Federal Update - January 18, 2008
Brought
to you by your voice at the national level,
the Association of American
Educators.
Right to Work in Iowa Threatened Again
A Ban on Payroll Deductions in Utah Found to be Unconstitutional
OLMS Has a Record Year for Union Fund Restitutions and Convictions
The NEA and Presidential Candidates
Numerous Teacher Absences May Hurt Student Achievement
January 8th marked the sixth Anniversary of No Child Left Behind. This anniversary, like the ones before it, came with a heightened commitment to the law from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. In a speech at the National Press Club on January 10 Secretary Spellings stated, “…today, we've reached a tipping point. It's up to us to define our future. If that future does not have accountability at its very core, then we'll all lose most importantly, the kids.”
NCLB was up for reauthorization last year but a comprehensive bill failed to get through the House Education and Labor Committee. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee did not introduce a bill. Secretary Spellings has vowed that if Congress does not pass a strong NCLB bill this year she will move forward. “To reinforce the President's challenge of Monday, Congress has had over a year to consider these reforms, but students and teachers need help now,” stated Secretary Spellings.
In her effort to give the teachers and students the help they need Secretary Spellings will partner with states and districts to support advancements in education through the use of pilot programs and other administrative tools.
In the next three to four months Secretary Spellings will travel to nearly half the states to discuss NCLB and to seek support for the department’s changes, some of which include expanding a program that gives schools credit for the progress individual students make from year-to-year (i.e. growth models); allowing differentiated consequences for chronically underperforming schools and those that barely miss the stated benchmarks; and requiring states to use uniform high school graduation rates.
On the anniversary of No Child Left Behind, the Education Department released a new resource for parents, teachers, and policymakers. Small booklets, referred to as dashboards, were published for each state in the union, Washington, D.C., and the nation as a whole. The dashboards provide readers a synopsis of the condition of education in each state by analyzing the state’s performance on factors such as, NAEP scores, the percent of teachers who are highly qualified, graduation rates and their progress in closing the achievement gap. “What we’re trying to do is put it into simple, plain language,” stated Holly Kuzmich, deputy chief of staff for Spellings.
To view the dashboards, please visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/wi.html.
For more information about the anniversary of NCLB, please read the following article titled, “Spellings says No Child law is ‘Getting Results,’” at http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080111/NATION/12161571/1002.
In the wake of the NCLB’s anniversary a lawsuit against the law has been revived. In 2005 the National Education Association, along with school districts in Michigan, Texas, and Vermont brought a lawsuit against NCLB claiming that the law violated the constitution by requiring states and school districts to spend their own money to meet federal requirements, such as administering standardized tests. The case was originally dismissed by a federal judge in Michigan. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled, however, in a 2-to-1 decision to reverse the lower court’s decision. The case is being sent back to the lower court. The Court of Appeals stated that the states were not clear of their financial obligations when they accepted federal funding for NCLB.
“Because we conclude that NCLB fails to provide clear notice as to who bears the additional costs of compliance, we reverse the judgment of the district,” the ruling said. It was also stated in the ruling that, “injury has already occurred and is ongoing,” due to the fact states and local districts have had to spend their own money to meet the requirements under the law.
“The federal government is exploring all legal options available,” Secretary Margaret Spellings stated. “This decision could undermine efforts to improve the education of our nation’s children, in particular those students most in need.”
For more information about the ruling, please read the following article titled, “Court Revives Lawsuit Against No Child Left Behind Law,” at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/education/08child.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin.
To read the Court of Appeals ruling, please go to http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0006p-06.pdf.
Right to Work in Iowa Threatened Again
Last year, Iowa was consumed in a bitter battle over the status of Right to Work when opponents of the law tried to make Iowa a forced unionism state. Right to Work prevailed in the state when the House Democrats realized they did not have enough votes to pass the Fair Share bill that would have eliminated Right to Work. The Iowa Legislature is back in session and it is very likely that the Fair Share bill will emerge again. Governor Chet Culver (D-IA) has spoken favorably of the Fair Share bill and a union lobbyist has declared to the National Right to Work Committee that forced union fees would pass this year. Big Labor is also claiming that they do have the votes needed to pass the legislation this time. One representative in favor of the Fair Share bill was not available for votes last year but has returned to the Legislature.
The National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix has vowed that the National Committee and its Iowa allies would do everything possible to ensure that Iowa remains a Right to Work State. “Right to Work laws are strongly correlated with faster growth in personal income and jobs. Among Iowa and the seven states with which it borders, over the last five years for which data are available, every single Right to Work state enjoyed faster personal income growth than every single non-Right to Work state. To protect their cherished Right to Work law, freedom-loving Iowans must remain vigilant,” stated Mr. Mix. The Fair Share bill passed the Senate last year but did not come to the floor for a vote; therefore, the bill is still alive and could come up any time during the session.
For more information on the Fair Share bill, please read the following article from National Right to Work at http://www.nrtwc.org/nl/nl200801p3.pdf.
To view more resources on the status of Right to Work in Iowa, please go to the Iowans for Right to Work’s website at www.iartw.org.
Recently Education Week released a report titled Quality Counts 2008, a report that analyzed the education systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report graded the states on six categories: chance for success, K-12 achievement, standards, assessments, and accountability, transitions and alignment, the teaching profession, and finances. The states were given grades in each category as well as an overall grade. New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland had the highest overall grades while Oregon, Idaho, and the District of Columbia were at the bottom. According to the report some states performed consistently well or poorly in each of the categories but when looking closely at the results most states had a high grade in at least one of the categories.
In the chance for success category it became evident that elementary and secondary education was the most important factor in determining students’ success later in life. Factors such as job prospects offered to adults in each state plays a role in determining success but that was secondary to school participation and performance.
There has been an increased emphasis on aligning skills taught in school to skills that students will need to be successful in the workplace so it is not surprising that this was part of the report. It was found in the report that Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Tennessee, and West Virginia have made substantial strides in implementing policies that will help better prepare students for the workforce.
Different aspects of the teaching profession also received attention in the report. When assessing states in the teaching profession category the report looked at factors such as incentives to attract and keep talent and allocate it equitably across schools, state accountability for quality, and efforts to build and support teaching capacity. South Carolina had the highest score with an A-minus while nine states and the District of Columbia had grades of D or lower. In this category it also became apparent that alternative routes for nontraditional candidates and licensure-reciprocity agreements between states are now prevalent ideas. Forty-six states have alternative routes for nontraditional candidates while 37 states have licensure-reciprocity agreements.
Included below courtesy of Education Week, are the overall grades for each state:
For more information about the report please go to this Education Week article entitled "Grading the States".
A Ban on Payroll Deductions in Utah Found to be Unconstitutional
A 2001 law banning payroll deductions by political organizations for employees of school districts and other government entities was found to be unconstitutional by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court believes that the law violates freedom of speech.
Attorneys for the state had argued that the ban on voluntary payroll contributions to groups helped to keep organizations such as the Utah Education Association (UEA), politically neutral. Labor unions including the UEA, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, argued that the state was over-reaching its authority by placing a ban on payroll contributions.
The court case cost the state about $700,000 plus the $150,000 in attorneys’ fees by the UEA that the state will probably have to pay. “Obviously we are disappointed,” said assistant Utah attorney general Nancy Kemp. “The state now does have some guidance from the court. It’s always good to have guidance,” Kemp continued.
For more information about the court case, please go to http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695243122,00.html.
OLMS Has a Record Year for Union Fund Restitutions and Convictions
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, recently released its criminal enforcement data for 2007. OLMS had a record amount of court-ordered union fund restitutions and convictions in 2007. There were $32 million in restitutions for workers in 2007 and 118 convictions. In 2001 the amount of court-ordered restitutions was just under $2 million and there were 102 convictions.
Workers’ union dues are being aggressively protected with more than $100 million ordered returned in this decade,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Labor-Management Standards Don Todd. “Criminal activity such as we’ve found in these cases must be uncovered and prosecuted wherever possible. The workers that own this money deserve nothing less.”
The criminal enforcement program of OLMS is responsible for investigating embezzlement from labor organizations, extortionate picketing, deprivation of union members’ rights by force or violence, and fraud in union officer elections. The civil program publicly discloses unions’ annual financial reports, conducts compliance audits of labor unions and seeks civil remedies for union officer election procedures.
For more information about OLMS, please go to http://www.dol.gov/esa/olms_org.htm.
The NEA and Presidential Candidates
The AFT has endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for president but the NEA has yet to endorse one candidate. They have issued, however, a list of candidates that they find acceptable. These candidates on the list include the seven Democratic presidential candidates who attended the NEA’s representative assembly last July. Three of the individuals on the list have dropped out of the race, therefore, leaving Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich as the NEA’s acceptable candidates. The NEA does not include any Republicans on their list, including Governor Mike Huckabee, who was the lone Republican to attend the representative assembly. NEA affiliates can support any, all or none of the candidates on the list.
For more information about the NEA and presidential candidates, please go to http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts.htm.
Numerous Teacher Absences May Hurt Student Achievement
During a school year it is not uncommon that a teacher will have to miss a few days of school for various reasons and a substitute is needed to fill in. The occasional substitute in the classroom is not likely to affect the student’s progress in the class dramatically; however, an issue arises when schools use substitutes to fill full-time vacancies. When this occurs student achievement is affected. According to research done by Charles Clotfelter, a Duke University economist, student test scores are lower when substitutes are the teachers for substantial amounts of time.
“Many times, substitutes don’t have the plan in front of them,” said Clotfelter. “They don’t have all the behavioral expectations that the regular teachers have established, so it’s basically a holding pattern.”
Unfortunately the practice of hiring substitutes for vacant positions instead of teachers is happening all too often across the country. Data from the Education Department shows that between 1994 and 2004 the number of schools that reported using substitutes to fill teaching positions has doubled. Over a fifth of all schools now use substitutes in this manner. Teacher shortages in some areas have been deemed to be one of the main reasons for this practice.
The requirements for substitute teachers vary in different states but generally states do not require substitute teachers to meet the same standards as teachers. Some states do not require background checks for substitute teachers or require them to graduate from college, or even attend college.
The biggest concerns about student achievement are seen in the high school level in subjects such as science, math and English where it is more difficult to find substitutes who have the necessary qualifications to the teach those subjects. “If the prime teacher of calculus is going to miss some time, man, are you in trouble,” said Francis Fennell, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Under NCLB teachers are required to be highly qualified but that requirement does not include substitute teachers. Schools are simply required after four weeks to notify parents that their children are being taught by teachers that are not highly qualified. Although, according to Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, some schools rotate teachers to different classrooms before they meet the four week mark in order to avoid having to inform parents of the qualifications of their children’s teachers.
“We need to pay a lot more attention to the prevalence of substitute teachers, along with long-term vacancies and turnover rates, especially in schools with a lot of low-income students who can least afford instability in their classrooms,” said Ross Wiener, of Education Trust, a non-profit that advocates for poor and minority children.
For more information about teacher absences and their affect on student achievement, please read the following article titled, “Teacher Absences Hurting Learning,” at http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-01-16-TeacherAbsence_N.htm.