American Teacher

The new Medicare prescription drug benefit, which began Jan. 1, is off to a rocky start. Computer glitches, jammed phone lines and other communication breakdowns have marred the launch of the new program and left thousands of low-income seniors and disabled...

The 2005 White House Conference on Aging held December 11-14 in Washington, D.C., did not go exactly as planned, thanks to delegates from the AFL-CIO's Alliance for Retired Americans.Angry and frustrated that the conference offered only limited opportunity...

Union presses for NCLB remedies based on proven strategiesSolid, research-based school improvement options will be a key AFT focus when Congress takes up reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act next year. Evidence from the field shows that this...

Review of programs shows varying success in raising achievementResearch-based" school reform models have become so much a part of the discussion around improving schools that the term is written into the requirements of No Child Left Behind. Most educators...

FrontlinesYou are reading the March/April issue of American Teacher. In late January, the AFT executive council decided to merge the March and April editions as part of a series of budget adjustments.This belt-tightening comes in response to a budget...

Bush message skirts key domestic issuesThe 2006 State of the Union address delivered by President Bush on Jan. 31 glossed over difficult challenges that Americans face every day, picking at the margins of such complex issues as education and healthcare....

The latest education policy fad in America is called "the 65 percent solution." It is an effort to mandate that school districts spend 65 percent of their budgets on instruction, as defined by a report from the National Center for Education Statistics...

Young leaders move to the forefront as affiliates reach out to welcome themA focus on professionalismPankaj Sharma admits to being more than a little surprised by what he learned about the North Suburban Teachers Union during his first year at Niles...

There is a longstanding and proud tradition of solidarity between America's labor movement and unions around the globe. In fact, labor solidarity at the international level has always been a bedrock principle for the member unions of the AFL-CIO. It...

HIGH SCHOOL DATA The national High School Center at the American Institutes for Research has launched its Web site to serve as a central source of information on high school improvement. The mission of the High School Center, www. betterhighschools.org,...