NEA chief points to urban schools' needs
BY ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Friday, November 02, 2007
The national president of
the National Education Association on Thursday urged local teachers to demand more
resources in their efforts to
improve urban public schools
in Tulsa.
Reg Weaver, who is in his
second term as president of
the 3.2 million-member NEA,
delivered the keynote address at the inaugural symposium of the Oklahoma Center
for Innovation in Teaching
Excellence.
"In a nation as wealthy as
ours, there is no reason why
we cannot afford to give every
child a quality education,"
Weaver told the 40 to 50 people in attendance at the symposium, held at Oklahoma
State University-Tulsa. "We
don't mind being held accountable, but give us the resources."
The Oklahoma Center for
Innovation in Teaching Excellence was established with
federal funding through the
No Child Left Behind Act as a
collaborative effort between
Langston University, Oklahoma State University-Tulsa
and Northeastern State University. The primary goal of
the center is to improve subject mastery and classroom
effectiveness among teachers
in Tulsa Public Schools.
Weaver served as a middle
school science teacher for 30
years. He rose up through
the ranks of the NEA after
first serving as president of
the local NEA affiliate in Harvey, Ill., and then becoming
president of the NEA statewide affiliate in Illinois.
He said he has observed
several common elements in
low-performing schools in his
travels across the U.S.
"There are teachers who
are teaching outside their areas of expertise and struggling with the fewest resources, but are teaching the
children who have to leap the
highest barriers to success,"
Weaver said.
Low-performing schools also tend to have a disproportionate number of students,
especially black students,
who are suspended or expelled from school, which
can lead to higher dropout
rates, he said.
He called on higher standards for teacher certification, noting, "There's a group
out there that thinks all you
need to be a teacher is a bachelor's degree, a background
check and to pass a computerized test, but you know
they're not going to send
them to teach where the
wealthy folks are.
"They're going to send
them to teach where Ray-Ray,
Little Willie, Little Man, Too-sweet, and Chiquita are in the
classroom."
He defended the role of the
teachers' union in politics by
saying from the school board,
to the state legislature, to
Congress, and even the president of the United States, "every decision that is made for
us is political.
"For us not to be involved
in the political process is
wrong."
Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
