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| AFT president McElroy, left, discusses with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Douglas Palmer, mayor of Trenton, N.J., the role that partnerships with elected officials plays in strengthening public schools. |
Strong Schools Make Strong Communities
"If you don't have great schools in a community, people won't live there," Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius told attendees at the July 13 plenary session titled, Partnerships that Support Public Schools, at the 2007 QuEST Conference.
AFT president Edward J. McElroy, who posed questions to Sebelius and Douglas Palmer, mayor of Trenton, N.J., during the session, noted that the link between education and economic prosperity is often overlooked. The governor and mayor agreed.
The best dollars spent in economic development are spent on education, said Sebelius, who is also chair of the Democratic Governors Association. "The key to a prosperous economy is an educated workforce."
Failing school systems are everyone's problem, noted Palmer, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "Not having an educated workforce directly affects us all."
When it comes to education, "We have to find ways to reject the status quo. We have to stop teaching to the test and start really educating our youngsters," said Palmer, referring to the No Child Left Behind Act. "You can't use a cookie-cutter approach when it comes to education."
Noting that NCLB has caused tensions at various levels of government, McElroy asked Palmer and Sebelius how they view the restrictions placed upon them by NCLB.
"Something is fundamentally wrong with the NCLB format. The test is designed for failure," explained Sebelius. A recent Kansas survey revealed that half of the state's students are not ready for school. Despite those findings, the federal government is cutting state funding for early childhood education, said Sebelius. "It's like building a house without the foundation," she added. "The conversation around NCLB is really disappointing because it seems we've already left kids behind."
As the 2008 election approaches, noted Palmer, "We must push presidential candidates to talk about NCLB and about breaking down barriers to educating youngsters."
Sebelius agreed with the mayor, noting that the word "education" has not been used in any of the presidential candidate debates. "We must insist that candidates talk about the future of education, not just in a room full of teachers, but to the American public."
Palmer says he hopes the country's mayors can get candidates talking as well. Domestic policy has been hurt by the war in Iraq, he said. Recognizing this, the U.S. Conference of Mayors put together a 10-point plan that prioritizes the group's issues. "We are determined to push our domestic agenda to the presidential candidates and make them talk about it."
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A new report has examples |
of Hard-to-Staff Schools
The challenge of attracting and keeping qualified teachers in high-poverty schools can be met through collaboration between teacher unions and school districts. Together, they can address the problem by agreeing on financial incentive packages and programs designed to improve teaching and learning conditions that promote teacher success, according to the AFT's new report, "Meeting the Challenge: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools," released July 13 during QuEST.
"We don't have to reinvent the wheel to figure out how to recruit and retain teachers in challenging areas. We can learn from districts that have had success," said AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "It takes adequate funding and strong teacher-district partnerships to negotiate effective remedies, and political will to fix the problem."
The cost of teacher turnover is especially high for hard-to-staff schools. To fill vacancies, school districts spend billions of dollars annually to recruit and train new teachers. Worse, because of the dearth of experienced teachers, students in high-poverty districts are often denied the best education possible, putting them at a disadvantage when entering the workforce. The problem demands strategies that work, the report says. "Meeting the Challenge" identifies examples and makes recommendations for policies and programs that have been proven effective:
- Establishing and maintaining safe and orderly schools, including developing school safety plans and enforcing statewide discipline codes. Toledo, Ohio's Behavior Specialist Program—where teachers who specialize in behavior management respond to student referrals from other teachers—is just one instance of union-district cooperation in response to school safety issues.
- Targeting professional development to best address the needs of teachers and staff in challenging environments, like strong induction programs, teacher collaboration and effective learning opportunities. The report points to successful induction programs conducted by the United Federation of Teachers (New York City), the ABC Federation of Teachers (Southern California) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
- Examining recruitment and hiring practices. In addition to reviewing and, if necessary, revising selection procedures, including notifications policies and candidate screening, the report recommends improving recruitment through better marketing of the benefits of teaching in hard-to-staff schools. For example, the Philadelphia Teacher Ambassador Program uses current teachers to recruit new teachers. School districts also are encouraged to develop smooth transfer policies that allow existing teachers to transfer to low-performing schools without penalty.
- Identifying and carrying out school district and state responsibilities, particularly in terms of funding for salaries, incentives and other school improvements. For example, to help the city of Baltimore compete with wealthier surrounding counties, the union and the district negotiated a contract stipulating that certified teachers would be hired at the fourth step of the salary schedule—the equivalent of a $4,700 raise.
"Meeting the Challenge" asserts that teaching and learning will only thrive in schools where basic needs are met. Teachers and students need to teach and learn in schools that have strong administrative support; faculty input; safe and orderly working conditions; and adequate time for training, planning and instruction. When the proper programs and resources are implemented at hard-to-staff schools, student achievement will improve, and recruiting and retaining teachers will be much less difficult.
The report and its recommendations fit in with the teaching quality component of "Charting the Course," the AFT's comprehensive agenda for improving public education for all children. Through Charting the Course, the AFT will explore and provide recommendations for other issues affecting the nation's public schools, including safe and orderly schools; early reading instruction and intervention; common, knowledge-rich curriculum; and intensive assistance to high-poverty schools.
"Meeting the Challenge: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools" is available online (http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/downloads/teachers/h2s.pdf).
Town Hall Participants Back Union's NCLB Message
AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese shares the AFT's NCLB recommendations.
The AFT's recommendations to fix the No Child Left Behind Act drew solid support from a broad audience of education stakeholders on July 13. The parents, educators, school board members and administrators who gathered for a QuEST "town hall" meeting didn't just voice support for the AFT's efforts to win necessary changes in the law, they asked for ways to throw their support behind the union's message in the weeks and months ahead.
Backing for the AFT campaign to fix NCLB came from a broad segment at the town hall session—from a Florida school board member who inquired about opportunities to work in coalition with the AFT to a Hartford, Conn., parent, who urged every AFT member to carry the union's message out into the community through one-on-one discussions with parents.
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| Hartford, Conn., parent Samuel Saylor urges the union to take its NCLB message to the community. |
downloads/Letsgetitright.pdf) to Congress, as it moves to reauthorize the law. There are many areas where progress can be made in the upcoming reauthorization of NCLB, Cortese stressed, and interest in many AFT-backed measures is building on Capitol Hill: changing the NCLB accountability formula to give schools credit for growth, creating longer-term, non-punitive interventions for schools that need them, and adopting a new "learning environment index" that can identify inadequate facilities and other conditions that hamper students' opportunities to achieve and learn.
Of particular interest at the town hall session were the AFT's efforts to push for a new NCLB law that does not rob students of their right to a rich curriculum or steal learning opportunities by promoting unnecessary, duplicative testing.
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| Author Richard Kahlenberg signs copies of his biography of the late AFT president Albert Shanker. |
AFT: The House That Al Built
QuEST attendees got a personal preview of "Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race and Democracy" when the book's author, Richard Kahlenberg, unveiled this first comprehensive biography of the late AFT president on July 12. "No biographer could ask for a more fascinating subject than Al," Kahlenberg asserted, adding that he spent seven years researching and writing the opus.
Kahlenberg described Shanker's three major contributions to U.S. and international life: the extraordinary role he played as the founding father of teacher unionism, his leading role in the 1980s as an education reformer, and the "tough liberalism" that informed his political world-view, where he was committed to democracy before all else.
"He was many things, but he loved his job," said Kahlenberg. "He stood at the crossroads of two equalizing forces: public education and trade unionism, and he never lost sight of the power of each."
One person in the audience had already read Tough Liberal. Bella Rosenberg, longtime special assistant to Shanker and education policy expert, pronounced the book "well-written, clear and straightforward." Some of the chapters, she added, "are absolutely riveting." Kahlenberg thanked the many AFT staff and leaders who shared their recollections and histories with him.
Preceding Kahlenberg's remarks, QuEST attendees were treated to a screening of a movie made 10 years ago for Shanker's memorial service in 1997. That movie captured the life of a man who was "fearless in the face of adversity," said Nat LaCour, AFT secretary-treasurer and fellow teachers union pioneer. He said that the man who made teachers unions a force to be reckoned with—first in New York City in the 1960s and then in the nation as AFT president from 1974 until 1997—was not afraid to sacrifice for his beliefs. Today, LaCour added, "the AFT is the house that Al built."
The Shanker Institute arranged to have discounted copies of Tough Liberal sold at QuEST, two months prior to the book's publication date. Kahlenberg will be signing the book at the Education Expo exposition hall from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on July 13 and from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on July 14. The book is also available for sale online at the AFT Store (http://www.aftstore.org/aft/welcome.asp).
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| AFT's t-source advisory committee prepares to share their views about QuEST. |
QuEST Insights: Your Colleagues
Share Their Views
Ten teachers from around the country who serve on the AFT's t-source advisory committee are attending this year's QuEST conference, many for the first time. We asked the teachers to write about their experiences at QuEST. Over the next three days, we'll share some of their impressions and insights.
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| Holtgrewe |
A somewhat heated debate arose in the "Why I Teach Where I Teach" session between a couple of teachers about whether teachers should be paid more as an incentive to work in "needy" schools. My personal belief: Teaching is a job; I am good at it and want to be paid for it. The days of riding in a buggy to a small school house, not being allowed to marry, and only staying a teacher until one weds are over.—Alan Holtgrewe
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The advisory committee members at QuEST are Amy Barrow, sixth-grade math and science teacher, St. Tammany (La.) Federation of Teachers; Serita Cahill, elementary school teacher, St. Louis Teachers and School-Related Personnel Union; Monica Champion, bilingual elementary school teacher, Education Austin (Texas); Kenneth Christopher, elementary school computer teacher, St. Thomas (V.I.) Federation of Teachers; Carla Ford, elementary school teacher, Jefferson County (Ala.) Federation of Teachers; Robin Gibson, elementary school teacher, Albuquerque (N.M.) Teachers Federation; Patti Harrison, elementary school teacher, MEA-MFT (Mont.); Alan Holtgrewe, high school social studies teacher, Cahokia Commonfields (Ill.) Federation of Teachers; Lisa Jackson, special education teacher, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers; and Carla Sparks, high school journalism teacher, Hillsborough (Fla.) Classroom Teachers Association.
AFT Online coverage of the QuEST 2007 conference is prepared by the AFT editorial department. Photographs are by Michael Campbell.
