American Teacher

On the Rebound

Shortly after launching the Hoops for Homes Teachers Initiative, which is aimed at providing funding to help teachers rebuild their homes, die Hornets sought out the AFT-United Teachers of New Orleans (AFT-UTNO) for help in identifying teachers who would benefit from the program's grants. second-grade teacher Molly McKinney, whose home in the Lower Nindi Ward received extensive water damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina, was one of the first AFT-UTNO members selected to receive a Hoops for...

The Answer Is Not to Close Schools and Displace Students

"Once again, decisions have been made by individuals who have never spent a day teaching in a classroom," says CTU president Marilyn Stewart, who has sharply criticized the board for ignoring community opposition to the school closings and failing to offer sound solutions to improving struggling schools.

Aft Voices

What specific recommendations would you make to improve student achievement in urban schools? "We need more parent involvement, real partnerships with businesses in the community, and a curriculum that brings real-life problems and out-of-the-box thinking into our classrooms."

Fighting Words

The campaign and national ads focused on union actions in 22 school districts across the country, and included distortions about tenure, claims that unions oppose worthwhile school reforms, and outright lies about what unions and teachers do. To help counter the group's misleading attacks, the AFT sent an e-mail to members of the union's e-Activist network, encouraging them to fight back by contacting the media outlets that ran the ads, including the New York Times, USA Today, CNN and Fox Ne...

Teachers' Lounge

HANG IN THERE As a traveling health educator, Mary Ann Murphy of Mirror Lake, N.H., used to have trouble finding space to tape up the three posters she needed to use when visiting classrooms. IN A FLASH Special educator and K-6 social studies teacher Antoinette Bianco of Brooklyn, N.Y., uses 3 x 5 index cards and colored markers to make flashcards of the United States.

Putting the Squeeze On the Curriculum

The center's analysis of elementary schools finds that 62 percent of districts have increased time spent on English language arts and/or math since the 2001-02 school year; the average increase is about three hours per week.

Promoting a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum

[...] it will promote programs, policies and initiatives at the local, state and federal levels that provide students with challenging instruction in literature, mathematics, science, geography, civics and government, history, economics, foreign languages and the arts.

City Lights

Once the teachers saw that the district was going to give real support and that the administration, both at the school and district level, were serious about working collaboratively, they were re-energized, says Taylor, who was president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers when Taft was converted to an information technology school. "Taft High School, a school that had one of the worst reputations for attendance, academics and graduation rates now has a waiting list of students wanting ...

Getting It Right the First Time

It's located just off Fulton Street, in the twin centers run by South of Market Child Care Inc. The nonprofit center, funded through a mix of public and private support, has set a high standard for early childhood education and comprehensive family services that low- and middle-income San Franciscans, as well as new immigrants, have come to depend on. [...] are also many children who arrive and thrive at the center despite some of the typical challenges of an urban landscape: children from l...

Hillary Clinton: On Retirement Security

Social Security and Medicare * Ensure that the Social Security system is solvent by restocking the fund, which has been depleted under the Bush administration. * Protect the lifelong, inflation-protected defined benefit of Social Security, and oppose diverting funds from Social Security through privatization schemes. * Tackle skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs by allowing the federal government to negotiate for lower drug prices and to pass those savings on to Medicare beneficiaries. * ...

Success in the City

Located in Brooklyn, Transit Tech has a proven track record in student academic achievement; many of its students win admission and scholarships at competitive colleges and universities. Thanks in large part to a strong special education program and services for bilingual students and families, Transit Tech has posted good marks on the state's accountability assessment and earned a 90 percent passing rate on the English Regents exam.

Taking Steps to Fight Breast Cancer

Last fall, NYSUT members joined in raising money for breast cancer awareness, research and treatment in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks across the state.

Where to Find It

The Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Museum of Vision recently debuted two free teacher workbooks that focus on the human eye, perspective and how the brain processes images like optical illusions and 3-D. DOLLARS TO LEARN The nonprofit American Bankers Association Education Foundation has launched a series of low-cost materials to help educators teach personal finance skills to students.

Class Notes

Teachers Continue to Face Large and Growing Pay Gap

COMPARED WITH WORKERS in occupations having similar education and skill requirements, public school teachers face a large and growing pay gap, according to a new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. Policies that solely focus on changing the composition of the current compensation levels, the authors write, such as merit or pay-for-performance schemes, are unlikely to be effective unless they also correct the teacher c...

Where We Stand

The Difference One Person Can Make

Members of Congress, who are responsible for this law, have to be moved to action by the kinds of stories I have heard from member after member, about the very real damage being inflicted on students and teachers as a result of this ill-conceived law. Recently, AFT e-Activists participated in campaigns resulting in both the largest expansion of college aid since the 1944 GI Bill and the first minimum wage increase in a decade.

Your Money

Keeping Afloat in the Wake of 'Underwater' Mortgages

Since the 1980s, Americans have been using the equity in their homes, and stock market gains, to finance a spending binge. Some families (I'd like to think most) have been living within their means, have kept debt to manageable levels, have avoided the pitfalls of the real estate boom/bust, and have steered clear of the trap of "payday loans."

Speak Out

Weigh In!

Should we pay students for good test scores? ONLINE POLL RESULTS NO 89% "Parents paying their children for good grades is one thing; using public funds to 'reward' students for good grades is another!" UNDA RAY Oregon School Employees Assn.

Should Schools Promote 'Captain Underpants' Books?

If these books contain language that is too crude or inappropriate for an adult radio audience, then I would suggest that a classroom teacher should be very selective about using them as an introduction to the wonderful world of words. Boys (and the girls who devour Captain Underpants as well as such series as Rainbow Magic by Daisy Meadows) who love to read will move on to better-quality books, nudged and nurtured by their school librarians who wisely stock their school libraries with Harry...

Nclb Update

Teachers Division Weighs Nclb Overhaul

At a time when too much public attention is focused on simplistic, punitive or counterproductive measures to ensure quality in the classroom, PAR offers a genuine "opportunity to raise the level of discourse," said Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals president Marcia Reback, who is also an AFT vice president.

Test Stress

Also troubling teachers were test-prep activities that did little to increase knowledge and skills, a narrowing of the curriculum under NCLB, and an excessive focus on the so-called bubble students (those falling just short of passing state accountability tests) while other students are being shortchanged.

Tools For Teachers

When Spring Fever Hits

Designing a survey or making systematic observations, graphing or statistical analysis, then presenting it to a designated audience, will all be part of the project. * Publish a newspaper around a historic event, a piece of literature, or a school or grade-level event. * Arrange an exhibition of students' work that shows what they've learned. Events designed to highlight indoor air quality, energy efficiency and the use of environmentally friendly "green" cleaning and maintenance products ar...

First Person

Bruised and Battered, but Not Beaten

It is my responsibility as president to represent members' interests and to build our union and educate the administration, school board and Legislature on education and labor issues. Union representatives elsewhere in die state visit school campuses routinely to share information with employees and handle member problems with administrators, parents and even colleagues, but this isn't permitted in Aldine.

Campaign '08

With Momentum Building, Clinton Campaign Gears Up for Pennsylvania

United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, who is also an AFT vice president, spent much of the weekend before the election in Ohio-and brought along a contingent of her New York City members to help out-boosting the efforts of volunteers and speaking at some Clinton campaign events.