Posted on 09/04/2001 9:14:08 PM PDT by kattracks
As millions of children head back to class this week, members of the National Education Association will be at the schoolhouse door, waiting to warp impressionable minds. Between them, the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers (its ideological twin) represent upward of 85 percent of the nation's public school teachers. In terms of shaping the content of public education, the NEA is more powerful than all the school committees and education boards in the land.
As its 2001 national convention demonstrated, the NEA's platform is indistinguishable from the agendas of the ACLU or People For the American Way. Little wonder that last year the NEA sent more delegates to the Democratic National Convention than the state of California.
A popular button spotted at the association's Los Angeles assembly read, "Jesus loves ya, Dubya, everyone else thinks you're an (obscenity)." Thus do progressive educators teach tolerance and show their respect for the office of president.
When it comes to protecting public education's monopoly status, the NEA functions as a medieval guild. Predictably, the convention passed resolutions deploring charter schools, vouchers, home schooling and standardized tests, while demanding substantial increases in education funding.
But the NEA also took stands on issues not remotely related to education. It supported statehood for the District of Columbia, comparable worth legislation, abortion and "proscriptive" (confiscatory) gun control, but opposed official English and space-based defense.
The NEA's political program translates into indoctrination in the schools. In La-La land, the guild embraced multiculturalism, global education, environmental education and race, gender and sexual-orientation studies.
All of these courses are based on dubious premises and designed to advance a cause. One side of the argument is treated as received wisdom, the other essentially ignored.
In its resolution on environmental education, the NEA pledged to push courses promoting "the concept of interdependence of humanity and nature," "an awareness of ... population growth ... on human survival" (but no consideration of the contributions of population increases to productivity), "solutions to such problems as ... global warming, ozone depletion" and acid rain (which science has yet to establish as problems) and participation in Earth Day celebrations.
All that's missing is a demand that Al Gore's "Earth in the Balance" be adopted as a textbook and a call for teachers to collect contributions for Earth First.
In another of its knee-jerk resolutions, the NEA declared "the struggles of working men and women to establish unions ... should be an integral part of the curriculum in our schools." They're not talking about teaching the history of organized labor, but getting kids to love and trust union bosses.
In 1997, the California Federation of Teachers came up with a swell way to introduce grade-schoolers to the Jimmy Hoffa worldview. The federation is an AFT affiliate, but the curriculum it devised (called "Yummy Pizza Company") has been endorsed by the NEA.
Kids role-play as workers who make pizzas. Management (the teacher) cuts their wages and increases their hours. The children are then encouraged to organize, engage in collective bargaining and go out on strike. Since the NEA is the largest union in America, and its members frequently strike for higher wages, there's more than a little self-interest at work here.
Students are also given problems to solve. One involves a business called "Kids for Hire," owned by Mr. Ink, which employs children to cut lawns, wash cars and baby-sit. Ink pays them less than he charges his customers (otherwise known as capitalism -- a concept teachers, as government workers, are probably unfamiliar with). The kids think it's unfair. Mr. Ink tells them to quit if they're dissatisfied.
But he's the only employer who'll hire them, the lesson plan instructs. (Are the kids incapable of offering these services on their own?) Students are asked, "What do you think the children should do?" Oh, go on strike, slash Ink's tires, throw rocks through his windows, and beat up scabs.
Lenin said give me a child for the first five years of his life and he'll be mine thereafter. The NEA has your child for 12 years. Vouchers are looking better and better all the time.
©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
I think it's the NEA's million-dollar liability insurance policy that's influencing your brother-in-law to stay in that unholy union's clutches. I've got good news. I'm a member of two teacher organizations that offer better (i.e., higher dollar amount and better policy provisions) liability insurance. Pass these web sites on for his perusal:
Let's focus on the real problem, rather than be diverted by side issues. JMO.
Typical. He does not know he can buy life insurance on the open market. Cheap too if one buys term insurance. Much better protection than any government plan offers also, I suspect. How the heck can people such as these ever be expected to teach kids what the real world is about?
With all due respect, even if he discovers some recourse, he should reconsider teaching anyone anything.
When I emigrated, the CEAI was the only option I could find. The AAE came into existence about four or five years ago, I believe.
Since I left that wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party, I've been able to point about six or seven of my like-minded colleagues to the AAE. I've just recently extolled the virtues of the AAE to a new teacher in my department, whom I'm serving as a mentor. What better service could I perform for her than to steer her away from the shoals of the NEA!
Yep. And so is home-schooling.
I don't know about Utah but in NV, teachers don't pay it. I met the nicest couple at the LV swap meet who were both teachers and selling next to me. Mentioned I was thinking about moving oveseas because I was sick about Clinton being elected. Both of them chimed in to say..."You go over there and you will pay 40% of what you make in taxes!"
They had a combined income of over $70,000 and were telling me how difficult it was to "get by". They also said they were in the 15% tax bracket.
The bracket percentage is not accurate. So either they are filing fraudulent tax returns understating their income, or their accountant does them, and well, they can't do "maths." Yes, they don't have to pay state income taxes in Nevada. Quite annoying. Federal government employees aren't subject to the FICA regime I think, but I don't think that obtains for state employees. But I could be wrong. I have never been there, or done that.
My experience with them is, of course, anecdotal. But, of the 30 or 40 teachers I sold to, not one ever created a going business. On the other hand, every person I dealt with who had a career in the military did become successful. Usually the first day out. I thought I was good and out of nowhere, some Sgt with 20 years in would pop up out of nowhere and awe me.
That deduction was repealed, unless the car loan is secured by their house. Unless of course they claim non commuting business miles. That would be a stretch for a teacher, but in your case, it would be duck soup. :)
While coverage is compulsory for most types of employment, approximately 6.8 million workers did not have any coverage under Social Security in 1999. The majority of these noncovered workers are in State and local governments or the Federal Government.
Office of Research, Evaluation and
Statistics, Social Security Administration.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/2000gb/sec1.txt
Beginning January 1, 1983, Federal employees were covered under the Medicare (HI) portion of the Social Security tax, and all Federal employees hired after 1983 are covered under the OASDI portion as well.
In 1997, 71 percent of State and local government workers (16.1 million out of 22.6 million) were covered by Social Security. Beginning January 1, 1984, all employees of nonprofit organizations became covered, and as of April 1983 terminations of Social Security coverage by State government entities were no longer allowed.
State and local employees hired after March 31, 1986 are mandatorily covered under the Medicare Program and must pay hospital insurance (HI) payroll taxes.
Beginning July 1, 1991, State and local employees who were not members of a public retirement system were mandatorily covered under Social Security. This requirement was contained in the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA 1990, Public Law 101-508)."
TABLE 1-8.--ESTIMATED SOCIAL SECURITY COVERAGE OF WORKERS WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT, 1997
Alabama. . .93%
Alaska. . .50%
Arizona . . .91%
Arkansas . . .92%
California . . .44%
Colorado. . .31%
Connecticut. . .69%
Delaware. . .61%
Florida. . .86%
Georgia. . .73%
Hawaii. . .66%
Idaho. . .94%
Illinois. . .53%
Indiana. . .89%
Iowa. . .87%
Kansas. . .86%
Kentucky. . .77%
Louisiana. . .14%
Maine. . .49%
Maryland. . .92%
Massachusetts. . .9%
Michigan. . .86%
Minnesota. . .90%
Mississippi. . .91%
Missouri. . .78%
Montana. . .90%
Nebraska . . .88%
Nevada. . .31%
New Hampshire. . .87%
New Jersey. . .93%
New Mexico. . .84%
New York. . .95%
North Carolina. . .92%
North Dakota. . .87%
Ohio. . .3%
Oklahoma. . .89%
Oregon. . .92%
Pennsylvania. . .96%
Rhode Island. . .81%
South Carolina. . .93%
South Dakota. . .93%
Tennessee. . .92%
Texas. . .56%
Utah. . .91%
Vermont. . .95%
Virginia. . .92%
Washington. . .87%
West Virginia. . .88%
Wisconsin. . .98%
Wyoming . . .84%
Source: Office of Research, Evaluation and
Statistics, Social Security Administration.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/2000gb/sec1.txt
Of course teachers do that. They are not as stupid as they appear.
Most teachers I have been privileged to know are dedicated hard working people who work because they love to impart knowledge. Yes, there are some horrible teachers out there who don't care. Please don't paint them as representative of the profession as a whole.
There are few things I find more offensive that what you just said.Yeah sure, I hate. That is what my life is all about. Hating people. I am a hater. I have no rational, empirical data for having the position I do. I am a hater. I was born this way.
Teachers need to look at life from the other side. From the side those who are footing the bill see it. And not engage in this type of rhetoric.
Or keep it up. I don't care. An occupation which was once respected will become even more maligned. Perhaps that is what it will take to fix the system.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.