Posted on 07/05/2008 8:24:24 PM PDT by smithone
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday thanked the National Education Association for its endorsement but also made it clear that he continues to support merit pay for teachers.
His position is a controversial one with the 3.2 million member group and it has earned him criticism when he addressed the NEA in 2007.
Obama proposes to raise teacher pay through merit based rewards for work above and beyond their positions. The issue has long been a widely opposed proposal among the NEA due to its potential for abuse through favoritism and “subjective” evaluations.
The senator pledged to fix the unpopular “No Child Left Behind Act,” saying, that while the law had been passed in 2002 with good intentions, it had ultimately failed to produce the desired results.
“Let me be clear NEA, opposing No Child Left Behind alone is not an education policy it’s just the starting point. We’ve got more work to do,” Obama said and then listed the votes in presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) record that he deemed wrong on education.
“He voted against funding the hiring of 100,000 more teachers,” Obama said, noting that McCain also voted against increasing funding for a laundry list of NEA backed initiatives. “He even applauded the idea of abolishing the Department of Education.”
The NEA has said it is prepared to spend $50 million on the 2008 elections.
McCain was also invited to address the annual convention, but declined the invitation.
Oh please.
I would like to hear your opinion about this.
This shocking decision will most likely cause rift among NEA members. I'm sure that McCain was neck and neck with Osama to get the endorsement.
I heard that the vote was 50-50 but some votes were discarded and some were reassigned. Oh wait, wrong election, my bad.
Teachers don’t need raises if they’ve got money to give to trash organizations like the NEA.
Obama got the NEA’s endorsement? What an incredible surprise! I don’t think anyone saw that coming!
NEA = Liberal Marxist who are brainwashing America’s children.
A lot of teachers are forced to because they don’t work in Right to Work states.
-— A lot of teachers are forced to because they don’t work in Right to Work states. -—
A lot of the other ones are forced to be cause the union members act like thugs.
Is this a change we can believe in?
I thought there were stories that said otherwise.
Excerpts from Obama’s NEA speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVvPl1dJPJo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGow8ut5_34
(The NEA Web site has the entire speech, but only members can see it.)
My Fellow Americans:
You may have read recent news reports that suggest I have modified my position regarding the redeployment of American military personnel in Iraq. Unfortunately, these reports have been the source of much confusion and anxiety among the millions of voters who have supported my campaign, and I would like to take this opportunity to address their concerns.
Let me be crystal clear: if elected president, my first act will be to call for the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. I have always been consistent and forthright in this position, and I want to reassure my supporters that my recent statement backtracking from it was just some bullshit my staff came up with to tack to the center for the general election. To win this election, it will be critical to appeal to the dwindling but stubborn group of idiots who cling to fantasies of American "victory" in this tragic disaster. It's an unfortunate part of the complicated game of presidential politics, but let's face it: I can't stop this war if I'm not in the White House. However, you should know by now that whatever I may say from now until November, once elected I will immediately pull the rug from these gullible pro-war rubes.
Or will I? As is obvious to all but the most deluded HuffPo retard, the surge in Iraq has produced dramatic improvements in security throughout Iraq, and the roots of a stable pro-American democracy. We have the terrorists on the run, and it would obviously be crazy for us to pull our troops from the region just as we are on the verge of victory. And it is equally obvious that everything I said in the previous paragraph was designed to placate the naive hipster moonbats I brilliantly exploited to destroy the Clintons. (You're welcome.) Now that the nomination is in the bag, I am finally free to stake out my genuine pro-victory Iraq position, and have a good laugh while the dKos morons screech like a bunch of apoplectic howler monkeys. Let's face it: at the rate I'm heading right on national security, I'll be raining nukes on Tehran by February.
See what I mean? That previous paragraph should be a signal to all of you in the progressive community just how committed I am to an immediate troop withdrawal. If that's the kind of shameless bellicose jingoism it takes to temporarily fool the neocons and extra-chromosome Jebus tards, I will do it. Just as I was willing to wear the stupid flag lapel pin to satisfy their lust for empty "patriotic" symbolism. But deep in your heart you know my real goal: to end this war, and atone to the world for the 28 nightmare years of Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush fascism. Imagine the looks on the multinational plutocrats' faces when I sign the bill that nationalizes their stupid oil industry!
And that there is exactly the kind of transparent commie crap that left wing lunatics eat up. It's unfortunate that I had to participate in it during the primary season, but just look at all of the comsymps and pinkos I've thrown under the bus in the last 6 weeks - Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger, Samantha Power, Jim Johnson, the list goes on. And you know what? I enjoyed it. Ask yourself this: when was the last time John McCain stabbed a lefty asshole in the back? Then ask yourself: who's the real conservative in this race? In conclusion, this should make it clear to the broad moderate middle mainstream of independent American voters that I am willing to reach out to both sides of the contentious war debate, and forge a new national consensus based on unity. Together, we can build a new era of hope, and bring an end to politics of cynicism.
IowaHawk
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/07/a-clarification.htm
Privatization of education is inevitable. Why?
Answer: The waiting lists for charters, and voucher/tax credit programs are **enormous**, and tax payers are groaning under heavy property taxes. Also...The Milton Friedman Foundation polls show that the percentage of parents who would choose their local government school is in the single digits. Legislators will not ignore this, and even some Democrats now openly favor vouchers, tax credits, and charters.
Yes, the NEA and other teacher organizations may slow the movement to privatization somewhat but in my opinion privatization is inevitable, and I will likely live to see it.
There is only **one** way in which the movement to freedom in education will be stopped: if the DEMONRATS STUFF THE BALLOT BOXES AND JUDICIARY.
( yes, I am shouting!)
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