Re: AFT official speaks out...

[kristina.pelletier@maine.edu]

I am not wanting to bash teacher unions like the AFT and NEA, but I am having a
hard time figuring out how they are working for teachers. It seems like they
are using teachers for their organizational purposes. Why is the AFT interested
in "accountability and raising standards for students and teachers alike"? When
did it become the unions role to work on reform that will hold teachers
accountable to the system? I'm probably not making much sense. My point is,
teachers should be holding the union accountable, and not the other way
around.

I would like to understand how ANY teachers union has improved the professional
conditions for educators. If anyone has an example, I would love to here it.
Kris




Quoting Susan Allison <sueallison@comcast.net>:

> Interesting letter from AFT official...
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22397-2004Mar24.html
> 
> 
> 
> Truth About Law Left Behind 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thursday, March 25, 2004; Page A22 
> 
> 
> George F. Will's attempt to assign roles along traditional political lines in
> the debate about the No Child Left Behind Act is pure folly [op-ed, March
> 11]. With prominent liberals supporting the law's goals and many
> conservatives in revolt, his theory doesn't hold water. Even President Bush's
> Department of Education has found itself having to defend the act's
> problematic standards.
> 
> Mr. Will also mischaracterized teachers unions' response to the law. The
> American Federation of Teachers is among the most forceful advocates of
> accountability and raising standards for students and teachers alike --
> positions it championed long before No Child Left Behind. 
> 
> Mr. Bush's 2005 budget underfunds the law by $7.2 billion. In many instances,
> the law has been implemented poorly, and its thorniest problems have been
> left uncorrected. For example, the states that set the highest expectations
> for students stand to suffer most from the law, which emphasizes test scores
> over actual achievement. 
> 
> Without adequate funding and without correcting serious deficiencies, this
> law will never live up to its promise. And that's not the result of politics
> or interference from education groups.
> 
> EDWARD J. McELROY
> 
> Secretary-Treasurer 
> 
> American Federation of Teachers 
> 
> Washington
> 
> 
> 
> © 2004 The Washington Post Company 
> ------------------------------------------------
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>