Inside AFT—Week of Aug. 13, 2007

• Union Concerns Are in the Spotlight at Presidential Forum
• After Bridge Collapse, a New Focus on Infrastructure
• NCLB Post Cards on their Way to Members
• House, Senate Vote to Broaden Kids' Healthcare
• Bill Features Supports for Math, Science Teachers
• House Backs Bargaining for Civilian Federal Employees
• School Bus Safety: How Does Your District Measure Up?
• Where and When

UNION CONCERNS ARE IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT PRESIDENTIAL FORUM
Working family issues took center stage at the AFL-CIO's Aug. 7 presidential candidates' forum in Chicago, broadcast live nationwide on MSNBC. In the 90-minute debate, seven Democratic presidential hopefuls fielded questions from MSNBC moderator Keith Olbermann as well as from workers who were among the more than 17,000 union members and their families gathered at Soldier Field. The result was a debate that gave the labor movement and the concerns of working families a national audience on such issues as the right to organize a union, retirement security and the healthcare crisis. Barbara Janusiak, a Milwaukee nurse and treasurer of Local 5001 of the AFT-affiliated Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, posed one of several questions on healthcare, challenging the candidates to discuss what they would do about the nearly 50 million people in this nation who lack health insurance. The healthcare crisis, including the problems of employees who lose their healthcare coverage when their jobs are outsourced or when their employer goes bankrupt, was a central concern with many who posed questions. The candidates addressed a broad range of topics, including the No Child Left Behind Act (a question submitted online by Shirley Forpe, president of the Northwest Suburban Teachers Union in Illinois), as well as the nation's public infrastructure, the war in Iraq, U.S. trade policies, mine safety and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The AFL-CIO council later agreed not to endorse any individual candidate at this time but noted that internationals are free to make an endorsement in the primaries. Full coverage of the forum is available at the AFL-CIO Web site.

AFTER BRIDGE COLLAPSE, A NEW FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure investment was a hot topic this month at the annual meeting in Boston of the National Conference of State Legislatures. In his opening remarks on Aug. 6, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick referred to the Aug. 1 bridge collapse in Minnesota, as well as the flooding of New Orleans and other disasters, to make the case for dramatic improvements in our nation's crumbling roads, bridges and other essential public structures. The renewed focus on infrastructure maintenance is a positive development, but it's unfortunate that it required a national tragedy to bring it to the forefront, says Steve Porter, director of AFT’s public employees division. The division represents approximately 100,000 federal, state, and local government employees, including more than 2,000 state-employed civil engineers and bridge inspectors. "Our job now is to learn from this tragedy, so that this never, ever happens again," says Porter, who attended the NCSL meeting. "We owe it to the victims and their families, and we owe it to the rescue workers, who risked their own lives to save others." [Read more]

NCLB POST CARDS ON THEIR WAY TO MEMBERS
AFT members will soon have a chance to participate in a massive grass-roots lobbying blitz of Congress as it takes up reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act next month. A special insert of preprinted post cards on NCLB is included in the back-to-school issues of the American Teacher and PSRP Reporter, which will arrive in members' homes in the next few weeks. Members are asked to pull out the post cards, which reinforce the AFT's call for changes in NCLB to address weaknesses in the law, and send them to their lawmakers as Congress returns from its summer recess. The post cards call for a fair and accurate accountability system that recognizes student progress; adequate support and resources without new and unnecessary requirements on teachers; research-based interventions for struggling schools; and adequate funding.

HOUSE, SENATE VOTE TO BROADEN KIDS' HEALTHCARE COVERAGE
In a victory for America's children, the U.S. Senate resoundingly joined the House this month in voting to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The federal-state partnership insures children whose parents work but can't afford health insurance. Both political parties mustered support to expand the program—by $50 billion in the House and $35 billion in the Senate—compared with President Bush's suggestion to increase it by $5 billion, which actually would reduce the number of children covered because of rising healthcare costs. The Senate passed its bill by a thumping 68-31 majority, the House by a narrower margin. [Read more]

BILL FEATURES SUPPORTS FOR MATH, SCIENCE TEACHERS
New AFT-backed supports for math and science teachers were part of a broad bill, approved by Congress earlier this month, which aims to boost U.S. global economic competitiveness in these high-demand areas. The final legislation, which awaits President Bush's signature, combines five separate bills that seek to strengthen training, research and education in math and science. The AFT fought for and won language in the final bill that authorizes federal funding for voluntary summer institutes to help elementary and secondary math and science teachers expand their content knowledge. The bill also authorizes federal support for another AFT-backed proposal: part-time master's degree programs in math and science that would allow teachers to gain advanced degrees over two to three years. An estimated 25,000 new teachers will stand to benefit from the professional development, summer training, graduate education assistance and scholarships included in the House-Senate compromise, which won overwhelming approval in both chambers. The bill also increases support for the National Science Foundation's Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and the Math and Science Partnerships Program.

HOUSE BACKS BARGAINING FOR CIVILIAN FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill to protect collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal civilian workers. The amendment would defund the National Security Personnel System, originally authorized by Congress in 2004 with the understanding that DOD officials would meet and confer with recognized representatives of federal workers. Those meetings have failed to yield a consensus, however, jeopardizing collective bargaining for DOD employees. Within the AFT, this specifically affects employees of schools operated by the DOD, including those represented by the AFT's Overseas Federation of Teachers. In other action, the House approved an amendment to a major energy bill that calls for a study of indoor environmental quality in schools. The rider would authorize research on how sustainable building features, such as energy efficiency, affect K-12 students. There's no comparable provision in the Senate bill, and even though the amendment is not controversial, it's unknown whether it will survive what's expected to be a contentious process of reconciling the House and Senate energy bills and getting them signed by the president.

SCHOOL BUS SAFETY: HOW DOES YOUR DISTRICT MEASURE UP?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidance on student transportation recommends that each pupil transported on a school bus be instructed and drilled in safe riding practices, including bus evacuation, at least once during each school semester. Many states require these drills within the first week or two of the start of the school year. More than 50 students who were in a school bus when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis were lucky that they had participated in drills in their home school districts. How does your district match up? Please take our quick survey on school bus evacuation drills; and also see AFT's position on other school bus safety issues.

Inside AFT—Week of June 4, 2007

• Evidence Mounts that Private Management in Philadelphia Is a Failure
• Higher Education PPC Tallies Organizing, Policy Victories
• Healthcare Council Discusses International Activities, Labor Act Changes
• AFT Urges British Faculty Members To Reject Israeli Boycott
• Two AFT VPs To Serve on New York Higher Education Commission
• Healthwire Looks at Concerns over Nurses' Long Hours
• AFT NCLBlog Post of the Week
• Where and When

EVIDENCE MOUNTS THAT PRIVATE MANAGEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA IS A FAILURE
A new report on the performance of private groups hired to manage 41 Philadelphia public schools shows that the outside managers are not doing better at educating students than traditional public school districts, despite receiving millions of dollars of additional funding. The latest report—an internal district study not made public but obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer—concludes that "there is little evidence that the substantial investment (in private managers) has produced sufficient academic success to warrant continuation." Since 2002, the school district has spent more than $100 million on contracts with "education management organizations" to manage 41 schools: two for-profit companies, two nonprofits and two universities. Edison Schools Inc. is the most prominent for-profit manager. In February, RAND released a report on these private managers that reached an almost identical conclusion: "In sum, with four years of experience, we find no evidence of differential academic benefits that would support the additional expenditures on private managers."

HIGHER EDUCATION PPC TALLIES ORGANIZING, POLICY VICTORIES
At the halfway point of 2007, AFT Higher Education will be representing 3,800 new people, due to votes by or affiliations of part-time/adjunct faculty in Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island, as well as non-teaching professionals at Rutgers University. During its meeting at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., May 17-18, the AFT Higher Education program and policy council (PPC) marked these organizing victories and reviewed progress on legislative and policy initiatives. States have achieved impressive results in the first phase of the AFT's Faculty and College Excellence Act (FACE) campaign. Since January, FACE legislation has been introduced in 10 state legislatures, many of which have held hearings to explore the issues behind the legislation--the unacceptable working conditions and pay of part-time/adjunct faculty and the declining proportion of tenured faculty teaching in colleges and universities. In the months ahead, the campaign will focus on FACE research and getting legislation passed. The PPC discussed how it can address other trends that are eroding faculty control of teaching and learning. Through the AFT and the Free Exchange on Campus coalition, faculty have been able to respond to right-wing attempts to control classroom speech and curriculum. The council also got an update on federal legislation affecting higher education and labor, including the Higher Education Act.

HEALTHCARE COUNCIL DISCUSSES INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, LABOR ACT CHANGES
AFT Healthcare's program and policy council (PPC) members began their May 17-18 meeting at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., with an update on the division's international activities. In particular, they heard about the healthcare division's involvement with Public Services International (PSI), a global union federation made up of 600 trade unions. The division has been actively involved in PSI's efforts to address issues affecting healthcare workers, such as international migration, workplace violence, and occupational safety and health. "Union building, women's equity and migration are some of the biggest issues for us in PSI," says AFT Healthcare chair Candice Owley, who was recently appointed as a U.S. representative to PSI's executive board. Owley and PPC vice chair Ann Twomey will travel to Vienna, Austria, this September to represent the AFT at PSI's 28th World Congress. Owley and Twomey are both AFT vice presidents. Council members also discussed a lobbying plan for the Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act, a bill to amend the definition of supervisor in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The measure would help counter a 2006 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that could strip thousands of nurses of their right to belong to a union by classifying them as supervisors. Bill Cunningham, from the AFT department of legislation, told the council that it is possible to pass the legislation this year and that the goal should be to line up more co-sponsors. The PPC also heard a presentation by Peter Lazes, the director of the Healthcare Transformation Project at Cornell University. Lazes and his colleagues are studying how best to engage frontline hospital staff to improve the quality and safety of patient care.

AFT URGES BRITISH FACULTY MEMBERS TO REJECT ISRAELI BOYCOTT
The AFT has called on higher education unions across Great Britain to consider the moral and practical implications of supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. "Boycotting universities and their faculty restricts the flow of ideas and it is anathema to academic freedom," says AFT president Edward J. McElroy. The AFT's action preceded a May 30 vote by delegates to Britain's University and College Union (UCU) congress to circulate a resolution among its 120,000 members to consider an academic boycott of Israel. As it has in previous years, the broader membership could reject such a boycott. In advance of the vote by the UCU's delegates, McElroy sent a letter to Sally Hunt, the British faculty union's general secretary. In his letter, McElroy pointed to the AFT's 2005 resolution condemning proposed academic boycotts of Haifa University and Bar-Ilan University. He also noted that "the one-sided nature of the proposed resolution demonstrates that its motivation is to express support for a political position rather than advance the principles of free and open scholarship."

TWO AFT VPs TO SERVE ON NEW YORK HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has announced the creation of a Commission on Higher Education charged with identifying ways to improve the state's public colleges and universities. The commission of 30 education luminaries includes two AFT vice presidents, William Scheuerman, president of the United University Professions/AFT of the State University of New York, and Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association/AFT. Spitzer has indicated that he wants to make New York's "higher educational system a world-class institution." The commission, announced on May 29, will look at improving access to the state's public institutions, expanding degree programs with an eye to economic development, smoothing transfer for community college students, and expanding research capacity and "opportunities for high-value employment." Notes Scheuerman: "Among the most critical concerns is the need to formulate a predictable, reliable funding stream for public higher education. Addressing that issue will preserve the quality of our public colleges and universities as they struggle to cope with growing enrollment and the need to hire more full-time faculty." Over the last decade, SUNY enrollment increased by 40,000 students, but the number of full-time faculty positions has decreased by 1,000. "The governor's first budget adds $143.2 million to SUNY right out of the box," Scheuerman adds. "You can't build a world-class system without that kind of commitment."

HEALTHWIRE LOOKS AT CONCERNS OVER NURSES' LONG HOURS
The current issue of Healthwire features a cover story titled "Fatal Fatigue" that discusses the potential risk to patients when nurses work too many hours. Along with the story, the online version includes comments from AFT Healthcare members on issues related to mandatory overtime.

 

Inside AFT—Week of May 28, 2007 AFT and Other Groups Call for Significant Changes to NCLB Montana Legislature Funds Statewide Kindergarten Initiative Teachers Council Hears about Promise and Risk of Accountability System PSRP Council Explores Staff Roles, Workloads and Facilities Video Features AFT Members Interacting with Presidential Candidates Summit Commemorates 'Little Rock Nine,' Covers Education Issues Prominent Governor and Mayor Set To Speak at QuEST AFT NCLBlog Post of the Week Where and When AFT AND OTHER GROUPS CALL FOR SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO NCLB The AFT has joined five other national education groups in releasing a joint statement affirming their intention to work together to push Congress for significant changes to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The joint statement emphasizes that the reauthorization of NCLB "is an opportunity for a refocused national discussion about public education that offers members of Congress the opportunity to elevate this dialogue, to be bold, and to embrace not only the call for equity in American education but the demand for innovation as well." The other groups are the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association and the National School Boards Association. "Although each of the organizations has developed and proposed specific recommendations to address our reauthorization priorities," AFT president Edward J. McElroy says, "we have reached consensus that changes need to be made in the following areas: accountability, assessments, improved assessments for English language learners and students with disabilities, school improvement, and educator quality and professional development." As part of the AFT's ongoing efforts to influence the debate on NCLB, McElroy and AFT Michigan president David Hecker, who is also an AFT vice president, participated on May 23 in a roundtable discussion on the law with members of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee, including Majority Leader Harry Reid and committee chair Debbie Stabenow. McElroy urged the lawmakers to listen to the actual experiences of classroom professionals as they look for ways to fix NCLB's flaws. MONTANA LEGISLATURE FUNDS STATEWIDE KINDERGARTEN INITIATIVE On the last day of its session, the Montana Legislature produced a big victory for the state's young children by passing an education funding bill on May 15 that includes $36 million to give school districts the opportunity to provide full-day kindergarten. The program, which will be optional for districts, was a legislative priority this year for MEA-MFT, the merged AFT-NEA state federation in Montana. "Now that state legislators have passed legislation to fund Gov. Brian Schweitzer's full-time kindergarten proposal, Montana is on the leading edge of early childhood education," AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese says. "Thanks to the steadfast support of the MEA-MFT and the forward-thinking leadership of school superintendent Linda McCulloch, for the first time all school districts throughout the state will have the option to provide full-time kindergarten for their students." According to MEA-MFT president Eric Feaver, who is also an AFT vice president, all-day full-time kindergarten "represents the peak of best practices in education. It gives all children a better chance for success in school and in life." Cortese calls on other states to follow Montana's lead because "it is one of the keys to enhancing school readiness, and to improving academic success in later grades." TEACHERS COUNCIL HEARS ABOUT PROMISE AND RISK OF ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM The AFT Teachers program and policy council (PPC) dedicated almost a half-day of its meeting on May 17-18 in Silver Spring, Md., to discussing value-added accountability systems for students and teachers. "Value-added" refers to a statistical tool that measures a school's or a teacher's impact on students' academic progress. Deb Tully, professional issues director for the Ohio Federation of Teachers, told council members about the implementation of the value-added system in her state. She explained that it has become an important tool for OFT members in using data to inform their instruction. So far in Ohio, value-added has been used only as an instructional tool for teachers and as a factor in assessing schoolwide accountability. Rob Weil, a deputy director in the AFT educational issues department, warned PPC members that many states and localities are looking to use value-added systems to evaluate teachers or to help determine compensation. He said there are several problems with using such systems to evaluate or compensate teachers, but many districts are attempting to proceed down this path anyway. The AFT Teachers council also discussed the history of union-developed peer assistance and review (PAR) programs and new opportunities for expanding them in today's educational climate. They heard from former Toledo Federation of Teachers president Dal Lawrence, who led his local's pioneering work in peer review and intervention that began in the early 1980s and continues today. The Toledo experience shows that members are enthusiastic about PAR, as long as it is presented as an opportunity for frontline educators "to be part of a profession that's respected for its excellence and high standards," Lawrence said. A new AFT task force will look for opportunities to expand PAR approaches. AFT vice president Marcia B. Reback, who is president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, will chair the task force. PSRP COUNCIL EXPLORES STAFF ROLES, WORKLOADS AND FACILITIES Members of the AFT PSRP program and policy council (PPC) heard about the national union's project to prepare a second edition of "It Takes a Team: A Profile of Support Staff in American Education" at their meeting May 17-18 in Silver Spring, Md. Through personal stories and national data, the original 2002 study revealed the contributions of school support staff, which it called "the living infrastructure that makes public education possible." The new version will paint a picture of how PSRP roles have evolved over the past five years, including the ways staff are helping educate more medically fragile and disabled students, as well as English language learners. PPC members also reviewed survey results and shared their experiences in dealing with office employee work overload. Problems range from unreported overtime to the referral of disruptive students to the school office. During a discussion on AFT's "Building Minds, Minding Buildings" campaign, Rachel Martinez, vice president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, noted that without proper maintenance, today's brand-new building is tomorrow's nightmare. She advised making sure that every school budget provides for adequate upkeep. Next week's Inside AFT will include additional program and policy council coverage. VIDEO FEATURES AFT MEMBERS INTERACTING WITH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES A video highlighting the experiences of the three AFT members who were selected to ask questions of the presidential candidates at the AFT executive council meeting May 15-16 is now available on the AFT's You Decide 2008 Web site. The video includes interviews and clips of the members, who each got the opportunity to pose their winning questions—selected through online voting—to candidates Joseph Biden, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. SUMMIT COMMEMORATES 'LITTLE ROCK NINE,' COVERS EDUCATION ISSUES Educators, elected officials, civil rights activists and others, including some 40 AFT members and leaders, gathered in Little Rock, Ark., May 17-19, for the biennial NAACP Daisy Bates Education Summit. This year's event recognized the 50th anniversary of the "Little Rock Nine"—the students who integrated Little Rock's Central High School in 1957—and featured a panel discussion with six of them. Summit participants also took part in workshops on issues such as raising black male achievement, reversing the dropout trend, and increasing parent and community involvement. AFT vice president Michelle Bodden was a featured panelist during a general session on accountability in education. Bodden, who is also a vice president of the United Federation of Teachers, said teachers and schools have no problem being held accountable for student achievement. In too many instances, however, educators are not being given the support, resources or input they need to help students succeed, she added. Joseph Aguerreberre, president of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, noted that it was important that groups like the AFT, NEA and NAACP come together—"not just inside the schools, but outside the schools"—to address issues such as the achievement gap. The summit gave members of the three groups an opportunity to discuss how they might work together at the state and local level around additional topics such as resource equity and the reauthorization of NCLB. PROMINENT GOVERNOR AND MAYOR SET TO SPEAK AT QuEST Two prominent elected officials are the latest confirmed speakers for the AFT's 2007 QuEST (Quality Educational Standards in Teaching) conference, which will be held July 12-15 in Washington, D.C. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Trenton, N.J., Mayor Douglas Palmer will be the featured speakers during one of the plenary sessions. In addition to their elected offices, Sebelius is chair of the National Governors Association and Palmer is president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Check the AFT's Web site for more information on QuEST.

Inside AFT—Week of May 21, 2007

• Five Presidential Hopefuls Speak to AFT Executive Council
• Three Members Share the Political Spotlight
• Council Approves Resolutions, Celebrates Kansas Merger
• New York Order Gives Green Light to Child Care Union Drive
• In Landslide, Wayne State Adjunct Faculty Vote Union
• NCLB Needs a Reality Check, AFT Member Warns Congress
• Maryland Governor Signs First Statewide Living Wage Bill
• Register Now for AFT Communicators Conference

FIVE PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS SPEAK TO AFT EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
The AFT executive council heard from five of the major 2008 Democratic presidential candidates at its meeting May 15-16 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York each spent about an hour with the council. (Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut also was to appear but a late-scheduled Senate vote prevented him from coming.) "We've got a great group of candidates this year," AFT president Edward J. McElroy said. The AFT endorsement process for 2008 includes candidate meetings with McElroy and the council, questionnaires on AFT priority issues, other meetings with labor leaders and input from members. Three AFT members, selected through voting on the AFT's You Decide 2008 Web site, attended the council meeting to ask their winning questions of each of the candidates. (See story below.) While there were differences in substance and style among the candidates, they addressed many of the same issues: providing healthcare for all Americans, overhauling No Child Left Behind, reforming labor laws and ending the war in Iraq. (Brief summaries of each of the candidates' appearances are available here.) Additional Democratic and Republican candidates will be invited to the executive council's July meeting. The AFT videotaped each of the candidates and plans to put video highlights on the You Decide site when they are available.

THREE MEMBERS SHARE THE POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT
Three AFT members got the chance to ask questions of the five Democratic presidential hopefuls who came to speak to the AFT executive council during the May 15-16 meeting. AFT members Allan Grant from Education Minnesota-Osseo, Jim Close from the New York Public Employees Federation and Richard Charap from the United Federation of Teachers in New York City got the opportunity to question the candidates after the questions they submitted to the AFT's You Decide 2008 Web site were selected as the best based on votes from other AFT members. Grant asked about early childhood education; Close asked about prospects for ending the war in Iraq; and Charap asked about protecting healthcare, pensions and the right to bargain. The candidates appeared pleased to have the chance to interact with rank-and-file members as well as the leaders who serve on the executive council. AFT president Edward J. McElroy said the AFT's You Decide site—which is one of the ways the union has tried to engage members in the 2008 elections and provide guidance to the union as part of its endorsement process—has been "incredibly successful." To date, thousands of AFT members have sent in their opinions about the most important issues the country faces, submitted their own questions for the candidates and commented on the seven questions selected for the final voting.

COUNCIL APPROVES RESOLUTIONS, CELEBRATES KANSAS MERGER
While politics dominated the agenda during the AFT executive council meeting (see related stories), the council did conduct other business between visits from presidential contenders. The council passed three resolutions—a new one on hard-to-staff schools that came from the AFT Teachers program and policy council, and two substitute resolutions related to resolutions submitted to the 2006 AFT convention in Boston. "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools" points out that financial incentives are important for retaining teachers, but that many other factors contribute to high turnover rates. It lays out a whole series of programs and incentives that could help address the problem and, ultimately, improve student learning, such as better safety and discipline, use of well-trained paraprofessionals to support instruction, small class sizes, time for teachers to collaborate, intensive mentoring for new teachers, and housing and transportation incentives. The other two resolutions the council approved were "Federal Aid Requirements and Military Recruitment in the Schools" and "Urging TIAA-CREF to Continue Developing Shareholder Activism in Support of Labor Rights in the United States and Abroad." (AFT convention resolutions are available online.) In other business, the council recognized the newly formed Kansas Organization of State Employees (KOSE). One day later, on May 16, KOSE won recognition from the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board. By a 3-1 vote, the board adopted a plan that consolidates 42 geographically based bargaining units into 16 broad occupational units for some 14,000 executive branch state employees. KOSE is automatically recognized as the certified bargaining agent for six of the 16 units. KOSE is a merged local of the AFT and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). At the executive council meeting, AFT president Edward J. McElroy and AFSCME president Gerald W. McEntee presented AFT and AFSCME charters to KOSE's provisional officers, Gerald Raab and Gary Patillo.

NEW YORK ORDER GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO CHILD CARE UNION DRIVE
Gov. Eliot Spitzer on May 11 signed an executive order granting home-based child care providers throughout New York state the right to unionize. The order, which covers child care providers who receive payments directly or indirectly through state, city or local government funding, marks a milestone in the United Federation of Teachers' campaign to organize 28,000 of the workers in New York City. "This is in keeping with our belief that it is important to extend rights to individuals—to extend the opportunity to negotiate, the opportunity to be heard and the right to complain," Spitzer said. UFT president and AFT vice president Randi Weingarten called the executive order "just the beginning of the providers' quest to get the respect, recognition and fair wages they deserve for the important work they do." Family daycare providers in New York City earn $19,000 on average, with few or no benefits. With the executive order in place, elections will now be held among the providers to determine if they want union representation. The UFT is the only union seeking to represent the New York City providers. More information on the UFT campaign is available online.

IN LANDSLIDE, WAYNE STATE ADJUNCT FACULTY VOTE UNION
A unit of more than 800 adjunct faculty at Wayne State University has voted overwhelmingly for representation by the WSU Union of Part-Time Faculty. In the mail-ballot election, the Michigan Employee Relations Commission counted ballots on May 14. The vote was 442-57 for the union. During the campaign, AFT Michigan president and AFT vice president David Hecker arranged for some adjuncts to meet with the WSU board of governors. The board "was very surprised about the number of classes we teach on average, about the workload, the lack of health insurance and benefits, and the impact it has on us," says philosophy adjunct Alitia Drober. Those issues, along with wage stagnation and the lack of health benefits, were prime motivators for collective action, says Thomas Trimble, an adjunct who teaches composition. He notes that many part-timers at Wayne State have not seen a raise in 10 years. In addition to working for gains at the bargaining table, AFT Michigan is pushing for legislative relief through a bill modeled on the AFT's Faculty and College Excellence (FACE) campaign. "AFT Michigan is pursuing legislation to address the exploitation of full- and part-time lecturers, as well as the decline in the number of tenure-track faculty," says Hecker.

NCLB NEEDS A REALITY CHECK, AFT MEMBER WARNS CONGRESS
Fashioning new hoops for teachers to jump through is a bad way to get and keep outstanding educators in the classroom, the 2006 Minnesota Indian Education Association Teacher of the Year told Congress last week. AFT member Joan Bibeau, a preschool and kindergarten teacher at a school serving an Indian reservation in remote northern Minnesota, traveled to Capitol Hill on May 11 to urge Congress to get behind real professional supports for districts like hers—a cash-strapped school system with declining enrollment that lacks the financial stability, compensation and conditions needed to attract and keep outstanding teachers. To remedy the situation, Congress needs to get serious about providing a range of federal support that includes excellent professional development, financial incentives for teachers, expanded mentoring and induction programs, and other assistance that can help states and districts ensure excellence in the classroom. "Look at teacher quality not just in the policy arena—and not just in terms of rules and requirements—but also through the eyes of experienced, highly qualified teachers," Bibeau—also a member of Education Minnesota, a joint affiliate of the AFT and the NEA—told the House Committee on Education and Labor in her testimony. The 34-year classroom veteran highlighted several ways that NCLB could support excellence in teaching in the areas of compensation, mentoring and induction, professional development, recruiting teacher leaders and promoting union-administration cooperation.

MARYLAND GOVERNOR SIGNS FIRST STATEWIDE LIVING WAGE BILL
Maryland became the first state in the nation with a living wage law when Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a bill on May 8 that requires government service contractors to pay their employees well above the federal minimum wage. "What a difference a Democratic governor makes," says AFT Maryland president Lorretta Johnson, who is also an AFT vice president. AFT members in Maryland played an important role in helping O'Malley unseat Republican incumbent Robert Erhlich last fall. "All workers should earn a decent livable wage, especially those in urban areas where it is more expensive to live," she notes. O'Malley says the law is designed to guarantee "that a full day's work earns a full day's pay. If you're working on a contract funded by the people of Maryland, we are going to treat you in a fair and just way so you can put food on the table for your family after a day's work." The Maryland law sets two wage levels: $11.30 an hour in the more expensive Baltimore-Washington area and $8.50 an hour in the rest of the state.

REGISTER NOW FOR AFT COMMUNICATORS CONFERENCE
The AFT Communicators Network 2007 conference—titled "Strategic Communications: Inside and Out"—promises to offer in-depth training and discussion on both internal and external communications issues. All AFT affiliate members and leaders who are responsible for shaping and sending the union message and union news will find valuable information and resources at this July 10-12 conference in Washington, D.C. Registration forms are available here. Applications for an AFTCN conference scholarship, which are due May 30, are available here.