RFArea Newsletter December 2014

Who Paid for Our Pensions?                            

By Bernie Brohaugh, President

Every once in a while, someone, with bitter resentment, will say to me something like “Thanks to us taxpayers, you get a pretty nice pension.” The implication seems to be that I and others on my pension plan don’t deserve the amount we are getting--if we deserve anything at all. Whether the speaker of such a remark is simply uninformed, or is disgruntled that he himself receives little or no pension and therefore believes that everyone should be in the same boat, or is vexed about something else is usually unclear. One fact is certain, however: the speaker doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

An article I discovered not long ago—though it was published in 2011— clears up this fairly widespread misconception that some retired Wisconsinites are freeloading on other Wisconsinites.  Entitled “The Wisconsin Lie Exposed--Taxpayers Actually Contribute Nothing To Public Employee Pensions,” the article, based on an essay by Pulitzer winner David Cay Johnston, is authored by Rick Ungar and appears in Forbes’s eBook.

The key passage is this one: “The pension plan is the direct result of deferred compensation--money that employees would have been paid as cash salary but chose, instead, to have placed in the state operated pension fund where the money can be professionally invested (at a lower cost of management) for the future.”

According to Ungar, the mandate for this procedure is spelled out in section 13 of the Wisconsin Association of State Prosecutors collective bargaining agreement – “For the duration of this Agreement, the Employer will contribute on behalf of the employee five percent (5%) of the employee’s earnings paid by the State. ”

So let us say that an employee is earning a $40, 000 salary, the amount on which his taxes are based. In addition, the state of Wisconsin pays $2,000 into his pension account. This sum is now legally his, but he is not taxed on it until he starts drawing his pension. Whatever he draws then is from the state pension fund and not from state taxes, though the 5% paid to the wage earner as part of his salary came from tax dollars. This system is used by many people and is especially popular among big earners like sports stars.

When Governor Walker insisted that state employees, including unionized teachers, should “pick up a larger share” of their retirement contributions than they had been paying, he was speaking either from ignorance or from a sinister intention to denigrate union members—or both. Since the union members were already paying the entire amount, their agreement to have a certain percentage of their salaries deducted from their paychecks was actually an agreement to take a pay cut. So it goes.

Think Tanks Recommend Retirees Pay More

By Laura Zlogar

With election season behind us, we are now hearing familiar rumblings that threaten public employees’ retirement benefits.  As reported on the RFArea REA blog, on November 20, 2014, the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis, whose new CEO is Tea Party favorite and former Florida congressman Allen West, and Wisconsin’s MacIver Institute (whose leadership includes those with ties to ALEC, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, the Bradley Foundation, and other extremely conservative and libertarian causes) have taken aim at the Wisconsin pension system.  Although the system has been held up as a model for other states and Morningstar investment research company points to the system as the country’s strongest, these groups want state legislators to make serious changes to the pension system: raising the retirement age for state employees; requiring retirees to pay higher insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles; and changing the law so that current employees under age 45 can opt out of the pension program in favor of personal 401Ks and health savings accounts.

 We are all left to shake our heads at such recommendations.  When we have a pension system that is the envy of every other state in the nation, why would anyone want to make such changes?  The answer points to an ideological antagonism to public employees and to the drumbeat of privatization of every institution and service long supported by the social contract between government and its workers.

 Our state legislators must hear from their constituents on this matter.  The addresses and email addresses are available in the Directory recently sent to you.

Next Meeting—3 December 2014 at 11:00, West Wind

Brian Copp, Ruth Wood, Bernie Brohaugh, Jane Harred

Remember that to avoid conflicts with your holiday schedules, our December meeting varies from our usual third Wednesday schedule and will be held on December 3, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. at the West Wind.  Following in a tradition of the past several years, melodious members from our chapter will perform a selection of holiday music.  Members will also have an opportunity to share holiday stories and readings.  And, yes, we will undoubtedly hear Doug Johnson’s lutefisk tales!

NOTE ABOUT THE NEW MEETING SCHEDULE:  With our new monthly schedule, business meetings will be held in the months where the program for the day is a designated conversation topic. Alternating months, when there are formally scheduled speakers or presentations, there will be no business meeting. Business meetings will be held in the months where the program for the day is a designated conversation topic. Alternating months, when there are formally scheduled speakers or presentations, there will be no business meeting.  All of this information can be found on page 3 of your Directory.

We have had to make a change in the program for the March 18^th meeting.  Ruth Wood states that the focus of that meeting will be “Exploring Local History and Personal Histories.”  Area historical and genealogical experts will be invited.  Jane Harred also promises some stories about her own ancestry research, which includes murders, insane asylums, and other tantalizing stories. 

Bring in the New Year by Attending the Jan. 21, 2015 Meeting

Mark your calendars also for our meeting on January 21, 2015.  Todd Savage, UWRF Professor of School Psychology and President-Elect of the Association of School Psychologists, will discuss school diversity.  Todd’s professional interests include culturally-responsive education; culturally-responsive psychology; social justice issues; crisis prevention-intervention matters; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues as they relate to schools and counseling settings.  His publications include articles on crisis prevention and intervention in school settings and creating supportive schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths.

News You Can Use

By Jane Harred

Walker Announces Intention to Push Education Reforms

Shortly after the November 4 elections, during a visit to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Scott Walker announced his intention to introduce an education reform package early during the next legislative session.

The reforms would include a repeal of Common Core standards.  Majority leader Scott Fitzgerald has said that the legislature will make changes to the Common Core next year.  Neither Walker nor Fitzgerald provided details about the process or the changes.  The Wisconsin DPI opposes changes to the Common Core.

Walker’s reforms would also include an expansion of taxpayer-subsidized private-school vouchers.  Under discussion also is a provision to allow voucher schools to administer separate tests, not the same test public school students take, that could be later aligned with public school scores.  Charter schools have long claimed that they are not subject to state standards—despite the fact that they are supported by taxpayer dollars—and should not, therefore, be required to administer state standardized tests.

Legislators also plan to reintroduce a school accountability bill, which failed last year but is expected to pass easily this year.  The result of such legislation would allow for the sanctioning of failing public schools as well as require charter school testing.  The legislation is being promoted in Madison by former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, who is now a lobbyist for the American Federation of Children (the pro-voucher organization chaired by Betsy DeVos of Michigan, billionaire wife of Amway heir Dick DeVos), which is also a major supporter of ALEC.  Another organization with close ties to the bill is School Choice Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization promoting school vouchers, charter schools, and education privatization.

State Budget Deficit Projected at $2.2 Billion

The Wisconsin State Journal reports the state of Wisconsin faces a projected $2.2 billion budget deficit in the 2015-17 budget cycle, thirteen times what was projected for the 2013-15 budget in November 2012. 

A Walker spokesperson has promised a balanced budget, and Speaker Robin Vos says that the deficit estimate is based on budget requests that in many cases will not be funded.

The state began this year with a positive balance of over $500 million in the general fund but is now projected to end with a negative balance of some $130 million, assuming a 5% increase in revenue for this fiscal year. For the first quarter, however, revenues are more than 2% below these levels.

Reasons cited by the Journal for the deficit include current year spending, which is expected to exceed revenues by about $650 million; some $500 million in lost federal Medicaid funding; and recent tax cuts totaling $2 billion.

Your Right to Place a Security Freeze on Your Credit Report

The Wisconsin Office of Privacy Protection, part of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP), reminds consumers that they have a right to place a security freeze on their credit reports. A freeze can help protect you against some forms of identity theft.

A security freeze won’t stop thieves from making charges using your current accounts.  It will, however, prohibit the release of information on your credit report without your authorization, except to those with whom you have a current account or a collection agency acting on behalf of those with whom you have an existing account.  In other words, the security freeze greatly reduces the likelihood that a new account will be opened, or a loan taken out, in your name by someone else without your knowledge or consent.

A security freeze does cost money unless you have already been the victim of identity theft.  To initiate a security freeze, you must contact each of the three major credit bureaus and pay a $10 fee to each.  Temporary lifts of the freeze also cost $10.  Removing a freeze permanently is free, and fees are waived for victims of identity theft.

A freeze will not lower your credit score.

Addresses for the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), sample form letters you can use to request a freeze, and more detailed information can be found on DATCP’s website at http://datcp.wi.gov/uploads/Consumer/pdf/IDTheftCreditFreezeFAQ632.pdf.

Honored Members Recognized

Members of the RFArea REA have been recognized as Honored Members of the Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association.  This status is conferred to those members who have belonged to the organization for at least twenty years.  Here is the complete list of RFAreaREA Honored Members.  Congratulations!

Anne Anderson (2014)

Retta Albert (2008)

Deloise Baker (2015)

Marguerite Barker (2014)

William Barker (2014)

Charlene Bretl (2015)

Vernon Ellefson (2015)

Nancy Ellefson (2015)

Lillian Gough (2004)

Ethel Johnson (2014)

Donald Kadidlo (2015)

Gene Kreibich (2014)

Ann Krupkat (2014)

Carol Miller (2010)

Ellen Nelson (2015)

Isabel O’Connell (2014)

William Romoser (2014)

Wolfram Schubert (2014)

Inez Schubert (2014)

Margaret Timmerman (2015)

Mary Ann Tuve (2014)

Norma Welty (2014)

Ronald Wilhelmson (2015)

Bernice Wolf (2010)

 Possible Activities for Our Unit

Board members agreed at its November 19, 2014, meeting that we would gather responses from the membership on possible activities, issues, and outreach that might be appropriate for us.  At the December meeting, we will ask you to rank activities according to interest. Many of these have been borrowed from other WREA units.  If you have other ideas, please let us know.

• In June, write a letter to the editor in area newspapers thanking teachers, administrators, and support staff for a successful year.
• During American Education Week (in November), email messages are sent to superintendents to be forward to their staffs—a message of thanks, encouragement, and support.
• Unit members watch area newspapers and school board meetings for outstanding performances of teachers, administrators, staff members, students, and send out postcards (to be supplied by the unit—with members paying for the postage) to congratulate or thank them.
• Collect school supplies from September to January and choose one school to which supplies are donated.
• Establish a Teacher Grant to support a program or a class.  Teachers apply in the fall and will do a presentation in May to report on how the money was used.
• “Ready, Set, Read” program helping kindergartners strengthen their reading preparation skills.  Retired educators work individually with children for 8 weeks for 20 minutes each day teaching letter and sound recognition as well as identifying and writing letters as well as reading stories to the child.
• Attend cultural events (arranging a bus, van, or cars to attend plays, movies, concerts, exhibits)
• Organize a bus tour of interest to members.
• Sponsor events to raise money for scholarships, e.g., a silent auction at the summer picnic of items and services from local vendors, artists, and members.
• Lobby our elected representatives for issues germane to our membership (services for the elderly, health care, etc.)
• Sponsor continuing education opportunities, e.g., creative writing, genealogy research, computer basics, etc.
• Book for a Buck:  Members bring in books no longer wanted, and other members can take a book they are interested in—for a $1 donation, which will go to the scholarship fund.

Reminder to Complete Your Volunteer Form

One of the ways that Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association reminds the general public and all of its members of the continuing contribution of retired educators is to collect data from each of its members.  Gene Kreibich, chair of the Community Participation committee, reminds us that completed forms will be collected at December’s meeting.   Those forms were available at November’s meeting and will also be on hand at the December meeting.  The value of each volunteer hour is estimated at $21.79 per hour.  Your participation in the community has value, which for our unit last year amounted to $110,192.03.  Evelyn Johnson, last year’s RFArea REA Volunteer of the Year, will no doubt be hard to beat again this year.  But perhaps someone else has been particularly busy.  We will see when the completed volunteer forms are submitted.  Bring them with you in December.

What You Missed at November 19th's Meeting

The meeting of the RFArea REA on November 19, 2014, commenced our new schedule of meeting once a month from August through June.  The meeting days and times are listed in your new and improved Directory sent to you earlier via email or the post office.  October, December, February, April, and June are business meetings with time for socializing. Ruth Wood has suggested some topics of conversation for those meetings that will help members get to know one another a little better.  Meetings in November, January, March, and May feature a program or a speaker, is informal, and provides lots of time to interact with the speakers and to have lunch with your friends.

JUMP START TO LITERACY

River Falls Librarian Monica LaVold and Jump Start
 to Literacy founder Tony Pedriana

RFAreaREA member Tony Pedriana presented an introduction to an organization he has initiated in River Falls called Jump Start to Literacy.  The program addresses a need not just in this community but in every community:  preparing disadvantaged children to read.  As Tony pointed out, much needs to happen before children begin school if they are going to be ready to learn to read:  children need to have a concept of how print works (how books are oriented--front to back, upside down and right side up, left to right, pictures vs. words); letter recognition (not just singing the alphabet song but being able to recognize letters out of order); phonemic awareness (understanding separate sounds and how they can be manipulated); rapid naming of objects and colors; recall (remembering spoken information and being able to express it).  If pre-school children don't possess such skills, they will begin their education at a deficit.

After 30 years as a teacher and a principal in the Milwaukee Public schools, Tony wrote a book based on his experience and intensive research on reading instruction entitled Leaving Johnny Behind:  Overcoming Barriers to Literacy and Reclaiming At-Risk Readers (Rowan and Littlefield, 2010).  A practical outgrowth of his experience and scholarship is his Jump Start to Literacy initiative.  Working closely with Monica LaVold, the Community Liaison and Youth Services Librarian at the River Falls Public Library, and with county social agencies such as the Pierce County WIC office, WestCap, and the local food pantry, Tony has identified at-risk children in the community and is working to prepare these children for reading.

Through a series of grants, Tony's organization has been able to obtain lots of wonderful children's books to be distributed where the children are.  When parents come to the WIC office, they can pick up a book for each of their children.   At the monthly library reading events, parents can also select a book for each of their children.  WestCap social workers have been given basic literacy instruction and take books with them to family visits and encourage parents to read to their children.  RFArea REA members provided ideas for even more venues for book distribution--Turning Point, Our Neighbors' Place, and others.

Jump Start to Literacy can use some help with record keeping, book inventory, book distribution and maintenance at the various sites, and at the library events.  If anyone is interested, contact Tony Pedriana at anaped44@sbcglobal.net or (715) 426-7363.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

• Volunteerism was the theme of the day for our meeting.  Lots of suggestions were offered for those of us who have been thinking about more ways to get involved in the community.
• Salvation Army Bell Ringing:  Go to ringbells.org.  Ringers are needed at Dick’s Market, Family Fresh, and Shopko beginning November 26.
• Second Chances (715-426-5463) and Treasures From the Heart (715-425-9771) need volunteers to sort, put clothing on hangers, stock shelves, etc.
• River Falls Area Hospital (715-307-6000) needs volunteers to cover the reception desk and tend the gift kiosk.  Contact Erin Jennings.
• River Falls Public Library (715-425-0905) has a brochure available listing the many ways volunteers are used:  monitor the gallery, help with the bi-annual book sale, aid in shelf maintenance, assist as story-time readers, and perform other tasks required at the library.  
• River Falls Community Food Pantry (715-425-6880) needs volunteers to work the counter, pick up and deliver food, and do other tasks.
• River Falls Community Television Channel 16 (715-5400) needs volunteers to videotape community activities and to create content for the channel.
• Our Neighbors’ Place Day Center (715-426-9000) gives away free clothing to community in need.  Volunteers needed to sort clothing, distribute clothing, and attend the facility.
• The Kinnickinnic Backpack Program is helping 87 children in River Falls get through the weekends with a little more food.  Contact Karen Brohaugh (715-425-2539) for information about volunteering and contributing to the program.

Wisconsin Retirees' Health Insurance Being Challenged--Again

Once again, the health care benefits and funding of Wisconsin public workers--and retirees--are coming under fire.  The article, reproduced below, appeared in the Cap Times on Nov. 20, 2014.  Two recommendations (highlighted below) that would affect all of us are 1) all retirees pay higher co-pays and deductibles; 2) that current employees under age 40 be able to opt out of the system.  As we know, it is crucial that all state employees be part of the program for it to work for everyone.

A second article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that once again, an exploratory study of Wisconsin moving to a self-insured system is being initiated.  Such a move would affect more than 100,000 state employees and would "involve shifting from Wisconsin health maintenance organizations to a self-insured model in which the state works with a large private administrator, likely a large out-of-state company. Last year, GOP Gov. Scott Walker said he was considering a self-insured coverage program for state employees but made no decisions."  The full article can be found here.

WREA is the voice that we have in Madison to address these kinds of assaults on the benefits for which we as public employees worked our entire careers.  We can anticipate more moves of these sorts in the coming few years.  If you do not belong to the state WREA, there is no better time to join than now.  Below is its mission statement, available at its website:

The Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association (WREA), is an issue driven organization representing the interests of Wisconsin’s educational community.  WREA is committed to:

• Monitoring and protecting Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension benefits
• Continuing an effective legislative presence
• Advocating for high quality and effective public education
• Providing relevant retirement information
• Building and retaining members
• Providing and improving member benefits, and
• Promoting volunteerism and community service

This is also an important time to write to your state legislators.  Their contact information is available in the new Directory as well as at the state legislature's website

MacIver, NCPA suggest changes to health care benefits for Wisconsin public retirees

A report published by a Dallas-based libertarian think tank and Wisconsin's conservative MacIver Institute calls for changes to the state's health care benefit program for public retirees.

The MacIver Institute and the National Center for Policy Analysis presented the recommendations, drawn from two reports, at the state Capitol on Wednesday. One report, authored by Cato Institute senior fellow Jagadeesh Gokhale, delves into Wisconsin's pension system and calls for reforms based on that system's strengths. 

The Wisconsin Retirement System has for years received plaudits for its stability, considered one of the healthiest in the nation. The investment research firm Morningstar Inc. deemed WRS the country's strongest funded state pension system in 2012 and 2013, with a funded ratio of 99.9 percent. 

A 2012 study from the Pew Center for the States gave similar praise: Wisconsin was the only state to be ranked a "solid performer" for its funding of pensions and health care benefits for retirees. That study also found that Wisconsin was the only state with enough money set aside to cover its pension and health care obligations for public employees.

The pension system has maintained a near-100 percent funded level since 2000, even before Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers made changes to the system under Act 10.

Walker's signature legislation required covered public employees to contribute 5 percent of their salary to their retirement, along with about 12 percent of the cost of their health insurance premiums. Those contributions were previously covered by employers, a benefit achieved through collective bargaining over the years.

The policy paper offers recommendations for both the pension system and the state's post-employment health benefit program. 

MacIver Institute communications director Nick Novak said the two reports the organization released jointly with NCPA are not legislative proposals.

"We simply identified problems facing Wisconsin's Long-Term Care services and retiree pension and health care benefits and have outlined why they are problems," Novak said in an email. "The experts at NCPA also outlined possible solutions to address these challenges. Our goal is to educate the public about these and many other important policy issues facing our state."

The suggestions for the pension system include raising the retirement age and using two discount rates for current employees and retirees. 

The study assesses the state's health insurance program's actuarial accrued liability at 29 percent.

"Thus, Wisconsin’s OPEB (other post-employment benefits) obligation due to its health plan represents a significant prospective financial burden on employees and taxpayers and should be reformed. Indeed, without early and meaningful reforms, the rapid projected growth in health care costs will likely escalate this financial burden and require additional contributions from active members and state taxpayers," the report reads.

NCPA senior fellow John Graham said during Wednesday's briefing that the organization believes funding assumptions in the state's health insurance program are unrealistic, based on rosy projections of health care cost increases.

The report suggests retirees should pay higher premiums, copayments and deductibles.

It also recommends that the state close the current program for employees below age 45 and any future employees. Those employees would be shifted to a new, pre-funded plan. The most straightforward approach, Gokhale wrote, would be to introduce health savings accounts for those younger and future employees.

"A reform along these lines would go a long way toward helping the state reduce its unfunded health plan liabilities and leave more general fund revenues for developmental, environmental, education and other needs," Gokhale wrote.

Asked how the introduction of health savings accounts has fared in other states, Graham referred to Indiana as an example.

"Once it happened, they accepted it," Graham said. "It’s a point of resistance because I think there’s some ideological oppositions to health savings accounts (among unions) … once it gets done and the actual employee or retiree sees they’re controlling more of their health care dollars, they accept it and they find it empowering."

State Rep. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, circulated a bill last spring to increase the retirement age for employees under 40. 

Most employees in the Wisconsin Retirement System can retire at age 55 with reduced pensions, but must work until age 65 in order to collect full benefits. Stroebel's bill would have increased the minimum age to 57 and to 52 for police and firefighters.

Graham said during Wednesday's briefing that the organization would recommend raising the retirement age to 65.

The groups also recommend Wisconsin complete the consolidation of its retirement system by rolling in Milwaukee County's pension system, which was the only county not to be consolidated with the state in 1981.

"Since 2009, public pensions have struggled," Graham said. "The Wisconsin Retirement System stands out. It's really on a pedestal."

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jessie-opoien/maciver-ncpa-suggest-changes-to-health-care-benefits-for-wisconsin/article_277e56c8-b1f9-5646-9d86-dc77b146fe48.html#ixzz3JcwK9icC

Honored RFArea REA Members Recognized

Members of the RFArea REA have been recognized as Honored Members of WREA.  This status is conferred to those members who have belonged to the organization for at least twenty years.



The following members received this recognition:

Anne B. Anderson, River Falls

Marguerite P. Barker, River Falls

William R. Barker, River Falls

Donna M. Blegen, Spring Valley

Charlene A. Bretl, Baldwin

Nancy Ellefson, Ellsworth

Vern Ellefson, Ellsworth

Ethel L. Johnson, River Falls

Donald G. Kadidlo, Hudson

Gene H. Kreibich, River Falls

Isabel O'Connell, New Richmond

William Romoser, Woodbury, MN

Inez E. Schubert, River Falls

Wolfram E. Schubert, River Falls

Mary Ann Tuve, Hudson

Norma R. Welty, St. Paul, MN

Ronald L. Wilhemson, Richfield, MN

Two others from our unit have already been granted this recognition earlier.  They are Ellen L Nelson of Spring Valley and Margaret Timmerman of River Falls.

A ceremony in December will make presentations to those members able to attend the meeting.

Terrific Turnout for November's Book Discussion

The RFArea REA's November book discussion drew a dozen members to talk about Amanda Ripley's 2013 The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way.  Ripley follows three American AFS exchange students--from rural Oklahoma, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Minnetonka, Minnesota--as they experience three of the most high-performing school systems in the world, Finland, Poland, and South Korea.  Ripley's purpose is to compare the curricula, academic environments, and educational experiences of American and international students.

 In attendance were Nancy Peters, Dave Peters, Marylin Plansky, Tony Pedriana, Karen Brohaugh, Bernie Brohaugh, Larry Harred, Jane Harred, Ethel Johnson, Ruth Wood, Cheryl Maplethorpe, and Laura Zlogar.

A lively discussion focused on a number of topics raised by the book.  We talked about the lack of rigor that Ripley noted in her comparison of American and international classrooms.  Tony Pedriana concurred, citing his own experience of 35 years in the classroom and as a principal in the Milwaukee public schools, as did a number of others around the table.  Students in many American schools are not held to high standards, are not required to do work of high quality or quantity, and are often more concerned about extracurricular activities than they are about their academic performance.  Another contrast Ripley noted was in teacher candidate selection and preparation.  In America, education students are often not at the top of their class, do not achieve high scores on SATs or ACTs, and are not subjected to a challenging curriculum and training unlike those in other countries.  Members of our group agreed that colleges of education need to be more selective and to provide their students with more knowledge and tools to become better teachers.  But we all agreed that it is not likely to happen unless a more serious crisis of some sort brings it about.

Part of our conversation included the role that teachers' unions and tenure play in American education.  Ripley points out that in Poland and Finland, teachers unions were very important in representing the interests and rights of teachers as well as students.  When Ripley asked principals abroad about whether unions prevented their dismissal of poor teachers, she was told that poor teachers are never hired; therefore, they had no need to dismiss them.  Clearly, the training and hiring of teachers in
these countries are very different than in America where poor teaching can and does occur.  As a public school teacher for 14 years and as a student teacher supervisor for many years, Ruth Wood expressed the ambivalence many of us feel about providing due process for teachers through tenure while acknowledging that it can also lead to teachers who grow complacent and lazy after achieving it sometimes in as short a period as 18 months.

We also talked about parental involvement in children's education, the role of the community, legislatures, and the federal government in standardized testing, the Core Curriculum, and expectations of schools, teachers, and students.  While we were only able to scratch the surface of many of these topics, we will undoubtedly raise them once more when we come together again to discuss our next book.

This book discussion proved once again to be thought-provoking and stimulating, giving us an occasion to talk about ideas and issues that, as former educators, still concern us.

Next on our reading list is Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars:  A History of America's Most Embattled Profession.  The date and time for that discussion will be announced as soon as we can determine what works best for everyone.

Here are some reviewers' statements regarding the book:

"[A] lively account of the history of teaching ... The Teacher Wars suggests that to improve our schools, we have to help teachers do their job the way higher-achieving nations do: by providing ­better preservice instruction, offering newcomers more support from well-trained mentors and opening up the “black box” classroom so teachers can observe one another without fear and share ideas. Stressing accountability, with no ideas for improving teaching, Goldstein says, is 'like the hope that buying a scale will result in losing weight.' Such books may be sounding the closing bell on an era when the big ideas in school reform came from economists and solutions were sought in spreadsheets of test data."
—New York Times Book Review

“Why are today's teachers pictured simultaneously as superheroes and villains? In clear, crisp language, Dana Goldstein answers that question historically by bringing to life key figures and highlighting crucial issues that shaped both teachers and teaching over the past century. Few writers about school reform frame the context in which teachers have acted in the past. Goldstein does exactly that in thoughtfully explaining why battles over teachers have occurred then and now.”
—Larry Cuban, Professor Emeritus of Education, Stanford University