Fall 1996
What Makes PET Different?Professional Educators of Tennessee finds itself coming of age at a remarkable, historic moment. Many, many teachers across Tennessee are deeply offended and repelled by the noneducational, politically leftist social agenda being aggressively promoted and funded by the NEA|TEA.
Both seasoned professionals as well as newcomers to the classroom have wondered where to turn. “Is there an alternative?” Many have asked. Yes, there is! There is a grassroots movement of teachers &emdash; from Bristol to Memphis &emdash; that embodies a growing group of educators dedicated to providing an active and powerful alternative for teachers and friends of education.
Incorporated in l990, PET is poised for dramatic growth. There is an unprecedented window of opportunity that has opened, and we invite you to come aboard. Genuine choice is protected; support of teachers is paramount.
1. We do not endorse candidates or political parties.
2. We do not endorse, contribute to or lobby for controversial social issues
3. We feel that educator/board relations should be cooperative rather than confrontational.
4. We believe that each teacher must have the right to determine the style of instruction which is best suited for his/her classroom.
5. We encourage and support the cooperation of public, private, and home schools to provide the best education for all Tennessee children.
6. We believe that each professional educator should have free access to his/her employer and never be forced to join or pay dues to any organization.
The Hijacking of America’s HistoryAn article written by Lynne V. Cheney for The Wall Street Journal and reprinted in the Reader’s Digest asks us to imagine a version of American history in which George Washington makes only a fleeting appearance and is never described as our first President. Or in which the founding of the Sierra Club and the National Organization for Women are considered noteworthy events, but the first gathering of the U.S. Congress is not. Cheney, who was chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, warns us that this is, in fact, the version of history set forth in National Standards for United States History: Exploring the American Experience.
If these standards are approved by the National Education Standards and Improvement Council [Goals 2000 team] students from grades five through twelve may begin to learn history according to a new set of guidelines.
Cheney points out that the authors tend to save their unqualified admiration for people, places and events that are politically correct. He cites the first historical era, which covers societies in the Americas, Western Europe, and West Africa before l620. Students are encouraged to consider Aztec Architecture, skills, labor systems and agriculture, but not the practice of human sacrifice. African and Native American societies, like all societies, had their failings, but one would hardly know it from National Standards.
Counting how many times subjects are mentioned also yields telling results. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism get a total of 19 references, and the Ku Klux Klan gets 17. Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address' gets one mention. As for individuals, Cheney reports that Harriet Tubman, an African-American who helped rescue slaves via the Underground Railroad, is mentioned six times. Civil War general and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant gets one mention; Robert E. Lee gets no mention. The famous midnight ride of Paul Revere is ignored - as are Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk and the Wright brothers!
Last year President Clinton signed the Goals 2000 Act, which establishes a process for approving standards and examinations based on them. It also offers states millions of dollars to join the program. If the National Education Standards and Improvement Council certifies National Standards, much that is significant in our past may begin to disappear from our schools.
Cheney encourages educators that the battle to prevent certification is worth the fight. He emphasizes that we are a better people than National Standards implies, and our children deserve to know it.
NAPE Requests PET’s HelpThe National Association of Professional Educators has been successful in using its influence for more than 20 years to protect the right-to-work status in Tennessee. It is working to extend this right to all states. The budget for lobbying these concerns in Washington is being strained. Our help is requested. National dues remain at $40. Here are some facts to consider:
*Local and state independent organizations were formed because of the national organization.
*The only reason that your state has continued to be a right-to-work state without compulsory union fees is because the federal labor law that allows states this option has been kept in force. This has been difficult for us because the labor unions’ chief goal for 25 years has been to repeal that option. Then, 4 years ago President Clinton publicly promised the unions that he would sign a repeal of right-to-work immediately when it reached his desk. We have kept such a bill from going to him.
* Professional Educators’ dues are a real bargain. Total local, state and national dues are at least $300 per year less than union dues.
* Several years ago when Hawaii adopted mandatory union fees for all employees, the union immediately doubled it dues. [They didn’t need to sell memberships any more.]
* Since California made mandatory fees to the union legal, their dues have gone up to $600 per year. Without NAPE these things could have happened to you in your state.
* J.C. Bowman, PET’s Director of Government Relations, along with PET Director Walter Jewell, and board member Bill Murphy, also serve on the NAPE board giving PET not only a vested interest in NAPE, but a voice for Tennessee teachers at the national level.
A Note From PET's PresidentTeachers, we have an incredible job. Sometimes we become overwhelmed with the responsibilities placed upon us. Our children come from such diverse situations, some from caring parents, some with few basic needs being met in their homes, and many from broken homes who spend one weekend with one parent and one weekend with the other, feeling torn between. We see children of abuse, and children with learning disabilities whose parents are straining to understand those disabilities with our help. With all this baggage a child walks into your classroom to learn. You have been given criteria for each subject you teach and are expected to reach set goals within set time limits. Impossible? Of course, but you do it anyway!
We all know how good it feels when someone notices our good job and gives us a little praise and encouragement. In spite of all our personal trials, we must not forget that the same is true for our children. They get a lot of mileage out of the encouragement we give them. For your children and for your colleagues, be an encourager. You’ll be repaid many, many times over.
Editor's Notes...Teacher effect scores? Don’t panic! The bottom line is that these scores are teacher tools, and the value of them in assessment is diagnostic, not punitive.
The first release date for these scores was Nov. 1, l996, but it is probable that the scores will not be released until after elections.
We all like and need feedback for the jobs we do. Consider these facts and then decide how you will use your report card.
*Three complete years of data are needed in the same teaching assignment before the data is valid for evaluation.
* This evaluation data, if used at all, would be only a part of the total evaluation picture for any teacher.
*There is a high degree of confidentiality associated with the teacher effect data. It may not be published , and must be handled within the strict guidelines of the laws governing them.
* There are no mandates or guidelines as to what teachers are to do with this material.
* School effect data can be published, but if there is only one teacher per grade, this could violate the teacher effect disclosure law and can be challenged.
* Performance is compared intrasystem and not against other systems.
Dr. Sanders, whose model this is, reminded us at a Bradley County meeting that the state had been trying to come up with a valid assessment for children, teachers, and systems for 25 years, and we’re still at it. He also commented that we, as teachers, cannot take full credit for the success of our students, nor can we take full credit for their failures, but we can, and must, take full responsibility for improvement plans. Our teacher effect scores can give us clues as to our strengths and weaknesses. Only we know the many variables within our classes. Let’s use these scores with wisdom and without apprehension. Teachers have enough stress in their lives!
Goals 2000, The Real CostThe May l996 Blumenfeld Education Letter, which has pointedly opposed Goals 2000, cites Representative Henry Hyde of Illinois as the only Republican Congressman to openly address and oppose this legislation. The Blumenfeld report published a letter Rep. Hyde wrote to his colleagues in March of this year in which he addresses the Tucker plan for Goals 2000 and the legislation that makes it law. Here are excerpts from that letter:
I'll tell you why it is so important to repeal these laws. It is a concept for dumbing down our schools and for changing the character of the nation through behavior modification [a vital part]. It moves away from an academically intensive curriculum to one that is integrated with vocational training, producing skilled manpower for the labor market. The economy will be controlled by the federal government by controlling our work force and our schools.
Behavior modification is a significant part of restructuring our schools. School children will be trained to be politically correct, to be unbiased, to understand diversity, to accept alternative family life-styles, to contribute to the community through mandatory community service, to respect and protect the environment, to become a collaborative contributor and a quality producer. In Marc Tucker’s letter to Mrs. Clinton, laying out the plan for Goals 2000 he states, 'radical changes in attitudes, values and beliefs are required to move any combination of these agendas.'
Dumbing down education is a prime component in creating a willing workforce. Higher education is not conducive to accepting skilled labor training for a career that fits into the federal government’s planned labor force. Goals 2000 abandons the American competitive tracking system. It is replaced by new national achievement standards which assess students’ behavior and attitude...
A computer tracking system will track teachers’ training and performance, school performance and students from pre-kindergarten through technical training and into the work force. All information will be made available to interested government officials and prospective employers.
Preschool, health clinics, daily meals, and parental assistance [they have the gall to instruct parents on how to rear their children, including how students’ free time should be spent], are in this all-inclusive ‘cradle to grave’ plan to control our children’s minds and careers...
This concept has been around since at least the l960s and perhaps as far back as the l930s. It has been tried in many schools over the past 20-30 years, to the detriment of our children. In the ’70s, it was called ‘Mastery Learning’ under the supervision of Professor Benjamin Bloom, and now it is known as Outcome Based Education [OBE]. State school superintendents have learned to call OBE by other names because of its bad reputation which precedes it, but the concepts are all the same.
I ask you to please investigate Goals 2000 yourself. I think you will come to the same conclusion. Goals 2000 must be rejected, and the sooner the better for our children’s sake.
Chaplain’s CornerAs a beginning teacher, I had a very critical attitude toward students. I would think to myself, 'He will not make it in life', or, 'She will be a mother before high school graduation.' It is very easy to become a pessimist in the present age.
On many occasions as I have written this column, I have used my children as examples of God dealing with us. Caleb Andrew is an All-American Boy! He is constantly looking for something to play with or someone to play with him. Caleb likes to get into furniture or items prohibited for him. Many times there is a mess to clean. My job is to clean up the mess. Then, unfortunately for him, there is discipline. But my love for him has not gone away or diminished. As a matter of fact, I would say that it has grown!
How does God deal with the children of God? The same way. Those who are in Christ are dealt with in a loving manner. Yes, there are consequences for mistakes and wrongdoings, but there is a bountiful forgiveness and an eternal love demonstrated.
The next time Johnny or Susie can not follow directions or talks too much, remember the love of Christ. Our students need guidance. Don’t be afraid to use the rod of correction either [if you are able]. Do it not out of wrath, but love. Romans 5:8 states:
As God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. May this be your attitude for a great year.
http://www.teacherspet.comPET has been receiving email requests for information from all over Tennessee, other states, and even from places as far away as Australia, wanting information on how they can form an organization for Professional Educators.
PET's web site has been honored on several ocassions with free publicity. If you visited the Spirit of Tennessee train exhibit when it came to your area, you had a chance to see PET as part of the Internet Exhibit on the Train. The PET site was also part of the web pages shown at the Oct. 10 ConnectTEN celebration in Nashville and on PBS.
PET can be reached at its' new email address pet@teacherspet.com
Return to PET Homepage
©1996 Professional Educators of Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Pages last updated 11/3/96
