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  Decatur Teachers, Students Reaping Rewards from Big Brother Big Sister

  November 28, 2011 by PSC Editor

  This article is from the Illinois Education Association Roxie Dotson, a 10- year teaching veteran, thought she knew what the kids she was teaching daily at Durfee Magnet School in Decatur were going home to at night. Durfee has a…

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  Wealth of Experience

  August 25, 2011 by PSC Editor

  By Rebecca Bright When Angie Lucero arrives at Tomasita Elementary each Monday, two once-shy first graders greet her, eager to share details about the past week’s activities, read together, and get help writing in their journals. Lucero, a retired teacher…

• Education Reform Theme Opens RA in High Gear

  July 2, 2011 by Brenda Álvarez

  Illinois Governor’s Partnership with Educators Takes Center Stage By Brenda Álvarez It started in the usual high-energy fashion. The NEA Representative Assembly, dubbed “Standing strong for our students, our schools, and America,” kicked-off with music from the Black Eyed Peas…

• No Slowing Down: Fighting the good fight never gets old for retired educator

  June 30, 2011 by Brenda Álvarez

  As attacks on collective bargaining heat up nationwide, a generation works hard to sustain hard-won gains. By Brenda Álvarez CHICAGO—Most retirees look forward to play time with grandchildren or good-old fashioned R & R on white sandy beaches and plush…

• IEA’s Swanson on new Ed Reform Law: “Historic Shifts by Everyone Involved”

  June 15, 2011 by PSC Editor

  (Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday signed into law Senate Bill 7 (SB7), education reform legislation developed during four months of negotiations involving education employee unions, school administrators, legislators, reform advocacy groups and other education stakeholders. (In the end, the…

• Quality Homework Tasks

  March 15, 2011 by PSC Editor

  By Peggy Saunders, National Board Certified Teacher. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and literacy coach at U46 in Elgin, Illinois. In my job as a Literacy Coach, the topic of student behavior comes up frequently.  One area of…

• Member-Led Reform Rewriting the Anti-Union Narrative

  February 24, 2011 by PSC Editor

  At the same time educators in several states face legislation to strip their right to bargain with school districts on most issues, teachers and support professionals in those states and across the country have entered a new era of collaborative…

• NEA and Local Affiliates Leading the Way to Student Success

  February 15, 2011 by Amy Buffenbarger

  They are coming from districts large and small, urban and rural, east and west. All are committed to the common cause of creating great public schools for every student. Affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) are sharing strategies at…

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  Accountability Plan Unites Educators in Illinois

  February 6, 2011 by PSC Editor

  “Is it bold? Sure. Will we be the only ones? I don’t think so.” — Ken Swanson, president Illinois Education Association Just after New Year’s Day, Illinois educators introduced a major reform proposal to hold school administrators, school board members…

• Case Study of Simplistic Notions

  February 1, 2011 by PSC Editor

  By Mark Simon A powerful new book came out this past Fall based on careful analysis of the mixed record in the five-year effort to turn around high-poverty, low-performing schools in Chicago. It’s called Organizing Schools for Improvement; Lessons From Chicago,…