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Inside AFT
Week of
Mar. 13, 2000
The headline in Education Daily said it best: "Senate GOP Railroads ESEA Authorization." In a party-line vote, the Senate Education Committee on March 9 approved a bill that would allow states to block grant Title I and other programs contained in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). States could tap the funds simply by agreeing to participate in an accountability plan that offers no real safeguards and could use the funds for any purpose, including vouchers. The 10-8 vote on the ESEA reauthorization bill (S. 2) also would allow 10 states and 20 districts to distribute Title I monies in a "funds-follow-the-student," voucher-like format that would allow parents to take Title I funds out of a public school to purchase supplemental educational services for their children. The majority killed efforts by Democratic members to amend the bill to support commonsense reforms such as class-size reduction, school modernization and professional development for teachers. AFT president Sandra Feldman calls the plan "a cynical betrayal of America’s children, families and schools" and an attack on "a 35-year-old bipartisan commitment to our nation’s poorest children." AFT leaders and members should contact their senators, urge them to oppose the Education Committee's bill and instead to support proposals that keep ESEA focused on programs that have a track record of effectiveness, especially for poor children. Use the "Contact Congress" feature of AFT Online www.aft.org/congress/index.html.
Part-time adjunct faculty at Orange County Community College voted overwhelmingly last month to be represented by the AFT. Before the vote, the organizing committee of the Adjunct Faculty United had to withstand a sudden challenge from the National Education Association, which represents full-time faculty at the college. The vote to unionize the unit of 1,253 was 785 to 75. The part-timers, who earn 32 cents for every dollar the college pays to full-time faculty, want pay scales on a pro-rata par with full-timers. The part-timers are seeking hospitalization and health benefits. Currently, they cannot even buy into the California public employee health plan. The union also places a premium on securing seniority rights; some faculty have been teaching every semester on a temporary basis for more than 27 years. E-mail played a significant role in this campaign. When the faculty were signing their cards last fall, organizers also collected their e-mail addresses. Being able to send messages quickly to people who are difficult to track down allowed the AFU to respond to misinformation quickly--and get the vote out.
Political action and the stakes for women and families in the November elections played a starring role in the AFT Women's Issues Conference in Chicago, March 8-10. More than 170 participants gathered for plenary sessions and workshops that focused strongly on politics, as well as gender-equity issues, generational issues and more. "We want politics and politicians to address the real issues facing" our members, including public education, AFT executive vice president Nat LaCour told conference participants March 9. Union members must tell political candidates that "if you do that, we will be with you regardless of your party label. If you work against our concerns, we will work against you." Other featured speakers included Carmen Tafolla, a writer, poet, entertainer and speaker on multicultural issues; Seventh U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Ann Clair Williams; and Coalition of Labor Union Women president Gloria Johnson. The AFT gathering also set the stage for the AFL-CIO's "Working Women Conference 2000," March 11-12, also in Chicago, which was designed to help women mobilize and organize around work and family issues. On March 9, the AFL-CIO Working Women’s Department released the results of the latest Ask a Wo rking Woman survey. The survey, unveiled in Washington, D.C., and seven state capitals, shows the priorities women place on such issues as equal pay, health insurance, retirement security and child care. More information on the survey is available online at www.aflcio.org/women/survey1.htmTUNE IN TO SAG AWARDS…Actor Sidney Poitier will receive the Life Achievement Award as part of the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards program, which will be broadcast live on TNT March 12. This event is the only national network television show to acknowledge the work of union members; SAG is affiliated with the AFL-CIO through the Associated Actors and Artists of America. The Screen Actors Guild has nearly 100,000 members nationwide--52,000 live in Hollywood and another 24,000 in New York. WHERE AND WHEN…On March 13, AFT president Sandra Feldman will participate in a Housing and Urban Development press conference at Burrville Elementary School in Washington, D.C., to announce the Teacher Next Door program. This new Clinton-Gore initiative will help attract the best teachers to schools that need them most, especially in low-income, urban neighborhoods, by providing them with a chance to purchase a home at a 50 percent discount. Feldman will chair the Albert Shanker Institute board meeting on March 14. On March 17, she will take part in the Center for National Policy's discussion of its new study: "Passing the Test: The National Interest in Good Schools for All."... On March 14, AFT secretary-treasurer Edward J. McElroy and executive vice president Nat LaCour will also attend the Albert Shanker Institute's board meeting; on March 15, LaCour will address participants of the AFT Educational Research and Dissemination program at the PSRP conference in Washington, D.C.; and on March 17, he will give the keynote dinner address at the PSRP conference. Contributors and sources for this week's edition of "Inside AFT" include Juanita Dunlap Smith, Mike Rose, Gregory King, Education Daily, Charlotte Fraas, Cheryl Birdsall, Barbara McKenna, John Berg, Linda Cushing, Priscilla Nemeth, AFL-CIO, Screen Actors Guild, Rita Freedman, Catherine Mason and Laura Baker. Trish Gorman, editor; Mary Boyd, copy editor.
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