Politics heats up throughout the states

Spring has ushered in a firestorm of political battles around the states, where lawmakers are considering proposals that could either shore up or cripple public schools, colleges and universities and other vital public institutions.

Tuition tax credits, "paycheck-deception" bills designed to weaken members' political voice and other anti-union legislation top the list of threats that AFT affiliates are battling in statehouses across America. The union also has gone on the offensive to attract and retain quality teachers--pushing for such measures as adequate school funding, smaller classes and stronger school safety policies.

"The stakes couldn't be higher for public education this year, and the state legislatures are going to have a major say," says AFT president Sandra Feldman. "Our affiliates are mobilizing for these fights, and AFT members can and must play a key role in our affiliates' efforts to persuade states to do the right thing by supporting public education."

Clearly, AFT members--through their willingness to get involved in political action during the last elections--already have had an impact on the political landscape. AFT activists in California and Michigan helped deliver a political drubbing to two voucher referendums in their states--a lesson not lost on lawmakers. Voucher threats persist in some states, however. By late March, some Florida lawmakers were pushing for an expansion of the state's voucher program by suggesting that children attending crowded schools be given vouchers. And the Wisconsin Legislature was considering expanding the voucher program in Milwaukee.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Ridge was floating a voucher plan yet again, this time targeted to after-school programs.

Connecticut is becoming a key voucher battleground state. Republican Gov. John Rowland is trying to resurrect a voucher scheme that has been on the books for 29 years but has never won funding from the Legislature. Rowland has proposed $10 million over five years to fund vouchers for students in districts designated as low-performing. In a tight-budget year, the Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, "simply won't go along with this," says George Springer, president of the Connecticut Federation of Educational and Professional Employees/AFT. "Money is a huge question this year, and [legislators] are under pressure to vote more money for public education."

Much of that heat is being generated by AFT affiliates throughout the state, which have joined with other pro-education groups not only to oppose the voucher scheme but also to fight for changes in the state's spending cap that will provide adequate school funding and help attract talented new professionals into teaching, Springer says. A key component of the lobbying effort is a TV campaign, spearheaded by AFT and NEA affiliates, that highlights the important work being undertaken by teachers in the state's most disadvantaged schools and districts.

Tax credit attacks

Many groups that lobbied hard for vouchers in the past have turned their attention this year to tuition tax credits--sometimes labeled "stealth vouchers" because their impact on public schools can be equally devastating.

Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Utah are just some of the states where tuition tax-credit proposals have threatened to drain public coffers and use public funds to offset tuition for students in private schools--a transfer that threatens public education and other services. Many of the tuition tax-credit proposals are modeled after laws Arizona put on the books in 1997. That state law encourages the creation of organizations to collect donations from Arizona taxpayers to fund scholarships for private education. Those who contribute are eligible to take a state tax credit worth up to $500, and the Legislature this year is considering a credit increase. Smaller credits are allowed for contributions to a limited number of public school activities, including extracurriculars.

The law originally was sold as a way to provide additional opportunities to disadvantaged youngsters. But, based on anecdotal information and the proliferation of private foundations springing up at individual private schools, the major beneficiaries appear to be families with children already in private schools, stresses Arizona Federation of Teachers president Terry Forthun. "I'm convinced that a large portion of the money ends up being fed through the foundation, and [the benefit] gets back to the individual making the donation." As for tax credits targeted to public schools, Forthun notes that it's only residents in more-affluent communities who are able to harness these credits--a trend that threatens to promote inequity in education.

Even Florida--a state that doesn't levy individual income taxes--has jumped on the bandwagon. Under one proposal, corporations would earn a tax credit on the contributions they make to nonprofit organizations set up to give private school vouchers to students who qualify for federal lunch assistance. "Behind all the rhetoric about helping disadvantaged children, this is just another scheme to siphon money from public schools," observes Kevin Watson, lobbyist for the state federation.

Ground zero

Florida is also home to another disturbing trend in the legislatures: attacks against public employees and the organizations that represent them in the workplace. "Paycheck-deception" legislation--designed to bury unions under a mountain of paperwork and bureaucracy that would cripple their ability to speak for members in the political arena--is under consideration in Florida and poses a threat in Michigan and Montana as well. The Utah Legislature already has passed a paycheck-deception measure. In Oklahoma, right-to-work legislation poses a direct threat to employees' right to collective bargaining.

Florida provides a nightmarish example of just how serious the legislative attack on unions has become. AFT affiliates and organized labor across the state are currently fighting a bill that would gut any type of protection for state employees--including higher education employees the AFT represents there. The bill would create a new system of "at-will" employment and change the grievance procedure to voluntary binding arbitration--with the burden of proof placed on the employee. It also would dissolve the state organization that handles union elections and procedures.

The proposal, which enjoys strong backing from Gov. Jeb Bush, would set a dangerous precedent for cities, counties and school districts to follow, Watson says. "If this goes through, you can expect it to roll downhill."

Higher education in Florida is also facing another juggernaut in the form of a massive education reorganization that decentralizes the state's university and community college systems. Although legislators had passed a bill to dissolve the Florida Board of Regents and the State Board of Community Colleges by 2003, the Legislature is poised to move the dissolve date to July 2001. Getting rid of the boards will give the governor the opportunity to appoint his own boards for the 10 universities. Llona Geiger, executive director of the United Faculty of Florida/NEA/AFT, estimates the governor will be able to make some 120 appointments. When the statewide UFF contract expires in 2003, the union will be looking at its own breakup and a very uncertain future.

The bottom line

Many AFT affiliates are mobilizing to ensure that states do their part to provide adequate funding for schools. In March, 620 AFT members in New York converged on the Capitol in Albany to lobby their state representatives for additional school funding and critically needed measures to attract and retain teachers.

"Our members try to get the legislators to understand the value of our programs, and the need for those programs," explains NYSUT executive vice president Alan Lubin. That education, he says, is particularly crucial this year: Gov. George Pataki has proposed a $382 million increase in the state's education budget, far below proposals of $1 billion to $1.7 billion that legislators have suggested. NYSUT members are trying to galvanize lawmakers to support the higher proposals, which offer the level of funding needed to avoid cuts in school services, Lubin says. The NYSUT delegation also emphasized the need for funds specifically targeted to teacher recruitment in hard-to-staff urban and rural schools. In higher education, the unionists continued to press for funds for community colleges and to replace thousands of full-time faculty lines lost to attrition at CUNY and SUNY during a decade of underfunding.

In St. Paul, Minn., an estimated 1,500 educators, school officials, parents and students converged on the state Capitol on March 5 to push for increased funding for public education. The event was sponsored by a coalition of 10 major educational organizations that included Education Minnesota, a joint affiliate of the AFT and NEA. It kicked off a statewide effort to head off the devastating program and staff cuts that would become necessary in most school districts if Gov. Jesse Ventura's budget is approved. Part of the campaign involves regional meetings where teachers, local school superintendents, students, parents and other concerned citizens are making their case by visiting face-to-face with legislators from their districts.

"The bottom line with the governor's proposal is that 85 percent of the districts will have a budget shortfall this year, and 75 percent in the second year," says Cheryl Furrer, director of legislation for Education Minnesota. The state now enjoys a $2.4 billion surplus, and most of Ventura's efforts are focused on tax cuts, stresses Furrer, adding, "basically what we're coming down to is tax cuts versus investment in critical programs."

Turnout also was robust in Montana, where more than 3,000 friends of public education packed the Montana state Capitol in Helena at a March 3 rally for public education, organized by the state's AFT-NEA affiliate.

Crowds filled the rotunda plus three more floors of the Capitol and spilled outside for the demonstration. Participants included parents, teachers, faculty, community members, students and public employees. They cheered as speakers drew attention to the impact of inadequate state funding on Montana's children and college students.

"This is not a Republican issue. It's not a Democratic issue. It's about our children and their future," MEA-MFT president Eric Feaver told the crowd. State Senate president Tom Beck also spoke at the rally and vowed that the Legislature will do better than the current budget proposal of zero and 3 percent increases over the biennium for K-12 schools.

Positive steps

AFT action in the legislatures is not limited to a defensive battle. Affiliates also are engaged in efforts to promote sensible reforms that address some of the most pressing concerns in education today.

Designing solid, comprehensive accountability systems to identify and assist low-performing schools remains a key issue. The California Federation of Teachers has tackled the debate over remediation and improvement of low-performing schools with a call for smaller schools. As part of that effort, CFT activists are enlisting legislative support for what they've termed "schooling on a human scale."

AFT affiliates also have stepped up legislative efforts designed to attract, train and retain qualified professionals in teaching. The battle begins with competitive teacher salaries--an important goal for AFT affiliates in Louisiana, which played a key role in pushing lawmakers to raise compensation for K-12 and college educators throughout the state. Louisiana ranks 49th among the states in teacher pay, and AFT political action turned up the heat in Baton Rouge during a special legislative session in March that was convened specifically to address teacher compensation. The union's efforts led to a new law that provides across-the-board raises of at least $2,000 for K-12 teachers in the state, paid for with higher taxes on riverboat casinos.

New York activists are also taking aim at the teacher shortage in their lobbying efforts. AFT affiliates are pressing for a long list of measures to help make sure that every class is taught by a qualified professional. They include additional pension credits for retirement-eligible teachers who agree to stay in the classroom, and elimination of an earnings cap that penalizes retired teachers who want to return to the classroom. AFT activists also are calling for new incentives to encourage excellent, experienced teachers to take posts in hard-to-staff schools. A similar proposal also is under consideration in Colorado.

Merit pay and alternative compensation also are on the table in many states. In Arizona, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington, AFT affiliates are battling proposals that could lead to a pay-for-test-score system of alternative compensation.

Passage of a sales tax referendum last year in Arizona has generated a half-billion dollars for education in the coming school year, with much of that money earmarked for performance pay. The AFT's state affiliate is urging lawmakers to make sure that incentives are given through a collaborative effort, negotiated between teachers and administrators under "meet and confer" agreements whenever possible, and tied to agreed-upon standards of practice. "We need a multifaceted approach, based on several measures of performance, and not a test-predicated" system of incentives, says state federation president Forthun. Also key is the creation of building-level incentives and a system that doesn't act as a disincentive for excellent teachers to take positions in hard-to-staff schools.

Bread-and-butter issues also remain a major concern around the states. Minnesota and Texas are just two of the state affiliates working to provide state-funded health insurance for school employees--a major concern for professionals in small districts with little or no clout when dealing with health coverage vendors. Utah also is considering legislation to allow districts to join statewide insurance purchasing pools.

In March, the Texas Federation of Teachers organized two lobby days and rallies at the Capitol in Austin that attracted more than 1,200 people-- many of them AFT members from across the state. The issue also enjoys broad public support: A February poll found that 85 percent of Texans believe the state should pay to provide teachers and other school employees with high-quality, affordable health insurance. The cost would be about $3 billion over the next two years. "A state with $110 billion available to spend over the next two years can easily cover that amount if lawmakers want to do it," says TFT president John Cole.