Posted on 08/04/2009 12:08:00 PM PDT by Kaslin
The National Education Association, which usually passes a dozen or more pro-homosexual resolutions every year at its annual national convention, this year in San Diego went all-out in support of same-sex marriage. This emphasis on advocacy for homosexuals was spelled out in a five-point New Business Item E.
Point No.1 tells its union affiliates to support state legislation that registers same-sex couples in a way that mimics marriage. This registration would cover taxes, inheritance, adoptions, medical decisions, and even immigration.
Point No. 2 says that states can call this same-sex registration marriage or civil union or domestic partnership so long as same-sex relationships are treated like marriage.
In Point No. 3, the NEA promises to "support its affiliates" in opposing state constitutional amendments and laws that "could have the effect" of differentiating between homosexual and heterosexual couples. The NEA's California affiliate spent $1.25 million of teachers' dues money on the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 last year.
In Point No. 4, the NEA supports repeal of federal laws and regulations such as the very popular 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. According to the Government Accountability Office's list of laws that use DOMA's definition of marriage, repeal of this law would create new Social Security and joint income tax benefits for homosexual partners.
The NEA's only concession to those who disagree with these goals is Point No. 5, which acknowledges that churches have a First Amendment right not to perform same-sex marriages.
In the limited floor debate, delegates were booed if they mentioned that marriage should be between a man and a woman. New Business Item E was approved by a voice vote of about 60 percent to 40 percent.
The long list of policy resolutions approved by the nation's most powerful teachers union included many references to "sexual orientation," "gender identification," and "diversity." Since the NEA is the largest and most powerful teachers union, it is reasonable to assume that these attitudes will follow the teachers into the classroom.
Every year, the NEA convention passes a resolution endorsing "family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom," which everybody understands specifically means abortion. And every year, some pro-life delegates try to pass a motion stating that the NEA takes "no position on abortion."
The abortion-neutral motion has always been decisively defeated, never getting as much as 25 percent of the vote, and sometimes it is even ruled out of order by the chairman. This year, something remarkable happened.
The pro-lifers introduced their motion as a bylaw amendment instead of as a resolution, a procedure that calls for a secret, written ballot instead of a voice vote. Although the abortion-neutral motion failed, mirabile dictu, the secret ballot produced an amazing 39.4 percent voting for the abortion-neutral measure.
The swansong speech of the NEA's retiring general counsel, Bob Chanin, showcased the NEA's animosity toward parents and others who don't agree with the NEA's left-wing views. Chanin, who served the NEA for 41 years, pitched his speech to respond to his own question: "Why are these conservative and right-wing bastards picking on NEA and its affiliates?"
Chanin answered, "NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power, and we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year."
Such arrogance! The NEA would have a small fraction of its power and bank account if it had to depend on teachers "willing to pay" dues.
In many states, teachers pay union dues because it is a condition of their employment. Many of the NEA's contracts require school districts to promptly fire any teacher who fails to pay dues.
Some of these "right-wing bastards" identified by Chanin included Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, and the Bush administration's Department of Education. He added: "We are not paranoid, someone really is after us."
Chanin is correct. Conservatives are after the NEA. Because this powerful organization has effective control of the public schools, spends millions of taxpayers' dollars to indoctrinate schoolchildren, and spends millions of its own money to lobby for left-wing goals, the NEA deserves to be subjected to citizen surveillance and criticism.
For many years, the NEA nestled behind its status as a professional "association"; after all, that's its name. But Chanin now unapologetically played up the NEA as a union, saying, "NEA and its affiliates should never lose sight of the fact that they are unions."
One final Item of note: the NEA convention voted down New Business Item 66, which would have required the union to make public the salaries and benefits received by its executives.
It’s for the children.
It’s about consenting adults in private.
It’s just sex.
They’ve come for your children.
SHOCKER!
IIRC, 25% of delegates at the National Democratic Convention were members of one of the two national teachers’ unions (the NEA or the AFT). Liberal groups tend to scratch each other’s backs.
Will the PTA be able to chastize homosexual teachers who opt to live with a partner outside of marriage?
If teachers are making so much money that they can fund this kind of nonsense, obviously it’s time to cut their pay by 25%.
This has what to do with edumcasion.
That was my reaction also. Maybe the difference is between education and indoctrination.
The NEA should not be supporting anything like this, nor would I be in favor of them using their time to NOT support gay marriage. It just shouldn't be one of their agenda items at all.
This is just one of the many reasons why American education is in the state that it is in.
It's a crock; and it all started out with leftie social workers extending adoption "rights" to single people back in the 70s. Once they did that, all the other forms of unnatural family formation became legally defensible. Liberals can never see the difference between one thing and another. They can't discern the difference between a male and a female, compulsion from choice, or good from bad. They believe every form of discrimination is always bad; even if you are discriminating for the benefit of the children, who need both a mother and a father.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1083139/posts
A Gay ( or not! ) Old Time- GM links
various FR links | 02-22-04 | The Heavy Equipment Guy
But here is the Money Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1083139/posts?page=266#266
“Here’s actor John Barrowman on what it really means:
‘It’s been a long wait but we legitimised our relationship to each other a long time ago when we signed our mortgages together and this is just something that forces people who don’t want to recognise it that they have to.’
No room for misquote there then. Yes, indeed. It was never about folks solemnly waiting for the State to endorse their lifestyles, it was always about using the power of Big Government to impose their lifestyle on third parties”
I like the article Tammy Bruce did on the subject some time ago. http://frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=14020
No surprise here. The NEA supports abortion on demand. They don’t care about children, they only care about money. So what if children aren’t raised by a mother and father?
These are the people who teach your children. Are you going to bring your kids home from school when these wackos start teaching them about non-normal sex?
Anyone who thinks the purpose of the NEA is quality education also thinks the purpose the UAW is quality autos.
Teachers in most places are not well paid. Therefore, the profession attracts idealists from the left side of the political spectrum.
They are actually stupid enough to think public schools can do the job parents should be doing. That is inculcating values in their children. Unfortunately, left wing values are that their are no values.
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