Moscow Education (Idaho)

It’s good to see that the IEA still has their own best interests at the forefront of their deliberations.

Details from Spokesman Review Betsy Russell's blog An Eye on Boise.

The Idaho Education Association has issued a statement that there is “more than enough money” to avoid proposed cuts in public schools next year, between federal economic stimulus funds and state budget reserves. “Idaho is eligible to receive more than $300 million for K-12 public schools from the stimulus package. We also have two rainy day funds totaling more than $250 million that could offset budget shortfalls,” IEA President Sherri Wood said. “Investing in our children and their education is the best way of guaranteeing a stable economy for our state and for our country. … It is imperative that we explore every avenue possible to find the financial resources needed to provide our students a quality education.”

The statewide teachers union called for making use of the Public Education Stabilization Fund, which contains $114 million; stimulus funds; and $67.3 million from the state’s general budget stabilization fund – 47.9 percent of what’s in that fund, because public schools comprise 47.9 percent of the overall state budget. Yesterday, state schools Supt. Tom Luna called for holding onto the $114 million reserve fund to cover any future budget shortfalls, and said he thinks the stimulus money isn’t enough to avoid up to $62 million in cuts he’s proposed for public schools next year.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The next month will pass in tense anticipation for the employees of 13 University of Idaho Research and Extension centers.

Two of the centers are not expected to survive this year's budget shortfalls.

Both the Varsity and Junior Varsity mock trial teams from Logos School will be advancing to the state competition in Boise next month.

Out of the nine teams competing, four will advance to the final state competition.

Those teams include:

• Logos Varsity team.
• Logos Junior Varsity team.
• Lewiston’s team.
• Coeur d’Alene’s team.

Logos took 1^st and 2^nd place (with the JV team inching out the Varsity team!).

Congratulations to all of the teams that participated today in Lewiston. Well done!

Will this be like a state that swears to its citizens that if they accept a state income tax, that they will lower the property and sales taxes — only to turn around and hammer them will all three?

From the Associated Press:

A Senate committee approved a constitional amendment that may lead to University of Idaho students finally paying "tuition."

The state Constitution forbids most students at the Moscow school from paying tuition, a historical quirk dating back to its founding in 1889 during Idaho Territory days.

So while other state schools charge tuition, Vandals pay "student fees." Here's the catch: Student fees can't be shifted to pay for instruction.

As a result, millions in cuts this year to UI's general fund appropriation that covers professor salaries have exacted a profound toll on the budget, Marty Peterson, a UI lobbyist, told the Senate State Affairs Committee Friday.

Allowing "tuition" would help remedy that, he said.

To change the Constitution, two-thirds of lawmakers must support the bill, followed by a vote of Idaho residents in 2010.

According to the US Dept. of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences, First graders taught with Saxon Math or Math Expressions learned significantly more than students taught with Number, Data, and Space (Investigations) and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics (SFAW).

The high-performing programs improved math results in high-poverty schools and in schools with low math scores.

There’s little doubt that curriculum like Saxon Math are excellent at teaching students in the grammar/logic stage of learning (K-8).

From the Wall Street Journal:

President Obama made education a big part of his speech Tuesday night, complete with a stirring call for reform. So we'll be curious to see how he handles the dismaying attempt by Democrats in Congress to crush education choice for 1,700 poor kids in the District of Columbia.

The omnibus spending bill now moving through the House includes language designed to kill the Opportunity Scholarship Program offering vouchers for poor students to opt out of rotten public schools. The legislation says no federal funds can be used on the program beyond 2010 unless Congress and the D.C. City Council reauthorize it. Given that Democrats control both bodies -- and that their union backers hate school choice -- this amounts to a death sentence

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama spoke of the "historic investment in education" in the stimulus bill, which included a staggering, few-strings-attached $140 billion to the Department of Education over two years. But he also noted that "our schools don't just need more resources; they need more reform," and he expressed support for charter schools and other policies that "open doors of opportunity for our children."

If he means what he says, Mr. Obama won't let his fellow Democrats consign 1,700 more poor kids to failing schools he'd never dream of letting his own daughters attend. 

HT: Carpe Diem

From the Associated Press:

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - The University of Idaho Faculty Council has approved cutting 18 degree programs in a move to save money.

The council on Tuesday also approved merging the Department of Chemical Engineering with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The moves had previously been approved by the University Curriculum Committee. The proposed cuts and merging of departments next goes before the State Board of Education for a final decision, possibly in April.

Half of the courses are master of arts in teaching degrees in subjects that include Spanish, French, German, biology, history, chemistry, Earth science and geology.

The other programs include a bachelor of science degree in technology and training development, education specialist degrees in education, and master of science degrees in professional-technical and technology education.

What happened to the Physics program?

The University of Idaho's undergraduate physics program has been saved.

After more than a month of tension and a two-day retreat earlier this week, College of Science Dean Scott Wood announced the program is no longer in danger of being eliminated as part of the university's "program prioritization process."

Have you ever heard of a major university that doesn’t offer a degree in Physics?

The very fact that the Physics Department was even on the chopping block says a lot about the University of Idaho’s Administration and the current academic culture at the UI.

I’m relieved for the university that this hard science department was spared. I’m disgusted that it even was an option.

From the Associated Press:

The University of Idaho may seek to increase student fees next year by more than 8%.

University interim president Steven Daley-Laursen detailed the proposal in a memo sent to student leaders at the Moscow school on Tuesday.

Full-time students would pay $196 more per semester with the 8.46 fee increase, which means the total cost for a semester would increase to $2,512.

University of Idaho students this year are now paying 5% more in fees than they did last year.

No surprise here.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Under the proposal, full-time fees would increase by $196 per semester, bumping costs to $2,512 per semester.

…

According to the notice of intent to increase fees, $154.22 of the increase for full-time undergraduates would go to the general education operating budget. The rest is divided between facility fees, computing and network access and dedicated activity fees.

UI students saw their fees increase by 5 percent for the current year. The university had requested a 7.9-percent increase from the State Board of Education.

It makes sense to cut the underwater basket weaving programs.

We’ll see how many of these programs are actually bogus, though.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Eighteen University of Idaho degree programs moved a step closer to elimination without controversy Tuesday.

A more contentious round of cuts will be considered by the UI Faculty Council next week.

The council approved 18 notices of intent to close programs at its Tuesday meeting, with the addition of one notice of intent to merge the departments of chemical engineering and material science and engineering.

Each notice of intent was first approved by the University Curriculum Committee, which is led by department of art and design faculty member Jill Dacey.

Half of the courses on the chopping block Tuesday were master of arts in teaching degrees in an array of subjects, including Spanish, French, German, biology, history, chemistry, Earth science and geology.

“All those (master of arts in teaching degrees), the departments have no problem,” Dacey said, adding that the College of Science or the College of Education will develop replacement teaching programs. 

Details from Spokesman Review Betsy Russell's blog An Eye on Boise.

JFAC learned this morning that Idaho's share of stimulus money for education budget stabilization is $201.7 million. But that's for both public schools and higher education, and it's for three years: Fiscal years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Half the amount could be used up just to make up the fiscal year 2009 6 percent budget holdbacks. Though the state has initially planned to protect public schools from those holdbacks by use of its public schools stabilization fund, it might not be eligible for the federal money if it did that, as the money is to make up cuts. The public schools portion of the 2009 holdbacks of 6 percent is equal to $85.1 million, and the higher ed portion is $18.2 million. "That still doesn't help us for 2011, which may be the worst year yet," said Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. Paul Headlee, legislative budget analyst for public schools, said, "When you do the math, we don't see the allocation to be sufficient to restore funding in those three fiscal years."

Cameron called the talk that the stimulus could save Idaho from its first-ever public school cuts next year "exaggerated." He said, "So obviously that's disappointing news." 

Here’s what’s so ironic: the University of Idaho wants to be like Boise State so much that they are willing to cut their academics to make it so.

We truly live in an upside down world.

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

'Nincompoops' are at UI helm

The University of Idaho is about to make a great mistake. It plans to eliminate the undergraduate degrees in physics in order to concentrate on graduate degrees and research. Supposedly this is not to save money but to realign priorities. Administrators there don't seem to recognize that you need undergraduate majors before you can have graduate students. Suppose every university got rid of Bachelor of Science programs in physics. We would be in big trouble.

At present, most of the physics grad students are foreigners, and as affairs worsen in this country, they will leave the United States upon graduation. We were once a world leader in science and technology, but those days are fast fading.

University leaders seem to believe the main business of a university is to make money through acquiring grants, but this is baloney. The mission should be to educate and to provide knowledge. Research grants help, but they are not the sine qua non of a great school.

Idahoans send their kids here mainly to get undergraduate degrees. Taxpayers are not going to support an ivory tower research institution whose main educational accomplishment is to award degrees to foreigners.

Elimination of the undergraduate physics degrees will have a disastrous effect on faculty morale. We will have a hard time recruiting new faculty, and we can be sure that Boise State University will quickly offer the degrees we disown.

The nincompoops who run this university should recognize that Boise State will continue to kick our ass in football, but we might outdo them in the nerd department. Let's hope so.

Mike Browne, Moscow 

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

For the second year in a row, the state Board of Education plans to scrap standardized testing this fall for thousands of Idaho public school students.

Local school district officials are not surprised.

"I didn't think it was coming back," Moscow Junior High School Principal Dale Kleinert said.

The Idaho Standards Achievement Test in reading, math and language is used to determine if schools are meeting benchmarks under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The tests are still given in the spring to students in the third through eighth grades and to 10th-graders, who must pass the ISAT to graduate.

 

Education quote of the day:

"The nice thing about reducing class size is that it makes teachers happy in their own right and it's the one thing that we know how to do."

—Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, education policy professor at the University of Chicago. (February 22 New York Times)

HT: EIA

Funny, I thought the default grade for just showing up (doing no work) would be an “F”.

From the New York Times:

"I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” said English Professor Marshall Grossman of the University of Maryland. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”

A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that a third of students surveyed said that they expected Bs just for attending lectures, and 40% said they deserved a B for completing the required reading.

“I noticed an increased sense of entitlement in my students and wanted to discover what was causing it” said Ellen Greenberger, the lead author of the study, called “Self-Entitled College Students: Contributions of Personality, Parenting, and Motivational Factors,” which appeared last year in The Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Professor Greenberger said that the sense of entitlement could be related to increased parental pressure, competition among peers and family members and a heightened sense of achievement anxiety. 

After winning the New York City Teacher of the Year twice, Gatto woke up to the truth about government education and has been exposing it ever since.

Here’s a quick interview with him.

HT: Chris O.

Via EIA:

Quote #1:

"Let your Senator know that when the term 'choice' is used it refers to where a parent may apply for their child to attend school. The [private] school has the only 'choice' in the matter – and has the ability to determine whether they (sic) will accept your child or not." –February 10 anti-voucher e-mail blast from the Georgia Association of Educators.

Quote #2:

"Clayton mom gets felony conviction for putting child in Henry school." – headline from a February 7 Atlanta Journal-Constitution story about a woman and her son who moved in with her sister in a neighboring school district so he could attend its public schools.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Penni Cyr thinks a bill recently introduced in the Idaho Legislature could drive teachers from Idaho.

"Everybody talks about wanting to attract the best and the brightest to the state of Idaho," said the Moscow High School librarian and National Education Association director for Idaho. "If this law is passed they will not attract anybody to the state of Idaho.

"They're just writing off any new teachers, anybody coming to our state to teach."

The Idaho Legislature voted Thursday to print a bill that theoretically would save the state $14.054 million next year by eliminating the public school teachers' early retirement program, freezing salaries and allowing districts to reduce salaries or contract days of experienced teachers.

Idaho State Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur D'Alene, introduced the bill Thursday morning, with a stated purpose of reducing the cost of the fiscal year 2010 (July 2009-June 2010) public schools appropriation and giving schools flexibility in dealing with state budget cuts.

Cyr and other local educators are not thrilled about the prospects.

"I have extreme concerns, and I know every teacher in the state does," Cyr said.

Cyr said she feels lawmakers are rushing through the legislation and are poised to cripple education in Idaho.

"They need to wait and see what happens at the federal level," she said. "Let that economic stimulus package come to Idaho and help us."

Cyr and others are concerned that eliminating the early retirement program will reduce attrition and make it harder for younger, more affordable teachers to get jobs in Idaho.

Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht was particularly surprised by the bill's proposal to move teacher contract deadlines from May 25 to July 1.

"There are things that I'm reading that are problematic, in that they could drive teachers to better-paying states where they have a contract in their hand," she said.

Educators also are concerned about the proposal to change Idaho law to allow districts to reduce salaries.

"That is an educator's protection ... that they are paid the same from year to year; they can't be paid less than they were last year," Cyr said, adding that it's been statutory law for more than 39 years.

Genesee School District Superintendent David Neumann said some administrators and school boards may prefer to keep their full staff at lower salaries to eliminating positions, but he's not among them.

"It's kind of against my personal philosophy," he said. "People have bills. ... To ask them to take a cut in pay or to balance the books on the back of staff is not necessarily the best situation."

Donicht said Idaho already is ranked behind most other states for teacher pay.

"If teachers' contract provisions and code language also become considered to be the least favorable of the states, yes we could lose teachers for better pay and job security," she said.

Nonini also introduced a bill Thursday intended to reduce cost and increase efficiency in student transportation. If passed, it will reduce state transportation reimbursements to 50 percent from 85 percent.

The following article ran in the Lewiston Tribune.

Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, has proposed a constitutional amendment to allow the University of Idaho to charge students tuition instead of fees, which cannot be used for instructional purposes such as salaries.

Stegner says Idaho should repeal the provision written into the constitution nearly 120 years ago, banning the oldest public university in the state from charging tuition.

The Moscow school charges fees comparable to the tuition charged at the two other state universities.

Lawmakers passed a bill four years ago allowing Idaho State University and Boise State University to charge tuition instead of fees. The schools backed the bill because it clarified where the money is spent.

The University of Idaho was not included in the legislation because its charter is anchored in the state constitution, and repealing the tuition ban would require voter approval.

The measure Stegner has proposed will require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate before it could be put to voters in 2010 for ratification.

From World Net Daily:

A student at Los Angeles City College has filed a lawsuit against the institution after a professor called him a "fascist b------" and told him to "Ask God what your grade is" following the student's speech about morality.

The case has been filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Jonathan Lopez after his encounter with Professor John Matteson in a speech class.

The lawsuit alleges Lopez was participating in a class assignment to give a speech on "any topic" from six to eight minutes.

"During the November, 24, 2008 class, Mr. Lopez delivered an informative speech on God and the ways in which Mr. Lopez has seen God act both in his life and in the lives of others through miracles. In the middle of the speech, he addressed the issues of God and morality; thus, he referred to the dictionary definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman and also read a passage from the Bible discussing marriage," the ADF explained.

At that point, the professor interrupted him and refused to allow him to finish his speech, ADF said. Matteson then called Lopez a 'fascist b------" and dismissed the class.

Later, the professor left an evaluation form on Lopez's backpack without a grade, instructing him to "Ask God what your grade is."

The professor also warned on the evaluation form, "proselytizing is inappropriate in public school."

Yet several weeks earlier, Matteson has announced to the class, in connection to the California vote Nov. 4 in support of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman only, that, "if you voted yes on Proposition 8, you are a fascist b------."

Apparently, proselytizing is only bad if you disagree with the content of the message.

Teachers work 180 days and average over $50,000 per year in salary. That doesn’t include over $10,000 in benefits. Then subtract off days for substitutes.

That’s well over $300 per day (and a lot more if they teach summer school).

It’s a total crock to say that teachers are underpaid. This bill is trying to restore normalcy.  

The following article ran in the Lewiston Tribune.

After weeks of fairly cooperative efforts, the Legislature exploded with partisan fireworks Thursday, following the introduction of two bills related to public school funding.

House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, sponsored both measures. The co-sponsors were Senate President Pro Tem Robert Geddes, House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde.

House Bill 118 deals with school transportation funding. If approved, it would eliminate money for field trips and shift about $23.4 million from transportation to discretionary accounts.

House Bill 117 is much broader in scope. Among other changes, it would cut funding for school administrators, eliminate an automatic pay raise and early retirement incentive, and significantly change past practices with regard to teacher and administrator contracts.

Together, the bills would save about $20 million in general fund expenditures, while giving school districts the flexibility to negotiate other cost savings. Nonini said they were prompted by looming budget cuts that could reduce K-12 school funding by up to $130 million in fiscal 2010.

"The way state code is currently written, school districts don't have the tools to make those numbers work," he said. "Without these changes, districts would be forced to do a reduction in force, and the state can't afford any more unemployed people. We want to give districts the tools so they don't have to (lay teachers off)."

Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, a retired educator, said the bills gut many provisions that teachers fought for years to establish. For example, it removes restrictions on reducing teacher salaries. It also eliminates statutory language that prevents contracts from being entirely renegotiated from one year to the next.

"I couldn't be more disappointed," Ringo said. "This is clearly a partisan bill that was hatched behind closed doors. This is a time when we need to be working together to solve our financial problems, (but) conservative legislators are trying to exploit the situation. I think that's terrible. I find it evil for them to approach it this way."

…

Ringo, who sits on the joint budget committee, said some of the provisions in Nonini's bills make perfect sense in light of the current financial crisis. The critical flaw, she said, is that the bills lack a sunset clause.

"For 2010, I don't see how we can avoid giving schools less money," she said. "Most teachers already understand that. But without a sunset clause, this is an attempt to capitalize on the current situation by making permanent policy to address a temporary crisis."

Nonini dismissed such talk, saying the bills were intended to help keep teachers working.

"There was nothing mean-spirited about this," he said. "I participated in that (bipartisan) group. To say we threw all those suggestions away and came up with our own thing is to mischaracterize these bills."

 

From the University of Idaho’s Argonaut

The Idaho State Board of Education announced five possible candidates for the position of University of Idaho president last month. Two of these candidates, Kansas State University Provost Duane Nellis and Montana State University Provost David Dooley, recently visited the university. While I am not undermining the candidates’ outstanding qualifications, I couldn’t help but notice all five finalists have two things in common — they are middle-class men, and with the exception of Stanislaus President Ham Shirvani, an Iranian immigrant, the men are white.

Unexpected? No. Disappointing? Yes.

As is so typical at the university level, it’s not the qualifications that matter but the color of their skin, their sex, their sexual habits, their being non-Christians, their…

UI faculty had an interesting discussion about where the University of Idaho should be competing.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Council members also asked about the benefits of continuing to compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A.

Spear said the university would lose money on conference revenue and corporate sponsorships playing in a different conference or division, such as the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.

"I think it would be a disgrace to this institution to move down to division two," Spear said, adding that the university benefits from increased visibility and boosts in enrollment and fundraising.

And our record in Division I-A isn’t disgraceful?

Looks like the faculty got into a food fight the other day.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

University of Idaho faculty members are not impressed by the athletic department's plight.

UI Athletic Director Rob Spear and football coach Robb Akey met with the faculty council Tuesday to explain how they've been affected by state budget cuts.

"Like I tell people, we had zero percent body fat at the beginning of the year," Spear said. "So we're cutting muscle."

…

"You can see there what we are getting this year is $2.1 million (from the state)," Spear said. "What we had budgeted for this year was $2.442 (million). We have given back $340,000."

Spear said athletics has reduced its expenditures by $511,000 by leaving some positions unfilled, reducing travel, eliminating sports banquets and cutting back on recruiting and operating costs.

He offered a breakdown of the athletic budget, and a "balance sheet" showing that tuition and fees brought in by student athletes outweigh the costs of supporting the program.

Those figures did not impress computer science professor Paul Oman.

"I was not impressed with the numbers you presented as a return or value to the university, and I'm telling you that as a researcher," he told Spear. "I average $800,000 to $1 million per year to the university."

My money is bigger than your money.

Spear also said the department pays about $178,443, or 3 percent, in general and administrative fees to the UI - second only to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

"I think it's important that you recognize the actual dollars that go back to the institution," Spear said.

But council members wanted to know why other departments pay 8 percent in general and administrative fees.

"My goal is to not impact the student athlete and the coaches. You can charge me 8 percent, I don't have any way to pay it," Spear said, adding that 3 percent from athletics is more than 8 percent from many other areas.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

After more than two suspenseful hours Tuesday evening, Palouse Prairie Charter School officials made one big dent in the months of work ahead of them.

About 30 interested parents, students, board members and neighbors gathered in the Moscow City Council chambers Tuesday to hear the case for the school's conditional use permit.

The city's board of adjustment unanimously approved the permit, allowing the school to temporarily occupy the old Brown's Furniture building on South Main Street.

The location is contentious because of its position on what neighbors refer to as the "corner of death," or the intersection of Lauder Avenue and U.S. Highway 95.

That’s the worst intersection in Moscow.

I hope the school can work it out to keep the kids safe.

Congrats to Logos School’s Elliot Dickison.

He was selected as a National Merit Finalist for the 2008–2009 school year.

Well done!

The following article ran in the Lewiston Tribune.

Washington State University outlined its budget reduction plan Tuesday in response to Gov. Chris Gregoire's 12 percent funding cuts in her budget address.

While WSU is looking at about a $31 million decrease in state funding, school officials say the school plans to stick to a normal 7 percent tuition increase and will not rely on tuition to make up for the cuts.

Riddle me this: why is education costs increasing at over twice the inflation rate?

This is why parents send their kids to the University of Idaho.

From College OTR:

As we all know, keg parties are the bread and butter of the college party scene. However, they can get really old after you've been to half a dozen of them in a single month. And so, it's nice to mix it up from time to time by changing the stakes or, in this case, the venue.

These University of Idaho students decided, for whatever reason, that throwing a keg party in the men's bathroom of McConnell Hall was the way to go. So, they decorated the walls with girlie posters, moved in some dorm room furniture and strapped a funnel to the entrance. 

It's a good thing for the guys that some ladies were willing to brave the horrors of the men's bathroom to attend; otherwise, this would've been one awkward party. 

This does raise one important question, though: What do they do when someone uses the toilet and stinks up the entire room? 

You just have to shake your head at some things.

The UI is keeping bogus degree programs open (like “women’s studies”) and cutting a core science degree.

What’s next? Cutting the math department?

This really does show how far our country and university has slipped.

From the University of Idaho’s Argonaut

Students, faculty and staff members of the University of Idaho physics department have made one thing clear — they’re not going quietly. UI administrators have responded by giving consideration to the at-risk program more time. The group gathered late Friday at an open forum to ask to keep the Bachelor of Science physics major in tact at UI.

More than 50 people filled a McClure Building lecture room to provide input to the College of Science’s Curriculum Committee that may or may not decide to support a Notice of Intent to close the program. Students, faculty and staff members of the University of Idaho physics department have made one thing clear — they’re not going quietly.

…

“There is a growing effort both nationally and state wide to grow a generation of scientifically literal people, scientifically literate citizens,” said physics professor Francesca Sammarruca. “If you do cut the physics undergraduate B.S. program, it means we are not fulfilling our responsibilities to the average tax payer of the state of Idaho, whom we are here to serve.”

"Vouchers will kill public education. They will force more furloughs, insult your professional credibility, and potentially decimate your livelihood."

—From a 3 Feb e-mail sent to activists of the Georgia Association of Educators.

There’s nothing there about how vouchers would increase educational choice, make parents happy, make kids happy, and make the students better educated.

It all goes back to the unions.

"When school children start paying union dues, that 's when I'll start representing the interests of school children."
The late Albert Shanker, the AFT's longtime president, famously remarked in 1985

HT: EIA