• IDAHO EDUCATORS NOW HAVE UNION-ALTERNATIVE FOR PROFESSIONAL PROTECTION WITHOUT THE POLITICS
• TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP & CLASSROOM MINI-GRANT APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR 2004-2005

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES & EDUCATION NEWS: 

GOOD IDEAS: SIX VALUABLE STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATION REFORMS

SUPPORTING AT-RISK STUDENTS:  A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

NEA TO INCREASE POLITICAL FEES AND SPENDING/NEA NEWS FROM ANOTHER ANGLE 

BENEFITS OF CALCULATOR USE DOUBTED

WHY PARENTS SHOULDN'T TEACH TEENAGERS MODERATE DRINKING

PROMOTING TOLERANCE FLYER THAT HONORS MORALITY AND RELIGION OF STUDENTS    

IDAHO EDUCATORS NOW HAVE UNION-ALTERNATIVE FOR PROFESSIONAL PROTECTION WITHOUT THE POLITICS 

Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE), an affiliate of the Association of American Educators (AAE), now offers Idaho educators the power to choose an association for  professional protection and support that respects their personal beliefs and conscience.   

NWPE is a nonunion, nonprofit professional educators organization providing legal protection and $2 million liability insurance at a fraction of the cost of union dues without paying for all the politics and social agendas educators don't want to support anyway .  Educators all across America are joining independent professional associations like NWPE.  Over a quarter of a million teachers have made this professional decision just in the last ten years, and in some states the independent, nonunion teachers associations have dramatically outgrown the unions. 

The Twin Falls Times-News published a letter to the editor about Northwest Professional Educators on Sunday, June 6, 2004 .  The link to the article is http://www.magicvalley.com/news/letterscomments/letters.asp?StoryID=4391. 
The full text appears below. 

See member testimonies at http://www.nwpe.org/membertestimonials.htm.  New members receive a $25 discount when they apply for membership  making the first year's membership dues only $144 (regular annual dues are $169).  See http://www.nwpe.org/join.htm.

Alternatives exist to Idaho teachers union

Twin Falls Times-News, June 6, 2004
 

Contrary to Wayne Bagwell's assertion that the Idaho Education Association is "set up to protect teachers with liability insurance and benefits they can't get anywhere else," there is a non-union alternative to the IEA; namely, Northwest Professional Educators.

NWPE, a nonprofit professional educators' organization affiliated with the Association of American Educators, provides excellent benefits and constructive education ideas without the politics of the teachers union. The National Education Association's unified union structure requires teachers to join the state and national unions in order to belong to the local. IEA members fund NEA's noneducation-related politics such as gun control, abortion on demand, homosexual marriage advocacy, etc., whether they support them or not. NWPE dues do not fund political parties or candidates or promote non-education social issues.

NWPE members receive outstanding legal services and liability insurance. These benefits provide members with the security of knowing that they will have assistance if they become vulnerable to school or union politics, abusive administrators or out-of-the-blue accusations by students or parents. Educators are shocked when they learn that the teachers union is not obligated to provide job protection legal services to its members. The truth is that union attorneys work for the union, not the individual members.

NWPE members receive a personal $2 million liability insurance policy (twice that of IEA) which includes guaranteed job protection benefits for legal fees using the attorney of the member's choice. This policy covers the member -- not our organization (as is the case with the union's policy). NWPE members can access independent attorneys and funds for legal fees at the onset of job protection issues.

NWPE focuses on students as our highest priority and improving the professionalism of education. One of the ways we do this is through our teacher scholarship and classroom mini-grant program. Students and teachers in Meridian , Horseshoe Bend, Pocatello , Coeur d'Alene , and Idaho Falls benefited from NWPE scholarships and mini-grants this year.

Educators are joining NWPE because they want a professional association that respects their values while providing excellent benefits. More information about NWPE may be accessed at www.nwpe.org or by contacting NWPE at 800-380-6973 or info@nwpe.org.

We invite educators to join NWPE at a fraction of the cost of union dues for professionalism and protection without the politics!

CINDY OMLIN
Spokane , Wash.
(Editor's note: Cindy Omlin is the executive director
of the Northwest Professional Educators.) 

If you would like additional information about NWPE mailed to you, please send your name and address to info@nwpe.org.  If you would like the form for paying NWPE dues in five automatic bank draft payments, please e mail that request to info@nwpe.org as well.

TEACHER SCHOLARSHIPS & CLASSROOM MINI-GRANT APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR 2004-2005

NWPE Teacher Scholarship and Classroom Mini-Grant Applications for $200 - $500 are available now for the 2004-2005 school year.  The fall application review deadline is October 31, 2004 .  For more information about the program, see http://www.nwpe.org/scholarships.htm. 

To request an application, please contact NWPE with your name, school, address, and phone number at info@nwpe.org or call 800-380-6973. 

GOOD IDEAS: SIX VALUABLE STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATION REFORMS

"Public education in the United States is intrinsically a local endeavor. The notion that state and local decision makers should have maximum flexibility in the use of education dollars is rooted in the belief that many of the most useful innovations in education are emerging, and are likely to continue to emerge close to home. Even the No Child Left Behind Act, itself a high-water mark for the federal government's involvement in education, is constructed around progress, assessments and reforms begun at the state and local levels."

• Chattanooga , Tennessee 's model for rewarding high-performing teachers;
• Florida 's corporate tax credit scholarship program;  
• Massachusetts ' reforms to ensure that bilingual education programs have teachers who are themselves fluent in English;
• Arizona 's Rio Salado College 's online teacher preparation program;
• Colorado 's school report cards;  
• A Southeast Virginia community program to lower pediatric Ritalin use and optimize treatment for children."   

_________________________________________________ 
 http://www.educationnews.org/good-ideas.htm

  
SUPPORTING AT-RISK STUDENTS:  A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR HELPING AT-RISK STUDENTS SUCCEED ACADEMICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY

"Supporting At-Risk Students is the ninth book in the Project for School Innovation (PSI) By Teachers for Teachers series.  It will soon be joined by a 15-minute instructional video of the same title. Each book in this series is full of step-by-step instructions, tips, and ideas teachers can follow to replicate proven practices that are working in successful public schools-each book is developed by teachers who are making those schools succeed every day. 

"'Supporting At-Risk Students is a formula for success!' says Anthony Dallman-Jones, Director of the National At-Risk Education Network (NAREN), 'A lot can be learned from this model. They personalize their program in a small-group setting.  They hold students to high standards of accountability. They help students see that a healthy internal locus of control is the epitome of success in life. And the students are mentored by a group of strong, caring and persistent adults.'

"To preview or order copies of Supporting At-Risk Students, visit http://www.psinnovation.org/PSI/BTFT/book9direct.html.  To preview or order other By Teachers for Teachers titles, visit www.btft.org and click 'How-to Books.'" 
______________________________________________________________ 

http://www.educationnews.org/supporting-atrisk-students.htm

NEA TO INCREASE POLITICAL FEES /NEA NEWS FROM ANOTHER ANGLE 

According to an Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) report, the National Education Association is getting ready to up the political ante and become even more vocal during the election season.

EIA reports that the NEA board of directors approved plans to double the amount members pay to the Ballot Initiative/Legislative Crisis Fund from $5 to $10. The rank-and-file members will have a chance to vote on this during the NEA annual meeting in July. According to EIA, "NEA headquarters has warned state affiliates that the fund is in danger of being depleted this year."

For the seventh consecutive year, EIA will deliver gavel-to-gavel coverage from the floor of the National Education Association Representative Assembly in Washington , DC , beginning with the first report on the evening of July 3. Four more daily reports will follow.  The convention is likely to focus on the November election, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the internal status of the unions.  

EIA's readers will automatically receive the news in their e-mail inbox, but this year EIA will accommodate everyone else by posting the daily reports, blog-style, on the EIA web page.   To subscribe to this service, e mail EducationIntel@aol.com  

______________________
http://www.eiaonline.com 
 

BENEFITS OF CALCULATOR USE DOUBTED

According to a new study by the Brookings Institution, allowing fourth-graders to use handheld calculators may be masking a serious deficiency in their basic computation skills.  According to Brookings Institution scholar Tom Loveless, who reported the findings at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, calculators may also be hiding a growing gap in basic computation skills between black and white students.

Study author Loveless' analysis of average math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, showed that "For a large number of 9-year-olds, when calculators ... are not available, they get wrong answers."

_________________________________________________________

http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0405/26/d06-164049.htm

http://www.brookings.org/views/papers/20040415loveless.htm

WHY PARENTS SHOULDN'T TEACH TEENAGERS MODERATE DRINKING

"It took Mimi Fleury a while to discover that one of the worst ideas in America is teaching your teenager to drink 'responsibly' . . . According to a

National Institutes of Health study: 40 percent of people who are drinking by age 15 become alcoholics at some point in their lives."

_____________________________________________________ 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A172-2004May4.html

PROMOTING TOLERANCE FLYER THAT HONORS MORALITY AND RELIGION OF STUDENTS

Many people are uncomfortable with an anything-goes attitude that defines tolerance as a non-critical acceptance of just about everything someone says or does.  Teachers fear that if they oppose this "non-critical" approach to tolerance that they will be accused of advancing bigotry, intolerance and even hate.  Gateways to Better Education shares a flyer that provides another way to view tolerance that respects individual human dignity while also honoring the moral and religious views of students and their families.  This flyer is available at http://www.gtbe.com/resources/resource_articles/promoting_tolerance.pdf

Thank you for all you have done for your students and colleagues this past year! 

Have a wonderful summer.  

Cindy Omlin
Executive Director

Northwest Professional Educators

(800-380-6973)