Teaching kids about the power of the vote

If you think students don’t understand the importance of exercising their right to vote, then you’ll want to know more about the National Student/Parent Mock Election (NSPME). One of the nation’s largest voter education projects, NSPME demonstrates the power of the ballot by actively involving students and parents in a full-fledged campaign and mock national election. In the last two presidential elections, more than 10 million students, parents and teachers in every state, Washington, D.C., and places where Americans are based abroad have participated in the project.

On Oct. 28, 2004, NSPME expects millions of students—and parents in some cases—across the country to cast ballots for president, members of Congress and governors as part of its election. To help educators participate in the project, NSPME provides materials on voter education as well as curriculum materials, which are built around the National Standards for Civics and Government, for teachers at all levels.

To download the free curriculum materials, visit www.nationalmockelection.org.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election is a nonprofit, nonpartisan entity. The AFT is among the cooperating organizations that support NSPME.

Celebrating the world’s teachers

“Quality Teachers for Quality Education” is the theme of the 2004 World Teachers’ Day, Oct. 5. Education International (EI) and its member organizations, which sponsor the event, hope the theme will bring attention to the importance of recruiting and keeping qualified teachers. Each year, World Teachers’ Day draws attention to the vital contributions teachers make to childrens’ education and development. Education International strongly believes that this day should be internationally recognized and celebrated around the world. Thanks in large part to the efforts of EI and its 310-plus member organizations (including the AFT), more than 100 countries now observe World Teachers’ Day.

Additional information about the day and ideas for celebrating it can be found at www.ei-ie.org/wtd/index.html.

Improving schools: It takes a society

A new book from a leading education researcher argues that it’s time to take the national debate over school improvement out of the isolation ward and place it where it rightfully belongs: in the context of American social disparities that exert a powerful influence over education outcomes. Richard Rothstein, author of Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap, says that school improvement strategies to raise the quality of instruction are only one piece (and perhaps not even the most important piece) of what must become a three-pronged effort to truly “leave no child behind.” Also vital are new out-of-school learning opportunities that include early childhood education and programs in the summer and after school.

The third piece, Rothstein says, must be progressive social policies to provide health services for lower-income families, stable housing and relief from the growing income gap. “School improvement does have an important role to play, but it cannot shoulder the entire burden, or even most of it, on its own,” writes Rothstein, a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a visiting lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University. Class and Schools can be ordered online at www.epinet.org.

Spreading the word about healthcare for children

Healthcare insurance continues to elude many Americans, especially the most vulnerable. There are more than 8.5 million children in the United States without health coverage, according to Covering Kids & Families, a program that promotes the enrollment of kids in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a federal/state partnership. Although many of these youngsters are eligible for low-cost or free coverage either through SCHIP or Medicaid, they haven’t been enrolled. Unfortunately, many working parents of eligible children are unaware that this coverage is available.

The AFT has again partnered with Covering Kids & Families for its Back-to-School Campaign to help spread the word about available healthcare programs.

The Covering Kids & Families Back-to-School Campaign Action Kit provides free materials for distribution to potentially eligible families, including fliers and posters urging them to call 877/ KIDS-NOW to find out if they are eligible. These materials can be ordered online at www.coveringkidsandfamilies.org/communications/
materials/order.

Covering Kids & Families is a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.