Check out the article on Merit Pay, testing, and Harrison SD2. http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_test_generation

If you are frustrated by attacks of public education nationally, NEA created a foundation to help. It is called the 51 Fund and aims to provide one consistent voice to the debate in the US.  Check it out here:
http://51fund.neafoundation.org/ 

Dianne Ravitch offers a great opinion on why teachers are frustrated with the current dialogue on the business model. Check out this interview from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/28/134134735/Op-Ed-Rage-Simmering-Among-American-Teachers

On Tuesday, February 22, Cathy Royce, President of PPEA and Kelsey Moore, President of Canon City Education Association traveled to Denver to participate in the rally in support of Wisconsin's public employees.

Also seen in the crowd from PPEA were Maryann Barrett, Administrative Assistant and Mike Stahl, Uniserv Director. Mike will be heading to Wisconsin in a few weeks to start his new position with Wisconsin Education Association. He was seen wearing his Green Bay Packers hat and Wisconsin sweatshirt.

Ari Armstrong, of http://freeColorado.com was there recording interviews with participants from both the union side and the TEA Party activists who were gathered on the sidewalk at the foot of the Capitol's steps. Below is the link to his interview with Cathy.

Click here to find out what's happening with evaluation legislation in Wyoming.

Current American education policy is built on these assumptions: The quality of American education has plummeted because our schools are filled with teachers who can't teach. Teachers' unions and contracts tie the hands of school administrators. And teachers' unions protect bad teachers. Here are a few reasons why these conclusions are leading our educational system in a bad direction.

When the new Congress is sworn in this January, it will have to tackle the nation’s most pressing matters, including education and the economy. The nation is on the road to economic recovery, but the economy is still shedding jobs, especially in the education sector. High unemployment rates and a record number of home foreclosures are wreaking havoc in communities across the country.

On education specifically, Congress will have to tackle two main issues—revising No Child Left Behind and setting spending priorities for critical programs and services affecting students and working families, programs such as early childhood education, Head Start, college loans for deserving students, and many others.

On November 16th, the Pikes Peak United Way hosted a K-12 Education Forum at the Crown Plaza hotel, and a panel of representatives from several school districts and institutions of higher education was convened. The panel discussed the question, "what does the biography of the future teacher look like?"

Panel members included Heidi Pace from D20, Mary Thurman and Mike Poore from D11, Walt Cooper from Cheyenne Mountain, Ted Baumann from D38, Mike Miles from D2, Mary Guinn from D49, Rich Patterson from the University of Phoenix, Suzie Perry from Regis University, and Elizabeth Hubbel from McRel. Notably absent on the panel were classroom teachers, classified employees, and association representatives.

Test scores are up at a school in Los Angeles “run by a teacher-controlled committee where the principal carries the same weight as a teacher and the district has minimal say in operations.” Source: Associated Press

The new site has dynamic tools, including groups, blogs, forums, and easily-editable pages. The purpose of this site is to better serve and inform the PPEA membership.