Clockwise from top left: CTA President Wayne Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer David A. Sanchez and Vice President Barbara E. Kerr socialize with Presidents Conference participants Sergio Martinez from Hacienda-La Puente, Billy Frye from Long Beach, Joel Knox from Merced and Michael Jauregui from Paradise (Butte County).
"No child left untested." That's how CTA Board Member Pixie Hayward Schickele describes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
ESEA, passed by Congress and signed by President George Bush this year, has the potential to impact every aspect of teaching in the nation's K-12 schools, Schickele explained at a workshop for participants at CTA's Summer Institute in August.
Mandated student testing along with forced reconstitution of failing schools and increased qualifications for teachers and paraprofessionals are among the act's provisions.
At CTA's Summer Institute, held on the UCLA campus in early August, Sam Dominguez, a member of the El Monte Union High School District Education Association, confers with President Wayne Johnson.
John Kohn, CTA Negotiations and Organizational Development specialist, told workshop participants that there are serious collective bargaining implications in the ESEA. For example, the act allows for transfer and reassignment of staff as a "corrective action" for schools that fail to make adequate progress for four consecutive years.
It will not be left to districts to unilaterally define what has been left undefined in the legislation, said Kohn.
Workshop participant Mike Noce, a member of the Mount Diablo Education Association, pointed out that the act contains no definition of "acceptable improvement." He said he plans to get involved in negotiating the criteria for improvement in his district.
Noce was particularly concerned about the possibility for layoff of instructional assistants. ESEA requires that, within three years, all paraprofessionals hired with Title I money must complete at least two years of college and obtain an associate's degree or meet a rigorous quality standard established at the local level.
Kohn urged teachers to get involved right away in separating the positive aspects of the ESEA from the negative and working to change what's unacceptable.
The ESEA was a hot topic among those who attended CTA's Presidents Conference in Pacific Grove as well.
"I'm so concerned about the plan that I intend to spend the first day of school passing out pamphlets that explain it," said Allen Tarzell, a member of the Palm Springs Teachers Association. He wants to make sure that every school site rep has copies of the pamphlet, produced by NEA, to place in every teacher's mailbox.
Vice President Barbara E. Kerr makes the rounds with CTA Director Paul Markowitz.
"I'm afraid most teachers don't understand it. Most don't even know about it. And it's already in effect."
He fears that teachers will be reactive rather than proactive about it. "I'm worried about all of it."
"I'm afraid that it could take badly needed Title I money out of the classroom," said Simone Zulu, vice president of the Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association. "Our budget is already tight. Teachers can't spend any more of their own money than they already do."
"They've given us a mandate, but no long-term funding," said Jimmie Woods-Gray, one of California's representatives on the NEA Board of Directors. "They want to take money away from schools that are already having problems - and use it to pay for transportation."
Woods-Gray expressed concern that the ESEA could take aides out of the classroom - and thus make the jobs of teachers much more difficult. The act mandates that aides have a two-year college degree, but does not offer them a significant pay raise.
"Aides are extremely important in our classrooms," said Woods-Gray. "They help us so much. I worry that this could drive a lot of them out of the profession."
"How are we going to attract and retain teachers when there is already a shortage - and now there is a new definition of 'highly qualified teacher,' " said Hacienda-La Puente Teachers Association President Sergio Martinez. "This law has requirements, but no incentives - such as paying teachers more."
He questions whether the ESEA will lead to an increase in testing. "Students are already getting the hell tested out of them and are burned out. Students at younger ages have anxiety disorders brought on by their fear of testing, such as wetting the bed and not wanting to come to school."
Patty Taylor from San Bernardino introduces one of her members - Del Woll - to CTA Secretary-Treasurer David A. Sanchez (in the background is Jim Rogers from Orange County).
Martinez fears that the new law, which allows parents to transfer students out of low-performing schools, has an ulterior motive. "In my mind, it will leave the door wide open for vouchers."
"I fear that it may be a defeatist type of law for schools," said Janice Taylor, co-president of the Live Oak Teachers Association. "If parents can take their students away from neighborhood schools, with the district paying for transportation, schools will no longer be community-based.
"If we are trucking kids from one place to another searching for someplace better, we deny ourselves the opportunity to create something better where we are," said Taylor.
"I worry that, in reality, many children will be left behind."
Sherry Posnick-Goodwin and Trish Gorham
