Six percent said their districts aren't even offering remediation. 80 percent reported that teachers are not being given the time they need for planning to put the new standards into place, while just 51 percent said their districts had provided staff development for teachers on meeting the new Regents standards. No business would ever dream of introducing a new product without offering intensive staff training to their employees. Delegates also engaged in political action and voted on who will lead the union in the next century. Hobart said with public education under attack, teachers and their union must take the lead and steer policymakers toward change that will improve public schools.
All terms are for two years.
Delegates also heard fiery speeches from Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Geraldine Ferraro, Mark Green and Charles Schumer and blitzed GOP Sen. Alfonse D'Amato with a flurry of e-mails, faxes, letters and phone calls decrying his unfair and inaccurate attacks on teachers. Also on the political front, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver both expressed great unhappiness over Gov. Pataki's veto of education funding, with Silver delivering an especially sharp attack on the Republican executive. With the arrogance and disrespect we find in those absorbed with their own power, Governor Pataki cheated our schools, he cheated our children sitting in the classroom, and he cheated all of you. Best-selling author Jonathan Kozol, whose recent book Amazing Grace chronicled the enormous challenges faced by schoolchildren in the Bronx, delivered the keynote address Saturday.