(full disclosure: CTA has hired me to do blog outreach on NCLB)  cross-posted on DailyKos

Teachers, lawmakers and San Francisco labor leaders came together today to present House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a garage door-sized CTA postcard about the current NCLB re-authorization draft.  The 8-foot by 12-foot postcard was signed by nearly 1,000 teachers.  Since the big one would not fit in the door, they dropped off a off a poster-sized picture of the big postcard to her 14th floor office.  Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi was not in her office to receive her visitors and their gift.

(sorry for the size, but wanted people to be able to read the text)

CTA Vice President Dean Vogel:

The Miller-Pelosi NCLB reauthorization plan will make it harder to attract and retain quality teachers in California classrooms. It continues to rely on testing as the measurement of student and school success. It creates a new federal mandate to pay and evaluate teachers based on student test scores. Test scores don’t fairly measure student achievement and cannot be used to accurately evaluate and pay teachers.

Here is Dean at the press conference.  He is the sweetest man, the kind of guy I wish I had as a teacher.

A few state politicians joined the teachers in speaking out against this NCLB draft.  Sen. Leland Yee, with his unique credentials said:

Tying a student test score to a teacher evaluation or merit pay is an improper use of student assessment.  As a child psychologist, I understand that there are many factors that contribute to a student’s performance. I support the efforts of CTA to stop this latest version of NCLB, which only makes a bad law even worse.

There is a letter circulating the state capitol that many Democrats in the legislature have signed on to, calling on Pelosi to oppose the merit pay and other harmful one-size fits all education proposals in the reauthorization plan.  Here is an excerpt:

We urge you instead to help reshape this measure into one that would empower districts and local associations,” the letter states, in part. “Together, teachers and district administrators can develop proposals that include workable and productive means for recognizing teachers while improving the professional development of all teachers.

The event today is getting notice in the education community.  David Hoff over at the excellent NCLB blog at Education Weekly said:

In San Francisco today, the California Teachers Association will hold a news conference outside the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The NEA affiliate will unveil a postcard opposing the House draft that 1,000 California teachers signed. The news advisory, which is not online, says the postcard is the size of a garage door. The CTA has its own legislative alert.
This is quite a public display of the union’s power, and it’s over a discussion draft. What’s going to be next?

The answer is whatever it takes to get this thing right.  It is too important not to be pulling out all the stops.  California’s children are counting on us to make sure that NCLB is fixed.  The quality of their education is at stake.  That is why you see the blog ads, state politicians speaking out, and postcards signed by a thousand teachers.

Find out more on the CTA NCLB website.

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6th in a series.  See earlier posts:

Nancy Pelosi and George Miller are getting it wrong: NO on NCLB

Getting George Miller’s Attention and the Bad Miller/Pelosi NCLB Bill

Merit Pay and NCLB: George Miller Still Getting it Wrong

School Progress Assessment: George Miller and NCLB

More Reasons to Oppose the George Miller/Pelosi NCLB Proposal