from demanding policies and electing leaders that could jeopardize the continued flow of wealth upwards.

We are in the midst of a national effort to remake our society to benefit those at the top by sacrificing the middle class and the American Dream. As educators and as a union we need to stand together to defend the middle class and the American Dream—and not just for us, but for our children, the students we serve, and for others who work for a living.

ARE OUR SCHOOLS FAILING?

If the public can be convinced that public education is generally a failure, then education, a $500 billion economic sector that is also the most unionized in the nation, can be remade, privatized, and de-unionized.

Some schools are failing. However, they work pretty well in communities with little poverty. Two of the three major international tests (the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the Trends in International Math and Science Study) break down student scores according to the poverty rate in each school. The most recent results from 2006 (the tests are given every 5 years) showed the following: students in U.S. schools where the poverty rate was less than 10% ranked 1^st in reading and science, and 3rd in math. When the poverty rate was 10% to 25%, U.S. students still ranked 1^st in reading and science, but as the poverty rate rose higher, students ranked lower and lower.

Twenty percent of all U.S. schools have poverty rates over 75%. The average ranking of American students reflects this. The crisis in education is in the schools where poverty is concentrated. It is first a crisis of poverty. However, blaming these under-resourced “failing schools” (which they are) is simpler and far less expensive than implementing policies that reduce poverty instead of increasing it. These policies would generally reduce the flow of wealth upwards. Using the real crisis of poverty-filled schools to persuade the public that our entire public education system is failing serves those who wish to undermine it.

Though public education is not failing, we are committed to improving our schools for every student. This effort must be led by educators to be successful. We must be willing to examine new ideas, whatever their source.

Shrinking or eliminating our education unions is part of a larger assault on unions. This assault has largely been successful in the private sector, where unionized employees are now only 7% of the workforce. The public sector remains at about 36%, and education unions are much of that. Our NEA is the nation’s largest union. We defend public education and services, and help elect those who defend them. We are the primary obstacle to the privatizers and corporate “reformers”, and we are one of the key obstacles to complete corporate domination of our nation. Thus, we are in the bull’s eye.

WHAT ABOUT “BAD TEACHERS”?

The attack on “bad teachers” is an attack on all educators—not just certificated staff. Yes, there are some bad teachers. However, the “bad teacher” is to education what Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queen” was to welfare, a cynical reframing of public opinion that eliminated much of our social safety net. The rant about “bad teachers” is an attempt to discredit public schools and the “bad unions” that “defend them.” If the public can be convinced that our schools are filled with “bad teachers,” then getting rid of them and their “bad unions” becomes the highest priority in “reforming” education.

Here in Washington, we are facing attacks like the “End Teacher Job Security Bill”—aka the “Teacher Layoff Bill”—organized by the League of Education Voters (LEV) and Stand for Children. These corporate foundation-backed organizations popularize the mantra that “bad teachers” and the union that “defends them” are the problems. Northshore’s School Board President Dawn McCravey testified in Olympia in support of this bill, at the request of LEV. If this bill had passed (it did not, but could be resurrected), no school employees would have any job security in the future.

LEV recently organized a small group of Woodinville parents (“Northshore Families for Better Schools”) who wish to intervene in the teacher negotiations. (School Board member Todd Banks was at the first meeting led by the LEV organizer. Dawn McCravey was invited, but could not attend.) At their second meeting, they barred Tim Brittell, Kraig Peck, and two Northshore teachers, Cathy Garrand and Anne Davidson, (all residents and Northshore parents) at the driveway stating, “No teachers or union people allowed.” While there are undoubtedly sincere parents involved who would like to improve our schools, they have unfortunately adopted the LEV approach to organizing: driving a wedge between parents and educators. We don’t want such a wedge in Northshore, as happened in Seattle, Bellevue, and Issaquah. We want parents and educators working together for our schools and students.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE PUBLIC SUPPORTS US.

The Northshore community loves our schools, and supports Northshore educators, as do local communities nationally according to polling. Wisconsin has clarified the thinking of many people. For example, the public supports collective bargaining for public employees by a 2 to 1 margin. But we are facing a national attack with many strands. Even Obama supports one strand of this attack; he stands with the “corporate reformers” and their foundations. It will get worse if we do nothing, but we have the power to turn the tide—TOGETHER!

HOW CAN WE TURN THE TIDE, BETTER SERVE OUR STUDENTS, AND CONTINUE THE STRONG SUPPORT
OF OUR COMMUNITY?

¨ PLEASE WEAR RED ON TUESDAY, MARCH 22^ND , TO SHOW YOUR OPPOSITION TO TEACHER/EDUCATOR BASHING AND ATTACKS ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES & UNIONS. The “Wear Red” Tuesdays are part of a national effort to turn the tide. Wearing red focuses attention and fosters a dialog amongst us. Dialog leads to action. Join the certificated teachers at meetings at school during the week of March 21^st to discuss Teacher/Educator-Bashing—why it’s happening and what we can do about it. Or organize a NESPA discussion after work. Watch your email for more info.

· NSEA (OUR TEACHERS) ARE CLARIFYING AND PUBLICIZING WHAT NORTHSHORE’S CERTIFICATED TEACHERS STAND FOR. They have written a document entitled “NORTHSHORE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION PLAN FOR STUDENT SUCCESS.” You can find it at northshoreea.blogspot.com. Please read and discuss it with your colleagues, PTA, friends, and families.

www.northshoreea.blogspot.com

NESPA * 18704 Bothell Way NE, Bothell, WA 98011 * 425.486.101 ext 103 * nespablog.blogspot.com