[ Issues ]

Education

Measuring and Improving School Performance

We agree with President Obama that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) established laudable goals, namely high standards and accountability for the learning of all children. We also agree with the president that this law must be improved and that adequate funding must be provided if NCLBA is to achieve its goals. We further agree that there needs to be an accountability system that helps schools to improve, rather than focusing on punishments. Under the current system, many schools are facing funding cuts for failing to meet proficiency targets, and thus could wind up with even fewer resources for school modernization, class size reduction, tutoring and other vital programs.

Reducing class size to allow for more individualized attention for students is strongly supported by parents, teachers and education researchers. Teachers with small classes can spend time and energy helping each child succeed. Smaller classes also enhance safety, discipline and order in the classroom. Students enrolled in small classes from a young age are more likely to graduate on time, complete high school and graduate with honors. The National Association of Elementary School Principals recommends a student-teacher ratio of 15 to 1.

Poor school building conditions are a serious threat to the health and academic performance of students. Achievement is significantly lower in schools with poor conditions. Asthma induced by mold and other indoor air quality problems is an increasingly prevalent school health issue and a major contributor to student and staff absenteeism. The UAW and our education allies believe that every American student has a right to a healthy, well-maintained school that is conducive to learning.

In addition, students need the skills to make sense of and use today's information technology. Teacher education programs should train prospective teachers to use technology effectively in the classroom. Technology should be deployed and applied equitably among all students and educators, regardless of geography or demographics. The technology available to educators and students should be similar to technology in general use.

The UAW and our education allies will be urging the Obama administration and Congress to enact legislation that provides adequate funding for NCLBA programs. In addition, this legislation should include needed improvements, including provisions that will:

• replace the current one-day snapshot based solely on standardized tests with multiple measures of student learning and school effectiveness that reward progress over time;

• recognize individual needs of students (e.g., special education; English language learners;

• increase the number of highly qualified teachers in our schools and allow teachers who have achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to be deemed "highly qualified";

• provide financial incentives such as the Teaching Service Scholarships to teachers who teach in hard-to-staff schools;

• provide flexibility for teachers of multiple subjects, including special education and rural educators;

• reduce class size to help students learn;

• increase funding for school construction and modernization;

• upgrade the technology in our public schools.

Action:

Private School Vouchers

The UAW supports the right of parents to send their children to private or religious schools. We oppose the use of public funds for that purpose. Public funding of private or religious education takes precious tax dollars away from the public schools that educate 90 percent of American children. Public schools are free and open to all children, accountable to parents and taxpayers alike, and essential to our democracy. Public resources and efforts should be concentrated on giving all children the ability to attend good public schools in their own neighborhoods. Private and religious schools educate only 10 percent of the nation's students and they are accountable only to their boards and clients. Every serious study of voucher plans has concluded that vouchers do not improve student achievement. Americans have voted down every voucher proposal that has been put to them at the polls.

Private school vouchers do not necessarily offer parents a choice. Rather than the parents choosing the private school, it is the private school that can choose or reject a child, based on gender, religion, ability, conduct, special needs or other criteria. Vouchers can increase economic, racial, ethnic and religious stratification in our society, hindering the unification of diverse populations which is responsible for so much of our country’s success.

Action:

Tuition Assistance Benefits

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, somewhere between 10 and 30 percent of Americans, UAW members included, receive tuition assistance benefits from their employers. These programs have been critically important in helping workers get the education and training that is so critical in this global economy. Thanks to the efforts of the UAW and a broad coalition of labor, business and education groups, Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code exempts employer-provided tuition assistance benefits from taxation. However, this exemption will expire at the end of 2010.

Congress should take action to maintain the tax exemption for tuition assistance benefits. Maintaining this exemption protects workers from a significant tax increase and encourages employers to continue these important benefits. For these reasons, the UAW will continue working during 2009 with our allies to urge Congress to ensure that the tax exemption for employer-provided tuition assistance benefits does not expire at the end of 2010.

In addition, the UAW will be working to expand this tax exemption to cover tuition benefits for post-secondary education for the children of workers. Our union has negotiated these benefits for the children of workers at the Detroit-based auto companies and other major employers. But under the tax code, these tuition benefits are considered taxable income, triggering additional tax liability for workers. Congress should make employer-provided tuition benefits for the children of workers exempt from taxation.

Action:

Federal Research Funding

The Bush administration cut federal funding for university-based scientific research. This has jeopardized the pre-eminent position U.S. universities and related research facilities have held in scientific and technological innovation. Federal funding for research and development (R&D) remains an essential source of support that enables universities to perform path-breaking research. This funding is critical not only to the workers – academic student employees, postdoctoral researchers, and other academic researchers – who perform this research, but also for the future of the U.S. economy.

With federal support from agencies like the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Department of Energy (DOE), these research workers play a central role in addressing some of our most urgent societal challenges through pioneering research in the medical and life sciences, energy use, new technologies, environmental protection, and transportation, just to name a few. Federal funding provides core support for salaries and benefits for these workers, as well as for the equipment, materials, and training necessary for them to perform their work. Moreover, the resulting innovations and subsequent projects enabled by this research help strengthen local economies, typically creating tens of thousands of related family wage jobs each year.

To make up for the cuts in funding in recent years, the Obama administration and Congress should increase federal funding for existing research projects, as well as the basic science that forms the foundation for future projects. This is necessary to preserve the leading role our research universities play in innovation and their pre-eminent role internationally.

Action