Posted on 05/30/2003 11:25:32 AM PDT by Gopher Broke
Education Insider A weekly review of progress on the Quality Public Schools Agenda and other legislation that impacts our students, classrooms, and public education.
May 30, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congress Returns from the Memorial Day Recess
IDEA "On your mark?get set?the next round is about to begin!" The Senate's IDEA reauthorization bill has been in the wings since the House bill passed on April 30. The long-awaited Senate bill may be introduced in early June.
The 'highly qualified' definition: The House bill imported from the "No Child Left Behind Act' the definition that requires all teachers to have a degree or pass a subject matter test in each academic subject they teach. This definition fails totally to recognize the multiple subject matter teaching assignments of thousands of special educators. These special education teachers who competently teach core academic subjects under a student's IEP would be declared 'unqualified.'
The Senate must "fix" this definition. NEA believes teachers licensed under state law as special educators should be deemed 'highly qualified.'
Time Sensitive Urge your Senator to oppose any provision that would simply copy for special educators the NCLB "highly qualified" definition and to support defining a special education teacher with state special education certification or licensure as "highly qualified."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paying to Teach -- Out-of-Pocket Costs State fiscal woes and education funding shortfalls mean more frozen supply budgets and school employees digging deeper into their pockets for classroom materials.
The current deduction for out-of-pocket classroom expenses allowing educators inclusively -- teachers, counselors, principals, and education support professionals -- to recoup at least some of what they spend, expires this year.
H.R. 785 [Camp (R-MI), Pryce (R-OH) and Tanner (D-TN)] would:
Make permanent the above-the-line deduction [Above-the-line deductions apply whether or not a taxpayer itemizes.]
Increase the maximum deduction from the current $250 to $400, and
Expand allowable expenses to include professional development. The 10-year benefit to educators would total $3 billion.
Time Sensitive! To move the bill forward, we need to maximize support now. Is your Representative a cosponsor? (123 to date) If not, ask your Representative to support tax relief for teachers and education support professionals by becoming a cosponsor of HR 785.
If yes, please send your thanks. ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Government Relations 202-822-7300 http://www.nea.org/lac 1201 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education Insider is sent to your in-box once a week. We deliver inside information on developments in the federal government that affect children and public education. If you find this information useful, tell a friend. They can sign up for their very own copy at http://www.nea.org/lac and click on "Join our E-mail List". You may cancel your subscription at any time by sending an e-mail tomailto:nea_list@capwiz.mailmanager.net with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
This list conforms to the Acceptable Use Policy of the National Education Association for electronic mailing lists. To receive a copy of that policy, send email to list-aup@list.nea.org
Nice-sounding idea but beside the point and in the end a waste of effort. It shouldn't be the government that decides who is qualified to teach. It should be the parents, via school choice. That's what we should hammer away every day: choice, choice, choice. There's no place for the NEA to hide when the issue is choice.
I agree and I've come to the conclusion that compulsory unionism is a lost cause. The so-called "labor peace doctrine" is a hoax. At a minumum, a national right to work law should be passed. Better still, eliminate exclusive representation, which would leave unions as true voluntary associations.
These groups have lower rates, better liability insurance....WITHOUT the transfer of dues (without their permission) to the Democrat Party.
Click on the link for more information...
Did you know if a citizen volunteers to do work for the SD for free the unions will fight it , because it could be a paid job, and they view it as taking something away from someone. They don't care about the kids, they care about job security. Anyone who is a part of this sytem is wrong. Your wife needs to find an alnetnative, or start an alternative teaches group which offers insurance. I hear that from so many teachers , I have to admit it makes me mad.
Why not start a non-pfofit that offers insurance to teachers and gets charitable donations from the public. I bet you would find many who would pay to break the union stronghold.
If you aren't part of the soultion, you are part of the problem.
A Wisconsin company was purchased by its employees through an ESOP. The employees were (mostly) represented by a union--but the management was not, as is typical.
The represented employees wanted a raise and the Board, which included a union steward, turned it down--the whole industry was in a recession, etc., etc.
The union struck and put the Company out of business.
ROTFL
Obvious products of a poor education. I hope these unemployed ex-employees took some of their free time to go back to school and learn a little about business and how it works.
Somehow I doubt that happened, more likely they're working for the government in some way.
The Association of American Educators is an alternative Professional Education Association she may be interested in.
The AAE offers an excellent Liability Insurance Plan. Click here for a list of AAE State Affiliates.
Please pass this information on to other teachers and students who are planning to major in education.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.