Atlanta
UPDATED
Here’s a look at the newsiest new business items passed by the NEA this year. Watch this space for continuing updates.
• July 4: A new business item calling for the removal of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (among other things), no. 7, failed to pass, and received little debate on the floor. The NEA has never been able to get such an item through the RA, though it did issue a very public censure of Duncan in 2011.
• July 4: NBI 12, which passed, requires the NEA to urge legislators to take the high-stakes tests students must take.
• July 5, 10:45 a.m. NBI 24, which calls on the union to support parents’ rights to “opt out” their children from state standardized tests without fear of retaliation, passed. Interestingly, this was a close vote and did not go down by straight state-caucus lines, as most NBIs do.
• July 5, 2:20 p.m. NBI 36, another one calling for the removal of Arne Duncan, was defeated.
• July 6, 11:05 a.m. NBI 47 passed. This item requires the union’s executive committee to provide a rational in the NEA’s strategic plan and budget when it receives a bonus. (There has been some grumbling among delegates about the 3 percent bonus executives received recently.)
• July 6, 3:40 p.m. Delegates have passed NBI 75 calling on the NEA to encourage states to report on the percentage of students who are “opted out” of state exams, and to make sure that those figures don’t penalize teachers’ evaluations or school ratings.