NABE News Online

Vol. 1, No. 4
Apr. 22, 2005

NABE Executive Board Election Starts Today
This year, for the first time, NABE is conducting an online election for members of the Executive Board. Voting begins today and closes on May 20 at 5 p.m. EDT. Recent changes in the NABE bylaws have revamped election procedures. In 2005, NABE members in each region – East, West, and Central – will elect Regional Representatives to the NABE Board. In 2006 and 2007, nationwide elections will be held for Members-at-Large. Qualified candidates for Regional Representatives are as follows:

East Region: Heriberto Galarza, Carlo Mitton
Central Region: Bryan B. Charging Cloud, Pauline Chávez Dow, Angel Noe González, April Haulman, Roel V. Hinojosa, Elena Izquierdo, Sandra Liliana Pucci
West Region: David Briseño, Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert, Stephen Krashen, Barbara Medina, Leon Rattler

NEA Sues Bush Administration Over No Child Left Behind
Teaming up with school districts in Michigan, Texas, and Vermont, the National Education Association is suing the U.S. Department of Education over its failure to adequately fund the No Child Left Behind Act. The lawsuit, Pontiac v. Spellings, was filed in federal court on April 20. It is the first attempt to enforce a provision of NCLB guaranteeing that the federal government will cover state and local costs of compliance. So the legal and political implications of this litigation are far-reaching. According to House Democrats, the Administration has underfunded NCLB by at least $27 billion thus far. The day before the NEA filed suit, the Utah legislature voted to ignore all provisions of the law that are not fully funded by the federal government. Meanwhile, the attorney general of Connecticut has announced plans to sue over the same issue.

In a letter to NEA President Reg Weaver, NABE Executive Director James Crawford strongly supported the union's legal challenge to unfunded mandates on American schools. He also commended the NEA for its leadership in reforming "the arbitrary, punitive, and unreasonable provisions of NCLB," which create special problems in educating English language learners. "No amount of money, in itself, will solve these problems," Crawford added. "If policymakers are serious about overcoming achievement gaps, the law must be thoroughly overhauled." Click here for further details.

West Virginia Governor Vetoes English-Only Legislation
Efforts to sneak an Official English bill into state law failed in West Virginia on April 16, when Gov. Joe Manchin vetoed the measure. The provision had been surreptiously inserted into a parks and recreation bill that was passed in the waning hours of the legislative session. Numerous lawmakers expressed outrage on learning of the underhanded procedure. For several years, English-only bills have been introduced in West Virginia but have failed to pass because of strong opposition from civil rights organizations. Manchin had previously supported restrictionist legislation – which would have required virtually all state proceedings and documents to be provided in English only. But in this case the governor cited a technicality in the state constitution as grounds for his veto. Similar bills have been promoted by U.S. English, an anti-immigrant fringe group, in numerous states. The next battle could take place in Arizona, where the legislature is considering a bill to authorize an English-only ballot measure in 2006. NABE will be closely monitoring developments there. A federal English-only bill, H.R. 997, was introduced on March 1. But there are no indications that Republican leaders in Congress – who in recent years have been reluctant to alienate Hispanic voters over this issue – will allowi the legislation to advance.

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