Category: Uncategorized

Teachers know that if a student is dangerously disruptive, they can fill out the discipline “long form” that puts the student on track for suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action. But state law also mandates a “cooling off” period for students who are annoying and mildly disruptive, but who obviously are not candidates for more serious penalties.

Louisiana Revised Statute 17:416 allows teachers to remove students who are causing problems from the classroom for a short period of time — long enough for the teacher to regain composure and control, and for the student to modify behavior. No paperwork is necessary to trigger the time-out. Just notify the principal or disciplinarian that the student is causing a problem. Under law, the student must be removed from the classroom for up to 30 minutes in Kindergarten through sixth grade, and for the remainder of the period in higher grades. In grades seven through 12, the student cannot be returned to the classroom during that period unless the teacher agrees. The student will be allowed to make up any work missed during this period, and may or may not receive full credit. The principal or his designee must have a counseling session with the student to determine any other course of action, consistent with board policy, that is appropriate to the situation. This law is one of the tools available to teachers to hold students accountable for their behavior and to guarantee that each child has an opportunity to learn in a safe and orderly environment.

IEPs can be a powerful tool, but with great power comes great responsibility. If for any reason you can’t fulfill the specifications outlined in an IEP and/or are prevented from doing so by outside circumstances (ex: too many IEPs in one class, paraprofessional ratio is off, class size, etc.) there are certain steps you must take. You are obligated to ask the principal (LAE) to reconvene IEPs for the purpose of a more appropriate placement. IEPs are legal documents and they are federally mandated. Make sure that you are not placing your professional future in jeopardy.

Sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, Tribeca Film Institute and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and based on Kerry Kennedy’s book, “Speak Truth To Power”, the middle and high school competition encourages students to become engaged in human rights through video production. Click here for more information.

By Randi Weingarten

       Teaching is our heart. Our students are our soul. And the union is our spine.

I heard that sentiment over and over again this past week during the American Federation of Teachers’ biennial TEACH conference, one of the largest professional development conferences for educators in the nation. That’s right, a conference on teaching and learning, sponsored by the union.

The conference included sessions on a wide range of topics, as well as a daylong summit with an organization called EdSurge, where educators had the opportunity to give feedback on classroom technology products, and a town hall meeting with the AFT’s three officers, where members could ask or share anything.

Two-thousand educators descended on Washington, D.C., to learn from experts and one another, and once there, the theme was resounding: The voices of educators matter. Especially in an era of toxic debates and top-down dictates, the voices of educators matter.

Where educators are raising and combining their voices, the seeds of positive change have emerged. Collective voice, exercised through the union, is power — the power to drive real change for our kids, families and communities. The stories we heard this week speak for themselves.

Betty Nieves, a teacher at the School of Integrated Learning in Brooklyn, N.Y., discussed what it’s like to be part of a New York City program known as PROSE. This year, there were 62 PROSE schools in New York City. Next year, there will be 126, which means there will be about as many PROSE schools as there are charter schools. These schools, which were negotiated in the union’s first contract with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, enable school staffs to change contract terms at the school level if they believe different terms will work better for their students.

“At the PROSE schools, teachers stay in the classroom and do the jobs that we love and also have leadership roles that allow our voices to be heard,” Nieves said. “The collaborative piece–it’s not just a buzzword. It does work. I honestly believe the more voices in that room, the better our chances of answering that question, of finding that solution, of better meeting the needs of our students.”

Afra Khan and Lily Holland, two Boston teachers, are part of the AFT’s Teacher Leaders Program. The AFT launched this program three years ago to empower teachers to help shape education policies governing our schools.

When Boston Public Schools reworked how it counted the number of students in poverty, whole neighborhoods were dropped from the free and reduced-price lunch program–a program that is a literal lifeline for so many children. So, today, Khan and Holland are digging into the research, trying to discover how the student poverty rate went from 92 percent to 68 percent overnight. They are determined to get their students the services they need.

As a teacher leader from Washington, D.C., Alicia Hunter, put it: “Every teacher has some aspect of leadership in them.”

Jamy Brice-Hyde is a social studies teacher in Horseheads, N.Y. Concerns about stress on the job inspired her and other teachers at the Badass Teachers Association to work with the AFT to design a survey on well-being, working conditions and stressors in schools. This spring, the 80-question survey–the first of its kind–was filled out by more than 30,000 educators from across the country. The results show professionals who, while determined to keep at it, are worn down after years of top-down, failed education reforms.

“We have results that show and prove to the federal government and policymakers the damage they are doing to public educators,” Brice-Hyde said.

The strength of the survey and its results led two U.S. senators to champion a provision adopted this week in its overhaul of No Child Left Behind. The provision will allow funds to be used for surveys of teaching and learning conditions.

And on Thursday, the Senate passed its version of a full Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization bill. More than 100,000 AFT members and leaders raised their voices as the bill was debated over the past six months. And we hope the Senate bill will be the basis of a reset of federal education law and policy. We need a law that will drive funds to public schools educating large populations of disadvantaged students and eliminate the test-and-punish policies that have eclipsed teaching and learning.

After a decade of ideological policies that have narrowed the curriculum — but not the achievement gap — the tide is turning.

Through the union, educators are raising our collective voice. Together with parents and students, educators are turning the tide. We are working to make public schools places where parents want to send their children, children are engaged and educators want to work. When educators raise their voice and their power, we can reclaim the promise of public education. Join us.

Reports on overtesting address symptoms, not causes

Two reports on testing were released by major organizations this week. On the positive side, they add to growing concerns about excessive testing in our schools. But both reports—one from the Center for American Progress and the other from the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Council of the Great City Schools—address the symptoms, but not the root cause, of our test fixation.

AFT President Randi Weingarten says: “We need to take on the high-stakes consequences of the tests themselves. It’s unconscionable that everything about our schools, our kids and our teachers is reduced to one math and one English high-stakes standardized test per year. That’s what we need to change. And that’s where we need the administration to step up. Without leadership from this administration, which can encourage states to make changes like sampling and grade-span testing, the hands of states and districts remain tied to these high-stakes standardized tests.”

Shop for Halloween treats using this union-made list

Shop from this list of union-made Halloween treats. It’s an easy way to make your trick-or-treaters happy AND support members of the Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM); United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); and United Farm Workers of America (UFW).

As a leader of teachers and school employees, you probably think this letter is about the testing ad nauseam we are forced to endure in our classrooms.

And while there is considerable angst, our greatest anxiety is what this does to our students. The actual joy of school is being robbed from our boys and girls. For example, when the inclusion of enrichments is not important, when recess is suspended because we need to be back in the classroom, when we expect children to choke down a lunch in the name of maximizing class time, when we don’t let our students talk during lunch because that is a distraction, and now even taking away naps from our youngest.

We have turned our schools into a forced march.

Student achievement is increased when what we present is meaningful and relevant. Those extra minutes taken away each day do not help because students are exhausted thus disengaged; therefore, no REAL learning is actually taking place. We believe that teachers teach and students learn best in an environment which recognizes that school is more than an assembly line.

It is time for all of us to demand better for our children. A world awaits our children, it is our job to prepare them for all aspects of that world and that is more than testing. Let’s return the joy of school.

— Jackie Lansdale, President, Red River United, Shreveport