Inside AFT—Week of May 14, 2007

SIX PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS TO MEET WITH AFT EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Six candidates seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination will meet with members of the AFT executive council May 15 and 16 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. The candidate visits are part of the AFT's extensive process of screening the contenders for the nomination before making an endorsement. Candidates scheduled to meet with the executive council are Joseph Biden Jr., Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson. (All of the major Democratic and Republican candidates have been invited to meet with the executive council; to date, none of the Republicans have accepted.) Three AFT members—James Close from the New York Public Employees Federation, Allan Grant from the Osseo (Minn.) Federation of Teachers and Richard Charap from the United Federation of Teachers in New York City—also will be at the meeting to ask the candidates the questions they submitted to the AFT's You Decide 2008 Web site. They were selected to ask their questions based on votes from other AFT members.

ST. LOUIS MEMBERS ORGANIZE TO OPPOSE STATE TAKEOVER
Thunder and rain couldn't keep hundreds of members and retirees from the St. Louis Teachers & School-Related Personnel Union's May 10 rally against the state takeover of the city's public schools. The rally was the culmination of an aggressive issue-organizing campaign that has taken place over the last two weeks. Organizers from around the country assisted the local with visits to all 97 district schools, to educate the union's 2,045 members about the impact the state takeover will have on their jobs, benefits and working conditions. "We need to write, e-mail, call and visit our legislators to remind them of their job to defend public education," stated local president Mary J. Armstrong. "If it happens to St. Louis, it will happen to other school districts." On March 22, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education declared the St. Louis public schools "unaccredited," which allowed for a complete takeover of the district. The union warns that the takeover may trigger a rapid exodus of students from the schools, resulting in layoffs and budget cuts. "We need to stand together," declared Rev. B.T. Rice, a vocal opponent of the state takeover and the former chair of People for Public Schools, a statewide coalition spearheaded by the AFT in 2003 to fight tuition tax credits and vouchers. "Let's overtake the takeover."

NEW JERSEY FILES FOR 2,000 NEW MEMBERS AT RUTGERS
A majority of approximately 2,000 administrative workers at Rutgers University have signed cards seeking representation as the Union of Rutgers Administrators-AFT. On April 25, those cards were filed with the New Jersey Public Employee Relations Commission, which is now in the process of reviewing the list of job titles and certifying the unit. Under New Jersey's two-year-old card-check law, a union can be formed by filing a majority of cards from the unit, which entitles it to receive recognition without having to hold an election. "Organizing under the card-check system means that we made a decision with an actual majority of the unit, because every member counts," says administrative assistant Lucye Millerand. "That is a true democratic process." On a campus where 70 percent of the workers are already organized—including full- and part-time faculty, who are represented jointly by the AFT and the American Association of University Professors—the union met surprising resistance from university management. With the intervention of the governor, legislative leaders, community groups and the state AFL-CIO, the hostility ceased with the signing of a historic neutrality agreement between the Rutgers president and the URA. For more on the Rutgers campaign, see the cover story in the May/June issue of AFT On Campus.

LOUISIANA FEDERATION RALLY DRAWS THOUSANDS TO STATE CAPITOL
Thousands of teachers, PSRPs and supporters of public education rallied in front of the Louisiana state capitol in Baton Rouge on May 2 to focus attention on education as the Legislature entered its 2007 regular session. Louisiana Federation of Teachers president Steve Monaghan had the estimated crowd of 7,000 chanting, "Enough is enough," as he outlined the school-related issues that state lawmakers have failed to address. (More details and video highlights of the rally are available here). As in most years, in a state with salaries well below the national average, pay tops the list of LFT concerns. LFT members are especially focused this year because of what happened during a special session last December, when a group of about 40 state representatives derailed a plan to devote part of the state's $1.3 billion surplus toward improving salaries for teachers and PSRPs. Pay, however, is not the only issue for Louisiana educators. A general lack of resources, combined with problems created by No Child Left Behind and high-stakes testing, Monaghan said, are part of "a seemingly endless quest to excise the art out of teaching and to script every moment of the instructional day."

NURSE TESTIMONY HIGHLIGHTS HEARING ON ANTI-WORKER RULING
Dozens of nurses and labor activists packed a House Education and Labor subcommittee hearing on May 8 to listen to testimony about whether the 2006 rulings by the National Labor Relations Board that broaden the definition of supervisor have resulted in the misclassification of workers. A panel of witnesses also testified about 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. Panelist Lori Gay, a registered nurse at the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City, voted to join the United American Nurses in 2002, but her vote and those of dozens of her colleagues never have been counted because the hospital claimed two-thirds of the nurses were supervisors and ineligible to join a union. "As a charge nurse, I am in charge of the pencil," Gay declared. "I don't see myself as a supervisor, and neither do my colleagues. At our hospital, there's a managerial track and there's a clinical track—and as nurses we are squarely within the clinical track." Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.), chair of the House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee, said weak labor laws have eroded workers' freedom to organize and collectively bargain in recent years. "The RESPECT Act will restore that freedom by addressing a series of decisions that undermine the original intent of the NLRA and that fly in the face of common sense," he said.

LACK OF FEDERAL AID WREAKS HAVOC ON NCLB IMPLEMENTATION
Thirty-two states say they lack the Title I funds necessary to boost student gains at low-achieving schools, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) warns in a new report that details how, when it comes to implementing the No Child Left Behind Act, "state education agencies have been stymied by a lack of adequate funding, manpower and technology." The report also indicates that half of states are unable to effectively monitor NCLB supplemental service providers because they lack adequate federal funds and guidance—and 41 states believe their ability to provide technical assistance to districts with schools in need of improvement is compromised by a lack of federal support. "The ability of state education agencies to operate effectively will make or break reform efforts," states CEP president Jack Jennings. "Their role in improving schools must be clearly defined and they should receive the guidance and support necessary to implement federal requirements—something that many say they are not getting now." When it comes to NCLB-required assessments, almost two-thirds of states reported that the U.S. Education Department's guidance was "not at all helpful" or "minimally helpful" in developing state academic standards and assessments. (Only five states called federal assistance "very helpful.") The report is available on the CEP Web site.

N.Y. GOV. SPITZER DECLARES MAY LABOR HISTORY MONTH
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer issued a proclamation on May 11 designating May as Labor History Month in the state. The proclamation recognizes the "significant contribution to our economic, social, and cultural life" that workers in New York have made, and it calls for "improved working conditions that promote their dignity and worth as individuals." The proclamation also urges educators to incorporate lessons on the history and activities of the labor movement into their classes. Paul Cole, a former AFT vice president who now serves as executive director of the American Labor Studies Center (ALSC), spoke at the event to issue the proclamation. The event also highlighted Spitzer's tough stance on enforcing labor laws in the state. Anyone looking for more information and resources about teaching labor history should visit the ALSC Web site.

CHRIS GARDNER AND RUDY CREW CONFIRMED FOR QuEST
The AFT will be honoring Chris Gardner during this year's QuEST conference at a special "Making a Difference" event. Gardner's inspirational life story was made into the hit movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness," starring Will Smith. The movie was based on Gardner's book by the same title. Miami-Dade superintendent of schools Rudy Crew also has been confirmed as a speaker at QuEST. Crew, who has headed the Miami-Dade schools since 2004, has established a good working relationship with the AFT-affiliated United Teachers of Dade in developing strategies for improving low-performing schools. Before coming to Miami, Crew served as chancellor of the New York City public schools. Check the AFT's Web site for more information on QuEST, which will be held July 12-15 in Washington, D.C.