+ Today's communiqué marks the first anniversary of the Education Intelligence Agency. Thanks to all of you who have supported this enterprise over the past year. The outlook for the future is very bright and I hope to be able to bring this information to you for many years to come.

+ What was the California Teachers Association going to do if the paycheck protection initiative passed? EIA knows, but isn't telling just yet. The details will appear here next week if you don't see them elsewhere first.

+ In addition to its usual business, the CTA Board of Directors "reaffirmed the use of the term ‘extremist' and not ‘Christian,' ‘far right,' or ‘right wing' in referring to the attacks on public education."

+ There were no additional state delegate assembly votes on merger last week, but the news was still bad for pro-merger forces. The board of directors of the Alabama Education Association (which held its convention in December, before the Principles of Unity had been drafted) voted unanimously to oppose the merger. NEA's Alabama affiliate is the ninth largest in the nation. AEA Executive Director Paul Hubbert estimated a loss in membership of 10,000 should merger pass. Hubbert said that AFL-CIO affiliation "creates many philosophical obstacles" for Alabama teachers. The Alabama vote is, like the votes of the state assemblies, non-binding on the NEA Representative Assembly delegates.

Twelve state assemblies have voted to oppose merger. At least three board of director votes (Alabama, Delaware and Vermont) have been anti-merger. These states will send 35.6 percent of the delegates to the convention. In the unlikely event pro-merger forces get 100 percent of the delegates from pro-merger states AND 100 percent of the delegates from the "no position" states, they will STILL have to pick up some 230 delegates from the anti-merger states. With significant merger opposition in pro-merger California, Georgia and New York, not to mention "no position" Texas, Ohio and Kentucky, it is clear that NEA President Bob Chase will have to pull an elephant out of a hat to get his two-thirds majority.

He's trying. Chase authorized an additional mailing to RA delegates to go out over his signature. The letter urges delegate support for merger and trots out the one thing Chase feels will draw anti-merger votes over — the right-wing bogeyman. "I feel a sense of urgency," the letter says. "Tenure rights, political participation rights, retirement systems, and health care programs are under assault from political and economic ideologues. Well-organized, well-financed special interests want to privatize education. We can't allow that to happen." According to a report in Education Week, Chase read from a list of "extremist" organizations to influence a group of Kentucky delegates.

+ Teacher Andrew Creighton-Harank stirred up some trouble in the Kyrene School District in Arizona when he made an appointment with the school board and asked for a $15,000 raise. According to a story in the Arizona Republic, Creighton-Harank is recognized as an exceptional teacher and numbers a large number of parents among his supporters. Not surprisingly, the district turned down his request. Creighton-Harank then submitted his resignation. "It's going to happen," he said. "I am going to work with children and make $50,000 a year." The powers-that-be were less than taken with Creighton-Harank's approach. "People felt he shouldn't be out for himself," said Kyrene Education Association President Debbie Dinyes. Jack Peterson, executive director of the Arizona School Board Association, felt the same way. "That would be very anti-union to negotiate on your own," he said.

+ Police arrested former Long Hill, New Jersey, school superintendent James Durante for making terroristic threats against a school board member. According to the complaint filed by board member Judith Long, then-Superintendent Durante threatened "to have her involved in a fatal car accident or having her kneecaps smashed." Durante was placed on a "leave of absence" the next day but school officials offered no explanation. Nor did they announce why Durante subsequently resigned other than to say it was due to a "stress-related disability." School Board President Jennifer Lamson-Romero claimed the board knew nothing of Long's allegations. Parents and teachers are upset about the board's lack of candor... as well as the severance package which guaranteed Durante $7,000 per month through August and health benefits for the rest of the year.

+ Quote of the Week: "I want a system where every principal and every teacher in every school can be held accountable. So does every parent. We can only do it if we change teacher tenure as we know it; if we change teacher certification; and if we change teacher salaries and professional development. And we should all be held accountable if we are unwilling to make those changes." — Senator John Kerry in a speech at Northeastern University.

+ The National Staff Organization, the union of 4,435 NEA and state affiliate staff workers, held its annual convention in San Jose, California, last week. The delegates approved a 1998-99 budget of $618,570 and passed a resolution to affiliate with the Labor Party and make a contribution of $500.

+ In his column in The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, New York, Carl Strock referred to me as an "education gadfly." There's something about me that brings out the sobriquet in reporters.

+ As EIA's two 1998 reports — One Yard Below and Piles of Wealth — continue to receive exposure, the need for slightly different looks at pay statistics becomes more apparent. The headline in WEA News, the newsletter of the Wyoming Education Association, screams "Wyoming teacher salaries among ten worst in country." The story doesn't temper this revelation with the facts that Wyoming teachers make 27.9 cents in benefits for every dollar of salary (17th in the nation) or that the average Wyoming teacher makes 41.3 percent more than the average Wyoming worker (15th in the nation). EIA's reports are available via U.S. Mail at no charge.

Contact EIA at the numbers below or write EIA at PO Box 2047, Carmichael CA 95609.

The Education Intelligence Agency conducts public education research, analysis and investigations. Director: Mike Antonucci. Ph: 916-422-4373. Fax: 916-392-1482.