R&L Education
Pages: 216
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-57886-196-5 • Paperback • February 2005 • $53.00 • (£41.00)
Don Cameron retired as executive director of the National Education Association (NEA) in 2002, a position he had held since 1983. He was a staff member for the Birmingham Educational Association and later the Michigan Education Association.
Part 1 Preface
Part 2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 1 Taking Public Education for Granted
Chapter 4 2 The Unprofession of Teaching
Chapter 5 3 Rudely Awakened
Chapter 6 4 The Factoryizing of Education
Chapter 7 5 The Anvil of Democracy
Chapter 8 6 Can't Get No Respect!
Chapter 9 7 Tenure Anyone?
Chapter 10 8 A Century of Tea and Crumpets
Chapter 11 9 The Hundred-Dollar Mistake
Chapter 12 10 The Michigan Education Association
Chapter 13 11 Unionization In, Administrators Out
Chapter 14 12 Black and White Together
Chapter 15 13 The Revolution Engulfs NEA
Chapter 16 14 Taking a Walk in Florida
Chapter 17 15 NEA and AFT Clash
Chapter 18 16 The New York and Florida Tango
Chapter 19 17 Off to Tallahassee
Chapter 20 18 Off to Washington
Chapter 21 19 The Politics of Education
Chapter 22 20 Meritless Pay
Chapter 23 21 NEA and AFT: An Urge to Merge
Chapter 24 22 New Unionism
Chapter 25 23 The Quest to Privatize Education
Chapter 26 24 Some Thoughts about the Future
Part 27 Index
Part 28 About the Author
Don Cameron has written a firsthand account of how and why America's teachers organized and unionized. His description of the status of teachers prior to the teacher revolution of the 1960s and '70s, particularly in Michigan, is compelling and accurate. No less revealing is his characterization of how the National Education Association haltingly handled the education reform movement during the 1980s after publication of President Reagan's Nation at Risk report and the failed merger attempt between NEA and its rival, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The stories are informative and bursting to be told.
— Keith Geiger, NEA president, 1989?1996
This book provides direct and personal insight into many of the issues that have long plagued America's teachers. Cameron's experiences in dealing with such topics as collective bargaining, teacher competence, inadequate salaries, difficult working conditions, and the politics of education are right on target. His insights into the education reform movement are particularly descriptive, and his exploration of NEA's 'New Unionism' movement during the 1990s is insightful. Every educator and politician should read The Inside Story of the Teacher Revolution in America.
— Bob Chase, NEA president, 1996?2002
Cameron offers a personal account of the teacher revolution of the 1960s, when educators in public school classrooms around the country began to organize. He identifies the conditions that sparked this rebellion and follows its trajectory over a forty-year period.
— Reference and Research Book News
[Don Cameron's] account derives from his multiple perspectives as teacher, NEA representative, negotiator, and high level administrator and is driven by his obvious passion for education, teachers, and the unions that support them.
— Teachers College Record
[Don Cameron's] account...[is] very much for the general reader and you don't have to be an expert on American education to enjoy it. The issues that he writes about are live issues for every teacher, and the central narrative about rapprochement with the powerful and media-savvy American Federation of Teachers has particular resonance for UK readers. It's the style, though, that makes his story so refreshing.
— Times Educational Supplement
The Inside Story of the Teacher Revolution in America is a must-read for those who want to understand the gripping change that characterized education and the National Education Association during the 1960s and 1970s. Cameron's book has important lessons for any organization, business, or union that ignores the legitimate grievances of those who provide the work, whether in government or private industry. Equity and stability are obverse sides of the same coin, and the absence of justice and dignity in the work place, when reinforced by insensitive public policy, makes rebels of even the most thoughtful and compassionate people. This book is a cautionary tale about the calcification of leadership.
— John Ryor, NEA president, 1976–1980