Recently added articles from NEA Today:
THE MONEY TRAIL
Jan 01, 2009; ... Back in 2006, I heard one of this country's smartest public servants, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, relate her conversation with a major manufacturing CEO. When she asked what her state could do to ensure that the company continued to do business in Wichita, he didn't demand tax cuts. He talked ...
talk back
Jan 01, 2009; ... Where we teachWyoming Thank you for the wonderful article on American Indian students ("Save the Indian, Save the Child," November/December). This wonderful school holds high interest for me. My mother taught at the first Arapahoe Government School in Wyoming and held her students very ...
Great Public Schools by 2020? Yes, We Can
Jan 01, 2009; ... November 4 was a pivotal day for American public education. NEA's 3.2 million members and their families played a critical role in electing pro-public education allies at all levels of government, strengthening our schools with a friend of education in the White House, and achieving key ...
in your words
Jan 01, 2009; ... After receiving a journal, I resolved to write in it regularly. Fifteen years and 12 journals later, I write every day. I write what I'm thankful for. When faced with a decision, I list the pros and cons. If someone hurts my feelings, disappoints me, or makes me mad, I write about that so I can ...
Yes, we did!
Jan 01, 2009; ... Talk about a "change" election! On November 5, the American people woke up (with the exception of those who were up all night celebrating) to the news that not only had Sen. Barack Obama scored a decisive victory, but pro-public education candidates won in down-ballot races across the ...
One Wimpy, Hold the Grass and Make it Moo!
Jan 01, 2009; ... THE DINER IS OPEN! But these burgers aren't edible. The Arts Diner, an inspired project from Massachusetts art teacher Darren Buck and his students, is a full-sized model of the old-style roadside diner. The crispy fries are ceramic, as are the delicately curled cinnamon rolls and toasty ...
REASON #312 TO JOIN THE UNION
Jan 01, 2009; ... As if you needed proof, a recent study from the non-profit Center for Economic and Policy Research found that you really do get paid more if you're in a union. It makes the biggest difference if you're a low-wage worker-for example, the poorest workers in Nebraska earn 25 ...
Talk slower!
Jan 01, 2009; ... DO YOU EVER get that mystified gaze from your students? Like they have no idea what you just said? Try slowing down your speech. The average adult speaks at a rate of almost 170 words per minute, according to Wichita State audiology professor Ray Hull. But the average 5- to 7-year-old processes ...
Playing for a better contract
Jan 01, 2009; ... WHEN UNISERV REPRESENTATIVE Charlie Brill first looked at salaries in northeastern Pennsylvania, he found associate teachers, secretaries, clerks, and other education support professionals earning scantly more than $13,000 a yearalmost $6,500 less than the state's living wage. Now, after ...
notepad
Jan 01, 2009; ... THE COLLEGE SCENE Even as your students finish up their college applications, a more pressing test looms: How are they going to pay for it? With the economy in crisis, 12 states have announced tuition hikes after cuts to state budgets, and nine more may follow, according to the ...
"Play it again, Mrs. Smith!"
Jan 01, 2009; ... When we see E.T., we think math and science achievement. (Could a kid in China figure out how to help the little guy phone home?) And when we watch Willy Wonka for the 32nd time, we just hope the Puffybottom School District turns down his offer to sponsor the vending machines.. ..Now, in ...
THEY STILL DO THAT??
Jan 01, 2009; ... IF YOU THOUGHT students stopped running from the paddle around the same time they stopped taking cover during bomb drills, think again! It may seem a bit old-school, but a recent Human Rights Watch study found paddlings remain widespread in Southern states. Texas and Mississippi led the ...
Noggin Safety
Jan 01, 2009; ... YOU WON'T FIND this latest piece of football technology on the Super Bowl XLIII field in Tampa Bay this month, but you will find it in four high schools across the country where local medical communities have paid for special sensor-equipped helmets to help reduce brain injuries. Nearly ...
BEFORE YOU CALL IN SICK
Jan 01, 2009; ... CONSIDER THIS: It's not just the kids who have to show up regularly for school to do well on standardized tests. Teacher absences also can have a negative effect on student achievement, say researchers at Harvard University and Duke University, in separate studies. And yet another study says the ...
global takes
Jan 01, 2009; ... A UNIVERSAL WOE The United States doesn't have a lock on issues around standardized testing. Our old friends in Great Britain experienced a testing fiasco last year-but it's one they may have imported from us. The British government hired a familiar face-U.S.-based Educational ...
The Next Generation
Jan 01, 2009; ... VITAL STATS Notwithstanding the iPod and Xbox, today's teenagers might not actually have it better than their parents. The philanthropic Foundation for Child Development has been looking at key indicators of childhood well-being for more than 30 years. In a recent report, they found that ...
Book Focus
Jan 01, 2009; ... Book Focus WHO ARE OUR STUDENTS? A new collection of fiction and memoir, Coming of Age in the 21st Century, edited by Mary Frosch (The New Press), presents contemporary issues of identity, sexuality, and race through the voices of a very diverse, well-acclaimed bunch of writers ...
Q&A: Greg Mortenson
Jan 01, 2009; ... INTERNATIONAL ACTIVIST Greg Mortenson, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea, has dedicated his life to promoting community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many say that his ...
ROAD WARRIOR
Jan 01, 2009; ... NEA'S new Secretary-Treasurer travels to where the action is. The Sumner County Education Association in Tennessee is like many NEA locals- fighting the good fight for students and public educators, and trying to cope with a school board head who wishes they didn't exist. So the ...
ESP-TEACHER COLLABORATION PAYS OFF IN WESTMINSTER
Jan 01, 2009; ... In non-bargaining Colorado, a wall-to-wall local stands strong. In 2007, the Westminster Education Association (WEA), north of Denver in Colorado, bargained a teacher starting salary of $40,000, which increased to $40,500 in 2008-09. That year, education support professionals (ESPs) ...