The AFL-CIO executive council has urged unions and state and central labor councils to work together in opposing so-called 65 percent solution measures--now being pushed in states across the country--that would have a profound impact on school services for students.

The seemingly positive idea behind the proposal, already adopted in Kansas, Louisiana, Texas and Georgia and now under consideration by other states, is to require that a minimum of 65 percent of education spending in school districts goes to direct instruction in the classroom.

But a closer look at the proposal reveals that it could have an immediate and negative effect on vital non-classroom activities, including school health and nursing, libraries, nutrition, transportation, building maintenance, counseling, security and professional development. The AFT and NEA have already joined forces to fight the measures and the AFL-CIO's resolution, passed Feb. 27 at the council's meeting in San Diego, Calif., adds weight to the growing challenge to these initiatives.

The AFL-CIO's resolution, which mirrors the AFT resolution passed earlier in the month by the union's executive council, calls for the AFL-CIO and its affiliates to educate members about the inherent dangers of this "one-size-fits-all" approach to education staffing and funding and encourages collaboration at state and local levels for community outreach on the issue.

Both the AFT and AFL-CIO resolutions note that the 65 percent mandate is being promoted by "a faux grass-roots organization" called First Class Education. Among other things, the resolutions say the proposal "does nothing to guarantee greater achievement or that school districts will adjust their spending in a way that creates greater efficiency."

March 1, 2006