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"No Child Left Behind" must be fixed, say Kansas delegates

Teacher working conditions, student achievement, school finance also hot topics

Student achievement and teacher working conditions are among the myriad of issues that influence Kansas public schools. Nearly 500 Locally elected delegates from across Kansas, who set KNEA policy and guidelines, discussed these issues and more at the Kansas NEA Representative Assembly (RA) April 13-15 in Topeka.

Concerns about "No Child Left Behind" were raised by local delegates, by KNEA President Blake West, and by guests such as Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson, NEA Vice President Dennis Van Roekel and Kansas Teacher of the Year Josh Anderson.

Delegates voiced concerns that NCLB is harmful to teaching and learning.  Delegate and speakers noted the negative impact to students of testing, the need for class sizes that are appropriate to serving students and the damage of unfunded mandates.

Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the legislation in 2007. NEA is in the forefront of the effort to improve NCLB, offering an opportunity to make it more workable and more responsive to the real needs of children. Former KNEA President Christy Levings, who is serving on an NEA committee to fix NCLB, shared NEA's resources, including the "Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization ," that spell out detailed recommendations to make the law better.

The delegates honored:
KNEA Friend of Education - Kansas Food Bank
Fed children learn better. That's why the Kansas Food Bank started Food 4 Kids, which provides backpacks of nutritious "kid friendly" foods every week to kids in need. The bags of food require no preparation; kids can just "open and eat". The program serves over 2,600 students in 146 schools in 46 districts and in 86 counties. Food 4 Kids is a statewide partnership with the Kansas Food Bank, Davis-Moore Automotive, Dillions and KWCH 12, all in Wichita.

KNEA Friend of Education Award presentation (l-r) KNEA Board Member Dorothy Rucker, Walnut Valley President Deb Hargrove, Kansas Food Bank President Brian Walker, KNEA President Blake West.

KNEA Honors Excellence in Teaching - Lori Atkins Goodson, a seventh-grade language arts teacher at Wamego Middle School
Goodson advocates for exemplary professional development as a key to student achievement. She is an award-winning teaching and a member of 2007 Kansas Teacher of the Year team. She talked to delegates about quality professional development and the time needed for reaching all students at all levels in all subject areas. Goodson will now be the Kansas nominee for the NEA Teaching Excellence Award. At left, KNEA President presents Lori Atkins Goodson to the KNEA RA delegation.

Epperson-Peters Award - Pittsburg State University/KNEA
Intellectual property rights is a negotiable item. That on-going battle has been fought and won by Pittsburg State University/KNEA since 1998 when PSU unilaterally changed a policy that said all materials produced were the property of PSU. PSU/KNEA contended intellectual property rights directly relate to wages and promotion and neither state nor federal law preempts the subject of intellectual property from being included in negotiations. PSU/KNEA won rulings from the Kansas Public Employee Relation Board (PERB) and the Kansas Supreme Court. The case is still on appeal.  Photo - L-R: KNEA General Counsel David Schauner, PSU-KNEA President Bob Kehle, UniServ Southeast Director Tony White participated in the awards ceremony.

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