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NEA Joins NAACP in Support of Big Banks
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 24, 2011, 12:14 pm   

 

One would assume that the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union, would have their hands full with the labor and education battles heating up all over the country, but they are once again meddling in partisan politics with lobbying Congress in support of banks and exorbitant debit card fees.

The NEA joins the NAACP in backing legislation that would delay new limits on debit-card fees under the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Among the many components of the law, the new policy would limit and cap bank imposed debit card fees on consumers.

"While the Durbin amendment is a well-meaning attempt to benefit merchants of all sizes ... it is becoming clearer that it may have unintended consumer impacts," the NEA wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. "Further study is warranted to determine if the proposed federal controls on interchange fees for debit swipes ... will meaningfully benefit merchants and their consumers."

Federal legislation was introduced earlier this month that would stop the Federal Reserve from finalizing rules that would drastically limit debit-card fees. Those rules were set to take effect in April, but a bill introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) would delay the rules for two years as the matter is studied.

The NEA is just one of the non-banking groups spending countless dollars on lobbying for a cause that is unrelated to education. While this is nothing new for the NEA, it isn't sitting well with their liberal supporters who pushed the bill in 2010. There is no word about how Bank of America, NEA's preferred bank provider, stands to benefit from this delay.

Do you think this is a wise use for membership dues?
Comment below.
Originally posted by Alix at AAE.

 
Head of the Class 2.0
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 23, 2011, 10:08 am   

 

Twitter. People are still abuzz about it. What about Twitter + classroom discussions? This communication trend tool in the classroom is only picking up speed. The benefits of emerging technologies like Twitter outweigh the downfalls. Look at this interactive class at the University of Texas at Dallas using Twitter to increase student engagement."

 
Unions Forsake Teachers for Raw Political Power
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 22, 2011, 04:13 pm   


During the recent statewide debate on Idaho’s education reform bills, I noted in a letter to the editor that due to a seeming lack of teachers speaking in favor of the bills, one might wrongly think they had no teacher support.  While many members of Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) strongly oppose elements of Superintendent Luna’s plan, our member survey clearly showed a variety of views, including support for many portions of the plan.  I made the point that teacher support for the bills was never heard, because teachers who do not toe the union line risk harassment at the hands of some union colleagues.  Fear of blackballing and the desire to maintain labor peace in an already stressful job has spawned an unhealthy “group think” that is impairing the free marketplace of ideas critical for innovation and improvement.

 
Performance Pay Developments
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 22, 2011, 12:15 pm   

Performance pay continues to be one of the most hot-button education reform policies being proposed by reformers and lawmakers across the country. Last week, Senate Bill 736 passed in Florida and it is now awaiting Governor Scott's signature. Among other broad reforms, the Florida bill is one of the most progressive in terms of performance pay, also known as merit pay. It requires 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation to be based on state standardized tests or other national, local, or industry measures for those subjects not gauged at the state level and evaluations are based on four distinct levels of teacher performance.
 
Union Legislation Spreads across the U.S.
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 21, 2011, 03:30 pm   
The fight in Wisconsin is far from over. Last week, Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order barring the new law until she can rule whether Republicans violated Wisconsin's open meetings law. While this is a setback for the Wisconsin legislation, other states are following Governor Walker's lead and are in various stages of pushing labor reform legislation.
 
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