Mike Antonucci, Intercepts
The teachers’ unions are getting very jazzed about their national day of action on Monday. Joy Resmovits of the Huffington Post reports the American Federation of Teachers is laying out $1.2 million on the campaign:
“The unions are calling the movement a groundswell of organic support against the usurping of public schools by “corporate interests” that want to make a “market-based system of schooling” involving high-stakes testing and attacks on collective bargaining. An AFT one-pager obtained by HuffPostlists the day’s purpose as “to begin to create a national echo chamber for our vision and narrative.”
It’s organic, all right, if you define it as something that requires fertilizer to grow. I took a good look at the list of 167 endorsers of “The Principles That Unite Us” and found 52 unions. That still leaves a good group of community organizations and advocacy groups, which for curiosity sake I cross-referenced with my lists of advocacy groups that received payments from NEA and AFT national headquartersduring the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Surprise! Seventeen were recipients of AFT money that year, and four received NEA money. A quick scan of AFT’s 2012-13 disclosure report turned up an additional seven groups that cashed AFT checks. That doesn’t include groups on the endorsers’ list like FairTest who have received union contributions in the past, but not for the last two years. Nor does it include groups that may have received funds from AFT or NEA state and local affiliates.
So as you listen to the laments at Monday’s rallies, consider them just AFT’s beneficiaries singing for their supper.
Postcards From The Past – No. 3
Postcards from the Past
A new, occasional blog post in commemoration of CER’s 20 years in business and the historical events that have taken place during our history and the history of the education reform movement.
In 1996, CER created the first-ever national charter school directory, an invaluable resource that continues to provide up-to-date information on charter school enrollment data and contact information, as well as overviews of charter missions and goals. Back then, a print version of all that information could be accessed for a modest fee (plus shipping and handling).
Now, there’s an app for that.
In New York City, government officials and software developers are recognizing the needs of families to access reliable school data. With increased educational alternatives available to students, families are now compelled to examine information on different schools to find the option that’s right for them.
The ease at which NYC families can access this technology demonstrates the positive effects and popularity of having access to school data. Transparency of information is a hallmark of Parent Power, which will hopefully continue to expand beyond this Big Apple app and continue to expand as more innovative ways of reaching parents and supplying information are created.