Posted 1:01 PM by Susan Darst Williams

THE NEA’S AGENDA VS. OURS, PART II

Here are a few more non-education related resolutions passed recently at the national convention of the National Education Association. My comments are in parenthesis.

Here are two things you can do about the gulf between what this powerful national union defines as important for K-12 education, and what parents and taxpayers want:

1. Watch for the August issue of Education Reporter to be posted online on www.eagleforum.org/educate/index.html and print out the full two pages of NEA resolutions.

2. Give copies to your local teachers, administrators and school board.

3. Tell them about a good alternative to the NEA, which offers cheaper liability insurance and other perks to teachers that are even better than the NEA’s. The Association of American Educators is not political; they’re pro-quality, pro-teacher, pro-child and pro-family. They DON’T have their priorities all messed up like the NEA. Caring educators should pull out of the NEA immediately and join the Association of American Educators, www.aaeteachers.org They don’t have a Nebraska affiliate yet. How about it, Go Big Educators? Lead a revolt! If you think that’s too harsh on the Nebraska affiliate of the NEA, why don’t you ask ‘em why they’ve been going along with all these goofy NEA resolutions all these years, and are still sending your dough in for more of the same?

Here are those other NEA resolutions of note:

A-24. A ban on vouchers, tuition tax credits and other help for families to send their kids to private schools.

(So even though it’s our money and education is a top priority, we don’t get to decide how to spend it or where our children should go to school).

B-6. Maximum class size of 15 students, with fewer in programs for students with special needs.

(That’s even though there’s not a shred of evidence from anywhere that a class size that small provides any kind of academic benefit to children. The real need is for schools to go back to using traditional teaching methods such as phonics and computation so that kids will be more able learners and the staff-to-child ratio can be more cost-effective. This is a push to make education as labor-intensive as possible -- hurting kids academically in the process -- in order to employ more people and rake in more union dough).

B-57. Standardized tests should never be used as a criterion for reducing or withholding any educational funding or for comparing students, teachers, programs, schools, communities, and states.

(O . . . K. So what SHOULD be used as a gauge of educational quality? How cute you guys smile?)

B-69. “The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience,” so “instructors” must be state-licensed, the curriculum must be approved by the state, and homeschoolers should not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools.

(Oh, I see: Mom and Dad licensed like a dog. Will we get collars and tags? So much for the educational quality and character of Abraham Lincoln. He was homeschooled . . . by himself . . . remember?)

D-21. “The National Education Association believes that competency testing must not be used as a condition of employment, license retention, evaluation, placement, ranking, or promotion of licensed teachers.”

(What SHOULD we use for all that? Their INCOMPETENCY rating?)

F-2. Pay Equity / Comparable Worth. “The ‘market value’ means of establishing pay cannot be the final determinant of pay scales since it too frequently reflect the race and sex bias in our society.”

(How silly, to think that money has any value, or any connection to the good that your service to society might do. Oh, that race and sex bias that goes on. Yeah, it’s terribly unfair that an old, fat, white woman like me doesn’t get to start for the Huskers. What’s up with THAT? Where can I sue?)

H-11. Statehood for the District of Columbia.

(Oh, my gosh: we have four children! Their educations have been drastically harmed by the outrageous fact that D.C. isn’t a state! Oh, boo hoo. There goes their ACT scores.)

I-26. Freedom of Religion. “The Association opposes any federal legislation or mandate that would require school districts to schedule a moment of silence.”

(Silence? In school? But then the kids could think and read! That’s against the NEA’s religion!)

I-47. English as the Official Language. “The Association believes that efforts to legislate English as the official language disregard cultural pluralism; deprive those in need of education, social services, and employment; and must be challenged.”

(Wrong! You use a comma, not a semicolon, in the last of a string of dependent phrases. There have been lame attempts to get out of taking English class, but this takes the cake. Let’s not just abolish English class: let’s abolish the English language! Yeah! Hey! Public education can be twice as efficient! We can make our kids illiterate in TWO languages!!!)

I won’t even get in to the objectionable resolutions on hot potatoes like sex education; HIV/AIDS education; promotion of contraceptives and abortion; promotion of homosexuality; promotion of gay marriage; promotion of sex-change operations, and putting colored, flavored condoms on bananas to show ‘n’ tell kids what sex is all about according to the NEA. (See that? I do know how to punctuate . . . no thanks to the NEA.)

No. I won’t even get IN to that stuff.

I’ve passed a resolution of my own. It’s against the NEA. I’m done with it.

Want to join my union? There are no dues . . . only what’s due to children, which is a good education, and nothing but.