NEA prez says he's still happy with Obama

Today I interviewed Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association. He's in Nashville flying his Obama flag for tonight's presidential debate.

Van Roekel said that in his opinion, education is at the center of this presidential election, since it is so closely tied into the economy and health care. He also said the group is 100 percent behind Obama, despite the debate about whether his ideas for reform were in line with the group's traditional views.

“I am not just voting for him, I believe he will create an America we all want,” Van Roekel said.

The organization, which represents 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers and faculty, endorsed Obama in July. They are the nation’s largest professional organization.

Van Roekel said the group endorsed Obama because of his emphasis on reforming No Child Left Behind and preschool education.

Teachers' group accused of bringing politics to school

Some Virginia Republican officials cried foul after a member of the Virginia Education Association sent an email encouraging other members to wear blue on "Obama Blue Day" to show support for the Democratic presidential candidate.

The email also suggested that teachers register two voters or "talk to two people who may be on the fence/or a McCain supporter and sway them to become a Obama supporter."

Here's one of the stories, this one from my paper The Virginian-Pilot

Democrats sparring unions?

Democratic platform on education doesn't sit well with many union leaders, as this article by USA Today's Greg Toppo lays out. While school reformers have staked out a place at Obama's political table this election, it appears likely the candidate will split the differences throughout the campaign. If elected, Obama may not have to show his hand until it comes to reauthorizing No Child Left Behind.

Richard Whitmire

NEA still an 800-pound election gorilla?

Maybe. The union certainly has the clout to operate phone banks and knock on doors. The case that this year might be different is made here, in Politico, by me...Richard Whitmire

McCain, the NEA, and his Education Bench

At my publication, Education Week, we've been trying to get a complete list of John McCain's education advisers, but with little success. Leave it to the fine folks at Fordham to one-up us.Here, you can checkout the complete list they've obtained.

A few of the advisers are crossovers from Mitt Romney's camp, including former education department officials William D. Hansen and Eugene W. Hickok. And we've known that former Arizona state superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan was on the list. Also filling McCain's education bench is Williamson Evers, who has amassed a list of enemies who may have helped briefly stall his Senate confirmation last year to the U.S. Department of Education.

Officially missing from the list is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is likely taking on a more informal, though probably no less influential, advising role.

Also of interest in the blogsphere today is a post by union watchdog Mike Antonucci, who talks of how McCain polls unusually well with members of the National Education Association, whose endorsement is still outstanding. Antonucci notes that 41 percent of NEA members have a "positive opinion" of McCain. My question is: Does that translate into votes? There are a lot of folks out there who respect McCain's service to his country, and maybe even some of his stances on policy issues, but who may not vote for him come November.

Obama loses AFT, gets Chicago teachers

Looks like while EWA was putting me to work in Milwaukee Chicago teachers endorsed Barack Obama, according to Alexander Russo at This Week in Education. This is on the heels of the national AFT's decision to endorse Hillary Clinton earlier in the day.

We're still waiting on the NEA.

This post also appears on my education blog, Get on the Bus.

AFT gives nod to Clinton

After seven months of what its officials call "a deliberative process" the American Federation of Teachers on Wednesday (Oct. 3) endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy. The official press release calls her the strongest leader to advance education causes and the needs of American families.
Clinton participated in Q&A sessions sessions with AFT leaders and members. She has spoken out in support of universal pre-Kindergarten education, better pay and support for teachers and recognition of student achievement beyond test scores. She also advocates amending No Child Left Behind. Officials cite her past experience with education reform and her bold plans for improving education.
The endorsement is the latest in a string of union nods for Clinton. AFT boasts 1.4 million members. In addition to the AFT endorsement, Clinton also was endorsed by the New York State United Teachers, the state's AFT affiliate.
~Cathy Grimes

There is a plan somewhere

I'm back after a few weeks devoted to the great state AYP data dump/scramble (not to be confused with the coming state school accreditation data dump, which happens mid-month), the SAT scores release and the beginning of another school year. And we’ve been busy with higher ed issues, as well, including the Virginia Tech independent panel report and repercussions from same. It's been wild and crazy in my neck of the woods.

But, I have not forgotten Sen. Clinton, who has several education bills in play, which may move forward when Congress reconvenes this week. Back to juggling Senate responsibilities with a presidential campaign, an unenviable task.

Clinton recently picked up two major union endorsements, including The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which noted its decision was based in part on her focus on education, which a spokesman called "one of the bread and butter issues" of middle class American voters. (The United Transportation Union also endorsed her last week, for those keeping score).

Pundits and dedicated Washington watchers have been debating whether NCLB is likely to be reauthorized this year. It's almost as much fun as a football pool to guess on the potential for passage in 2007. It still sounds like a long shot given the other pressing issues, including the budget, but anything is possible.

So far, Rep. George Miller has come through, posting a draft reauthorization proposal on the House Education Committee Web site. Watch to see if Sen. Ted Kennedy introduces a Senate counterpart this month. Both have promised changes in terms of flexibility. But Kennedy has three presidential contenders on his committee, and none sounds too keen on championing the law without some serious changes. Not tweaks. Big changes. Clinton is among the trio and has said several times she has concerns about the testing provisions and feels the law is flawed. She also wants better pay for teachers and has been supportive of proposals to focus on science, technology, engineering and math.

Back to Clinton on the Campaign trail. Her husband has been with her in New Hampshire, warming up the crowd and introducing the candidate. In several appearances, he has noted that Clinton has a plan for fixing education. We haven't seen the actual plan yet, but stay tuned.

In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on the various bills with which she is affiliated and listen for comments and reaction on all things ed. As always, if I’m missing something, send a shout out to me at cgrimes@dailypress.com and I’ll make sure we get the news posted.

Romney speaks at NEA conference?

Imagine my delight when (a few days late, but still) I learned that NEA had just held its first "conference for Republican members" in Minneapolis -- and that the only GOP presidential candidate who showed up was my guy, Mitt Romney.

All right, so Romney just happened to be in the hotel at a fund raiser on Aug. 3, when NEA enforcers persuaded him to come downstairs and say a few words at a reception -- still, it seemed promising.

NEA put out nothing on the event -- no speeches on their website, no transcripts, nothing. I couldn't find any media coverage other than this, so I queried NEA and eventually got Randall Moody, their manager of federal advocacy, on the phone.

You know what's coming, right?

"There wasn't any policy discussion from him on any issue," Moody said. "We asked him to come in and say a few words and he did -- he said education was important and teachers are important, that sort of thing. He didn't talk any policy."

This is going to be a long year....

Heeere's .... Mitt Romney

Hello, EWA'ers -- it's Greg Toppo from USA Today. I've been asked to follow the Republicans' great-hair candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

So far it has been easy -- Romney doesn't have much to say about education, aside from a few predictable GOP positions. But he has great news potential, so stay tuned.

First a little background:
Willard Mitt Romney was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947, and attended private schools in Michigan. He attended Stanford for a semester, then spent two years as a Mormon missionary in France. He was BYU's valedictorian in 1971, and went on to earn MBA and law degrees from Harvard.

And yes, he's an Eagle Scout.

He's been married to the same woman, Ann Romney, since 1969 -- they have five sons and 10 grandchildren. Mrs. Romney was diagnosed with MS in 1998.

Business background: Management consultant, famously president of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic games.

Political background: His father is George Romney, former Michigan governor and HUD secretary under Nixon.

Son Mitt ran unsuccessfully in 1994 for Ted Kennedy's senate seat, then successfully in 2002 for governor against state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien.

His education platform: Romney sorta likes No Child Left Behind (testing good, federal intrusion bad) and abstinence-only sex ed. He likes charters and vouchers and wants to give principals more control over their schools; he also likes pay-for-performance (and for advanced credentials) but isn't convinced that smaller class sizes matter. He worries that Asian kids are kicking our butts and wants immigrant kids to learn English.

In 2004, as governor, he vetoed a bill that would have given illegal immigrants who'd graduated from Mass. high schools in-state college tuition rates even if they promised to seek citizenship.
As has been pointed out previously in Ed Week, last May in one of the debates, Romney said he once wanted to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, but that as governor, he witnessed “the impact the federal government can have holding down the interest of teachers’ unions and instead putting the interest of parents and teachers first.”

Among his most interesting proposals as governor: mandatory parental preparation courses. That could be worth looking into.

He also made headlines in 2005 by proposing to spend $54 million to hand out laptops to half a million Massachusetts kids. (Mass. reporters -- did this die on the vine?)

Perusing www.mittromney.com, it's clear that, at least for now, he's not putting much energy into the issues that make EWA members sit up straight. Education doesn't appear at all on "The Romney Agenda," his four-point plan for America. Poke around his website and you'll find a few generic excerpts from speeches he gave as governor ("If we are going to compete in the global economy, we have to set our education goals higher") but little else.

His Feb. 13 announcement speech in Dearborn, Mich., features only cursory nods to education -- here's the most detailed reference (blink and you'll miss it):
"Look, America faces unprecedented challenges. We are under attack from jihadists, we face new competition from Asia unlike anything we have known before. We are spending too much money here, our schools are failing too many of our kids, forty-five million people don't have health insurance, we are using too much oil. And what does Washington do, it talks and debates and talks and kicks the ball down the field. It is time for less talk and more action in government."
He has said he wants to "raise the bar on education by making teaching a true profession," -- but few details so far -- and he wants to focus on math, science and parental involvement.

He believes, as I mentioned, that we're lagging in math and science -- last February he told the Detroit Economic Club: "Our schools are falling behind those of other nations -- you've seen that. It's true particularly in math and science. Our 15 year olds ranked 24th out of 29 OECD nations in math. 24th out of 29. Our high school seniors rank in the bottom 10% in math and the bottom 25% in science. How can you lead the world if the kids in the next generation are falling behind in the skills they need to innovate and create new enterprises?"

Romney's most interesting statement so far is this:
"We cannot continue to have an excellence gap with the rest of the world and intend to remain the economic superpower and military superpower of the planet. That's just not going to happen. We're in a position where unless we take action, we'll end up being the France of the 21st century: a lot of talk, but not a lot of strength behind it in terms of economic capability."

Never mind that French kids were up there with the Asians in math in the last round of PISA.

To be fair, Romney's website does feature a short (two-minute) video of an "Ask Mitt Anything" town hall meeting, in which a young girl stands before a microphone and asks, "What do plan to do to help schools?"

Good question, he says, then gives this lengthy reply:
"I generally like schools to be managed by local communities and states -- not the federal government. And I don't want the federal government telling people what to teach in schools and how to run schools. So I'm kind of hesitant to get the federal government too involved in education. But there are things that I think make a huge difference: I like choice -- I like parents being able to send their child to different schools, including charter schools, or to have vouchers to let them go to schools. I like English being taught in our schools. In my state as you know, we had a ballot initiative when I ran for governor that said that our kids should not be taught in bilingual classes, they should be taught in English. And I said, 'You know what, for our kids to be successful in America, they need to speak the language of America.' So I wanted that to be part of our system. (applause) Then we fought to make sure that we gave kids an incentive to do well in school -- and I was able to work with my counterparts in the legislature to get in place something known as the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, and it says that if you graduate in the top quarter of your high school class, you're entitled to a four-year, tuition-free scholarship in higher education to our state university or state colleges. I want to make sure we make sure our kids know that if they're doing well in school we're going to stand with them and help them in education. (applause) So there are things we can do to encourage that. And I do know that I know some people are not that happy with the No Child Left Behind legislation, but I have to be honest with you -- I find the testing of our kids to be a good thing, to find out which schools are succeeding and which ones are failing. And to make sure that we provide the support to those that are failing and school choice to those that are failing, so kids in their schools have the kind of opportunities they need."

That's all for now -- I'll continue to come back to Romney whenever he makes news, so if you see something I don't (or need to correct something I flubbed), please e-mail me: gtoppo@usatoday.com.

Edited to Add: Caroline Grannan (in comments) correctly notes that many researchers -- Bracey included -- are skeptical of the unfavorable comparisons to U.S. kids' performance and that of kids in other nations.In my defense, though, I'd point out that a new NCES report found here -- http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007006_2.pdf -- suggests that the French kids may be taking August off, but they still get the job done ... -gt

Clinton and charter schools

It pays to read education blogs -- one of my "guilty pleasures" -- especially when one is catching up on presidential contenders and their views on education. Over at eduwonk.com, guest blogger Sara Mead posted an entry July 31 noting the frustration of ed policy people over the Dems. lukewarm promotion of ed reform. Not aggressive enough, apparently. Mead linked to a July 3 NY Sun story about Hillary Clinton's NEA speech, which combined support for charter schools with opposition for vouchers. The latter would be an end to public education and an erosion of democracy, Clinton said in the story. But charters are okay, as long as they are held to the same standards as public schools, and "do not drain the financial resources of public schools." Interesting comment, as charter schools are public schools.
For those interested in the story, here's the link: http://www.nysun.com/article/57753
-- Cathy Grimes

Unions thinking about Hillary?

From our man in Dayton, Mr. Elliott, a heads up for those who report in communities with strong teachers unions. A New York Times story today (July 31) about candidates and unions reports that the American Federation of Teachers seems to be leaning in Clinton's direction.
On July 26 Clinton was endorsed by former NEA New Hampshire president Karen McDonough.
Here's the link to the NYT story: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/us/politics/31unions.html
Thanks, Scott!