MAD AND MOBILIZED

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In fact, a new spirit of compromise is evident across the country. Albert Shanker, the longtime head of the A.F.T. who was once a symbol of teacher militancy, has been quick to support such contested measures as teacher standards. In Illinois 40 school districts belong to the Consortium for Education Change, begun by the state N.E.A. affiliate, which promotes cooperative efforts among unions, schools and parents. In Glenview, Illinois, for example, teachers have adopted a "constitution" rather than a contract and become active participants in reform.

The N.E.A. has also started to play up its bipartisan nature, noting, for instance, that 30% of its membership is Republican. Yet this year, of the 255 congressional candidates being supported by the group, only one Republican is receiving any part of the N.E.A.'s $5.5 million in PAC money--not to mention the $20.7 million it will spend on such indirect political activities as lobbying and training members for campaign work. "If they're saying they're bipartisan, but their dollars are saying something else, I'd listen to their dollars," says John Berthoud, an analyst with the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, a public policy research group.

"We don't apologize for the political power we have with the Democrats," says A.F.T. media director Janet Bass, "just like N.R.A. and the tobacco industry don't apologize for the political power they have with the Republicans." The Clinton campaign isn't apologizing either. A senior official says the White House always "welcomes" the opportunity to discuss the President's record on education, including his expansion of Head Start, the creation of direct student loans and a new literacy program he unveiled last week. Instead of talking about unions, the President talks about a much more popular subject: the teachers themselves. "None of us would be here tonight if it weren't for our teachers. I know I wouldn't," he told the Chicago convention. And the thing about teachers is, they never forget a name or a face--or an insult.

--Reported by Stephen Barr/Metuchen, Michele Donley/Chicago, Tamala M. Edwards with Dole, Deborah Fowler/Houston and Ann M. Simmons/Washington