2002 Annual Report, NCTE/SLATE Steering Committee on Social and Political Concerns

During the past year, SLATE continued to be the crusader for intellectual freedom, not only concentrating on the fight against censorship but also the rising concerns of statewide assessments, high-stakes testing, and issues of classroom methodology and state-mandated teaching policies that discourage and/or limit the creation of a free and responsible teaching and learning environment.  

Charles Suhor, NCTE/SLATE Field Representative, continues to respond with letters of support to members and letters of information to school systems involved in censorship issues.   In the SLATE Newsletter, Editor Michelle Tremmel continues to report of current issues dealing with legislative agendas, classroom practices, and issues dealing with censorship.  Previously published Starter Sheets, valuable reproducible resources for teachers about specific issues and classroom procedures, are currently being updated.

This has been a most successful year for SLATE as the membership reached its highest number in its 26 years of existence.  The Regional Representatives encouraged more active participation and communication among the Affiliates in our organization.  SLATE also honored groups and/or individuals nominated by the Affiliates who had advanced the cause of intellectual freedom with the NCTE/SLATE Intellectual Freedom Award.

SLATE Regional Representatives met at the Baltimore Annual Convention to discuss publishing the SLATE Newsletter online, goals for the coming year, SLATE’s role in NCTE’s advocacy efforts, and the support for development of additional rationales for a second CD-ROM.

At NCTE in Atlanta, SLATE will offer two concurrent sessions and will sponsor a workshop entitled Organizing for Change: Creating Alliances for Teachers and Parents.  

ONiki Locklear, Chair