NEA Provides Educators with Guidance on Preventing Workplace Bullying

By Cindy Long Kim Werner’s former principal was identified by her union as the most abusive principal in the district. “He has been targeting educators for fifteen years,” she says. “He lies. He coerces.  He intimidates.  He screams and uses profanities.” And he’s still a principal, while Werner is now an Olweus Bullying Prevention Program [...]

As Poverty Increases, Reformers Cling to the “New Status Quo”

By Tim Walker A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education released new data that confirms what every advocate of public education has been trumpeting for years: poverty is a growing scourge on public schools. According to its 2013 Condition of Education report, one in five schools in the United States are considered [...]

School Counselor and NEA Member Honored as GLSEN Educator of the Year

By Edward Graham On May 20th, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national organization that focuses on providing safe schools for all students, recognized Matthew Beck—a school counselor at Erie Elementary School in Erie, Illinois—as its 2013 Educator of the Year. According to GLSEN, “The Educator of the Year award recognizes an exceptional [...]

Beyond PISA: How the U.S. Ranks Internationally on Five Key Education Issues

By Kathy Tuck and Tim Walker When the 2010 Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) results were released two years go, the news media and many politicians held them up as evidence that U.S. students were falling badly behind their counterparts in nations such as Finland, South Korea, Canada and Singapore. The somewhat alarmist coverage [...]

U.S. Graduation Rate Highest in 40 Years

By Helen Yoshida The nation’s graduation rate rose to almost 75 percent in 2010, the highest point since 1973, according to Education Week’s new Diplomas Count report. “A decade ago, as concerns about the nation’s graduation rate were just starting to gain public attention, only two-thirds of U.S. students were finishing up high school with [...]

2013 Green Ribbon Schools Honored in Washington, D.C.

By Edward Graham On June 3, the U.S. Department of Education honored the 64 recipients of the 2013 Green Ribbon School award. These schools were cited for successfully reducing their environmental impact and costs, creating effective environmental and sustainability education efforts, and improving health and wellness programs for their students. 14 school districts were also [...]

Expanded Pre-K Crucial to Closing Achievement and Opportunity Gaps, Says Duncan

By Helen Yoshida Today, fewer than 30% of four-year-olds are enrolled in high-quality preschool education programs. Not only is this morally and educationally unacceptable, says Education Secretary Arne Duncan, it is damaging to the long-term competitive economic development of the nation. President Obama proposed a major expansion to early childhood education programs earlier this year. His [...]

When Full-Time School Staff Qualify for Public Assistance, it’s Time to Fight for Professional Pay

By Debbie Minnick and John Rosales Had Marianne Murray taken an entry-level job at a fast food restaurant instead of with West Aurora School District 129 in Illinois, she might be earning a living wage by now. “At McDonald’s, I might have gone into management,” says Murray, an office assistant to the principal at West [...]

Survey: U.S. Students Better at Science Than Public Realizes

By Tim Walker A common misperception about American students is that they are in an academic free-fall when compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world, especially in the study of science. Actually, students here aren’t doing as poorly on international tests as many adults think. A recent survey by the Pew Research [...]

Gender Identity Protections: Moving From Policy to Practice

By Edward Graham While most school districts around the country have non-discrimination policies to safeguard their students, Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, Wisconsin goes a step further. Its policy also covers students’ gender identity and expression as protected rights. But transforming protections into practice can be difficult, and educators wanted a way to ensure [...]

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