Volume 16, Issue 6
February, 2008
MCALLEN AFT NEWS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Time to Vote
How you vote is your personal decision. For those members who are voting in either the Republican or Democratic primary, we invite you (members only!) to visit our Web site’s “Member Page” for a look at the Texas AFT’s endorsements in key, contested Republican or Democratic primaries, depending on which party primary you intend to vote in.
As a member, you also can see Texas AFT’s analysis of key votes in the Texas Senate and Texas House that helped guide the endorsement decisions of our Texas AFT Committee on Political Education. Texas AFT COPE is led by the presidents of the Texas AFT local affiliates around the state and our two statewide, elected officers, President Linda Bridges and Secretary-Treasurer John O’Sullivan. Statewide chair of Texas AFT Cope is Juan Guerra (brother of Joe Guerra, McAllen AFT VP), President of Corpus Christi AFT.
On Election day, March 4, you are entitled to participate in your party’s precinct convention at your polling place at March 4 at 7:15 p.m. This year interest in the precinct conventions is particularly strong on the Democratic side, because turnout at the Democratic precinct conventions will decide which presidential candidate wins 67 of the 228 Texas delegates to the Democratic national convention. (Votes cast in the primary itself will determine how 126 delegates are apportioned; the other 35 slots are reserved for elected officeholders and party officials.) So be at your regular polling place on March 4, at 7:15 p.m. and signing in for the presidential candidate of your choice. Each candidate will ultimately receive a batch of 67 delegates based on supporters showing up and signing at the precinct conventions.
In case you’re wondering, on the Republican side turnout at precinct conventions will not affect presidential delegate selection.
All but three of the 140 Republican presidential delegates from Texas will be allocated based on votes cast in the March 4 primary; the other three slots are reserved for Republican Party of Texas leaders.
Saint Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for thousands of years.
On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.
Over the next thirty-five years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called "Irish Aid" societies, like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society.
Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.
Overhaul NCLB
AFT Teacher Council Weighs NCLB Overhaul: AFT staffer Mike Rose has filed a report expanding on our coverage of the intense NCLB discussion at last week's AFT Teachers division policy council in San Antonio. Here are some noteworthy excerpts: "Against the backdrop of growing member and public dissatisfaction with the No Child Left Behind Act, the AFT Teachers division program and policy council discussed the need for a
totally different approach that would return this keystone federal education law to its original aim of funding schools in poverty.
"NCLB, as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act has become known under the Bush administration, dominated discussion at the divisional meeting, held February 19-21 in San Antonio. The law is goading states and districts into a frenzy of over-testing, leaders warned, and it continues to be driven by unrealistic achievement targets that ultimately will lead all schools to be labeled failures. These are systemic flaws that will require Congress to consider fundamental changes now that the law is up for reauthorization, AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese stressed. "The council also examined a new Peter D. Hart Research survey of AFT members showing that NCLB anger among front-line educators continues to grow. Almost two out of three teachers (64 percent) feel the current law has a negative effect on public education, a number that has almost doubled in five years.
Several members commented that the law's rigid, punitive tone continues to undermine classroom support, and too many decisions tied to the law are being made without the input of educators in the classroom.
'Teachers are tired of riding the bench when they know they have the expertise to coach the team,' said Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers. "The council also adopted a resolution urging affiliates to develop peer assistance and review (PAR) programs for new teachers and sent it to the AFT executive council for review and consideration at the 2008 national convention.
The draft underscores the union's longstanding dedication to teacher quality and its 25-year history with successful PAR programs in such districts as Toledo, Ohio; Rochester, New York; and New York City.
The proposed resolution also pledges AFT's active support for assisting a growing number of locals interested in this 'opportunity to take back our profession,' noted policy and planning council chair Fran Lawrence, who is also president of the Toledo Federation of Teachers.... "Divisional leaders also adopted a resolution highlighting 'Charting the Course,' AFT's education agenda to reach all children.