Thousands want to know: Whatever happened to EIA's fourth quarterly report for 1998? Okay, no one really asked; commitments to other projects merely delayed the report for a few weeks. EIA will now take your orders for Rotten Apples: School Crime from a Different Angle. The 32-page study recounts the extraordinary measures being taken in the name of school safety and compiles evidence of crimes committed in the public education system that often go unpunished, unreported and undetected. The report is available for free. However, the continuing demand for One Yard Below, ten months after its release, forces me to add the qualifier: while supplies last. It is my hope to produce Internet editions of each of EIA's reports in the near future. Contact EIA at the numbers listed at the bottom of this communiqué. The first reports will be mailed next week.

The Oakland Education Association teach-in on Mumia Abu-Jamal and the death penalty ended with a whimper on Thursday, with only a small number of teachers participating. The poor reporters at the Associated Press were driven nuts early last week, as every few hours they were forced to release stories that read "it's on," followed by another that read "it's off." There was one aspect of the debate that caught the eye of EIA.

It was widely reported that the representative council of the Oakland Education Association voted 48-42, with 11 abstentions, to go ahead with the teach-in. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the council has about 160 representatives, while the San Francisco Examiner reported that it had 250 members. This disparity alone speaks volumes about press coverage of teachers' unions, but the vote says even more about union democracy at the local level. In a close, contested vote, with broad public relations consequences and national media attention, the Oakland union could muster only 101 representatives. Depending on whose numbers you believe, that's either a 63% or a 40% participation rate. Assuming Oakland teachers know who their council reps are (a big assumption), one might ask the 60 percent who were disenfranchised on the teach-in vote how they feel about it... or whether they care. 

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Ted Kirsch and his entire slate were elected by acclamation this week. No other candidates filed nomination papers. Kirsch now begins his fourth three- year term as PFT president. "These election results reflect the desires of the membership," said PFT Director of Staff Jerry Jordan.

In two weeks the Florida Teaching Profession-NEA and the Florida Education Association/United will mail copies of the proposed constitution and by-laws for a merged state affiliate of both NEA and AFT. Next month, FTP-NEA plans to hold regional hearings on the documents in order to hold a final merger vote at its representative assembly in May. A one-year transition period would follow a positive vote. FTP- NEA's campaign mirrors that of NEA's national merger campaign of last year. "Children have the most to gain from FTP-NEA and FEA/U unity," reads one FTP-NEA document. Unlike last year's national vote, the Florida merger is expected to pass with little opposition, thus making it the second state (after Minnesota) to finalize a merger. It would also be the second NEA state affiliate to violate the provisions of New Business Item #1, passed at the 1998 NEA Representative Assembly, which forbids state mergers until guidelines are established and voted on by the 1999 NEA RA. That event doesn't take place until July — in Orlando, Florida.

Friction between the Columbus Education Association and its parent, the Ohio Education Association, continues to grow. Columbus staffers returned from their holiday break to find the fax lines disconnected, Internet access cut off, video conferencing center shut down, security system disabled, and telephones unable to make outgoing calls. Y2K problem a year early? No. According to the union's newsletter it was caused by "an official of the Ohio Education Association who had negotiated for a new phone system and had imposed it on every affiliate in the state without the knowledge or permission of those affected." Columbus has threatened legal action and says "the level of trust is very low."

No one involved in the public education debate can take much solace in a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. Oh, the results had something for everyone to argue about: 36% said public education was the most important issue in the state; more people blamed teachers for schools' problems than any other cause; more than 80% said teachers should be paid more, but based on merit rather than seniority; more than half approved of vouchers; 93% believe state government wastes "some" money or "a lot," more than 60% believe government is run by special interests, et al.

But the same people who offered these widely divergent and often contradictory opinions had another problem: only 53% percent of them could name the new governor. Clearly, we can credit the state's schools with one major accomplishment: creating an entire class of citizens who hold strong opinions based on no knowledge. Political parties can now strategize on how to win the "forcefully ignorant" vote.

Quote of the Week: "They [Americans] should not be forced to pay taxes for schools which teach religious views they disagree with." — former NEA President and current Executive Director of the Florida Teaching Profession- NEA John Ryor, explaining, in part, his opposition to school vouchers.

Fair enough. How about a system where taxpayers pay for vouchers through payroll deduction, but are allowed to "object" and receive a reimbursement of that portion of their taxes that go to vouchers? We can call these people, um, "fee-payers." State and local government attorneys would determine what percentage of taxes were "chargeable" to fee-payers and what were non-chargeable." Fee-payers would have a one-month window each year to file objections to these voucher calculations, which would be settled by arbitrators appointed by state and local legislators. Of course, these fee-payers would not be allowed to vote in any state or local election pertaining to education.

Nah, who would ever go for such a cockamamie system?