[Peace-discuss] Re: [ucprogressives] Fw: RELEASE: $1 million Anti-Teachers Union Campaign Begins Today

Wed Mar 26 13:13:56 CDT 2008

Thanks for writing, Jenny. Glad to hear Obama's position on merit pay has come more in line w/ my/our thinking, because that was NOT the case in his (second) book or earlier speeches. He/his advisers must have tho't the merit pay idea would resonate w/ teachers/teachers' unions (he/they should have known better!), and when he/they found it didn't, he/they retho't (or at any rate backpedaled) and restated his position. I think Obama is by far our best bet of the three viable choices and hope he wins the nomination and presidency, clay feet and all. NIce to know he's/they're willing to listen and (let's hope) act as I/we wish when the time comes (on several issues in addition to this one).
   --Jenifer

jbarrett at cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu wrote:
  Sorry for the blank message (defective keyboard).

I would like to set the record straight about Obama and merit pay for 
teachers. The IEA officers met with Obama and questioned him at 
length about this issue. Obama said: “The unions have to agree. Any 
package won’t work if teachers don’t buy into it. Can’t violate basic 
principles of collective bargaining.” He also said: “If it is being 
done without the support of unions then it won’t work.” The Illinois 
Education Association Board voted to recommend Obama in the primary 
only after we were certain that he does not
support merit pay for teachers.

Obama does support the exploration of enhanced compensation strategies 
but ONLY if and when the employees who would be impacted are actively 
involved in the development of and approve of any such plan. In a 
recent interview with Reg Weaver, the National Education Association 
President, Obama made very clear this is his position which Reg then 
reported to state presidents as being completely acceptable to NEA.

Jenny

Quoting Jenifer Cartwright :

> Thanks for the info, John. Of course the allegations are a total 
> crock. CUF's efforts are a not-even-thinly veiled attempt at 
> union-busting cloaked in presentation of so-called "facts" and using 
> words of concern for students and their schools, while CUF and 
> others would love nothing more than to get rid of teachers' unions 
> altogether and to privatize public education. And the contest 
> allowing students to publicly criticize their teachers is 
> encouraging and legalizing slander!! If teachers are "incompetent" 
> the place to point the finger is at management -- school districts 
> have legal and contractual ways of getting rid of incompetent 
> teachers. It's harder to get rid of incompetent principals, 
> superintendents, and other administrators if an entrenched school 
> board wants to keep them on. The billboard is obscene -- an unfair 
> and underhanded way to attack members of the strong and necessary 
> union(s) that protect teachers' rights (NOT their incompetencies) 
> against allegations of
> incompetency or wrong-doing by dissatisfied parents and students 
> who may or may not have reason on their side: incompetent teachers 
> can and should be fired (and, in my experience, there are legal 
> channels for doing so).
>
> And re merit pay for teachers (which btw Obama supports, another 
> thing I have against him): that's just another barely disguised 
> attempt to divide and conquer, inho. There are already ways to give 
> teachers "merit pay" -- they can get more coursework and move up on 
> the salary schedule, or add to their skills and credentials (also 
> thru education/testing and proof of mastery) and become "master 
> teachers."
> --Jenifer
>
> "John W." wrote:
>
> There was an interesting article in Time Magazine a couple of weeks 
> ago about merit pay for teachers. Some teachers' unions are 
> beginning to be a bit open to the concept of merit pay, provided 
> that there's some empirical way of measuring teacher effectiveness, 
> and it's not just a case of butt-kissing the principal.
>
> John Wason
>
>
>
> At 11:55 AM 3/11/2008, unionyes wrote:
>
> From: "Tim Miller" 
> To: "Bill Gorrell " 
> Subject: RELEASE: $1 million Anti-Teachers Union Campaign Begins Today
> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:32:41 -0400
>
>
>
> For Immediate Release
> Center for Union Facts
> March 11th, 2008
> For More Information Contact:
> Tim Miller or Sarah Longwell- 202-463-7106
>
> New Campaign Exposes Teachers Unions for Protecting Bad Teachers
> Center for Union Facts Announces “Ten Worst
> (Union-Protected) Teachers” Contest
>
>
> Washington – Today the Center for Union Facts (CUF) launched an 
> aggressive national campaign to educate Americans about how teachers 
> unions protect incompetent teachers, demoralize good teachers, block 
> reform, and ultimately hurt our public education system.
>
> The million dollar advertising blitz features full-page ads this 
> morning in USA TODAY as well as the New York Times, and a television 
> commercial airing on CNN and Fox News.
>
> The ad in USA TODAY announces CUF’s “Ten Worst (union-protected) 
> Teachers” contest, which will be further publicized by a seven-story 
> billboard going up in Times Square later this week. The contest will 
> allow anyone 13 and up to nominate the worst union-protected 
> teachers in America. Once CUF has identified the ten worst, we will 
> offer each of them $10,000 to quit the profession forever. The 
> purpose of the contest is to encourage teachers known to be 
> incompetent to quit the profession because it is too difficult to 
> have them terminated.
>
> The ads also announce a new website called TeachersUnionExposed.com, 
> which features original, previously unreported research about the 
> union’s stranglehold on America’s schools. The site also highlights 
> 20 cities for which we have obtained detailed information about how 
> protections insulate against turnover despite poor student 
> achievement.
>
> “Teachers unions are failing children all over the country by 
> protecting incompetent teachers and fighting to maintain the status 
> quo,” said CUF Executive Director Richard Berman. “Worst of all, 
> teachers unions hurt all of the amazing teachers in America by 
> treating them exactly the same as incompetent teachers who shouldn’t 
> be in the profession.”
>
> Berman continued, “This campaign is an effort to shine a bright 
> light on the damage inflicted on our education system by 
> self-interested teachers unions. Furthermore, we are advocating on 
> behalf of all the great teachers who deserve better than to be 
> subject to old-fashioned union rules that deny them merit pay and 
> other incentives to continue their excellent work.”
>
> To learn more visit: www.TeachersUnionExposed.com. For further 
> information or to arrange an interview please call Sarah Longwell at 
> (202) 463-7106.
>
>
> TeachersUnionExposed.com is a project of the Center for Union Facts 
> (www.UnionFacts.com). CUF is a non-profit organization supported by 
> foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public. We 
> are dedicated to showing Americans the facts about today's union 
> leadership._______________________________________________
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>
>
>
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Senior Research Programmer, Psychology
453B Psychology
University of Illinois

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