SLATE Newsletter


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Welcome to the SLATE Newsletter! This online newsletter is mailed three times a year to the e-mail address NCTE has on file for you. We are excited to be able to send you terrific articles and important details about issues that affect the teaching of the English language arts. You may access an archive of past SLATE Newsletters, SLATE Starter Sheets, and other SLATE-related material at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate Share These Materials SLATE Newsletters are offered as resources for dealing with current issues affecting the teaching of English language arts. Reproduce these materials and use them to help promote better understanding of the goals of English teaching. March 2006 Calls to Action Alerts Watch your e-mail next week for Calls to Action urging members to take part in Local Advocacy Days and to visit Congressional Representatives in their home offices while they're on break April 10-21. In addition to issues that you'll want to discuss with your legislators, the issues we're following for next week's alerts are the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education public hearings (including the one in Indianapolis next week) and upcoming hearings on the No Child Left Behind Act. Read about NCTE's new Legislative Platform at http://www.ncte.org/about/gov/cgrams/news/124241.htm
FROM THE EDITOR Fred Barton Editor, SLATE Newsletter, and Region 4 Representative to the NCTE/SLATE Steering Committee Well, here we are in the middle of another year of educational reform. Protestors are protesting, lawsuits are law suiting, legislatures are legislating, and somewhere in all this adult shin kicking children are supposed to be learning. See http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/124097.htm Teaching: The Life Ray H. Lawson Rochester, Michigan Retired after 64 years of teaching. Some people consider the long summer vacation as a reason for choosing teaching as a career. It was important. It was a time to relax; to study and prepare for another year; and to catch up on reading and writing. And yes, even the unexpected snow-day played a big role in keeping my batteries charged. Important as these times may have been though, they could never surpass the most important reason for my longevity in this career. My students. All 12,000 of them. Read Ray's entire article at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/124103.htm Statement on American Pageant Pat Graff La Cueva High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico In the fall of 2005, a parent of an AP American History student at Highland High School in Albuquerque picked up a copy of American Pageant, a text sent home for his daughter to use during the year as she studied the course. The parent, Tony Watkins, found many of the passages and word choices in the book to be especially offensive, particularly with regards to comments made about minorities groups. He petitioned the school to have the book taken away from the approved textbook list. His petition was denied, so he filed an appeal with the district, Albuquerque Public Schools. The appeals process included two public hearings in front of a panel of 12 individuals, including administrators, parents, teachers, and community members. I was one of two teacher representatives to serve on the panel (I'm an English and social studies teacher at La Cueva High School in Albuquerque). The appealing parent, as well as teachers of the course, curriculum administrators, and community members presented diverse views about the book. The panel ultimately voted unanimously to allow the book to continue to be used by Highland High School. See http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/124105.htm Censorship News Feb. 21, 2006 - The U.S. Supreme Court Declined Appeal from Former Student Journalists at Governors State University The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision on June 20, 2005, said the Supreme Court's 1988 Hazelwood decision limiting high school student free expression rights could extend to college and university campuses. On February 21, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant an appeal in the case. http://www.splc.org/legalresearch.asp?id=49 Censorship Challenge News Millie Davis, NCTE Director of Communications and Affiliate Services We received 39 censorship reports from September 1 through December 31, 2005, compared with 30 for the same time period in 2004. In addition to the more than 42 books we know were being challenged, we were contacted by a high school in Maryland when a library was directed to remove all the R-rated films from the shelves. Read the entire report at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/124267.htm NCTE offers advice, helpful documents, and other support at no cost to teachers faced with challenges to literary works, films and videos, drama productions, or teaching methods. For more information, visit NCTE's Anti-Censorship Center at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship Achieve, Inc. The "Clear Skies" of Education? Fred Barton Editor, SLATE Newsletter, and Region 4 Representative to the NCTE/SLATE Steering Committee A while back Michigan’s governor Jennifer Granholm partnered the state with the American Diploma project, the brainchild of Achieve, Inc. According to their Web site, Achieve was “Created by the nation's governors and business leaders, [and] is a bipartisan, non-profit organization that helps states raise academic standards, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability to prepare all young people for postsecondary education, work, and citizenship.” Currently 22 states are part of the Achieve network. See http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/124106.htm Intellectual Freedom Awards (Due May 1) As an NCTE member, you may nominate for the National Award. See http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship/awards/107130.htm As an NCTE affiliate member, encourage your affiliate to name a winner for the State, Regional, and Provincial Affiliate award. See http://www.ncte.org/groups/affiliates/awards/109291.htm SLATE Elections Candidates for the 2006 SLATE ballot: SLATE Steering Committee, Region 5: Anne MacLeod Cognard, East High School, Lincoln, Nebraska; Mary Trachsel, University of Iowa, Iowa City SLATE Steering Committee, Region 8: Daniel DeYoung, Le Conte Elementary School, Berkeley, California and Margaret Moustafa, California State University, Los Angeles Ballots will be mailed by April 15; completed ballots must be sent to NCTE by June 1. For more information on the spring SLATE elections, visit http://www.ncte.org/about/gov/elec/news/119452.htm How to Submit NCTE Resolutions One of the most important ways you can make a difference is to submit a resolution on an issue of importance to English language arts education. NCTE resolutions, along with NCTE guidelines and position statements, tell the world what we feel is best practice (and sometimes what we feel is not) in English language arts education. These resolutions are voted on at the Annual Business Meeting for the Board of Directors and Other Members of the Council, and they do make a difference. Submissions for resolutions are due on October 15 of each year. To see current resolutions, which are good models for resolution format, and the rules and procedures governing the submission of resolutions visit http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/107214.htm Report on Recently Passed Resolutions Members' Voices Heard through Resolutions Passed during 2005 Annual Convention http://www.ncte.org/about/gov/cgrams/news/123214.htm Important Policy Connections NCTE Position Statements http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions NCTE Policy Collections http://www.ncte.org/edpolicy NCTE Executive Committee Strategic Governance Policy (scroll to Strategic Governance near the bottom of the page) http://www.ncte.org/about/gov

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