September 2004

Thanks for taking a moment to read this issue. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Millie Davis, NCTE Staff Liaison, at NCTE Headquarters (e-mail to: slate@ncte.org; phone: 800-369-6283, ext. 3634). If you would like for us to use a different e-mail address for you, please e-mail affsec@ncte.org.

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In this issue:

• From the Editor 
• From the Front Line 
• Taking the Public Out of Education (from The School Administrator, Web edition, May 2004) 
• NCLB: Taylor-Made for De-Skilling Teachers 
• Rules of the Road 
• Controversial Content on the Page and the Stage: Seven Things to Know 
• My Science Is Better than Your Science: Idealogy, Objectivity, and the Attack on Public Schools 
• Intellectual Freedom Award Winners Announced 
• Banned Books Week
• NCTE's 1984+20 Project
• 1984+20 Project Asks Us All to Scrutinize Language and Politics (The Council Chronicle, September 2004)
• 2004 Affiliate SLATE Reports
• SLATE Election Results 
• Call for SLATE Nominations 
• Call for NCTE Resolutions 
• SLATE and the Standing Committee Against Censorship at the NCTE Annual Convention

The SLATE Newsletter editor introduces this issue. See http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/117624.htm

From the Front Line
Protests Hold Steady; Millie Davis to Work with Anti-Censorship Cases
by Charles Suhor
NCTE/SLATE Field Representative

Charles Suhor reports censorship reports have held steady recently. Thirty-three reports came to NCTE since his April column--the same number as the comparable period last year. For the full 2003-04 school session, the count was down to 84 from the previous 90. Banned books declined, dropping from 14% to 10% for the session. See more at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/117871.htm

Taking the Public Out of Education
by Benjamin Barber
(from The School Administrator, Web edition, May 2004)

Benjamin Barber writes, "There is a deep sense in which the phrase “public education” is redundant: Education is public, above all in a democracy. To think of it any other way is to rob it of its essential meaning." Read the entire article at The School Administrator at http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2004_05/Barber.htm

NCLB: Taylor-Made for De-Skilling Teachers
by Marilyn Wilson
Michigan State University

NCLB has been critiqued on a number of fronts: the problems inherent in a single assessment measure of student performance, issues of equity, insufficient funding, false expectations about alternatives…and the list goes on. Read the entire article at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/117626.htm

Rules of the Road
by Jessie Rummins
Perry Public Schools

"Those of us who have been in the classroom longer than a few years are required to prove that we are 'highly qualified' for the jobs we already hold. The ways in which we can do so are described in several page flowcharts and in an interactive online quiz from the Department of Education," writes Jessie Rummins. Read the entire article at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/117625.htm

Controversial Content on the Page and the Stage: Seven Things to Know
by Deborah Will and Jeffrey D. Burd
Zion-Benton Township High School

Their school decided to put on a production of the award-winning novel Go Ask Alice. Read about how they handled the controversial play in their conservative Midwest town and the advice they have for other educators in similar situations at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/117627.htm

My Science Is Better than Your Science: Idealogy, Objectivity, and the Attack on Public Schools
by Fred Barton
Editor, SLATE Newsletter, and Region 4 Representative to the NCTE/SLATE Steering Committee

Scientists around the country, including Nobel Laureates, National Medal of Science Recipients, and former Federal Agency Directors, among others, respond to the mismanagement of scientific data by the George W. Bush administration. Read the entire article at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/117623.htm

Intellectual Freedom Award Winners Announced

Jamie LaRue Wins 2004 NCTE/SLATE Intellectual Freedom Award
by Julie Bailey and Carol Sullivan

In nominating LaRue, CLAS cited one of his weekly newspaper columns in which he responded to parents who would censor John Gardner's Grendel and Grimm Brothers fairy tales by stating, “I would argue that the great value of a high school English class is precisely that it exposes young people to the full range of adult literature, which by necessity includes much that is harsh and difficult . . . . Labeling the classic--predicated on the incidence of sex and/or violence--ultimately focuses on irrelevancies. It obscures the real value . . . of a particular book, burying it in the prejudice and temerity of the hour.”  Read about the award at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship/awards/117993.htm

NCTE Affiliates Confer Intellectual Freedom Awards

The Colorado Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts, the Nebraska English Language Arts Council, the Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, the Indiana Council of Teachers of English, and the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English will honor NCTE/SLATE Affiliate Intellectual Freedom Award Winners during the 2004 NCTE Annual Convention in Indianapolis. More information can be found at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship/awards/117994.htm

Banned Books Week
“Students need to read a wide range of texts,” according to The Standards for the English Language Arts at http://www.ncte.org/about/over/standards/110846.htm 

But, even good literature may be objectionable to someone. That’s why NCTE suggests policies for adopting and reconsidering texts and recommends that students have the right to read an alternate selection when they object to the assigned text. See "The Students’ Right to Read" at http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/cens/107616.htm

NCTE's 1984+20 Project
NCTE is sponsoring a nationwide reading and discussion of George Orwell's classic novel 1984 in October 2004. Educators and students in high schools, colleges, and universities, and citizens in libraries, community organizations, and book discussion groups nationwide are invited to read the book and discuss its prophetic nature and what it might teach us about life in the contemporary United States. The "1984+20" project aims to promote awareness, discussion, and debate about the key roles of language in politics and culture. Read more at http://www.ncte.org/announce/116449.htm

1984+20 Project Asks Us All to Scrutinize Language and Politics (The Council Chronicle, September 2004)
by Peggy Harris
NCTE Division of Communications and Affiliate Services

Educators and others are making exciting plans for reading and sharing George Orwell's classic novel 1984 this October. Plans include group readings across and beyond the U.S., resource development by the National Science Teachers Association, and a documentary film. Read the entire article at http://www.ncte.org/pubs/chron/samp/117634.htm

2004 Summary of Affiliate SLATE Reports
by Jodi Mahoney and Millie Davis
NCTE Division of Communications and Affiliate Services

Read the entire summary at http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/118001.htm

SLATE Election Results

SLATE Steering Committee

• Leila Christenbury, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
  (representing Region 2: DC, KY, MD, OH, PA, VA, WV)
• Barbara Halliwill Bell, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee
  (representing Region 3: AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN)
• Rick Meyer, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
  (representing Region 6: LA, NM, TX)
• Paula Fisher, Meridian School District, Idaho
  (representing Region 7: AK, AB, BC, ID, MT, OR, SK, WA, WY)

2004-2005 SLATE Nominating Committee

• *Pat Graff, La Cueva High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Carol J. Gilles, University of Missouri, Columbia
• To Be Announced

*Under Council practice, the member of each nominating committee receiving the largest number of votes is named chair.

SLATE Nominations

Help shape the leadership of SLATE! Submit nominations for the 2005 SLATE ballot for members of the SLATE Steering Committee and the SLATE Nominating Committee.
http://www.ncte.org/about/gov/elec/nominations/107463.htm

Call for NCTE Resolutions
October 15 is the Deadline for Submitting a Resolution for the 2004 NCTE Annual Convention

The 2004 NCTE Committee on Resolutions encourages NCTE members to propose a resolution for consideration during the Annual Convention in Indianapolis. If you have concerns about issues that affect your teaching, or positions you would like to support, and you think NCTE should take a stand, you have an opportunity to be heard! You can initiate action to deal with these issues by proposing resolutions which may be voted on and passed at NCTE's Annual Convention. John Lovas, De Anza College, Cupertino, California, chair of the 2004 Committee on Resolutions, urges individual members and affiliate groups to begin preparing and submitting their resolutions now. For submission guidelines, visit http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/107214.htm

SLATE and the Standing Committee Against Censorship at the NCTE Annual Convention

SLATE

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND'S ASSAULT ON LEARNING TO READ
No Child Left Behind legislation has mandated controversial ideas that many educators believe are not good for readers, writers, classroom teachers, and colleges of education. This presentation will discuss how NCLB's political mandates are not based on sound research, and how the legislation is an assault on how children become literate and how teachers teach reading. Specific incidents caused by this widely debated legislation will be shared to prove why NCLB is detrimental to the reading and writing growth of students, the autonomy of classroom teachers, and the preparation of teachers.

Session H.03: Saturday, November 20, 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 
Room: Convention Center/Room 201, Second Floor 
Topic: Policy and Politics
Level(s): General (proposals of interest at all instructional levels)
Presenters: Daniel DeYoung, Maryann Manning

NCTE/SLATE Steering Committee Meeting
Session ZM.37: Friday, November 19, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 
Room: Westin/Senate Room II, Second Floor 
Chair: Don Mayfield

Standing Committee Against Censorship

R (RIGHTS) AND R (RESPONSIBILITIES) IN THE CLASSROOM: RESPONDING TO CENSORSHIP IN 2004
This panel will present an interactive session highlighting students' and teachers' rights and the day-to-day challenges to provide an education that fosters a democratic culture. 'Responsibility is to keep the abilty to respond.' Gustav Mahler

Session A.19: Friday, November 19, 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. 
Room: Convention Center/Room 123, First Floor 
Topic: Social Justice and Social Action
Level(s): General (proposals of interest at all instructional levels)
Chair: Marlene Ann Birkman
Presenters: Marlene Ann Birkman, Robert E. Crafton, Elissa Kido

THE LIFE AND WORK OF JAMES MOFFETT: KEEPING THE FLAME ALIVE
This session is devoted to the various aspects of the life and work of James Moffett, one of the twentieth century’s greatest teachers and theorists. The session covers Moffett’s life interests in education, beginning with his early work in a New England prep school and culminating with the AEPL Snow Mountain address. It includes practical ideas for today’s classrooms.

Session DE.01: Friday, November 19, 2:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. 
Room: Convention Center/Room 211, Second Floor 
Topic: Writing
Level(s): General (proposals of interest at all instructional levels)
Co-Chair: Dick Graves, Sherry Swain
Presenter: Edward Darling, Patricia McGonegal
Reactor / Respondent: Sheridan Blau

WHAT'S CENSORED NOW? VISUAL IMAGES AS TARGET
As the author of several popular and critically acclaimed books about art, Greenberg has dealt with the issue of the sorts of visual images appropriate for children and young adult viewers. Particularly expert in contemporary art, she has dealt with editors; concerns about parents' attempts to censor images children view.

Session H.07: Saturday, November 20, 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 
Format: Conversation
Room: Convention Center/Room 115, First Floor Topic: Reading
Level(s): Elementary (K-5), Middle Level (6-8)
Chair: John Warren Stewig
Presenter: Jan Greenberg

Committee Against Censorship
Session ZM.05: Thursday, November 18, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Format: Meeting
Room: Westin/Senate Room II, Second Floor 
Chair: Marlene Ann Birkman

Copyright 2004
National Council of Teachers of English
http://www.ncte.org/

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