Still shot taken during filming of issues advocacy advertisement. TV adaddresses class size, teacher pay, vouchers.

EA has launched an aggressive public educationand lobbying campaign to

ensure that important education issues are addressed during theweeks leading up to the Novemberelections.VEA President Kitty Boit-nott announced on September 22that VEA began airing a television commercial asking the public to getinvolved to support funding smallerclass sizes and increasing teachersalaries, while opposing tuitionvouchers.

"These are the pro-public education issues with which most citizens in Virginia agree," Boitnott said."Our commercial asks those who agreewith us to ask the candidates for governor to support our positions forsmaller class sizes and increased teachersalaries and against draining dollars from public schools to fund private

ara Reisler, a member of theLoudoun Education Association,presumably has plenty on her plate

in her second year teach-ing 5th grade at Lowes Is-land Elementary School.But this year, she madetime for a cause thatshould pay dividends forher colleagues across thestate. She threw herselfinto the race for the Virginia governor’s man-sion by becoming a volun-teer for Creigh Deeds.

“It’s very importantfor educators to be in-volved because the gover-nor is going to set thestandard for education in

October 2009 � Volume 51 � No. 2

NEWS

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Candidate has superior record on funding and teacher pay, 93-percent voting record.

Deeds is VEA’s Pick for Governor

2 VEA Fights Support Cap Public schools stand to lose$893 million in funding unlesswe take action now.

3 H1N1: The LatestWhat you need to knowabout preventing and deal-ing with the H1N1 virus.

4 Pioneers...at a Price50 years ago, these VEAmembers integrated theNorfolk schools.

6 Election PicksFind out who VEA sup-ports. Also: how Deedsand McDonnell differ.

��6

school tuition vouchers."The commercial leads viewers to

a website (www.supportvirginiaschools.com) that provides them with anopportunity to ask Bob McDonnell tochange his positions on those issues and toencourage Creigh Deeds to continue hislong-time positions on them.

To learn more or to view the ad, go to:www.veanea.org/top-stories/tv-ad-2009-09.html. If other ads are pro-duced, they will be placed there.�

VEA TV Spot Promotes Education Priorities

� Be an informed voter. Check out election news and features from a VEA perspective at www.veaelection09.com and browse candidate comparison tools and flyers at www.veanea.org/compare.

� Promote your choice. A limited number of yard signs and bumper stickers for Creigh Deeds will be available from UniServ offices.

� Take a walk. Connect with your local UniServ office to participate in a “Walk for Friends of Public Education” on October 17.

� Volunteer for a campaign. Help pro-public education candidates get elected by working phone banks, distributing literature, and more. Sign up for thePALS program with your local UniServ office and your hours may qualify for a VEA-logo sweatshirt.

� Register and vote! Voter registration deadline is Oct. 5; Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3

For more details, see page 6.

Virginia,” Reisler said at a recent Deeds eventin McLean. “We want to make sure we have avoice, so we need to support someone who’s

going to listen to us.”The VEA Fund for Children and Public

Education in July tapped Deeds to be the standard-bearer in the racefor governor because hehas the proven track recordon school funding andteacher pay—and a 93-percent rate of voting withthe VEA on the Associa-tion’s legislative report card.And if VEA members getactive in the campaign (see box at right), and voteon November 3, it mayhelp tip the balance in atight election and boost theprospects for public educa-tion as the state emergesfrom recession.

Deeds flanked by VEA supporters as the VEA Fund for Children and Public Education recommends him for governor.

Send a MessageGo to this site for more information and to send a message to Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell.

www.supportvirginiaschools.com

Get Involved

nless you never turn on the TV news, lookat a newspaper, listen to the radio, or read

anything on the Internet, you are aware that weas a nation—and as a Commonwealth—facesome of the most serious challenges that we

have faced indecades.

Our country isexperiencing theworst recessionsince the Depres-sion. There aresome isolatedsigns of a recov-ery on the hori-

zon: the pace with which jobs are being lost hasslowed, the “cash for clunkers” program seemsto have broken the logjam in the automobilemarket, and Wall Street appears to be slowly re-covering from some of the devastating losseswe experienced last year at about this time.

As far as our schools are concerned, theeconomic stimulus funds allocated by Con-gress last winter helped to avert otherwise disastrous cuts in local school budgets this year.Our class sizes are larger, we are once againdoing more with less; but we all know that itcould have been worse.

And we fear, as we look down the road to-ward the next couple of years, that it will, in fact,get worse for those of us in the public sector before it gets any better.

Our salaries are flat. Our homes have lost

www.veanea.org

NEWS2

www. v e a n e a . o r g

Robert Whitehead, Executive DirectorWilliam Johnson, Communications DirectorJohn O’Neil, EditorLisa Sale, Graphic DesignerTom Allen, Contributing Editor

USPS 020-535VEA News is published six times per year inSeptember, October, November, January, March,and May by the Virginia Education Association at116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219.Annual subscription rate: $10.00.

Postmaster: Send address changes to VEA News, VirginiaEducation Association, 116 South Third Street, Richmond,VA 23219

NEWS

‘Together, We Will Weather This Storm’value. Credit is harder to get even if you have astellar credit history. Money is tight. The future isuncertain. And the sense of fear and concernabout what looms ahead is palpable.

You may feel, as I do, as if a rug was pulled outfrom under your feet. It takes time to regainyour equilibrium—and your confidence. That’snatural. We don’t like surprises and we don’t likechange. What has happened this past year took

us all by surprise and has forced change on usthat we hadn’t prepared for and don’t particu-larly like.

Unfortunately, we are finding that one of thehuman reactions to fear and uncertainty is aheightened state of anxiety that translates intoour not always behaving very well. We are seeing examples of that in the news as well. Our country is polarized between those whoconsider themselves progressives who identifywith the President and the Democratic majority

in the Congress and the conservatives whoseem to be resisting anything the Presidentwants to accomplish.

Whether you consider yourself a progressiveor a conservative, a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, if you are reading this message, you are an education professional first and foremost. Whether you teach, drive abus, clean the buildings, or serve in a clerical

capacity, if you are a member of the Virginia Education Association, you value public educa-tion and you care about kids.

At the Virginia Education Association, ourjob is not to identify with one group or one partyover another. We often get accused of doingjust that, but the fact of the matter is that we recommend friends of education regardless oftheir party affiliation. We concentrate all of ourefforts on what we can do to improve the work-ing conditions of our members and improve the

quality of the schools and instructional programs that our students experience eachday. Those issues cause us to seek principle overpartisanship. Our approach to public policy is to be issue-driven and party-blind.

The fact of the matter is that we are living inuncertain times, and as a result, we need eachother now more than ever. We need to bejoining together as never before, speaking withone voice. We need to embrace the power ofour collective body and our collective energy.

We anticipate a very difficult General Assembly session coming up in 2010. The effects of the economic downturn on our Commonwealth will reveal themselves as thenext Governor goes into office in January. We may have to weather an even worse stormbefore things start to improve.

What I want you to remember is that if youare a member of the VEA, you are not alone.

We will get through this together.Thank you for being a member of

the VEA.Thank you for dedicating yourselves to the

future by serving as role models for our stu-dents.

Together, we will survive these challenges,and we will emerge stronger because of thechallenges that we have faced collectively.�

Keep up with Kitty’s blog at:http://kittyboitnott.blogspot.com/

Kitty Boitnott

proposal to cap the number of educationsupport staff positions the Common-

wealth funds would drop the state’s public education commitment by $893 million in2010-12. Can public schools absorb it?

VEA, backed by other leading educationgroups in the Commonwealth, says, “No.”

The support staff cap, first proposed as amoney-saving move by Governor Kaine a yearago, may strike you as arcane or complicated.Hang on, though, because if you learn a littleabout the cap—and speak out against it—youcould help prevent huge cuts to staff and schoolprograms in your school division.

Here’s the number one thing to remem-ber: A one-time budget cut is tough, but even-tually the economy improves and we have achance to make up for that cut. What Gov.Kaine proposed—a change in the actual for-mula for determining how much funding thestate will provide to localities—is, in effect, a per-manent cut that will reduce the state’s funding toschool divisions every year from now on. Al-though the cap only addresses school supportpositions, school divisions will have to pare backother areas of their budgets to make up for theloss of state funds.

Put another way, those lost state dollars

translate into fewer dollars for instructional ma-terials, lab equipment, gas for school buses, oremployee salaries at the local level.

We’ve got a fight on our hands in themonths ahead, and you can play a key role indetermining how quickly schools are able to re-bound from our currentbudget problems. Here’swhat’s coming.

On Sept. 30, regional meetings wereslated for four locationsacross Virginia, and VEAmembers were amongthose prepared to testify.(Look for coverage ofthe event, which oc-curred after this issue ofVEA News went to press,at www.veanea.org.)

By Oct. 1, a specialstudy committee set upby the General Assem-bly was supposed toprovide guidance on appropriate state fundingfor school support staff.

By Nov. 1, or thereabouts, the VirginiaDepartment of Education should project the

amount of funding needed for the state to fulfillits Standards of Quality for 2010-12, and it willmake its projections with and without the sup-port staff cap in place.

By Dec. 18, Gov. Kaine will propose hisbudget for 2010-12, including his plan for state

funding of support staff. The nextGovernor will propose changes tothe budget in January, and the Gen-eral Assembly will go to workamending and passing a budget.Over the winter and into the spring,local school boards and city andcounty bodies will use the latest stateprojections to develop and passbudgets for your local publicschools.

Make your voice heard.Get in contact with your local Asso-ciation about opportunities to influ-ence your budget locally. Be

prepared to e-mail or call yourrepresentatives in the GeneralAssembly this fall and early next

year to promote a budget that protects publiceducation to the maximum extent possible inthese tough times. The latest budget informa-tion and Action Alert opportunities will appear

Support Staff Caps Affects All Educators

Kimberly Adams (Fairfax) speaksout against support staff cap at anAugust VEA rally in Richmond.

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“Whether you teach, drive a bus, clean the buildings, or serve in a clerical capacity, if you are amember of the Virginia Education Association, youvalue public education and you care about kids.”

A on www.veanea.org. And, if you haven’t already,make sure to sign our petition opposing permanentbudget cuts at www.fundqualityschools.org.�

U

hen the Isle of Wight schools closed their doors for thesummer break, some 40 custodians were among the

ranks of school system employees, earning decent wages andbenefits for the challenging work they do.

After a closed-door school board vote June 25, though,none of them works for the school system any longer.

That’s because the school board opted to outsource custodial services to a Tennessee firm, SSC Service Solutions,in an action the Association is challenging in court. The firmsaid it would offer jobs to current employees, but not at theirpresent pay.

A suit filed against the Isle of Wight school board in circuitcourt says the board did not comply with a requirement to provide sufficient advance public notice of the June 25 meeting. Therefore, the suit argues, the contracting agreementreached at that meeting should be voided.

No decision has been reached on the suit, but Isle ofWight custodians already are suffering the effects of the board’saction. Employees with the school division were earning up to$15-16 an hour, plus VRS and health benefits, said StephanieBailey, president of the Isle of Wight Education Association.“With this new company, they went down to $9 an hour, and thehealth benefits are the pits,” she said.

A local columnist with the Daily Press, Tamara Dietrich, haswritten several articles bringing the mistreatment to light. In oneof the articles, she quoted longtime custodian Dimitrious Giles,a VEA member, who said the outsourcing had her worried about the status of her accumulated sick leave and retirement. “At least we have our jobs, I’m glad of that,” she told Dietrich.

Several weeks after SSC Service Solutions took over custodial services, Giles was dismissed. She told Dietrich an SSC supervisor told her she had “an attitude.”

No wonder that staff morale has taken a hit in Isle of Wight,said Bailey. “We’ve always been like a family,” she said.“This disruptionaffects education. We have strangerswalking aroundin our buildings who we don’t know.”�

ress professionally! That’s one bit of advice VEA-RetiredPresident Ernest Holley shared with an NEA Today video-

grapher as part of a multimedia project to compile advice fornew teachers.

Holley and VEA-Retired member Katherine Hairstonwere among 14 retired members interviewed at a recent NEAmeeting. The effort tapped into the accumulated wisdom ofeducators who had more than 500 years of classroom experi-ence. The short video tips are definitely worth watching orsharing with a new colleague. Take a look at:www.nea.org/home/ns/35096.htm.�

EA members can add to their knowledge of topics likedifferentiated instruction and teaching vocabulary—and

enjoy a discounted rate—thanks to a new partnership be-tween VEA and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

PBS TeacherLine offers online professional developmentin more than 100 courses in math, reading/language arts,science, instructional strategies, and more. The content isdeveloped in conjunction with professional groups in math,reading, and English, and courses address Virginia issues andstandards. Continuing education units, professional develop-ment points, and graduate credits from James MadisonUniversity and other colleges are available.

To learn more and to check out course options, go towww.virginiateacherline.org. VEA members who signup for a course will receive a $25 discount. Questions? Contact VEA’s Betty Lambdin at 1-800-552-9554, ext. 332, or blambdin@veanea.org.�

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hances are good that the H1N1 virus will affect yourschool or your classroom at some point this school year.Unlike the seasonal flu, which disproportionately hits

older populations, the median age of those coming down with H1N1 is 12- to 17-years-old.

The NEA Health Information Network (NEA-HIN) is working with leading health and education agencies to help educate members and the public about H1N1 and mitigate the effects of the virus. Some things you should know:

� The virus is transmitted in the same manner as other forms of flu. So attention to hygiene is essential. Wash hands frequently, cover your mouth when coughing, use a tissue for a sneeze, and dispose of the tissue right away. Keep school surfaces, such as desks and common areas, clean.

� The H1N1 vaccine is currently being tested. Health

officials suggest receiving your normal seasonal flu shot and also the H1N1 flu shot when available.

� Students and staff with flu symptoms should stay home. Symptoms of the H1N1 virus include

fever, sore throat, and a cough. Some persons also experience other symptoms,

such as such as nausea, body aches, or a runny nose.

Visit the NEA-HIN’s website at www.neahin.org/h1n1 to access

variety of materials that can help you and yourfellow fellow educators. Resources

include a brochure on talking tokids about H1N1, guidance on

cleaning and sanitizing schools, suggestions on how to make arrangements for school work

when students are absent, and much more. The U.S. Depart-ment of Education also posts

excellent materials at www.ed.gov.�

H1N1 Flu: What You Need to Know

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Spotsylvania Bus Drivers Push for Change on Physicalsome 50 bus drivers, members of the Spotsylvania EducationAssociation (SEA), have asked the school board to change a

new policy that requires them to get theirannual physicals from a school divisionemployee.

Wearing stickers reading, “Is there adoctor in the house?” more than a dozenbus drivers told the board their reserva-tions about the new policy.

“It’s all about the right to make thechoice of your own doctor” to conduct the required physical,said Cindy Robinson, a bus driver who’s also served in the

Spotsylvania schools as a teacher’s aide and secretary. Theschool board passed the new policy in August, she said, without

any input from drivers, who learned about it attheir back-to-school orientation. When they discussed the policy, many bus drivers learnedthey shared misgivings about having the physicalsconducted in-house.

Robinson said that during a physical examby a school division employee six or seven yearsago, she was told she had a thyroid problem. “I was

frantic,” she said, until she was able to see an endocrinologistseveral weeks later who assured her that there were no problems

with her thyroid. Since that time, she’s used her own physicians toconduct the physicals. “I take my health very, very seriously, and Ichoose my doctors carefully,” she said.

Other bus drivers told the board about their concerns. SEAmember Katrina Duncan said that during her physical exam bythe school division employee, she was asked questions about hersex life.

The drivers are now working one-on-one with board members to propose an alternative policy to the one currently inplace. Robinson added that the Association’s support was integralto bringing the issue to light and getting it addressed. “Without theVEA behind us, I doubt that anyone would have spoken up.”�

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Isle of Wight Fights Back

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children from going to a school that desegregated

� Appropriated state money for “tuition grants” to allow white students to attend all-white private academies at public expense. (In the most extreme case, the Prince Edward Academy operated private schools throughout Prince Edward County even as the school system officially closed its public schools between 1958 and 1964.)

Justice DelayedIn Norfolk, the NAACP was working with black parents to forcethe school system to admit black students to previously all-whiteschools. Brown’s and Turner’s parents both signed on, for matters ofconvenience (both were forced to drive by white schools on theirlengthy bus rides to all-black schools) but also because the whiteschools had superior facilities and materials. “We got the old anddirty books, with the pages missing, after the white schools gottheir new books,” Brown says of her experience at an all-blackschool.

There were many hurdles to jump, however. Forced by a courtorder to at least consider the applications of 151 black students toattend white schools, the Norfolk school board set up an elaboratescheme of academic and behavioral tests and interviews for blackstudents. Some dropped out. Others, like Brown and Turner,passed the academic tests but were disallowed for other speciousreasons (The 13-year-old Turner was failed for “displaying nervous-ness under tension” during one of her nine interviews by a panel ofwhite adults). A few months before the 1958-59 school year wasto begin, the Board announced that not one of the 151 had suc-

ifty years have passed, but Delores Brown remem-bers Feb. 2, 1959, as if it were yesterday.

She’s approaching the entrance of Norfolk’s Norview HighSchool to start her first day of classes, and angry parents are linedup to protest the admission of the school’s first black students.They’re shouting foul epithets at Brown and the six other studentsintegrating Norview that day, and a few toss rocks or sticks. Brownquickens her pace and enters the school’s front doors. She’s safe.Or is she?

On to the gymnasium, where schedules are to be distributed.Brown takes a seat in the bleachers towait for her name to be called.As soon as she takes herseat, the row—and theones closest to it—empty out. Finally shereceives her sched-ule, but the 17-year-old junior, who hopesto teach physical education someday, doesn’t getthe P.E. class shewants. She goes tothe school officeto investigate.“No, you’re notgoing to dirty ourshowers, now geton to your home-room,” a school office worker barks at her.

Outside Norview, the crowds are beginning to break up whena cry goes out. “Here come five more!” Patricia Turner, a 13-year-old, is among a group of five black children on the sidewalk makingtheir way past the high school on their way to integrate NorviewJunior High. The crowd surges forward, but a line of police inter-vene. There will be no violence this day, though the psychologicaltrauma is just beginning. The five children are “scared to death,”Turner remembers, but focus only on taking the next step forward.“Little robots, walking straight ahead.”

They say time heals all wounds. But scars never go away.Brown and Turner, both retired teachers and members of the VEA,are two of the so-called “Norfolk 17” who courageously integratedthe Norfolk public schools at a time when Virginia had dedicated itself to “massive resistance” to desegregation. To a generation ofeducators who weren’t yet born during the March on Washingtonor the urban riots of 1968, the story told by Brown and Turner mayseem almost inconceivable. But as Virginians commemorate the50th anniversary of the end of massive resistance , it’s worth reflect-ing on a legacy that ought to instill in all a renewed commitment toequal opportunity, particularly in public education.

In 1958, four years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the practice of “separate but equal” public schoolsin Brown v. Board of Education, Virginia schools remained segregated. Politicians like U.S. Senator Harry Byrd, Sr., the mostpowerful lawmaker in the state and the architect of massive resist-ance, fought to keep them that way. The state’s top leaders “wereprepared to close every public school in Virginia for as long as necessary to defeat Brown,” political guru Larry Sabato of the Uni-versity of Virginia said at a recent symposium on massive resistance.

It seems shocking today, but, with considerable support from citizens, business leaders, and newspapers, Virginia lawmakers in the years after Brown:

� Passed one law to cut state funding to any school that dared integrate and another authorizing the state to take over such a school

� Created a state-run “pupil placement board” that would decide which school a child could attend, usurping local control over pupil assignments.

� Repealed compulsory education laws so that white parents would be held harmless if they kept their

www.veanea.org

The Norfolk 17 were snapped by a photographer from Life magazine prior to integrating the city public schools in 1959. Governor Lindsey Almon

cessfully navigated its process. A local judge, Walter Hoffman,forced the school board to revise its findings, and eventually 17were tapped to serve as Norfolk’s pioneers.

But when Norfolk officially moved to enroll the 17 (in threehigh schools and three junior highs), the state stepped in. VirginiaGovernor Lindsey Almond immediately dispatched a statetrooper to deliver a letter to the school board president announc-ing that the state was clos-ing those six Norfolkschools, tossing out10,000 students—blackand white alike.

While thousands ofthe white students fled toprivate schools or were tu-tored, the Norfolk 17made the basement of theFirst Baptist Church theirclassroom. There, volun-teer teachers and repre-sentatives from the NAACP did everything they could to preparethem—academically and mentally—for the day they would crossthe threshold into white schools. It was an impossible burden foranyone, let alone children.

Vivian Carter Mason directed classes for the 17. In a 1959issue of the South Atlantic Quarterly, she referred to the heavyresponsibilities being heaped on them. “They have to prove thatNegro and white children can be amicably educated together.

F

They sacrificed their childhood. But 50 years ago, Delores B

Pioneers P

Delores BrownRetired reading teacher

“At the time, it destroyed me, butin the end it did make me a betterperson. I think about how it pavedthe way for my grandchildren.”

“If we can organize the Souresistance’ to this order, I thof the country will realize tnot going to be accepted in

— U.S. Senator Harryopposition to the Brown manda

nd ordered six schools closed, displacing 10,000 students, but was overruled by the courts.

rown and Pat Turner helped integrate Norfolk schools

Pay a Price

www.veanea.org

teacher who would not touch her homework papers without first put-ting on rubber gloves—had learned that prejudice started young, andshe vowed that as a teacher she’d make sure students understoodthat “intelligence has nothing to do with the color of your skin.”

Adds Brown, “Although my experience was traumatic, it helpedme teach so many students that we are all human, regardless of color,so let’s learn to live together as Americans. Each September, I wouldestablish that our class is one big family, and that we’re going to treateach other kindly.”

This past February, Governor Tim Kaine commemorated theNorfolk 17 at a luncheon held at the First Baptist Church. “The sacri-fice you made helped to make our state a better place,” he told them.

Turner, who for years steadfastly refused to speak about hersearing childhood experiences

(she married and divorcedher first husband, she says,

without ever telling himabout the special roleshe played), nowspeaks to communitygroups, educators,

and studentsabout the Norfolk17. Brown doeslikewise. Educat-ing others aboutwhat they wentthrough hashelped themcome to termswith the demonsthey faced a half-

century ago. The scars remain, but old wounds have larged healed.“For a long time, I put it out of my mind, because I didn’t want to

accept that I had been treated that way,” Brown says now. “At the time,it destroyed me, but in the end it did make me a better person. I thinkabout how I paved the way for my grandchildren, and I feel goodabout that.”�

Do you have a story about integrating Virginia schools you’d liketo share? Contact John O’Neil, Editor, VEA News, at joneil@veanea.org. Give your name and where you worked or went toschool when your experiences occurred.

Note: A series of articles on the Norfolk 17 in the Virginian Pilot (www.hampton-roads.com) provided background for this article, as did a 1959 article in the South At-lantic Quarterly, published by Duke University.

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Moton Museum Preserves Legagcy

In 1951, students at all-black Moton High School in Farmvillewalked out to protest the inferior facilities and materials attheir segregated school. Parents sued the Prince Edwardschools, and the case wound its way to the U.S. SupremeCourt, where it was unified with several others and decided in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.“Separate but equal,” the court ruled, was inherently unequal.

Virginia defied the court’s ruling, however, through a policy of “massive resistance.” In perhaps the state’s most extreme sign of opposition to integrated schools, Prince Edward shut down its public schools from 1958 to 1964.

The Robert R. Moton Museum preserves the legacy ofthis period through tours and educational resources. Formore information, contact Moton Museum, P.O. Box 908,900 Griffin Blvd., Farmville, VA 23901. Call 434-315-8775or visit www.motonmuseum.com.�

This is a very high price to pay, and it is a sad thing that theseyoung people have to vindicate the decision of the SupremeCourt…. They have left their childhoods behind them.”

The ‘Loneliest Year’Those words proved prophetic when the six Norfolk schoolsfinally reopened after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Janu-

ary 1959 that the state’slaw mandating school clos-ings was unconstitutional.From the moment they en-tered the maelstrom ofFebruary 2, Turner, Brown,and the rest of the Norfolk17 had to endure humilia-tion, brutality, and callousprejudice—from teachersand staff as well as fromstudents.

Brown recalls her 11thgrade at Norview High School as “the loneliest year of my life. Imight give a girl a smile, but they would just turn away, and I couldsee something was holding them back. They could see I wantedsomeone for a friend, but I couldn’t get a smile from anyone.”

“That year in 8th grade I kind of blocked,” Turner says nowabout her experience at Norview Junior High. “You went into theschool. Nobody spoke to you. People were allowed to spit on you,to push you up against the wall.”

Amazingly, Brown and Turner said they confided in noadult—not a parent, a teacher, nor a pastor—about the pain theyexperienced that year. Turner and the younger members of theNorfolk 17, including her brother, Skip, went to the First BaptistChurch every day after school. “We never mentioned what hap-pened to us,” she says now. “After a couple of months, one of uswould break down and start crying, because we had so much inside. And we’d hold one another, but we never said a word.

“We were having this out-of-body experience—we werewatching this other person go through this, but we were watchingthem—it wasn’t you. Because if you talked about it, it made it you.So we didn’t talk about it.”

Brown eventually returned to all-black Booker T. Washing-ton H.S. and graduated. Turner soldiered on at Norview HighSchool. She made good marks and earned a spot on the fieldhockey team, but other schools refused to play Norview, opting toforfeit rather than share the field with a black athlete. Finally, by hersenior year, she’d gained a few friends. And when her name wasannounced at graduation, students (though not parents) rose toapplaud her. “It took four and a half years, but they finally acceptedme,” she says.

A Call to TeachEventually, Brown and Turner felt the call to teach. Both worked inthe Norfolk public schools and joined the Education Associationof Norfolk; Brown taught reading, and Turner taught math. Andthey say their experiences as two of the Norfolk 17 affected howthey approached their students. Turner—who’d endured one

Patricia Turner

Retired mathematics teacher

Despite the vicious harassmentshe and other pioneers faced,“we never said a word.”

uthern states to ‘massivehink that in time the resthat racial integration is

n the South.”y Byrd, Sr., who led Virginia’s ate to desegregrate schools.

Virginia House of Delegates

District

1 Terry Kilgore2 Bud Phillips3 Dan Bowling6 Carole Pratt7 Dave Nutter10 Ward Armstrong12 Jim Shuler13 John Bell17 Gwen Mason21 Bobby Mathieson32 David Poisson34 Margaret Vanderhye35 Mark Keam36 Kenneth Plum37 David Bulova38 Kaye Kory39 Vivian Watts40 Tim Hugo41 David Marsden42 Greg Werkheiser43 Mark Sickles44 Scott Surovell45 David Englin46 Charniele Herring47 Patrick Hope48 Bob Brink49 Adam Ebbin

VEA Fund Recommendations

50 Jackson Miller51 Paul Nichols52 Luke Torian53 James Scott56 James Towey58 Cynthia Neff64 Bill Barlow67 Chuck Caputo69 Betsy Brooks Carr70 Delores McQuinn71 Jennifer McClellan73 Tom Shields77 Lionell Spruill, Sr.80 Matthew James82 Peter Schmidt83 Joseph Bouchard85 Robert Tata86 Tom Rust87 Paula Miller89 Kenneth Alexander90 Jason Call91 Sam Eure93 Robin Abbott94 Glen West95 Mamye BaCote99 Albert Pollard100 Lynwood Lewis, Jr.

Governor Creigh DeedsLt. Governor Jody WagnerAttorney General Steve Shannon

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The VEA Report Card measures how often legislators vote with the VEA’sposition. Deeds has completed 18 years in the Virginia Senate and House of

Delegates; McDonnell 14 years in the House.

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In addition to the race for governor, voters will decide who willrepresent them in the House of Delegates (all 100 seats are upfor election) and as the state’s next lieutenant governor and attor-ney general.

When the VEA Fund elected to back Deeds, it did so, inpart, because Deeds owns a superior record on school fundingand teacher pay. Deeds voted in 2004 for a plan engineered byformer Gov. Mark Warner that provided $1.5 billion to public ed-ucation—the biggest infusion of education funds in the state’s his-tory. Bob McDonnell, Deeds’ rival in the race for governor, wasamong a small fraction of lawmakers who voted against the his-toric funding increase.

Since the VEA Fund made its pick, moreover, more evi-dence has poured in that McDonnell’s plans would weaken theCommonwealth’s support for public schools. The prospect of de-creased funding from Richmond is especially dangerous becauselocal schools already are teetering from the impact of the reces-sion, which has forced program and staff cuts around the state.

Against this backdrop, McDonnell plans to address trans-portation needs by raiding the state’s General Fund, the fundingsource for public education and other vital services. His trans-portation plan, one estimate says, would drain the General Fundby as much as $5.4 billion over 10 years. As VEA President KittyBoitnott pointed out, “This is absolutely the wrong time to pit theinterests of the construction industry against Virginia’s schoolchildren.”

In his second major attack on school budgets, McDonnellcharged that educators mis-spend their funds, and he pinned hisentire education strategy on a discredited idea of forcing schooldivisions to spend at least 65 percent of their dollars on instruc-tion. The so-called “65-percent solution”—more accuratelycalled the 65-percent delusion—has been introduced and de-feated by a number of state legislatures around the country; Virginia lawmakers have repeatedly rejected the idea.

In fact, 88 Virginia school divisions already spend 65 per-cent of their budgets on instruction, says Rob Jones, VEA direc-tor of government relations, and the statewide average is 64.55percent. So there is no way McDonnell’s plan could generatesubstantial new dollars for instruction. Even if it could, there’s nocorrelation between such an arbitrary quota and results forschools. Two studies by Standard and Poor’s found no relationshipbetween a 65 percent goal and student achievement.

Compare the candidates on their support for raisingteacher pay and you’ll find stark differences there as well. Virginiateachers currently lag $5,500 behind the national average.Deeds introduced legislation in the General Assembly to bringVirginia teachers to the national average; McDonnell votedagainst that goal. In fact, VEA legislative records show that McDonnell voted against increases in teacher pay on five sepa-rate occasions.

Other than professional-level pay, what does Virginia needto do to attract and retain high-quality teachers? Deeds and McDonnell approach the challenge differently. Deeds has proposed “Virginia Forward” scholarships to good students thatwould subsidize two years of their college tuition in return for twoyears of service in teaching or other professions. His plans alsoinclude an initiative to forgive college loans for teachers whoagree to work in challenging hard-to-staff schools. McDonnell,by contrast, believes teachers will be motivated to greater performance by traditional merit pay. He says introducing performance-based pay will be one of his top priorities.�

For more on how Deeds and McDonnell stack up on the issues, see“Deeds and McDonnell on Key Education Issues” on page 7.

www.veanea.org/compareVisit the site for numerous backgrounders and flyers.

Deeds is VEA’s Pick for Governor Continued from page 1

Ready to Take Your Involvement To the Next Level?

If you want to make a difference on thepolitical decisions that guide schools,VEA has just the outlet.

VEA’s new Political Action Leader(PAL) program will provide you with in-formation and training to play a leader-ship role where you live and work. Andthe first 750 PALs who put in five hours

in the program will earn an attractiveVEA-logo sweatshirt.

PAL builds on the belief thatwhen members engage in the politi-

cal process—at the local, state, or federal level—the Associ-ation wins. If you sign up for the program, you’ll learn abouthow to get recommended candidates elected to office, re-cruit and organize other members to support campaigns,and keep other members informed about VEA’s positionson key issues. A variety of activities will count toward yourfive hours—ask your UniServ office for details.

One activity that will definitely count for PAL credit isthe October 17 “Walk for Friends of Public Education.” Onthat Saturday, member-volunteers will participate in adozen or more neighborhood walks with VEA-recom-mended candidates. Walkers will be provided a free t-shirt.Check with your local UniServ office for details and to signup for a shift.

For the latest VEA information, continue checkingwww.veaelection09.com.�

Sara Reisler(Loudoun) isvolunteering forCreigh Deeds.

About Bob McDonnell’s Thesis

VEA Report Card

Deeds’ Score McDonnell’s Score

93% 52%More candidate recommendations are expected. See the latest at www.veanea.org/legislative/candidates-2009.html.�

What could a 20-year-old academic paper have to do withsupport for public schools, the students who attend them, andthe staff who work there?

Quite a lot, it turns out.Ever since the Washington Post broke the

story August 30 of the controversial thesis Bob McDonnell penned as a 34-year-old graduate student, analysts have pondered the paper’s assertions about working women, state support for educational and social services, and other matters. The most widely discussed is McDonnell’s contention that working women and feminists have been “detrimental” to the family.

But his views on schools warrant scrutiny as well. McDonnell wrote that the state’s obligation to public schools is only to ensure that citizens “are educated andsocialized in order to operate at a minimum level of self-sufficiency." Since VEA is seeking full funding of the state’s

Standards of Quality and advocates lifting Virginia from its na-tional rank of 37th in the nation in state funding of schools, weneed partners who aim high. Another concern is McDonnell’s

promotion of school vouchers in the thesis; as a member of the House of Delegates, he later

proposed studying vouchers for Virginia.VEA President Kitty Boitnott says she

was “deeply disturbed” when she read the thesis. She singled out the paper’s condem-

nation of “a large portion of our society—working women, those who consider

themselves feminists, members of the GBLT community, heads of single-

parent homes, those who believe in public assistance of any sort for families in distress…the list

goes on.... We need an inclusive Governor who accepts peoplefrom all walks of life,” she concluded.

Read the thesis for yourself at www.veanea.org/compare.�

Voted for the historic $1.5-billion education aid package supported by VEA and passed under former Gov. Mark Warner in 2004.

Sponsored legislation in the General Assembly to bring Virginia teacher pay to the national average and pledges to work toward that aim as governor.

Has never voted in favor of vouchers or TTCs.

Proposes “Virginia Forward” scholarships that would give students with a “B” average two years of public college tuition in Virginia in exchange for two years of service in teaching orother professions after graduating.

Advocates loan forgiveness for teachers who agree to serve in hard-to-staff schools.

Says pay-for-performance should only be tried by localities in consultation with teachers.

Wants to expand “school efficiency audits” that now save $25 million a year in the 33 Virginia school divisions that use them.

Proposes loans to assist localities that need upfront money to make improvements aimed at efficiency.

Supports educational innovation, including charter schools, but would allow local school boards to retain the authority to grant charters.

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School FundingWhat you need to know:Virginia ranks 37th in the nation in state support of education (in per-pupil costs). Virginia students outperform students in other states, in spite of the weak state investment and large variations in spending between low- and high-wealth districts.

Teacher PayWhat you need to know:Virginia teachers lag $5,500 behind the national average of$52,308, and the low pay makes it harder to recruit and retainfully qualified and certified staff.

Vouchers/Tuition Tax CreditsWhat you need to know:Vouchers and Tuition Tax Credits (TTCs) allow parents to sendtheir children to private schools at public expense. They have not been shown to result in student achievement gains, but they do siphon money away from the public school system.

Incentives for TeachingWhat you need to know:Other than professional-level pay, what other incentives are desirable to attract and retain high-quality teachers? Performance-based pay is one proposal being discussed, but many other incentives deserve consideration.

AccountabilityWhat you need to know:Spending public dollars more wisely can increase the return on our investment in schools. But accountability measures must be carefully tailored so that they don’t worsen the problemsthey are supposed to fix.

Charter SchoolsWhat you need to know:Charter schools are publicly funded schools that operate more independently than typical schools. They are among abroader set of specialized schools such as magnet schools, governor’s schools, centers for the gifted, and the like. Virginia has fewer charters than other states, in part, because satisfactionwith the education system’s results is high.

Voted against the $1.5-billion school increasein 2005.

Has proposed shifting $5.4 billion from General Fund to transportation over 10 years, a move that would cost schools $226 million a year.

Voted against proposal to bring Virginia teacher salaries to the national average.

Voted against raising teacher salaries in 2001 and 2003.

Introduced bill to study vouchers and has expressed support for voucher program in Washington, D.C.

Favors standard “merit pay” for educators that would judge teachers by their students’ test scores. Says performance-based pay would be one of his top priorities.

Supports a “65-percent” proposal that advocates a rigid formula for determining where money should be spent. Two studies by Standard and Poor’s found no correlation between a 65-percent threshold and higher student achievement. Sixty-five percent mandate also would jeopardize funding for education support positions.

Says charter schools will promote needed competition among schools; proposes a “dramatic expansion” of charters in Virginia.

Supports conferring charter granting authority to the appointed Virginia Board of Education, rather than localities.

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Deeds and McDonnell on Key Education Issues

Creigh Deeds Bob McDonnell

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LEGAL ADVICE: ASK A VEA ATTORNEY

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www.veanea.org

VEA’s ‘Leader Center’: Web-Based Tools to Serve Youf you’re an Association leader, such as alocal president or committee chair, you’ve

got a lot on your plate. The “Leader Center”area on the VEA web is a handy toolbox toassist you on some of your many duties.Resources include:

Membership support.You can download PDF filesof numerous VEA and NEA membership materials, suchas brochures and cards. Andcheck out our tips on recruitingmembers.

Effective communications.Browse articles on how to createeffective newsletters or websites.Read our suggestions if your Association is considering usingsocial media to communicate tomembers or others.

Working with the media. If thethought of talking to a print or televisionreporter makes your palms sweat, read ourtips for getting your message across. Topicsinclude long-range media strategies andcrisis communications.

Community outreach. Check out details ofthe VEA Community Outreach OpportunityProgram (CO-OP), which can help

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I have been suspended from teach-ing duties after being arrested for atraffic violation. I am worried aboutpaying for my legal defense andabout losing my school job.

I’m sorry to learn of your difficulties.Association insurance coverage isavailable if a VEA member successfully defends a criminalcharge that arose out of actions taken pursuant toexpress or implied terms of education employment.Examples might includedefense against acharge of assault on astudent, or theft ofschool property.

Association insurancewill not reimburse a member for defense ofcriminal charges that do not involve schoolduties, or actions taken on school groundsor during school-sponsored events. Associ-ation insurance is not available if one schoolemployee presses criminal charges againstanother school employee, with an excep-tion for situations in which the complainingschool employee brings the charge as theparent or guardian of a student.

As you have learned, conduct off dutyand away from school can be grounds tosuspend you from teaching duties. State law(Virginia Code section 19.2-83.1) requireslaw enforcement to notify school officials of

the arrest of a teacher or other school employee. Virginia Code section22.1-315 provides that the schoolboard can suspend a school em-

ployee charged with a crime withor without pay. If a VEA mem-

ber faces criminal chargesthat do not involve school

duties or students, directVEA assistance is limited

to school employment matters such as suspension,

reinstatement, claim for escrowedsalary , or representation in school

discipline or dismissal procedures. The Association Attorney Referral

Program is a good way to find a lawyer youcan retain at your own expense for criminaldefense. And your local VEA/NEA UniServDirector is available to help you understandschool communications and policies.

We extend best wishes for your success-ful defense and hope VEA can help youquickly return to your classroom.�

— Dena Rosenkrantz, VEA Attorney

underwrite your community engagementefforts.

The Leader Center is housed in the Members Only area of the VEA web. Click on“Members Only” and “Leader Center” or go direct to www.veanea.org/membersonly/leaders. You’ll need to login using your emailaddress and password or register for access. In-formation on what to do if you’ve forgotten yourpassword also is available at that link.�

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ocial network sites like Facebook arebooming in popularity, and with good

reason. They can be a great way to share infor-mation with friends, sign on to a cause, or followa hobby or interest.

Education employees have specific rolesthat warrant special consideration with regardto social media sites, however. Here are someDo’s and Don’ts:

Don’t Accept anyone who you do not know asa friend

Do Be aware that users can search for you byanything in your profile (e.g. employer, collegeattended). Set your privacy settings so that only“friends” can review the information. Stay awayfrom sites that cannot be closed to the public.

Don’t Join groups that may be considered un-professional or inappropriate, and leave any

such group you’re a member of.

Do Monitor comments that are posted on yourpage. Delete any with inappropriate language orcontent. If someone “tags” you in an inappropri-ate photograph, remove the tag and ask that thephoto be removed. On Facebook, remove theGoogle search function.

Don’t Post vulgar or obscene language, materials, photos, or links that may be consideredinappropriate or unprofessional.

Don’t Post any negative information about stu-dents or school administrators, even if you thinkthe identity of the person is shielded.

Do Use common sense with social media.Source: Developed by the NEA and the PSEA.This material is intended to provide practical advice and is not considered legal advice.�

Social Networking Do’s and Don’ts

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