{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.026597131681877443, 'fraction_numerical': 0.003389830508474576, 'mean_word_length': 4.794561933534744, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
NEA Leader Is Looking Ahead ... for Solutions: A Higher Bar for Entry to the Profession, a Real and Workable Peer Review Process, and Leadership and Advocacy in and outside the Classroom Mark the NEA's Way Forward

National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel may head the largest labor union in the United States, and the NEA may have 3 million members who constitute a potent political force in local, state and national elections. He also may be the bete noire of self-described progressive education reformers as well as antiunion conservatives. But Van Roekel thinks of himself, first and foremost, as a veteran high school math teacher and an advocate for professionalism. "I'm a very proud unionist, and I am an active participant in the political process," he said in an interview. "But what got me there was my professionalism. I didn't go into education to join the NEA. What got me energized was when I got into a classroom and realized I couldn't deliver to the students in my room because of decisions made outside. I went to my union to be my voice and advocate for the things I needed. We need to do more of that." Van Roekel has been president since the summer of 2006. During his tenure, policy makers have shifted their focus from ensuring that teachers were highly qualified--meaning they had passed tests or gained state certification--to ensuring they were highly effective. The former referred to credentials; the latter to performance. That shift led to attacks on the NEA and the smaller American Federation of Teachers for protecting weak teachers; it also led to loud protests by teachers that they were being blamed for the ills of public education. Van Roekel said the NEA has responded by playing defense and offense. The defense involves fighting "these wackos who have crazy ideas about public education," such as former Washington, D.C., Chancellor Michelle Rhee and, in some places, the Democrats for Education Reform group. Rhee's Students First group opposes granting teachers tenure and using seniority rules to govern teacher assignments. She supports evaluating teachers and principals based primarily on student test scores and giving parents a voucher they can use to send their kids to any school, public or private. She says she is committed to public school students, not to public schools. NEA also has fought aggressively against antiunion policies in Wisconsin and Ohio and imposed a $20 per member dues surcharge to build up its multi-million-dollar legislative crisis fund to fight anti-public education ballot measures. More than saying "no" Van Roekel said the union "can't just 'say no.'" It needs to make a positive contribution, and that will require a stronger offense. To that end, in December 2010, he appointed a 21-member Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching and gave them four charges--the most important of which was to form a "new vision of a teaching profession that is led by teachers." The commission came back a year later with a call for "transformational changes in recruitment, selection, preparation, professional learning, evaluation, compensation, and career advancement." The commission wanted teachers to be given much more say over decisions affecting their classrooms and called on teachers to work closely with administrators on evaluating their peers, dismissing those not performing well, and identifying those who should be given additional responsibilities and higher compensation. In response to that commission, the NEA issued its own three-point plan. First, the NEA would advocate for raising the bar for entry into the profession. That meant pushing for a requirement that every new teacher participate in a one-year clinical training residency with a strong and well-trained mentor before being put in charge of a classroom. …