December 14, 2002
* Legal and Appropriate Teaching of Christmas in the Classroom
* NWPE is not EFF!
* WASL Rumblings
* Share Information with Your School Board Members
Legal and Appropriate Teaching of Christmas in the Classroom
Misinformation about the academic freedom of teachers to teach about Christmas and include nativity scenes or use Christmas songs in their music programs is often widespread this time of year. New York City Schools are being sued in federal court over its policy which is alleged to discriminate against Christians during the Christmas season. According to the Thomas More Law Center which has filed the suit, "At issue is a school policy promulgated by the Chancellor’s office that prohibits the display of Nativity scenes in the City’s schools during the Christmas season, but expressly permits and encourages these schools to display during certain religious holidays and seasonal observances the Jewish Menorah and the Islamic Star and Crescent. City officials claim that the goal of this policy is “to promote understanding and respect for the diverse beliefs and customs relating to our community’s observance of the winter holiday.”
According to Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center , “The policy relegates Christians to second class citizens. Forcing schools to only allow secular symbols for Christmas while allowing religious symbols for other religions’ holiday observances shows a callous indifference and hostility toward Christians during one of their holiest seasons."
http://www.thomasmore.org/index.cfm?location=5&subsectionid=1&PageID=1&release=157
For more information on appropriate and legal teaching about Christmas, please see the NWPE article, Teaching the Reason for the Season, posted at http://nwpe.org/season.html.
NWPE is not EFF
It has come to our attention that after Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) sends out e mail communiqués to teachers, the teacher's union often sends out an immediate email "reminding" teachers that Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) is really the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF). The WEA and its local affiliates have been spreading this misinformation around the state. Because of this, I have understandably been asked by numerous superintendents and teachers what the affiliation is between EFF and Northwest Professional Educators. The answer is "None." Northwest Professional Educators does not receive any financial contributions from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and EFF has no control over NWPE's operations. NWPE is affiliated with and receives assistance from the Association of American Educators. The NWPE board is made up of educators from around the state.
How did EFF become involved in defending the rights of educators? After the passage of the paycheck protection law (which prohibited union officials from extracting political action committee contributions from teachers paychecks without first getting their written permission), teachers solicited help from the Public Disclosure Commission and the Attorney General when they had clear evidence of union lawbreaking. Because the state watchdog organizations would not help the teachers, they went to Bob Williams, a former state legislator (now President of EFF). Williams, who helped write the paycheck protection initiative, and EFF helped the teachers by investigating and persuading the Attorney General to file suit. The Attorney General has convicted the WEA and NEA of numerous violations with teachers' collective bargaining fees on numerous occasions. EFF continues to be involved in defending teachers' rights, pursuing fair and free elections with full disclosure, and holding the WEA accountable to state and federal laws. EFF's activity is unrelated to Northwest Professional Educators.
NWPE is a nonprofit, professional educators organization which provides members with liability insurance, educational resources, legal assistance, professional development opportunities, teacher scholarships and classroom mini-grants, and a voice on education issues. It grew out of a grassroots meeting of teachers from throughout the state who wanted to do something positive for their professional lives. They met with Gary Beckner, Executive Director of the Association of American Educators (AAE), and decided to move forward with organizing an independent, nonprofit, professional educators organization. They desired an independent, nonunion organization focused on students first and raising the standards of professionalism in education. NWPE was launched in September 2001. It is affiliated with the AAE and is a member of the Coalition of Independent Education Associations which has approximately 300,000 teachers nationwide. Please feel free to contact NWPE with any questions or visit our website at http://www.nwpe.org/ResponsetoWEACharges6.18.02.htm to read NWPE's responses to WEA's misinformation campaign.
WASL Rumblings
Two articles about the WASL may interest educators.
Adjust the WASL or Face Disaster by Bob Dean, Teacher, Evergreen High School, Vancouver, WA
For the past 10 years, educational reform has been sweeping across the nation. The results have been mixed and in many cases they have been disturbing . . . Reform proponents believe that the new strategies will lead to higher student achievement, but many others believe that these strategies are leading us to a spectacular "train wreck." . . . It is good that the state has recognized that the seventh-grade test is inappropriately difficult, but so is the rest of the WASL. That fact should be apparent by looking at the scores students have achieved after four years of testing. It has been even further demonstrated by the recent study of 3,757 sophomores in which 88 percent passed a college writing exam while only 73 percent of the same students passed the writing portion of the WASL. Should a minimum high-school graduation requirement be more difficult than a college entrance exam? See full article at
Will State Tests Harm Latino Children? by Ricardo Sanchez, Director of the Latino Educational Achievement Project, based in Seattle.
As the state continues down the path of "education reform," Latinos are beginning to voice their concerns. Faced with similar "reforms," others across the nation, most notably the students themselves, are beginning to rebel. . .One Eastern Washington school superintendent recently said the seventh-grade math tests are "outrageously difficult." Another superintendent said that unless alternatives and intervention strategies are developed, WASL "will cripple Latino children." He said the state is "knowingly developing the biggest haves/have-nots system in the history of education." See full article at
Share Information with Your School Board Members
School Board Directors need to hear from diverse voices within the education community as they develop school policy. NWPE encourages educators to communicate with school board members about your views on various issues that come before them. NWPE members have had excellent receptions from school board members when indicating their viewpoints about the January 14 Day of Action as well as communicating directly with their district colleagues. You do have influence. If these NWPE e mail communiqués would provide useful information for your school board members, please feel free to forward them. Some districts establish e mail accounts for their school board members.
Northwest Professional Educators wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year full of good health, hope, and happiness for you and yours.
Cindy Omlin, Executive Director
Northwest Professional Educators
