The York Daily Record's editorial page called it a "skewed study" put out by a "right-wing conservative organization highly critical of public education" using "new math" to "further their own goals." Others called it "slanted" and "highly inflammatory," and asked "How much does Antonucci make?" (Answer: Less than the average Pennsylvania teacher.)

Still others described it as "invidious," "incendiary" and "irrelevant," and accused the newspaper of promoting "the special interests that Antonucci represents." A professor in research methods criticized the report's methodology (without having a copy of the report).

And, of course, Carolyn C. Dumaresq, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, weighed in with "myths" and "poor research" put out by an organization "with ties to conservative political groups advancing the cause of privatization and diverting public funds to private and religious schools." Ms. Dumaresq suggests this "relationship may have some influence on the ‘quality' of his research." (Maybe if I earned as much as Ms. Dumaresq, my research would improve.)

After much soul-searching and taking this criticism to heart, I went back to the drawing board. I registered as a Democrat, joined People for the American Way, sent $10 to NEA PAC, went back to my calculator, and discovered — to my horror — that the average Pennsylvania teacher still made 65.2 percent more than the average Pennsylvania worker.

+ While EIA is taking a beating, much more pointed criticism is slipping by. "The poor quality of teachers is a prime reason that our public schools are in such poor shape," wrote Sheila Schwartz in the New York Times. "In today's climate, however, it is not considered appropriate to dwell on this problem."

Schwartz recently retired after 35 years of teaching. "To attract better teachers, we need to dismantle much of the traditional — and union-protected — system of hiring and firing," wrote Robert J. Samuelson in the Washington Post. "Principals can't be realistically be held accountable for what goes on in their schools if they can't fire incompetent teachers. School systems won't draw enough competent high school chemistry teachers if they can't pay them more than elementary school teachers."

+ NEA-Alaska contributed some humor to the public policy debate by posting the unedited results of a questionnaire it sent to Alaska gubernatorial candidates. One question asked: "What would you do as governor to ensure that quality educators view Alaska as a premier choice for their career?"

Sylvia Sullivan, candidate from the Alaskan Independence Party, responded: "If all you and the teachers can see is ‘money,' get the hell out of education, that is not, I repeat ‘not' the basis of a ‘great teacher,' but it sure is to a greedy corporate bureaucrat, and is at the ‘basis of a rotten public school system,' i.e. thinking about sitting on your butt and assigning chapters in a book for a kid to read: understand; and pass a stupid test."

Another question was: "As governor, explain how you would support development and funding of a content rich curriculum grounded in basic education for all children in each of Alaska's 53 public school districts."

And another Alaskan Independence Party candidate, Robert Gigler, had the answer: "Stop fluoridization of all public drinking water in the state of Alaska. The fluorine atom combining with lithium causes abnormal brain function."

+ The Associated Press ran a story today on the nationwide shortage of substitute teachers. Kentucky is hiring subs who have only a high school diploma while Michigan and other states are considering lower education standards for subs. Subs feel their pay hasn't kept up with that of full-time teachers.

NEA has a Substitute Teachers Caucus, but the union's record with subs is mixed. Substitute teachers in Fresno have been seeking the help of the Fresno Teachers Association for years, according to Marilyn Treglazoff, a substitute teacher in the district. The FTA told them it didn't represent subs. So they got help from Local 535 of the Service Employees International Union, who offered them an affiliation. Suddenly, FTA intervened. "The only logical reason is that the National Education Association is putting pressure on FTA to collect our dues," said Treglazoff. "They surely could not be interested in our welfare."

+ The Florida Election Commission ruled that union officials could not solicit their members for campaign contributions within government buildings through the use of payroll deduction forms.

Florida state law reads: "No person shall make and no person shall solicit or knowingly accept any campaign contribution in a building owned by a government entity." Chuck Pardee of Ocala filed a complaint because it is standard practice in Florida (as well as most other states) for unions to solicit PAC contributions in public schools.

The ruling (currently under appeal by the Florida NEA affiliate) may have far-reaching implications. "When a teacher signs and delivers a payroll deduction authorization form which specifies payment to a political committee or committee of continuous existence, he or she is making a political contribution," the commissioners wrote. "Making this contribution in a government building, if willful, is a violation of (law)."

+ A new analysis by the Public Service Research Foundation shows the percentage of total union membership in California declined to 16.0 percent in 1997. Public sector union membership in the state declined for the third year in a row to 48.8 percent. Since membership in the California Teachers Association has been growing steadily (thanks to statewide class size reduction), teachers are quickly becoming the labor movement in the state. CTA members alone make up approximately 13 percent of all union members in California and 27 percent of the public sector union work force.

+ CTA called for a new local president election in Rialto, citing ballot mishandling and a violation of election procedures. The incumbent president, Barry Thompson, beat two challengers, who then challenged the results. A CTA investigation team found some ballots had not been sealed properly, while others had not been placed in outer envelopes. "When you're sitting there violating CTA's bylaws and everything else, you are going to have to answer for it at some point," said challenger Ruth Johnson.

+ Quote of the Week: "You've got to be constantly assessing how far your members are willing to go out on that plank." — Principles of Unity supporter and former NEA President Keith Geiger, using an unfortunate image to describe the next step for NEA/AFT merger.

+ EIA's two 1998 reports — One Yard Below and Piles of Wealth — 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.