1. “Designation” Language Moves Forward
2. Research Group that Received a Quarter Mill from NEA is SBE “Expert” 
3. Elsewhere: AZ Court Win, Teachers Unions Outstrip Defense Contractors in Lobbying

"DESIGNATION" LANGUAGE MOVES SLOWLY FORWARD

Background:  As reported last week, the Senate Education Committee has been discussing changing the law to allow the designation of public schools by towns that have no school. Towns with no school can either tuition students to the approved independent or public schools of parents’ choosing or the towns can "designate" an independent school as their town’s school. Current law only allows the designation of an independent school to act as the public school of the district. In lieu of designation of a public school, towns with no schools can form union districts so that they will have access to a public school.

Early on in the legislative session a Superintendent came in to Senate Ed to discuss the concerns of small schools. A suggestion was made that allowing a town that does not have a school to designate a public school might help small schools.

Timeline:

February 27, 2009, Friday:  A small schools bill which includes a section on allowing the designation of public schools as well as independent schools was sent for revision. My concern is that the choice of the parents in these tuitioning towns could be limited if this occurs.

March 2-16, 2009, Town Meeting Break

March 17 -18, 2009: More discussion takes place about this bill, which does not have a number, nor can be found on the legislative web site because it is a committee bill. The reason given for allowing public school designation is to control costs. (However, current statute contains cost control measures for tuition towns.) 

March 19, 2009:  I bring up, again the concern about parents losing the school choice they now have in these towns if towns can designate one public school. Senators Alice Nitka (D-Windsor), Randy Brock (R-Franklin), and Harold Giard (D-Addison) have the same concern. They would like a protection for current choice to be put in the bill. 

March 20, 2009:  Senate Ed voted the bill out of committee without a final draft available. They agreed to pass it out of committee if the choice piece was in it. There is still some final editing to be done.

March 23, 2009: I have not seen what the final language looks like to see how the choice was put in, if indeed it was. 

Will this bill pass on the Senate floor? It’s unclear. If it does, it may have an even harder time in the House. As with any legislation, things can change on a dime. The House has a bill, H.159, which has a similar concept concerning the designation of public schools. 

Here are the points about why this bill would be harmful to choice and independent schools, as reported in last week’s VER: 

• Public school advocates are asking that the "playing field be leveled" so that public schools can be designated as a tuition town’s school, just as independent schools can be.

• Such a change will tilt the playing field in favor of public schools. Public schools already have "captive" audiences – students in their own districts. Independent schools do not have that advantage. They must recruit students with no guarantees of a base enrollment. Giving public schools the "designation" possibility would give them yet one more advantage over independent schools. While only a tiny minority of tuition towns actually designate a school as their school, being able to designate a public school might increase that number. Town public school boards are likely to be far more comfortable designating public schools than independent ones. While school boards could still allow tuitioning to other schools, if a public school is designated, the reality is that will be the only school allowed as stated by law.

• This could limit the choice of the parents to choose a school that best fits the needs of their child. 

STATE BOARD RELIED ON GROUP THAT RECEIVED $250,000 FROM NEA

Last week, we reported the news of the State Board of Education rejecting consideration of the Strategic Vision poll on Vermonters’ attitudes about education in general and school choice in particular (the poll is available on the VBE website). The poll was sponsored by VBE and the Friedman Foundation, both organizations which support school choice, and conducted by Strategic Vision, a respected polling firm that is used regularly by mainstream media. 

The State Board relied on two public school advocacy organizations for expert opinions when criticizing the poll. One of those organizations was the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Now it’s come to light that the Great Lakes Center received a quarter million dollars in support from the NEA last year. 

For a list of other organizations the NEA supports with hefty checks, go to the Education Intelligence Agency web site. EIA regularly reports on the teachers unions.

ELSEWHERE: SCHOOL CHOICE WINS IN THE COURTS IN ARIZONA

School choice constitutionality battles continue to wend their way through various state courts, with victories in some places and defeats in others. Count Arizona in the victory column. Two weeks ago, a corporate tax credit program designed to provide tax breaks to businesses which donate to tuition grant organizations was held constitutional, not violating any church/state separation principles. 

"Today's real winners are the families who rely on (the tax credit) to attend high-performing private schools tailored to meet their children's unique educational needs,'' said Tim Keller, an Institute for Justice attorney who helped defend the credit, in an Associated Press article on the court victory.

For the full AP story, go to: http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1101435

 ELSEWHERE: TOP LOBBYISTS IN THE COUNTRY—TEACHERS UNIONS

Washington Examiner columnist Timothy P. Carney wrote a terrific commentary (Teachers unions say ‘jump,’ Congress says ‘how high?’) last month on Congress’ sad demolishing of the DC voucher program. His piece contained more than just teeth-gnashing over the demise of this worthwhile program, however. He provided some interesting context for the power of the teachers unions in Washington. The full text of his insightful piece can be found in the Washington Examiner. Here are some excerpts:

….Public school teachers, for the most part, are not well paid…But the image of the hard-working self-sacrificing teacher is not the proper symbol for the teachers unions in this country. They are more like huge corporations with high-powered lobbying arms and cozy connections with important politicians.

Beltway bandits, defense contractors, influential industries—most of them pale in their influence efforts compared to the teachers unions, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Take defense contractors. Lockheed Martin, the top recipient of military contracts most years, spent more on politics than any other defense firm in the 2008 elections. They still spent less than the American Federation of Teachers, which shelled out $2.8 million in the last cycle—with nearly every AFT dime going to Democrats.

The top two teachers unions—AFT and the National Education Association—spent more combined, $5.27 million, than the top two defense contractors.

The top five lobbying firms, combined, didn’t equal the AFT and the NEA in federal contributions in the 2008 cycle. Both of the teachers unions gave more than any oil company, and the NEA and AFT combined gave more than the top four oil companies combined….

…The NEA employs four different lobbying firms in Washington, in addition to their in-house lobbying arm, which includes at least six lobbyists.  Over the past two years, the NEA spent $10.7 million on lobbying…

…The AFT spent about $1.8 million on lobbying in the last two years…

…The AFT and the NEA, then, are wealthy special interest groups… They spend millions on lobbying and retain big-name lobbyists to push their cause…

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