Teachers Union Member Cites {Conservatives'} "Radical Agenda"

Cheyenne Wyoming Tribune-Eagle ^ | 06-17-04 | Orr, Becky

[Theodore R.]

Teachers union member cites 'radical agenda'

By Becky Orr rep6@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

CHEYENNE - Every day, Lily Eskelsen takes her scissors in hand as she reads three newspapers.

Eskelsen, secretary-treasurer of the National Education Association, said the articles she's clipped have led her to a disturbing conclusion.

She's found a "radical agenda of privatizing everything that's not nailed down."

Speaking to members of the Wyoming Education Association on Wednesday, she said the move toward privatization is not only bad for NEA members. "I think it's bad for America."

Eskelsen, a teacher from Utah, is one of the leaders of the 2.8-million-member NEA, the nation's largest teachers union. She spoke during the opening of WEA's Summer Institute here.

About 100 WEA members came from across the state to attend the institute. It focuses on leadership, political action and membership, WEA President Gary McDowell said.

Eskelsen said she's seen a disturbing trend created by people who don't like the idea of public programs, such as public education.

"Crony capitalists and market fundamentalists" are using a calculated effort to privatize programs, not only in education, but in Medicare and Social Security, she said.

There's a strategy to dismantle popular government programs, she said. Opponents of public programs refer to these programs as "the beast," she added.

And they're dismantling them by "starving the beast" through repeated tax cuts. Those "starve-the-beasters" have a good friend in the White House, she added.

They have an extreme agenda to destroy public programs and turn them over to for-profit enterprises.

"If we don't do everything in our power to reduce privatization, we will live to regret it," she said to WEA members.

"Everything we have worked for the past 40 years is at stake. Our schools, our benefits, our rights, all of this would be up for sale on eBay to the highest bidder if some of these folks had their way," she said.

During a news conference after her presentation, she said "we think there are certain things that shouldn't be at the mercy of CEOs and stock options."

She had harsh criticism for the federal No Child Left Behind Act, saying its mandates for testing children have drained states of money needed for other education priorities.

At the news conference, she said the federal law is "absurd on so many levels that we hardly know where to start."

The law turns schools into testing factories, with a one-size-fits-all test for every child, she said.

All children have to reach a certain target number by 2014, to attain perfection, she said of the law. "Many of us are calling it the Stepford Child Elementary School Act."

The law requires children to hit a certain goal on reading and math tests. If even one child misses it by one point, the entire school risks not meeting a benchmark called Adequate Yearly Progress, she said.

The law needs massive changes. "This is despised in a very bipartisan way," she said.

"We are doing a full-court press to return local control over testing," Eskelsen said. The law should measure a child's academic growth instead of whether they met a specific target.

The law was enacted at a time when states were developing initiatives to increase accountability, she said.

There were 38 states that had testing requirements. NCLB ignored what states have worked on for many years, she said.

"We want to see the law rewritten to where we actually measure that child's growth," she said.

The law will be one item delegates to the NEA national assembly will tackle in July in Washington, D.C., she said.

WEA will send about 50 members to the national assembly, McDowell said. McDowell said the No Child Left Behind Act needs to be fixed.

"The basic goals of No Child Left Behind are good and are goals that the WEA has supported for a long time," he said.

But the law is based on an arbitrary system to reach the targeted performance goals.

"It does not consider the differences among students in the classroom," he said.

The federal government should provide the full amount of what it costs in Wyoming to implement the law. And that isn't happening now, he said.

[CSM]

NEA member admitting to a preference of socialism, ping!

[Jeff Head]

She's found a "radical agenda of privatizing everything that's not nailed down."

"Crony capitalists and market fundamentalists" are using a calculated effort to privatize programs, not only in education, but in Medicare and Social Security, she said.

Oh my gosh...you mean some people actually want to be free and practise liberty.

These education unions, particularly the NEA, are filled with abject socialists and closet marxists. It is time for the wheel to turn on them as well.

I wish Ronald Reagan had been able to realize his goal of doing away with the entire HEW departments of government.

[PeterPrinciple]

And they're dismantling them by "starving the beast" through repeated tax cuts.

She admits it is a beast.

[gedeon3]

'"It does not consider the differences among students in the classroom," he said. '

How cruel can the evil conservatives be? (sarcasm)

[Eva]

The quality of public school education is inversely proportionate to the growth of the NEA. Think about it.

[kaboom]

WEA (Wyoming Education Association) members came from across the state to attend the institute. It focuses on leadership, political action and membership.

It's kind of funny how the WEA institute meeting doesn't focus on EDUCATION!

And they're dismantling them by "starving the beast" through repeated tax cuts. Those "starve-the-beasters" have a good friend in the White House, she added.

How can she complain about tax cuts when schools are actually getting more money each year?

[bad company]

"The law needs massive changes. "This is despised in a very bipartisan way," she said. "

Yes, by both liberals and socialists.

[wmichgrad]

Everything we have worked for the past 40 years is at stake. Our schools, our benefits, our rights, all of this would be up for sale on eBay to the highest bidder if some of these folks had their way.

It's unfortunate that she fails to see that privately run schools may actually force parents to become more involved in their child's education, as they would actually have to make a decision as to what school to send their kids to. Not to mention the fact that privately run schools would have to compete for students in order to turn a profit. And it's not like privately run schools wouldn't be unionized, so I doubt their rights and benefits would be at risk.

[KarlInOhio]

She's found a "radical agenda of privatizing everything that's not nailed down."

I have to admit that is a stupid agenda.

Just because it's nailed down is not a reason to keep it socialized. Get out the claw hammers if you have to so you can privatize it.

[FourPeas]

Not just an NEA member, "one of the leaders of the 2.8-million-member NEA". Of course, I'm sure she doesn't speak for the majority of the members so she'll soon be out of a leadership position, right?

[russesjunjee]

I have been teaching for 14 years, and I can tell you that the NEA is an enemy to all who have conservative or even common sense views about where our nation should be heading.

The sad thing is that NEA has worked hard to develop the tenure system so that teachers are basically trapped into keeping membership in NEA. School systems and School boards are so political and underhanded that few teachers would ever dream of crawling out from under the protective blanket that is offered by NEA.

Without NEA teachers would get fired every time a parent got mad (which is every day now that kids are not held responsible for their actions anymore.) Most of us would love to get rid of NEA, but its either stay in NEA or not have a job. NEA knows that it has us trapped, so it takes advantage of us by using our union dues to promote its liberal agenda.

One final word from a person on the inside. No Child Left Behind is a crock. Its nothing but a smoke screen thrown up by the republicans to make voters believe that they have actually done something that might improve the education system. Democrats do this stuff too. None of it really works, but it makes the voters feel secure.

In the past ten years politics has destroyed an already shaky public school system. Now, kids are not being taught to think ahead or to problem solve. They are simply being taught to pass a test so that parents can feel secure and politicians can say, "hey look....I raised test scores during my last term in office."

What they neglect to to tell you is that they have dumbed the tests down so that a stump could pass them.

[Cowgirl]

I would not send my dog to a public school. I would rather my child did not receive any education than go
to a communist indoctrinated prison designed to turn
him away from decent common sense and family.
Public school is not about "education", it's about money, power and evil.

[Xenalyte]

This woman is so very wrong, on so many issues, that I truly do NOT know where to begin.

[Xenalyte]

Everything we have worked for the past 40 years is at stake. Our schools, our benefits, our rights, all of this would be up for sale on eBay to the highest bidder if some of these folks had their way.

Silly me . . . all this time, I thought that what teachers had been working for for 40 years was to teach kids something.

[Xenalyte]

What I can't figure out is if the tests are so easy - and indeed they are - why are so many children failing them?

[AIC]

"Everything we have worked for the past 40 years is at stake. Our schools, our benefits, our rights, all of this would be up for sale on eBay to the highest bidder if some of these folks had their way," she said.

Just what have they done in the last 40 years to help the students to learn better. Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!
It used to be that a community that needed a teacher would go out and hire the best qualified teacher for the amount of money they could afford. The community would also tell the teacher what they wanted the students to learn and what to expect from the teacher. If neither process occurred then the teacher was up before the board telling them why, then the board either keep the teacher or let the teacher go.It was a good system then and I think that it would be a good system now.
Get rid of the teachers union and tenure and I believe you would see a change for the better in the students.

[Mister Baredog]

This article needs a big BARF ALERT

[Mister Baredog]

What they neglect to to tell you is that they have dumbed the tests down so that a stump could pass them.

And still many don't seem willing or able to take them and pass.

Just what is the solution?