Notes from Camp, 2009: July 6

Monday, July 6

The last state caucus of the RA always makes for a special morning. There is, of course, a certain amount of business to be transacted, but by this time the elections have been held and we've already established positions on most of the RA's business items. Two items tended to stick out at this year's final caucus.

First, it was time for the delegates to say goodbye to Becky Slaughter, OEA's Manager of Governance Relations, who has been the den mother to many Ohio delegations over the years and will be retiring before the next RA. There is a tradition at the last caucus of auctioning off the state caucus sign, which is usually done on a 4' x 3' piece iof foam board. Proceeds of the auction go to NEA's Fund for Children and Public Education. For this RA, delegates made cash donations--all in official PAC collection envelopes--that were collected by the district leaders. Auctioneer Mike Dossie conducted a sham auction, with the amounts going much higher than they ever have before. Finally, Jerry Oberhaus, chairperson of the District Leaders' Council, stepped forward with a stupendous bid of $4,230. When he went up to claim his prize, Jerry called all the other district presidents to the front of the room, and they then called Becky to the front and presented her with the most expensive piece of posterboard in San Diego!

Second, the NEA Annual Meeting constitutes a sort of victory lap for those who have retired: their membership status is still in effect, and thus this is their last time to serve as representatives of active members. We wished well to some old NEOEA friends today.

• Jené Wilson, an ACCESS member (Cuyahoga County Board of DD), has been an Association volunteer for many years and is a member of the NEOEA Board of Directors;
• Warren Hershberger, a member of the Barberton EA, an outgoing member of the OEA and NEOEA Boards of Directors and chairperson of the NEOEA Board's Summer Leadership Subcommittee.
  
• Dianne Noice, outgoing president of Independence EA, past chairperson of NEOEA Resolutions and OEA Resolutions, past member of the NEA Resolutions Committee, former NEA Director, and past NEOEA president;
• Bill Noice, retired from the Hudson EA, also a past NEOEA president and former NEA director, who has not been a delegate for several years but has been the Ohio delegation's unofficial photographer for years.

Once at the RA, business started in earnest.

• Delegates passed NBI 53, which proved more controversial than might have been expected. The NBI calls for requirements that school facilities be hygienic, and custodial members feared that this would result in an unfunded mandate. The item passed anyway.
• NBI 61 calls for tighter control over the finances of NEA special-interest caucuses.
• Delegates replaced a proposed NBI 62 with a more moderate one that calls for examination of national standards and their impact on education.
• Delegates defeated NBI 66, which would have required NEA officer compensation to be made more readily available. (That information is already available on the Department of Labor website.)
• NBI 68 puts NEA on record as concerned about an apparently horrendous situation involving the "school committee" (we would say "board of education" of East Providence, RI, which recently unilaterally imposed non-negotiated contract terms on its employees.
• Delegates passed NBI 69, which puts NEA on records as supporting the unionization of employees of the "new Delta Airlines."
• NBI 80 puts NEA on record as supporting character education, without very clearly identifying just what the term means.
• NBI 82 reaffirms NEA's support of the Employee Free Choiice Act, designed to make it easier for employees to unionize.

Perhaps the most interesting dialogue today occurred when President Dennis Van Roekel ruled NBI 72 out of order. NBI 72 would have encouraged schools to become "sanctuaries" for illegal alliens. Dennis ruled it out of order because it would have been in violation of federal law. The maker of the motion appealed the decision of the chair, but delegates overwhelmingly supported Van Roekel's decision on a voice vote.

Delegates honored the 2009 Friend of Education, Linda Darling-Hammond, whose research on teacher quality has made her a powerful force in the education reform movement and helped spark the National Board Certified Teacher system.

Delegates said goodbye to retiring 41-year NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin. During his time as NEA general counsel, Chanin argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court - winning four of them - and filed 25 briefs. The hot item of apparel this week has been a T-shirt with a caricature of Chanin printed on the front and "Show Us Your Amicus Briefs" printed on the back. Chanin, as noted for his dry wit as for his legal prowess, is a popular figure with delegates, who generally cheer when he comes forward to deliver a legal opinion. But in his first and last speech from the center podium, he had a serious message: "Teaching is not akin to the clergy. (and) it is not unprofessional or immoral for teachers to make a living wage," he said.

(For a colleague's view--quite funny, actually--of Bob's career at NEA, see the article online at http://www.nea.org/grants/33284.htm.)

The Louisiana delegation invited delegates to New Orleans, site of next year's RA, and showed a video. Newly-elect officers accepted their positions and expressed their thanks, and finally Bob Chanin consulted his watch as he has for many years and announced that the adjournment time (subject of many pools within delegations) would be recorded officially as 6:53 PM. (This was a welcome development: some delegates remember RAs that went beyond midnight on the last day.)

WSL

For a look online at the work of the Annual Meeting, check out www.nea.org/annualmeeting.
For NEA's Annual Meeting Blog, go to http://nea-ra.blogspot.com.