nonplussed

I've just discovered the EFF's blog covering the WEA Supreme Court case (more here), and I have to admit: the graphics are great, but the content... leaves a little to be desired. Rebutting Charles Hasse's claim that the WEA "tries to be bi-partisan," Mike Reitz writes:

Yet just this year the WEA has worked to defeat a repeal of the estate tax. In the past two years approximately 95 percent of the group's partisan contributions have gone to a single party.

2006: 93%.

2004: 94%.

2002: 85%.

2000: 85% (this plus this).

Partisan, surely, yet not blindly partisan--and evolving over time. Why? Could it be that--gasp--Democratic legislators have supported the WEA's (insidious, truculent, omnivorous, cantankerous) policy agenda? Furthermore, why would the WEA push to repeal an estate tax that currently provides $100 million for smaller classes, scholarships, and WASL remediation?

The EFF believes the Hudson Packet process doesn't respect the rights of dissenting nonmembers, coercing them into supporting the WEA's aims--and at a rate of "millions" of dollars, presuming that all of the nonmembers in the class of about 4,000 are all dissenters (even though only 300 used the established process to reclaim their shop fees).

Makes me want to order a Hudson Packet for myself. Is it really that hard to decipher?

Evergreen faculty organizes

("Unionize" is such a clunky verb.)

The union vote passed with 55 percent of the faculty who voted approving the union, said Laurie Meeker, a professor of film and one of the faculty organizers. About 82 percent of eligible faculty turned in a ballot, she said.

55% was enough? I'm surprised--I would have expected a supermajority for a vote that important.

Justice Susan Owens: "I don't take questions from bloggers."

Then be ready for carping and abuse from bloggers, Justice Smartypants.

a lawsuit to fully fund special education in Washington State

Twelve districts as parties, 70 others supporting. 'Tis the season for educational litigation.

my kingdom for a Hudson packet: agency shop fees and free speech rights

A work in progress. See here for the purpose.

By passing Initiative 134, Washington's electorate declared, among other things,

RCW 42.17.760 A labor organization may not use agency shop fees paid by an individual who is not a member of the organization to make contributions or expenditures to influence an election or to operate a political committee, unless affirmatively authorized by the individual.

Way back in 1997, nonmembers brought suit against the Washington Education Association, charging that the union's "opt-out" procedure--sending a "Hudson packet" in the mail twice annually to nonmembers--violated the "affirmative authorization" clause of sec.760.

After a legal battle lasting almost a decade, the Washington State Supreme Court finally ruled that sec.760 is unconstitutional, and that the WEA's "opt-out" procedure is therefore permissible under precedents established in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education and Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson.

First, the Court determined that no, the Hudson packet does not suffice to "affirmatively authorize" the use of agency shop fees--even though no one, not even the State, could determine what sort of affirmative authorization it would require. (Written authorization was out, since it was clearly not intended or codified.)

So it was clear to the Court that opting out didn't satisfy the statute--but that the statute also created a conflict of free speech rights. Did nonmembers' "affirmative authorization" muffle the voice of union members, or did the Hudson process coerce some nonmembers to support an opposing viewpoint?

The Court summarized the WEA's position thusly:

The WEA contends... that the statute is unconstitutional because its requirement of affirmative authorization amounts to an impermissible presumption that each nonmember objects to the union's use of his or her fees for political activities.

The Court agreed, and also continued,

The State argues that sec.760 has no impact on the First Amendment rights of members because sec.760 only requires the affirmative authorization of nonmembers. However, this argument denies the obvious, significant expense involved in complying with sec.760.

In other words, since the statute presumed that nonmembers wouldn't support union activities, and since the burden of achieving (vaguely defined) "affirmative authorization" upset the balance of rights between dissenting nonmembers and supportive nonmembers (never mind dissenting nonmembers and supportive members), the statute was unconstitutional.

More on the dissent later.

the sweet scent of unionism

Required reading: Dr. Homeslice's Union Bouquet #6.

why I teach high school

Mr. Rain narrates:

As I'm walking off I look to the ground and notice poo. Lots of it. Some clumped, some puddled, but all on the floor in the stall.

"B, honey, is that poo on the floor!?"

"Yeah!"

"Golly ned, kid, why are you using a stall with a dirty floor?"

(silence from him)

(dawning recognition from me)

"B...that's your poop, isn't it?"

"Yep!"

Cantwell schmoozes at The Spar

Stopping by before cheering workers in a door-knocking campaign, apparently. I heard about it yesterday from one of my debaters, who was there when Cantwell arrived, and asked her what she thought of the first-term senator. "Sharp," she said. "Concise and articulate. Powerful."

Part of the reason she's got a fifteen point lead over McGavick, wildcards Guthrie and Dixon in attendance.

Ken Schram on the Federal Way lawsuit

Lawsuit going down in Federal Way. Mr. Short paragraph has his say:

I'd like to know why EVERY school district in the state isn't in on this.

And I'd like to know why the Washington Education Association isn't stepping up.

Instead, the WEA says it wants to give the legislature one more chance.

Right. Because we all know that the 15th or 20th time is always the charm.

Federal Way has the right idea here.

Finally.

Pragmatism, maybe? Litigation works, but it's unpopular politically. Could also be that the WEA's already involved in another lawsuit--fighting the EFF again, this time at SCOTUS--and is in the middle of an expensive ad campaign, trying to build up political pressure for a contentious election. The WEA has certainly cheer-led the effort, but left it to districts to decide. Ours, for one, said no.

gender separation in the classroom

I don't have time or energy to go into the philosophical and empirical reasons monogendered classes aren't good educational policy. Rather, I'll regale you with a secondhand anecdote.

Back in the day, I attended LeTourneau University, one of a few English majors in a largely engineering school. One of my history profs, who had been there since the school had a history department (when it was called "LeTourneau College"), described what life was like before the school went co-ed.

"Guys would slouch, sleep, act pretty much like slobs, even belching and farting in class," he told us. "When the first girl came, it was magic. All of a sudden, the boys are men, not just men, but perfect gentlemen. They're holding doors, sitting up straight, quiet and attentive. Everyone's trying to impress that one girl."

(I once took a calculus class with seven other guys. We ended the school year with a footrace in the parking lot.)

No, I'm not trying to perpetuate gender stereotypes. In these days of post-feminism, girls are just as aggressive and squirrelly and likely to belch in class. But there's something about a classroom full of testosterone and sweat. Something scary.

Carnival of Education: 90th anniversary edition

Go forth and read.

don't trust a pundit

Which team did the sports pundits predict would dominate the Cardinals in the World Series, in an epic romp of embarrassing proportions?

Detroit.

Who's down 2-1, and has been outscored 13-5 in three games?

Detroit.

Which party do the political pundits predict will dominate the upcoming election?

The Democrats.

End of lesson.

in this morning's Olympian

First, Cantwell has opened up her lead against McGavick, if a poll of 625 Washingtonian "likely" voters is to be trusted. I'm still calling it much, much closer, just because a likely voter is an unhatched chicken.

Second, my editorial opposing I-920 has hit the stands. They didn't even edit it much.

are you ready for the revolution? multi-touch interface technology

I don't link to a lot of YouTube clips, but this one has to be seen to be drooled over. Demonstrated is a multi-touch light table setup, a two-dimensional version of the interface seen in Minority Report. You use your hands to manipulate images. It's fully intuitive, seamless, and magical to behold--and if its spokesman, Jeff Han, is right, will "change the way we interact with machines."

Hat tip: my 5th period techno-geeks.



[cross-posted at my other blog]

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC
Part III, homeschooling
Part IV, rapid growth
Part V, Olympia goes virtual
Part VI, Microsoft's "School of the Future"

merit pay, WASL okay, GOP dismay

A trifecta.

First, Bush has a new plan to promote standardized testing: pay teachers for improved scores.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings planned to announce the first of 16 grants, worth $42 million, including $5.5 million for Ohio, on Monday. The government has not announced the other grant winners.

Using the old-fashioned incentive of cash, President Bush's program encourages schools to set up pay scales that reward some teachers and principals more than others. Those rewards are to be based mainly on test scores, but also on classroom evaluations during the year.

Would they pay based on improvement, or sheer results? It'd make all the difference in the world. (It's also a bad sign for a late-term president when he asks for $500 million, and gets $99 mil from Congress.)

Second, state leaders want the math and science portions of the WASL to stay on timetable.

The failure of 49 percent of 10th-graders to pass the math section of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning last spring touched off widespread alarm. Those students, in the class of 2008, are the first who must pass math, reading and writing on the test to earn a high-school diploma. Passing the science portion of the test becomes a requirement in 2010.

In the past few weeks, the state PTA and an organization of school-board members have voted to push back the math requirement by three years and science by four.

But rather than delay the math and science requirements, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said she'll ask the Legislature for an additional $199 million for the coming biennium to help this year's juniors pass the math, reading and writing portions of the WASL.

It's the inverse of the Notorious B.I.G. Mo problems, mo money.

Last, pundits are calling the upcoming for the Democrats, in a big way.

Two independent analysts predicted last week that the Democrats will pick up at least the 15 seats they need to seize the House for the first time since 1994.

"The broad national environment has improved for Democrats," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report. He forecasts Democratic gains of at least 15 seats and possibly as many as 25 to 30, up from his earlier range of 15 to 20.

I predict that the Dems will pick up a five-seat majority in the House, but won't get the Senate. Why? Because I can.

get out the youth vote

Why don't young people vote in greater numbers?

Young voters haven't exactly flocked to the polls since 18- to 20-year-olds became eligible to vote in 1972. For presidential elections, young voters bottomed out at 32 percent turnout in 1996, compared with about 60 percent of voters 25 and older.

But ... In the 2004 presidential election, about 47 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds cast a ballot, an increase of 11 percent from 2000, according U.S. Census Bureau data.

Here's why, in this humble pundit's speculation.

1. The failure of civic education.
We have failed to make voting relevant in our history classes, in our English classes, in our math classes, in our science classes. We may talk about democracy, but we don't practice it. I'm not saying teachers should cede control of their classrooms to an adolescent mob--but when was the last time a high school student held a real ballot and voter's guide in their hand, and learned how it works on a practical level?

2. Leadership that can't connect with youth.
In 2004, nearly half of young folks voted, for an obvious reason: the Iraq conflict. Candidates who focus on Social Security, "values," the economy, are aiming at a narrow voting target. It's common knowledge that young people don't think about--and certainly don't save enough--for the future. Candidates have to present-ize every issue, if they want youth to care. (Note that it's not about charisma--Bill Clinton's MTV persona didn't bring out the vote in 1996.)

3. Reluctant embrace of technology.
Voting machines are in, vote by mail is in, but we're not yet voting on the Internet. When that day arrives, watch the youth vote spike. 2004 also marked the rise of the political blogger and the New Media. Gen Y isn't reading the newspaper in print. Why should they pay for what they can read for free online?

4. College = rootlessness.
When I attended college in a faraway state, I never voted absentee. I couldn't get excited about an election over fifteen hundred miles away, and I simultaneously didn't connect to the issues right around me. My college bubble world had me completely insulated. Sixty percent is perhaps the best we can hope for.

why can't Mike McGavick get a little love from the GOP?

The Olympian reports that Mike McGavick, described as the GOP's "hand-picked" candidate in the senate race against Maria Cantwell (and let's not forget Bruce Guthrie, Aaron Dixon, and that other person I can't remember), isn't going to receive any GOP love in the form of television commercials in the run-up to November 7.

Cantwell isn't getting any cash from the Dems, either, but she holds a commanding double-digit lead, and a healthy $1.4 million in her war chest. Remarkably, the GOP still sees Cantwell as "vulnerable," leading to speculation that...

1. The Republicans have given up on McGavick.

or

2. McGavick wants to extinguish any perception that he might be a GOP tool, and is willing to go it alone.

or

3. The GOP is just biding its time, a foolish strategy, since most people will mail off their ballots well before the 7th.

I'm calling this race for Cantwell, by at least 7 points. I'm not yet convinced that Cantwell, who performed rather blandly in last week's debates, is going to trounce McGavick, especially with wildcards like Guthrie and Dixon, who are bound to siphon off a few votes from the disgruntled on either side of the aisle. Still, Cantwell has the numbers and the advantage of incumbency. Cantwell 53, McGavick 47.

Friday linkage

Slow about getting to the Carnival of Education...

Just joined the edusphere, an edu-blogging portal...

Dr. Homeslice writes about the New Cold War between charter schools and unions...

And Elena Silva notes the good and bad news about high school sophomores' dreams of college.

another quixotic candidate: Kevin Bonagofski

This election brings us yet another no-chance candidacy, this time from a guy who delivers pizza to pay for his college bills. Kevin Bonagofski is best known for admitting,

"Regardless of the money, my chance of winning is low, unless Sam Hunt does something stupid... I met him a couple of months ago at South Puget Sound Community College, and I don’t expect him to do something stupid."

Sam Hunt hasn't done anything stupid, so he gets The Olympian's endorsement, and will poll higher than 65%, I'm guessing.

your morning reading

Mary Jean Ryan says:

We hope Washington Learns will call for a revision in the way our state funds education. The funded components of the current definition of "basic education" have not fundamentally changed since 1977. It's time to overhaul the funding system so it aligns with our higher standards and performance goals. It's not realistic to expect a system to improve dramatically through efficiencies alone. Our education system needs more resources and a more results-oriented investment approach.

She won't say how we should reform the state's funding structure. Toilet paper tax? Toll classrooms? Bake sales?

I know she knows, but she's not saying. (Hint: think "progressive.")

Aaron Dixon arrested for trying to crash the gates

Shut out of a debate among Cantwell, McGavick, and Bruce "I'm Serious, Maybe Too Serious" Guthrie, Aaron Dixon did what any self-respecting former Black Panther would: take direct action.

The Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate was arrested Tuesday afternoon after he tried to get into a campaign debate being taped at a Seattle television station.

Police arrested Aaron Dixon for investigation of trespassing at the KING-TV studios.

Who says you have to buy media attention?

Update: The Times has more.

I-920 pros and cons

The Olympian has the report this morning. An op-ed will follow shortly on its heels. (I know, 'cause I wrote it.) Props to one-time co-blogger David Johnston, quoted near the end:

"The class size initiative that was passed a few years ago at that time didn't have a dedicated funding source, but (Gov. Chris) Gregoire has tied it to this," said David Johnston, an English teacher at Capital High School in Olympia and president of the Olympia Education Association. The tax money "has had a huge effect in the Olympia School District, especially in the primary grades."

Teachers now get a half-dozen extra hours a year for staff development, training and collaborating, all part of what he called "coming up with a better mousetrap" for teaching. And extra teachers are hired when enrollment balloons, keeping class sizes more manageable, he said.

But if I-920 passes, Johnston said, the money would go away and lawmakers cannot be trusted to replace it from other sources.

Not very often.

why, yes, I do have a blog

Slowly, surely, the old media is catching up with teachers using the new media to spark learning.

Teachers use blogs, or online journals, in different ways. Some post homework assignments and links to relevant Web sites; others describe key events of the day to keep parents in the loop. Most commonly, students post written responses to a teacher's query.

When students read each other's blogs and make comments, "the work becomes a conversation instead of a one-way delivery of information," said Warlick, a former teacher who wrote "Classroom Blogging: A Teacher's Guide to the Blogosphere."

Eventually, they'll catch up to blogging teacher-activists, too.

happy Friday

Good news for a change: Intel's ponying up grants for area schools. (I won't mention why it's bittersweet.) And one area teacher loves Star Trek a bit too much.

carnival watch

The 88th Carnival of Education is up at The Education Wonks. One entry which led this blogger to add that blogger to the blogroll: Dr. Homeslice's Union Bouquet #4, a mini-carnival of its own. All union, all the time.

local control, indeed

So the guy running for the school board homeschools his own kids. Is there a rule that homeschooling parents, or, for that matter, adults without children, should be barred from serving, or have no interest in public schooling?

(No, there isn't.)

Most of the commentators at Obscure Store, where I found the story, either carp about typical homeschool stereotypes (they're socially maladjusted Jesus freaks) or vilify those who do (generalities are never true). C'mon, people.

It's possible that Frederic, Wisconsin's public schools need an outsider's perspective. The mountain makes a better molehill:

The upset in Frederic is all the more unusual because another home-schooling parent served on the board a few years ago.... Four of the five seats, including Jensen's, will be on the ballot in April.

Those concerned about the democratic process--Jensen was appointed--can vote him out in the upcoming.

After all, how much damage can one guy do in six months?

(Don't answer that.)

linked by a goddess

Twice in one day, even. Once by Jacqueline Passey, who is divine to her largely libertarian readership, and once by The Science Goddess--and, by the latter, as permanently as blogging allows. Thanks!

Incidentally, The Science Goddess instructs,

Research indicates that career-long patterns get set by about 6 months into one's career. Better to ponder now...and with others in the same boat...before their ideas are completely cemented.

Note to all you activists out there: that's probably where their political involvement or lack thereof gets cemented, too.

For me, it was the massive march to the Capitol that gave me not only a sense of mission, but a sense of what's possible, practical, and realistic in education reform. Best part: I'm still an optimist.

hollow words

Here's why Bush's claim that "local schools remain under local control" is hogwash.

Washington Learns is set to make its recommendations for changes in the state's education system in November. The math curriculum suggestion is preliminary and would require legislative approval.

The state could decide on three or four suggested math curricula, though it's unclear what those curricula would be, steering committee members said Monday.

Schools or school districts with less than a certain percentage of students - possibly 85 percent - meeting state standards on the math WASL would be required to adopt one of the suggested options.

The curricula would need to teach standards that could be used to compare Washington students' performance with that of their peers across the country and across the globe, said Gov. Chris Gregoire, the steering committee's chairwoman. The move could mean changing Washington's graduation requirements in math to line up with the recommended curricula.

A local--truly local--teacher says it best.

"I'm not sure we've shown ourselves to be the best judge of curriculum," said Scott Rutledge, head of the Olympia High School math department, referring to the math standards tested on the WASL compared with those used in some other states. "I'd want to make sure all voices are heard."

minor milestone

One hundred posts, most of them by yours truly. It's no longer a baby blog. It's a toddler, ready to stumble around the living room and wreck the furniture.

Worst of all, it's still growing.

why do they call it an opinion page, anyway?

Rather than attempt to plumb the legal depths of the Washington State Supreme Court's ruling that upheld the WEA's opt-out "Hudson packet," and declared the law that banned it unconstitutional, The Olympian skims the surface. On the opinion page, no less.

In a news release expressing confidence that the teachers' union will prevail in the nation's high court, Charles Hasse, union president, said the union does not use nonmembers' fees on political purposes.

The [Evergreen] freedom foundation fired back a news release of its own accusing the union of misleading the media. The foundation cites a court document where the union admitted using nonmembers' fees for political purposes.

Luckily for teachers and other Washington residents, this issue is not going to be decided via competing news releases.

The nine justices are going to look at Washington's law, look at how the union has operated under that law and decide who is right and who is wrong.

It will be good to put this festering issue behind us and - finally - get clarity on the use of union fees.

No independent in-depth analysis, and no link to the ruling. Apparently, if you want clarity, you have to get it somewhere else. (Not that I really blame the editors, since the issue is messy and complex enough to make it to the nation's highest court.)

How about at the source? The legally inclined are welcome to read the majority opinion and the dissent.

How about here? In coming days, I'll be parsing the ruling in my best amateur fashion. If I can't understand it, I certainly wouldn't expect you to.

Update: Better links found, and inserted. More forthcoming.