September 2004 Edition of the Skills for Tomorrow Activities and Updates Listserv

School is open once again! As the daylight hours grow shorter, and the leaves change colors, we wonder, “Where did the summer go?” Did we make it to the beach? Did we visit the relatives? The fact remains that school is open so we work with teachers to make sure that our kids get a good education.

As project partners and members of the labor movement, we must continue our mission to educate young people about good paying union careers in high growth industries. Don’t wait for teachers to introduce the curriculum; it is already developed and available. Through our outreach efforts we can get invited to schools and deliver it ourselves. Let’s use the same effort we put into getting our kids out of bed each day to make sure that the school systems are not missing our union message. ‘Good paying jobs exist and the labor movement will not be left behind.’

The priority for all Americans of voting age this year is to VOTE! While we cannot tell you who to vote for we can share information to assist you in making the right choice as it affects working families. To most Americans this is the most important election ever. Be smart, check voting records as they affect education. Have promises been kept? We will only urge you to use your voting power to get the results that will help all working families.

If you have anything of interest to share, we would love to hear from you. To submit information on your organization, or career development curriculum, please email Linn Nguyen at lnguyen@teamster.org or Sharlene Mentor at smentor@teamster.org

~~~~> Interns Learn 'Real Job' at Sikorsky (Teamsters Local 1150’s Employer)
Sikorsky Guides Vo-Tech Interns On-The-Job Training For Students

By Leah Nollenberger, Staff Writer for the Connecticut Post

STRATFORD — Each day during the summer, Heather Pelaggi of Shelton had her safety goggles firmly in place by 6 a.m. and was ready to start work.

The unusual morning routine continued until the 17-year-old resumed her regular life this week as a high school student.

Pelaggi, who attends Emmett O'Brien Regional Vocational-Technical School in Ansonia, spent her summer as a union worker at Sikorsky Aircraft.

She worked in the helicopter manufacturer's plumbing department, installing brake lines, drilling and caulking. She was one of 24 students working at Sikorsky through a school-to-career union-mentoring program.

"I take plumbing and heating [in school]," said Pelaggi. "When I heard about this program, I put my application in."

The program, in its third year at Sikorsky, started with three students; it had 12 enrolled last year and made a leap to 24 students this summer.

"We've been able to handle it with full cooperation from the union, Sikorsky and the schools," said Elizabeth Amato, vice president of human resources at Sikorsky.

High school students can apply for job openings as juniors and begin working the summer before their senior year, said Joseph Grabinski, the union representative in the program.

The students come from four regional vocational-technical schools: Emmett O'Brien, Bullard-Havens in Bridgeport, Kaynor in Waterbury and Platt in Milford.

Students can return to Sikorsky the summer after their senior year and then apply for jobs at the company.

While at Sikorsky, participants pair with mentors, who teach the students and supervise them as they work.

The students and mentors often become friends, a bond that is important, said Grabinski. The mentors say they get just as much out of the experience as the students.

"It's not just coming in and punching the clock any more," said Cory Murphy, who was one of Pelaggi's mentors. "It gave me a little more patience and made me appreciate that I can show someone else a skill I take for granted."

Murphy, 26, of Oxford, also works in plumbing and said he volunteered for the program because when he started at Sikorsky older employees took him under their wings.

"I'm the youngest, and the older people helped me when I got here, so I like being able to help Heather," he said.

Students usually get assigned to jobs where they can use the skills they learn in school.

But Tania DeJesus, who studies plumbing at Bullard-Havens, was placed in the parts manufacturing department after the plumbing position was filled.

DeJesus, 17, of Bridgeport, said she was glad to be given a different assignment.

"I learn different things every day," said DeJesus. "First I made door panels and then I worked on blade inspection sheets, now I'm making de-icers for the [helicopter] blades."

Joanne Steinbach of Milford, DeJesus' mentor, was impressed with how quickly she picked up the new skills.

"When she came in, she didn't know much," said Steinbach, "but she's learning the job and now she knows quite a bit. They also learn the value of the union."

The students work full-time hours and become members of the union when they begin the internship. They receive base union pay and are held to the same standards of behavior as everyone else who works at Sikorsky.

"I've never had a real job," said DeJesus, "and now I know what it's like for a parent to work a 40-hour week and not want to do anything when they come home."

Showing the students what the real world is like is one of the important aspects of the program, according to Grabinski.

"This shows them there's opportunities if you work hard," said Grabinski. "We're not looking for the class valedictorian; we focus on the person who goes to school, tries hard and is a good citizen. I always tell them the same thing: If they do the right thing, doors open, and if they screw up, doors close."

~~~~> Teamsters National Black Caucus’ 29th Annual Conference Presents Skills for Tomorrow

The Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) held its annual conference at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida during the week ending August 22, 2004. Sharlene Mentor of the IBT Education Department presented two workshops entitled “Skills for Tomorrow.”

TNBC members received “hands on” training in how to engage young people in learning about the labor movement, specifically the Teamsters Union. Mentor solicited participants to take part in an exercise called “The Plank” where they were required to work together to achieve a common goal. This exercise demonstrates ways to encourage kids and adults to work together for the greater good of all. Members were also given age appropriate materials to assist them in making similar presentations in their local areas.

On Friday, August 20th the TNBC hosted a youth conference during lunch, which included TNBC members’ children as well as children from community organizations in and around Orlando, Florida. The children ranged in age from 6 to 18. Mentor opened up with “The Plank” exercise to introduce the concept of union to the children present.

Later, the 6–12 year-olds were taken into another room where TNBC Executive Board Member and IBT Organizer Lisa Mack presented them with age appropriate information on the Teamsters Union and presented them with union made goods and materials for back-to-school.

Chuck Spruce, Organizer of Local Union 20, and members of Teamsters Local Union 25, talked to older youth about the many union careers available to them as well as their rights on the job. The presentations were well received and the Teamsters National Black Caucus was successful, once again, in delivering a strong message to young people who would otherwise not be exposed to the labor movement.

~~~~> Colombian Teachers Visit Teamsters Headquarters
Group Leaves Energized With New Ideas

On July 30, 2004 six members of the largest teachers’ union in Colombia, the 225,000-member strong Federacion Colombiana de Educadores (FECODE), visited Teamsters Headquarters to learn about the union, and to take the knowledge they gained back with them to help their fellow unionists.

The group came to the United States to attend the 78th Convention of the American Federation of Teachers through the joint efforts of the United States Department of Labor, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, and the American Federation of Teachers.

Representatives from the Teamsters Education, Research, Communications, and Strategic and Corporate Affairs Departments met with the teachers, who were presented with the Spanish version of a variety of materials about the Teamsters and unions in general.

As a result of the meeting, the two unions committed to maintaining contact and sharing information on ways to strengthen the union movement globally and within each country.

“I am surprised by the Teamsters’ diverse membership and the different occupations,” said Max Correa, a FECODE National Training Coordinator, through an interpreter. “I am also interested in the Teamsters' long history and its ability to be constantly innovative. This knowledge will help us with our goal to increase our union’s membership in different sectors.”

“The Teamsters do well at maintaining unity among its members,” said Melba Delgado, a secondary school teacher. “The union also does a good job building relationships with the general society. We share the same goals.”

“The Teamsters Union has done a great job modernizing and adapting to change,” said Laura Henao, Director in the Office of Women and Family. “We have gained valuable insights.”

~~~~> September 19--College Fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for educators, parents, and students, in Birmingham, Ala. Contact: Cheryl Tishman, NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 299-6823 fax: (703) 836-8015; e-mail: ctishman@nacac.com; Web site: www.nacac.com/fairs.html.

~~~~> September 19-22--Higher Education: Grants Resource Center Fall Meeting, sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, for campus-sponsored program administrators, at the Westin Grand Hotel in Washington. Contact: Jim Cummins, AASCU, 1307 New York Ave., N.W., Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 293-7070; fax: (202) 296-5819 e-mail: cumminsj@aascu.org Web site: www.aascu.org/meetings.

Approximately 101,000 more workers between ages 16 and 24 are employed in construction work this summer than during the same period last year, according to data released by the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics August 18, 2004.

BLS reported that approximately 1,543,000 workers 16 to 24 years of age, were employed on construction sites in July 2004, compared with approximately 1,442,000 in July 2003.

By ethnic group, the largest increase was reported among Hispanic or Latino workers in that age group--463,000 in July 2004, compared with 370,000 in July 2003. BLS said 1,378,000 white workers in that age group were on construction jobs in July 2004, compared with 1,343,000 in July 2003. African-Americans in that age group totaled 75,000 in construction in July 2004, compared with 55,000 in July 2003. Asians totaled 14,000, compared with 8,000 in July 2003.

Total employment in all industries among youths in that age group reached 21.45 million in July. Peak summer employment was 497,000 more than in 2003, when it rose by 2.08 million to 20.95 million between April and July, BLS reported.

~~~~> New Reports and Books

Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America
By Abby Goodlough (Public Affairs, 304 pages, $25.00)

In this unblinking look into the world of a first-year urban educator, New York Times education reporter Goodlough chronicles the experiences of Donna Moffett, a former Manhattan legal secretary who took advantage of New York's alternative-certification program to become a first-grade teacher in a chronically underperfoming elementary school in Brooklyn. A central theme of the book is the conflict between Moffett's idealistic notions of teaching--in part fostered by city education officials--and the harsh realities of an inner-city classroom.

Read the complete review of this book from EDUCATION WEEK's e-newsletter CAREER COACH:

~~~~> World Class Education For All

Kerry/Edwards Agenda For Education

Education is at the core of America's basic promise - that all Americans should be able to make the most of their potential.

John Kerry and John Edwards have a vision for American education: every child should be held to high standards, and every school should have the resources and the responsibility to meet those standards. Every classroom should have a great teacher. Every young person should graduate high school, and every young person who works hard and wants to go to college should be able to afford it. And all Americans should be able to get the skills they need to succeed throughout their lives.

Today, our country is not realizing that vision. Schools do not have the resources they need to succeed. Washington is not working to make reform succeed and children are losing out. One million students are dropping out of high school every year, and because the price of college has risen by 35 percent over the last three years, 220,000 qualified young people were priced out of college last year.

John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to do better-to ensure that all Americans can make the most of their God-given talents. They will offer schools the resources and the reforms they need to give every American child a great education, regardless of their income, race, or family background.

John Kerry and John Edwards will establish a National Education Trust Fund to ensure that schools always get the funding they need. They will also ensure that the No Child Left Behind Act works for schools, states, and teachers by rewarding those who meet higher standards and rewarding schools that turn around and improve.

Great teachers are the foundation of a great school. As president, John Kerry will enact a new bargain that offers teachers more, including better training and better pay in troubled schools, and asks for more in return, including fast, fair ways to make sure that teachers who don't belong in the classroom don't stay there.

Offer 3.5 Million After School Opportunities Through “Schools Open ‘Til Six”

John Kerry and John Edwards are strong supporters of after-school programs. These programs give students extra help, keep them out of trouble, and offer peace of mind to working parents. The Kerry-Edwards "School's Open 'Til 'Six" initiative will offer after-school opportunities to 3.5 million children, through programs that are open until 6 p.m. and offer safe transportation for children.

As President, John Kerry promises to offer a fully refundable College Opportunity Tax credit on up to $4,000 of tuition for every year of college and offer aid to states that keep tuitions down. And he will launch a new effort to ensure that all of our workers can get the technical skills and advanced training they need.

~~~~> A Bold New Direction in Education Reform

Bush/Cheney Agenda for Education

President Bush believes that education is the key to opportunity and America’s best tool in an increasingly competitive global economy. This means that every child deserves a world-class education and every worker deserves the support of a Government that makes a lifetime of learning a top priority.

The No Child Left Behind Act demands accountability in elementary and secondary education. Testing is at the heart of this initiative. President Bush also wants to take new steps to ensure that all high school students are better prepared to enter higher education or the workforce. In his second term, President Bush has big plans, yet critics question whether or not there is sufficient funding for this ambitious agenda.

Reform America's High Schools

President Bush will provide $250 million annually to extend state assessment of student reading and math skills.

Strengthen Head Start

Focus Head Start more clearly on school readiness, and allow states to integrate Head Start programs into their existing pre-school preparedness efforts in order to make better use of combined Federal and state resources. The President will give priority consideration for funding to states that have a coordinated early childhood plan involving Head Start, pre-K, and child care services.

Promote Literacy: Train parents in early literacy through Head Start.

Continue to Fund Research

President Bush will fund development of the most effective curricula and programs for teaching children early literacy and math skills; establish developmentally appropriate measurements; and identify effective adult and family literacy programs.

Expand the Reach Out and Read Program

Expand Reach Out and Read, which seeks to make early literacy a standard part of pediatric primary care.

Expand Healthy Start, Grow Smart

Continue and expand distribution of Healthy Start, Grow Smart booklets to provide parents the information they need to enhance their children’s early development.

Engage Faith and Community-Based Organizations

Help provide parents with the skills they need to advance their children’s healthy development.

Increase Minority Outreach

Increase outreach efforts to minority families to better disseminate effective early childhood development strategies. For more information go to: http://georgebush.com/Education/

~~~~>The Significance of Labor Day

The first Monday in September of each year has been observed as Labor Day for more than 100 years. It is a day dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers: an annual tribute paid to all workers for their contributions in making the country a better place in which to live and work.

Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor, said that, “Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country. All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Labor Day was born as a result of events that adversely affected workers in the 1890’s. In 1893, the Pullman Company, a railroad sleeping car manufacturer, laid off hundreds of its workers as a result of the decline in orders for railroad sleeping cars caused by a nationwide depression. Workers who remained, received pay cuts while their house rents to the company remained consistent; therefore, take-home paychecks were slashed. Workers then walked off the job and demanded higher pay and lower rents. The American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene V. Debs, joined the cause of the striking workers and this led to a nationwide boycott, by railroad workers, of trains carrying Pullman cars. Rioting, looting, and burning of railroad cars soon followed and mobs of non-union workers joined in.

The strike immediately drew national attention. President Grover Cleveland declared the strike a federal crime and sent 12,000 troops to break it. Violence broke out and two men were killed when U.S. deputy marshals opened fire on protesters in Kensington, near Chicago.

The strike failed and was declared over on August 3, 1894. Debs was imprisoned, the ARU was disbanded, and all Pullman employees from then on had to sign a pledge that they would never again unionize.

The labor movement had been clamoring for a national Labor Day for some time before the Pullman strike. The year 1894 was an election year, and workers were holding protests against President Cleveland. So, President Cleveland made it a political priority to appease workers. A bill proposing the first Monday of September as Labor Day, a national holiday, was rushed through both houses of Congress and signed by President Cleveland six days after the Pullman strike was broken by troops. President Cleveland was not reelected.

Gompers, in 1898, referred to Labor Day as, “the day for which the toilers in past centuries looked forward, when their rights and their wrongs would be discussed…that the workers of our day may not only lay down their tools of labor for a holiday, but upon which they may touch shoulders in marching phalanx and feel the stronger for it.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters salutes the hardworking men and women that say “Union Yes!” each and every day.

Articles of Interest

~~~~> The Roots of Turnover

Factors influencing teacher retention begin as early as the interviewing stage, if not earlier, according to a study of new teachers in Boston.

The study, prepared by the Boston Plan for Excellence in Public Schools, tracked the experiences and career plans of 470 new teachers in Boston during the 2002-03 school year. It is meant to give Boston public schools concrete information on its teacher-hiring and retention systems.

The researchers found that, on average, teachers who felt certain they would return to Boston schools gave higher ratings on how well their school's hiring process had prepared them for the school's professional culture, administrative standards, and student needs.

Similarly, the report shows that teachers' general sense of job-preparedness had an effect on their employment plans. "New teachers who reported feeling especially unprepared for some aspects of their position were significantly more likely to predict a shorter tenure in their current position," the study notes. The teachers most commonly felt unprepared in connection with classroom-management and student-behavior issues.

Echoing the observations of other studies and commentators, the study also found that teachers who felt their schools didn't respond to their needs or give them good support in their jobs "were much more likely to plan to leave their positions than teachers who felt well-supported."

To give candidates a greater "breadth of perspectives about their potential schools," the report recommends that schools more actively involve current teachers in the interview process and ensure that applicants get to visit classrooms and observe students. It also provides data suggesting that student teaching in the same school may be beneficial.

The researchers recommend strengthening school-based support and professional-development systems to give new teachers better grounding. "District-led programs to support new teachers are important," the report notes, "but our data and data from research indicate that the conditions and opportunities at their school are the most powerful influences on their staying in the profession."

Regarding human resources processes, the report advises Boston school officials to make structural changes to avoid late hiring and to implement an applicant-tracking system to better coordinate and leverage applicant and hiring information.

For more information contact:

Anthony Rebora
Senior Online Editor

arebora@epe.org

~~~~> Salary Trends of Teachers

The average salary for teachers across the country has increased by 3.3 percent, to $45,771 a year, according to an annual state-by-state survey conducted by the American Federation of Teachers.

Beginning teaching salaries have inched up 3.2 percent, from $28,661 during the 2001-02 school year to $29,564 in the 2002-03 school year, the union found.

The AFT's survey follows closely on the heels of a study by the non-profit Educational Research Service showing that, while the average salary of school superintendents has increased by more than 12 percent over the past decade, the average teacher salary has actually declined by nearly 2 percent. Averages from the same survey show a gain for high school principals of more than 4 percent.

Several education leaders, including the AFT's newly elected president Edward J. McElroy, have characterized that gap as a glaring example of misplaced priorities in education. "States and school districts are crying poverty when it comes to teachers' pay, yet somehow find money for extravagant administrator salaries," he said in an AFT press release about the survey. "Strong leadership without a quality teaching force won't improve education."

Adding insult to injury for educators, the AFT survey suggests that any extra money that teachers see in their paychecks is being swallowed up by rising out-of-pocket costs for health benefits. Over the same time, the amount teachers paid for health-insurance coverage increased by 13 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state-by-state results of the AFT's salary survey show that teachers in California earn the highest average pay, $55,693. Other states in the top 10 include Michigan, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Teachers in South Dakota earn the lowest average pay, $32,414, with Oklahoma, Mississippi, and North Dakota also in the bottom tier.

For beginning teachers, the AFT said, highest average salaries were found in Alaska ($38,597) and New Jersey ($36,815), while Montana ($24,302) and Arizona ($23,790) ranked last.

View the AFT's salary data:

http://www.aft.org/salary/index.htm

Plus:

Ed. Department Providing In-Service for Teachers
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=44Teacher%20Train.h23

Scoring Error Clouds Hiring of Teachers
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=43Praxis.h23

Teacher-Quality Rules Uneven for Rural States
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=43Ruraltch.h23

Get Connected: Web Site Links

~~~~> American Labor Studies Center Update

Check out new additions to the ALSC web site at www.labor-studies.org. They feature a spotlight on the International Labor Organization (ILO), instructional materials for Labor Day and an interdisciplinary unit that introduces the world of work to elementary age students entitled The Yummy Pizza Company. There is also a new "Filmography" link.

The AFL-CIO newspaper highlighted the ALSC in their latest edition. You can find it by clicking on "ALSC in The News" on their home page or going to:

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/magazine/0604_unionabcs.cfm

~~~~> America's Best Colleges 2005

US News & World Report

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

~~~~>Looking For Qualified Teachers?

Education Week's new career site, Agent K-12, is a favorite with teachers. More than a quarter-million educators visit them each month (mainly teachers!) to search for the best jobs and the latest K-12 news and career advice.

Post a single job or many. They offer a variety of posting packages for every recruiting need.

Instantly post your teaching or administrative positions "24/7" at www.agentk-12.org/employerx/ or call their Recruitment Team at 1-888-329-2373.

www.agentk-12.org/employerx

End of Issue

To learn more about the Teamsters, a vital part of every community in the U.S. and Canada and our School-to-Career network, please log onto http://edu.teamster.org/edu.asp or http://www.ibtstw.org

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the Teamsters Skills For Tomorrow listserv network. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click on the following link. http://www.ibtstw.org/listunsubscribe.asp

~~~~> New Reports and Books

~~~~> World Class Education For All

Kerry/Edwards Agenda For Education

~~~~> A Bold New Direction in Education Reform

~~~~>The Significance of Labor Day

Send your questions or comments to: info@ibtstw.org ©2005 The International Brotherhood of Teamsters / Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau

Send your questions or comments to: info@ibtstw.org
©2005 The International Brotherhood of Teamsters / Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau