Editorial Facts and Common Sense: Plan B Less Money for Teachers?

"How do you fill a $55.6 million hole in your grand strategy to reshape the education world?

It's a good question, but not an insoluble one. The answer will require the help of all the people who have brought the district this far in the process. The Tulsa philanthropic community will be called on for bigger donations. The state will need to give more, too. The teachers' union may need to consider taking a bit less. The district will have to scour its budget looking for other ways to reallocate the tax resources it has."--Tulsa World Editorial

The Tulsa School District found out it was not one of the schools selected for foundation money from Bill Gates. These excerpts from the world let you know how difficult it is to put these plans in place. There isn't enough money to do this kind of plan so the "teacher;s union" needs to take less.

Another broken promise in the performance pay debate. This isn't unusual. Performance pay plans fail because there is never enough money as they collapse under their own weight. Teacher's "buy in" to a program while changing aspects of their bargained contract. What do they get for it--broken promises and a weaker contract. It takes money to fund these programs and Tulsa has its work cut out for it to fund what they wanted to do.

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Bob Chanin, NEA General Counsel

"During the Bush administration...NEA was audited by the Internal Revenue Service, repeatedly. It was investigated by the Department of Labor. And it was called a "terrorist organization" by the Secretary of Education....Attacks by conservative and right-wing groups will continue unabated....Why, you may ask, is this so? Why are these...bastards picking on NEA and its affiliates. I will tell you why. It is the price we pay for success. NEA has been singled out because they are the most effective unions in the United States.--Bob Chanin, NEA General Counsel addressing the 2009 RA.

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Anthony Mullen, Teacher of the Year

"America's teachers and education support professionals live in very challenging and stressful times. Incredibly, many of the nation's economic problems are now directed at unions. We have become easy targets for some misguided government officials, economists, and media talking heads who believe it is time for us to give back and to share the pain. Well, teachers and education support professionals have burdened the pain of being underpaid and overworked for too long.

And since we have been given very little, we have nothing to give back. Teachers did not leave their classrooms and abandon children when the best deal in town was to work in the financial services sector. We did not join the legions of people that became wealthy by sitting in front of a computer and selling stocks and managing hedge funds. We did not envy friends and neighbors who prospered during the 1980s and 1990s and bought McMansions and took trips to Bali. No, we stayed with our students because we believe that education and our nation's children are too valuable to be abandoned for a new sports car. So we accepted our meager raises. We worked harder to narrow the achievement gap and did more with less to help our nation prosper. And now, some of the very same people who once asked me how I could live on a teacher's salary, are now asking me what I can do to help the economy. What my union is going to do to help the economy.

And I tell these people two things: One, teachers did not crash the economy. Greed and corruption by people entrusted with our country's financial health collapsed the economy.

And two, unions are helping to recover the economy by protecting the rights of their members. Unions are making sure that what has made our country great, the middle class, will not be sacrificed for the decadence of Wall Street."--Anthony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Linda Darling-Hammond, NEA Friend of Education

"We need federal education policies that support educators in doing the challenging work they have committed to do, that supports schools to improve, that supports students in and out of school with adequate health care, with housing, with community supports. You know, when you go to high-achieving nations around the world, they don't have children who are homeless. They don't have children without health care. They have a safety net that enables every child to come to school ready to learn that day and to take advantage of what the school has to offer, as well as well-qualified teachers, counselors, principals and plentiful, high-quality learning materials. We need to meet international standards by treating education and teaching in this country the way they are treated in high-achieving nations around the world."--Linda Darling-Hammond, 2009 NEA Friend of Education

2009 RA Sights & Sounds--Dennis Van Roekel's Keynote Address

"And contrary to what our opponents might say... NEA welcomes a national conversation about how to transform our school system... better ways to measure student learning... to improve the practice of our profession... to attract bright and talented students into teaching... and to confront the problems that plague poor and minority children in struggling schools."--NEA President Dennis Van Roekel's keynote address on July 3.

2009 OEA Friends of Education

The 2009 OEA Friends of Education are Rick George, Dr. Lisa Connery and Chuck Pack. The three honorees were the proponents of the HOPE ballot initiative that is now State Question 744.

Tulsa Rally Against SB 834-Ask the Governor for a Veto

Four hundred people, including teachers from several districts, attended the anti- SB 834 rally held in Tulsa on Thursday night. The rally got tremendous press coverage, including one station's helicopter, as a number of elected representatives spoke before the crowd. You can go to Channel Six and see a good video about the event.

Greer Nichols, Broken Arrow President, got the crowd fired up and chants of veto could be heard throughout the rally. Greer turned it over to the speakers that included Representatives Jeannie McDaniel, Eric Proctor and Lucky Lamons, and Senator Kenneth Corn who is running for Lt. Governor. Also speaking were TCTA President Denzel Kesterson and me.

You can contact Governor Henry and ask him to veto the bill by going here.

SB 834: Putnam City Protests Deregulation Bill

The Putnam City Association of Classroom Teachers and community members stood at major intersections during rush hour to alerting the public to SB 834, the bad deregulation bill sitting in the House of Representatives. Pictured above are those who gathered at NW Highway and Meridian.

As thousands of cars drove by, many drivers honked their horns and waved in support of the effort. The smiles and waves of the drivers made it all worth while and when traffic stopped at the lights, PCACT members handed out information on the bill to give many more details about its impact on kids and teachers.

The bill will be up for a vote sometime this week. Please continue to lobby your State Representatives, even if they have given you a firm answer. Make sure they continue to pledge a no vote. If they support SB 834, let them know this is a bad even with the recent amendments. Click here to email your representative.