© 1994 - 2007
Against the Grain

Site Design, Hosting and Logo
by DNA Web Media

The NEA Strikes Again!
Nancy Salvato
August 16, 2004

Aaargh! The National Education Association is at it again. This time they’ve given 1.8 million dollars worth of teachers’ dues to fund the Communities for Quality Education’s attack ads on No Child Left Behind, which suggests that the act "wastes money on bureaucracy and paperwork," and leaves "classrooms overcrowded" with "fewer teachers" as well as "out-of-date books and materials." Oh, please!

Let’s clear up a few ideas about the role the NEA plays in regards to wasted money, overcrowding, teachers, books and materials. To begin with, every time the NEA is challenged in court with regard to its misguided and inappropriate policy decisions, it uses money gained through teacher dues to defer the costs of defending itself…money which is supposed to help the students and teachers in this country achieve excellence in education. But I digress.

The money forced out of teacher paychecks and instead used to support the union goes to further a union agenda that takes away from parental choice and responsibility. Because of the NEA, public schools provide sexual education in which abstinence is not seen as a priority and which takes away from needed additional instructional time in core academic areas. Also, the NEA believes that home schooled students should not be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities offered by public schools. They are against vouchers because voucher schools are not unionized. They argue that parents should have no opinion over the books and curriculum chosen by teachers and librarians. I wonder how many parents realize that their hard earned tax dollars supports schools following the NEA agenda, not local authority.

Furthermore, the NEA has no tolerance for religion. It condemns conservative religious groups who dare criticize their policies. Through resolutions, programs, or other expenditures, dues go to support groups such as NOW and the ACLU who openly attack religious organizations. The NEA supports abortion, contraceptives for children, family planning clinics in schools, and affirmation of homosexuality –all of which many conservative religious groups are against. None of these should be under the domain of the schools. There is enough to think about with low academic achievement and discipline.

Getting back to the attack ads, it is estimated that the NEA uses 75% of its collected money for politics. With this money, they have always endorsed Democrats for president even though about 1/3 of its members are Republican. The NEA has the largest number of PAID political organizers and lobbyists in the United States. Unfortunately, teachers who request refunds for dues going to political expenditures through the union, likely receive back a fraction of what is actually spent on politics.

The No Child Left Behind act is trying to address the heart of the problems in education. The arguments made by the attack ads are smokescreens to cover up the fact that the NEA is harmful to education and our schools would be better off without them. In fact, smaller class sizes have no significant impact on learning unless the number of students making up a class is about ½ of what currently amounts to typical class sizes. But the union is fully aware that by lessening the class numbers by insignificant amounts, it will be necessary to hire more teachers and more union dues will be collected for the NEA.

NCLB requires teachers be qualified to teach the subjects for which they are responsible. Testing will assure that students are being taught required curriculum, that teachers are held accountable for what they are actually teaching, and that the curriculum and methodology in which it is being taught, have been scientifically proven as a legitimate means for instruction.

Parents who feel that a school is not providing an effective academic environment should have more choices about where their kids attend school. By including the element of choice, a public school monopoly will have to reevaluate its instructional methods, curriculum, and teachers. Schools need to be held accountable by those who don’t have a stake in the status quo. Currently, the union is the driving force behind what happens in the public schools. It is hoped that private schools, not under union control, can demonstrate alternatives which foster better instructional environments.

Although the law has been criticized as being under funded and too restrictive, in actuality federal education spending is higher than it’s ever been. The people complaining loudest are from districts who have lost control of the purse strings and are balking at the changes which would hold them accountable for their actions or who have lost money because it has been distributed more equitably under the new requirements.

The biggest waste I see is the money being spent on the negative ad campaigns against President Bush and NCLB. But the NEA has boatloads of money to spend on that because the alternative is that people might figure out that the NEA and their tactics are akin to, dare I say it…a terrorist organization.

Barrier to Learning: How the NEA prevents students and teachers from achieving academic and professional Excellence

http://www.effwa.org/NEA-Magazine.pdf

Education Group's Ads Assail Bush

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-campaign-ads-education,0,6582838.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

Copyright © Nancy Salvato 2004