Print
 |
| Education Secretary Margaret Spellings: Not meeting AYP is not 'failing,' she said. |
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings faced a challenge at the QuEST general session on July 8—defending some of the Bush administration's unpopular policies while still convincing the audience of her desire to continue working with the AFT on important issues. Overall, in a relaxed and informative back-and-forth discussion, Spellings largely met the challenge as she answered some tough questions from AFT president Edward J. McElroy that had been submitted by AFT members at QuEST and prior to the conference.
Spellings and McElroy agreed on the big issues, such as the need for higher standards and highly qualified teachers, but "the devil is in the details," as McElroy put it, and that's where the sharpest disagreements arose. Questions related to No Child Left Behind and particularly the goal of having all students reach "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, dominated much of the session. Spellings acknowledged that one of the issues she hears about most is AYP, especially the fact that some schools in which student achievement is rising are still failing to meet AYP goals. "Not meeting AYP is not, in my opinion, a failing school," Spellings said. Schools designated as such need to understand what it means, what the school needs to do and where it can turn for more information. "We need to dial down some of the anxiety" on AYP, she added.
Other questions dealt with the challenges of helping special education students and English language learners reach the same academic standards as the general education population.
The sharpest disagreement between McElroy and Spellings arose over a question on the federal budget. While McElroy noted that budget proposals being considered by Congress would cut education funding—and reduce Title I money to about two-thirds of the nation's school districts—Spellings countered that the Bush administration has increased overall education funding since taking office and is also facing tighter budgets in a time of war. "I don't think [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld is running any bake sales," McElroy quipped in response.
Another question also criticized the lack of standards for charter school teachers and supplemental service providers of Title I students. As she did with a number of issues, Spellings shifted the focus of implementing and improving programs to the state level rather than the Department of Education. She praised the efforts of some AFT locals, such as in New York state, "to get out there and become supplemental service providers." McElroy echoed that praise, but also added that AFT locals "are not looking for a profit," unlike many of the companies seeking to provide tutoring services and run charter schools.
 |
| Hollywood stars and their teachers provided a compelling tribute to the teaching profession. |
Hollywood Turns Spotlight
on Teachers
The teaching profession does not offer stock options or exotic travel opportunities, but some of the perks of the business can be priceless. For example, can anything rival the pride that comes from learning that your students have gone on to lead successful, productive lives?
And if your students grow up to be Hollywood stars, it lends an extra delight. On July 7, hundreds of QuEST participants got a chance to share the thrill and the pride when a Hollywood-based advocacy group, the Creative Coalition, honored six teachers for making a difference in the lives of six artists.
Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., a TV pundit (the McLaughlin Group) and writer/producer of the prime-time hit, "The West Wing," served as moderator for the evening. He set an easy tone, first introducing his daughter's fifth-grade teacher, Doug Stoll, and giving him an award, then interviewing the other stars and their teachers.
Watching successful adults like actress Phylicia Rashad or actor Steve Buscemi address their former teachers with the obvious awe elementary school children reserve for their idols was a charming part of the program. Rashad, star of "The Cosby Show" and the show "Raisin in the Sun," now on Broadway, was honoring two of her teachers, Vivian and James Harrison, a couple who taught music, respectively, in a Houston, Texas, elementary and junior high school.
Buscemi credited his fourth-grade teacher, Carl Riccobono of Valley Stream, N.Y., for his first speaking part—the Cowardly Lion in the class's presentation of the "Wizard of Oz." Buscemi has won accolades more recently for his acting in HBO's "The Sopranos" and the movies "Fargo" and "The Big Lebowski."
Particularly moving were the tributes of Joe Pantoliano and Antwone Fisher to their teachers, Donna Regan of Cliffside Park, N.J., and Brenda Profit of Cleveland, Ohio. Pantoliano described his experience as a severe dyslexic who entered the 12th grade reading at the third-grade level. Back in 1970, he was one of a group of "outcasts" dumped on one of the school's least-experienced teachers, 21-year-old Regan. She put the students to work on a play, casting him as the lead and by the year's end uncovering a sense of his great capacity.
Fisher is a writer whose story has become well known through the movie that carries his name. Born in a prison, where his mother was an inmate, he grew up in foster homes and orphanages. When he was 8, he encountered the first person to take a real interest in him. As Fisher wrote in his autobiography: "If there is such a thing as human beings who act as angels in our lives, Brenda Profit was that to me." Profit was his teacher in grades 4, 5 and 6. She made Fisher, who like Pantoliano was dyslexic, love to learn and believe that he could succeed. It was a lesson he never forgot.
 |
| AFT's Nat LaCour: Support for Solidarity was one of American labor's "finest chapters." |
of Solidarity Strike
In the summer of 1980, shipyard workers in Poland stood up against the Soviet-imposed government and demanded an independent free trade union. By summer's end those workers signed the Gdansk Agreement, which gave them the right to strike and to organize their own independent union--Solidarity.
"American labor—including the AFT—stood at Solidarity's side from the beginning and did not waver," said AFT secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour at a July 8 QuEST session marking the 25th anniversary of the strike.
The uprising at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk "set in motion a series of dramatic events that led to the unraveling of the Soviet empire," noted LaCour.
Sharing the podium with the AFT secretary-treasurer was Irena Lasota, a political refugee and pro-democracy activist who was jailed in Poland for her activism. Lasota was a liaison between the underground movement of Solidarity and the AFL-CIO, AFT and others; today she serves as president of the Washington, D.C-based Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe.
"It is remarkable that the labor leaders could foresee that the few dozen members in the movement would transform into 10 million Solidarity union members," said Lasota. "No one can replace unions in unionizing the world. The AFT should continue the support you gave to Solidarity by giving support to other countries that need it even more today."
The commemoration also included an excerpt from a video shown during the AFT convention in 1990. The video highlights the Solidarity strike and AFT's involvement in international democracy.
"Support for Solidarity was one of the finest chapters in American labor's international work, but it is not the only one," said LaCour. "The AFT has the strongest history of international affairs work in the labor movement, and we are proud to continue that tradition."
 |
| Antonia Cortese announces the launch of the educators section of Colorín Colorado. |
The AFT and Reading Rockets, a multimedia project of public broadcasting station WETA in Washington, D.C., have teamed up to launch a free "For Educators" section of the bilingual Web site www.colorincolorado.org. The joint project is an effort to help educators meet the growing challenge of teaching Latino English language learners (ELLs).
Taking its name from a rhyme popular in Spanish-speaking countries, Colorín Colorado is a free Web site that offers tools for parents to help their children build literacy skills. The new "For Educators" section, announced at a July 8 news conference at the QuEST conference, builds on that work with research-based instructional tools and strategies for educators, and help in building the school-home connection for this key population.
"Over 60 percent of America's schools already have ELL students enrolled, and the number of these children is projected to continue increasing well into the future," said AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese. "Educators want an opportunity to give each ELL student meaningful access to the educational curriculum. That is why we developed this new section of Colorín Colorado."
"Across the country, we have more and more children who don't speak English at home," said Noel Gunther, executive director of Reading Rockets. He noted that the joint project is a bottom-up initiative that sprang partly from educators visiting the Reading Rockets Web site. Feedback showed "the single most asked question was: 'What do I do about my ELL students?'" he said.
The educator section of the Web site offers research-based resources for teachers and paraprofessionals who work with English language learners. The material will help with everything from placing and assessing ELL students to building partnerships with parents. A monthly e-newsletter and professional development webcasts will regularly update information available to educators.
AFT Online coverage of the QuEST 2005 conference is prepared by the AFT editorial department. Photographs are by Michael Campbell.
