2009 AFT Robert G. Porter Scholars Program applications now available -- Deadline for the applications to the AFT's Porter Scholars Program is March 31, 2009
2009 CFL Scholarship Applications Now Available Online
The Chicago Federation of Labor offers five academic-based scholarships and five random-drawing scholarships of $2,000 to students graduating from a Chicago or suburban-area high school. DUE: March 2, 2009.
Holiday bargains online through AFT Advantage -- because you belong
Make sure to enroll your AFT membership card to receive our special discounts. If you have not yet registered you AFT Card, do it now.
Holiday Greetings -- Order some beautiful 100 percent union-printed holiday cards. Choose from a unique selection at The Union Shop Online for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any winter holiday you celebrate.
| UPDATES |
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Read Eastern's November Newsletter
Read the Dec. 15 IFT Legislative Update
Read the Dec. 12 IBHE Friday Memo.
>> IBHE Approves Public Agenda for Illinois Higher Education (IBHE Friday Memo, Dec. 12)
Read the Nov. 21 Chicago Federation of Labor Legislative Update
Read the Dec. 12 Friday Alert from the Alliance for Retired Americans
Read the update from Medicare Rights Center: Dear Marci, Medicare Part D and more!
| RESOURCES |
|---|
• Use union hotels Get listings of union hotels and job actions at the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) web site. JUST CLICK
• Buy a union-made car, at the UAW web site. JUST CLICK
• Look for all kinds of other services and products, like a union printer, musician or contractor, among others check on the Chicago Federation of Labor web site. JUST CLICK
| NEWS |
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• Tuesday, Jan. 27
• 9 a.m. Where:
• President Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Conference Center, Springfield,
IL
IBHE approves Public Agenda for Illinois higher education (IBHE Friday Memo, Dec. 12)
ILschools
Carnegie Foundation Recognizes 119 Colleges for Community Engagement -- Including Northern Illinois University (Outreach and Partnerships) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Curricular Engagement & Outreach and Partnerships). (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 18)
Kellogg School of Management accidentally sends acceptance letters to 50 rejected applicants 50 applicants mistakenly told they had made it into prestigious school (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 18)
Charter schools Obama praised ripped at board meeting -- Teachers, parents and students complained about the new breed of Chicago schools President-elect Barack Obama touted the day before when he tapped Chicago's school chief to be his U.S. secretary of education. (Chicago Sun-Times, Dec. 18
Richland officials say college is well-positioned to meet state's financial challenges (Decatur Herald & Review, Dec. 16)
Organization protests loss of services at UI health center (Champaign News-Gazette, Dec. 17)
Williams College's President Will Lead Northwestern U. (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 16)
Local developer buys U of I dorms (Crain's Chicago Business, Dec. 16)
SIU board approves alternative tuition (Belleville News-Democrat, Dec. 16)
Classics may get axed Budget woes put courses in ancient Greek, advanced study in Latin at risk (Chicago Sun-Times, Dec. 16)
U. of Illinois Cancels Plans for a Wind Turbine, Using Money to Tackle Deferred Maintenance (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 15)
Colleges give new aid to keep students afloat -- Additional grants, higher wages and lowered tuition help in a rough economy (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 15)
Wind turbine plan scrapped by University of Illinois (Champaign News-Gazette, Dec. 12)
Increase in room and board rates possible for next year Prices for 2009 are up 13 percent (Daily Eastern News, Dec. 12)
ILnews
Former Sit-In Workers Celebrate -- Several former Republic Window and Door employees celebrated the end of their six-day sit-in by joining the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow PUSH headquarters. (WBBM News Radio, Dec. 14)
Labor Victory in Chicago (The Nation, Dec. 11)
What does deal for Chicago's Republic Windows & Doors workers mean? Sit-in that attracted national attention has ended successfully, and workers hope someone will reopen factory (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 12)
FutureGen Alliance buys land for plant near Mattoon (Champaign News-Gazette, Dec. 12)
Safety
Rules Seek to Clarify FERPA -- Post-Virginia Tech, Education Department wants to assure colleges about the student information they can release. The new regulations state explicitly that in the case of a health or safety emergency, a college can disclose information about students without their permission. (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 9)
Money
Cutting a Program — to Save It? -- In midst of budget crisis, New Jersey lawmakers vote to limit access to popular college aid programs and to require some grant recipients to pick up more of tuition tab. (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 18)
Grim State Budgets Could Mean $100 Billion Shortfall (AFL-CIO Now Blog, Dec. 16)
Yeshiva Says It Lost $110-Million in Madoff Case, and Another Trustee Steps Down (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Dec. 16)
Yale Says Budget Cuts Needed After 25-Percent Drop in Endowment (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Dec. 16)
11 States Receive Grants to Improve Their Colleges' Productivity -- including Indiana and Wisconsin. (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 16)
College Groups Ask for Piece of Economic-Stimulus Bill (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 15)
Colleges Students Squeezed by Rising Costs, Less Aid -- The second of a two-part series. (Lehrer NewsHour, Dec. 12)
OPINION: Higher Ed In Hard Times Better to reform than to raise tuition. (Forbes Magazine, Dec. 11)
Colleges Students Squeezed by Rising Costs, Less Aid -- John Tulenko of Learning Matters Television takes a look at the impact of rising higher education costs in the second of a two-part series. (Lehrer NewsHour, Dec. 12)
News Analysis: Colleges That Are Cutting Might Want to Consider, What Would Warren Do? (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 12)
Colleges have been announcing "prudent" cuts, citing endowment losses. Some people think it's time for those institutions to invest -- in themselves -- instead (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 12)
Schools Nationally
Arkansas Senator on Obama Appointments, Higher Ed Program (MSNBC, Dec. 17)
Hana Alberts On Higher Education (Forbes, Dec. 17)
US: For Obama, split looms over education reform -- With the selection of Arne Duncan as the next secretary of Education, President-elect Obama has chosen a diplomatic reformer. (Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 18)
Shovel-Ready' on Campus -- Earlier this week the Carnegie Corporation of New York took out a two-page ad in the New York Times, signed by executives of 36 public universities, state university systems and higher-education associations, urging Congress and President-elect Obama to rescue them. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 17)
Missouri: Schools Takeover Upheld -- The Missouri Supreme Court has affirmed the state takeover of the St. Louis school system, which has struggled for years with poor finances and student test scores. (New York Times, Dec. 18)
Georgia’s largest school system opts out of state rules State must still OK special contract with Gwinnett schools (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 17)
Tackling 'No Child' tops Duncan's list (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 17)
Higher Education: Take a Lesson from Health Care (Huffington Post, Dec. 16)
Obama Pledge Stirs Hope in Early Education -- President-elect Barack Obama’s pledge for preschoolers would amount to the largest new initiative for young children since Head Start began in 1965. (New York Times, Dec. 16)
A gray future for a black college in Georgia? -- Students wonder whether Albany State University will lose its culture, and special status, under a plan to merge with a majority-white school. (Los Angeles Times, Dec. 16)
President Bush Delivers Final Commencement Address (Chronicle of HIgher Ed, Dec. 12)
President Bush Delivers Final Commencement Address -- President Bush checked another item off his list of “lasts” today, delivering his final commencement address as the 43rd president in an appearance at Texas A&M University at College Station. (Chronicle of HIgher Ed, Dec. 12)
Obama's choice on education Which way Obama will push the nation on schools is unclear, but the priorities must be accountability, funding and learning. (Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12)
20 Years Later: How One Flagship Has Changed -- Competitive pressures and big ambitions have led to sharp spending increases at the U. of Kansas — and a bigger burden on students (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Dec. 12)
And Schools Internationally
Opponents of British Faculty Union's Israeli Boycott Say Legal Threat Has Blocked It (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 17)
'WE'RE NOT BACKING DOWN' York U. protesters sit in Teaching assistants, students demonstrate outside president's office as strike drags on (Toronto Star, Dec. 16)
Long-Awaited Report Calls for Broad Overhaul of Australian Higher Education (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 16)
Bryn Mawr College Considers Opening Campus in Abu Dhabi (Chronicle of HIgher Ed, Dec. 12)
India's Faculty Shortage Hits Elite Business Schools (Chronicle of HIgher Ed, Dec. 12)
Bob Kerrey Meets With New School Faculty Members Who Question His Leadership (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 16)
In Georgia, Stir Over Plan for Black Colleges -- As Georgia faces a potential $2 billion budget deficit, a state senator has created a stir with a plan for reducing education spending: merge two historically black universities in Albany and Savannah with nearby mostly white institutions. (New York Times, Dec. 14)
How to Reinvent Accreditation (and Not by Using Geography) (Chronicle of Higher Ed Dec. 12)
Curriculum & Instruction
OPINION: Most Textbooks Should Just Stay On the Shelf -- Many teachers are leaping beyond the textbook industry by writing their own chapters in biophysics, nanotechnology and other emerging fields and posting them online (Washington Post, Dec. 15)
What Louisiana Can Teach -- As states and the federal government consider ways to improve teacher-preparation programs, they should look to Louisiana's accountability-based reform efforts. (New York Times, Dec. 12)
Solidarity in the face of an intensive anti-union campaign paid off for more than 700 research assistants at the State University of New York Research Foundation at Stony Brook who this month voted to join the Communications Workers of America. (AFL-CIO Now Blog, Dec. 15)
The Adjunctification of English -- Without anyone paying much attention, professors have substantially been replaced by part timers and those off the tenure track when it comes to teaching English and writing to undergraduates. (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 11)
AAUP Takes Up Case of Part-Time Professor Let Go in Idaho (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Dec. 12)
Academic Freedom
Free-Speech Group Says Most Colleges Violate the First Amendment (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 15)
Faculty / Staff
Disappearing Jobs MLA reports 21% drop in positions in English and foreign languages — steepest decline in 34 years association has collected information on openings. Percentage of English jobs on tenure track also falls. (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 18)
Bias Against Older Candidates -- Everyone knows that colleges doing faculty hiring can’t bar people from applying if they are over 40 (or some other cutoff). That’s age discrimination and that’s illegal. (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 17)
The Academic Work Force, 2007 -- The economic downturn may portend contraction of college staffs in the offing. But an annual federal report finds continued growth, particularly in instructional staff and administrative professionals. (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 12)
Bringing Tenure Into the Digital Age (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Dec. 12)
Students
Late to Rise Seems to Make Students Wise -- Students earn higher grades in late-afternoon classes than in early-morning classes, says a new paper by two economists. (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 16)
Who Needs a 5-Day Schedule? -- Students aren’t flocking to programs to cram a full courseload in one day, but the ability to be on campus just two days a week may have staying power. (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 15)
Mental disorders common among students (Daily Eastern News, Dec. 12)
Colorado grads unready in college -- One-third of students from Colorado's high schools require remedial classes (Denver Post, Dec. 12)
National News
LaHood to join Obama’s Cabinet as transportation secretary (Springfield State Journal-Register, Dec. 17
The 'Certified' Teacher Myth - It doesn't help classroom performance -- Like all unions, teachers unions have a vested interest in restricting the labor supply to reduce job competition. Traditional state certification rules help to limit the supply of "certified" teachers. But a new study suggests that such requirements also hinder student learning. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13)
Bush's Legacy in Higher Education: a Matter of Debate (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 19)
Uncertainty on Obama Education Plans (New York Times, Dec. 13)
Illinois Federation of Teachers
Union women earn more, have better benefits (Illinois Federation of Teachers, Dec. 18)
Nominations sought to fill IFT Executive Board vacancy (IFT) -- Due Jan. 5.
Chicago Rush arena football welcomes IFT Members -- The IFT FamilyFest to the Chicago Rush is planned for March 7 and May 8.
AFT
AFT 'Extremely Disappointed' in Failure of Auto Bailout -- It is "extremely disappointing that the auto bailout package sunk because Senate Republicans chose politics, parochial interests and a penchant for union-busting above righting the national economic ship," AFT President Randi Weingarten said. (AFT Leadernet, Dec. 18)
Education and Democracy Top Shanker Institute Agenda (AFT Leadernet, Dec. 18)
Agriculture Secretary Nominee Vilsack Is Friend of AFT (AFT Leadernet, Dec. 17)
Educators Praise Obama’s Choice of Duncan as Ed. Secretary (AFL-CIO Now Blog, Dec. 16)
Building Minds, Minding Buildings: School Infrastructure Funding Need. A state-by-state assessment and an analysis of recent court cases. (AFT, December)
AFT's Road Map to Green and Sustainable Schools highlights the work of AFT members and affiliates nationwide involved in ensuring that our schools are designed and built in healthy and sustainable ways. One of the schools highlighted is Chicago's Tarkington School of Excellence.
OPINION: A Union of Interests -- The national teachers chief [AFT President Randi Weingarten] and the D.C. chancellor should find a way to work together. (Washington Post, Dec. 15)
AFT, Other Groups Protest Tax Break for Large Banks (AFT Leadernet, Dec. 15)
American Federation of Teachers Robert G. Porter Scholars Program -- This program offers four 4-year, $8,000 post-secondary scholarships to students who are dependents of AFT members, as well as 10 one-time $1,000 grants to AFT members to assist with their continuing education. Due March 31, 2009.
Albuquerque Assistants Win Raises and Respect -- Members of the Albuquerque Educational Assistants Association have overwhelmingly ratified a contract proposal that will provide retroactive raises of more than 5 percent. (AFT Leadernet, Dec. 9; if you cannot access Leadernet, click here and write me a note. I can authorize UPI member)
The AIDS Crisis at Home and Abroad (AFT story)
Caterpillar cuts ties with more contract workers -- Caterpillar Inc. said it would cut an unspecified number of contract workers in Decatur, Ill., as part of its ongoing efforts to slash costs in a tough economy. (Chicago Sun-Times, Dec. 17)
Solidarity in the face of an intensive anti-union campaign paid off for more than 700 research assistants at the State University of New York Research Foundation at Stony Brook who this month voted to join the Communications Workers of America. (AFL-CIO Now Blog, Dec. 15)
Discord rises within SAG over strike vote -- Union leaders face mounting opposition from members who question the wisdom of holding a strike authorization during a recession. (Los Angeles Times, Dec. 16)
States’ Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up -- As unemployment levels soar, some states -- including Indiana -- are out of money to pay benefits. (New York Times, Dec. 14)
Workers at the World’s Largest Meatpacking Plant Choose Union Representation (The Earth Times, Dec. 12)
UAW: Union Willing to Go Extra Mile to Save Auto Industry -- A small minority of Republican senators put the entire American economy in danger in an attempt to bust a union contract and drive down workers’ wages. (AFL-CIO Now Blog, Dec. 12)
Workers at the World’s Largest Meatpacking Plant Choose Union Representation (The Earth Times, Dec. 12)
UAW: Union Willing to Go Extra Mile to Save Auto Industry -- A small minority of Republican senators put the entire American economy in danger in an attempt to bust a union contract and drive down workers’ wages. (AFL-CIO Now Blog, Dec. 12)
American Federation of Teachers' Robert G. Porter Scholars Program -- This program offers four 4-year, $8,000 post-secondary scholarships to students who are dependents of AFT members, as well as 10 one-time $1,000 grants to AFT members to assist with their continuing education. Due March 31, 2009.
Health care & pensions
Motorola Freezes Pensions --Motorola on Wednesday announced it will permanently freeze its U.S. pension plans, temporarily suspend all matching contributions to its 401(k) plan and freeze some salaries for 2009. (Chicago WBBM NewsRadio, Dec. 17)
AFT Healthcare Leaders Look at Ways To Protect Quality -- With the country on perilous ground economically, the winter meeting of AFT Healthcare's program and policy council focused on the impact the recession is having on healthcare. (AFT Leadernet, Dec. 16)
Take Action
Tell Concordia Coffee: Too Cold (United Students Against Sweatshops, Dec. 18)
Tell N.C. State: End Racist Policies Now! (Dec. 9)
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