Conservatives, Teachers Unions and Poisoned Debate

NY Times ^ | 9-4-02 | RICHARD ROTHSTEIN

[Pharmboy]

No, Mr. Rothstein, the problem is not us conservatives. It is the fact that the NEA is an arm of the Democrat Party and there is not one whit of fairness about them. They are driven by the extremes of PC-ness and race and sex-based victimology.

You, Mr. Rothstein, are part of the problem. We, OTOH, are part of the solution.

[hchutch]

Amen to that.

If that is, conservatives stop fratricial warfare among themselves...

[yendu bwam]

The NEA has gone from being a teachers' union (which already automatically puts it at odds with many parental concerns) to an unapologetic leftomatic, gaydocratic, anti-religious, anti-business, anti-patriotic, and pro-sexual activity advocacy group. For those who are conservative, don't want our kids steeped in (harmful) homosexual ideology, believe in God, know that business is what makes this country run (and provides its jobs), wants our kids to understand the genesis of the greatness of our country, and don't want our kids encouraged to engage in childnood sexual activity, the NEA is now firmly entrenched as the enemy. The NEA is like the anti-Boy Scouts. It represents the antithesis of all that made this country great. And I'll make sure the NEA doesn't get its dirty little paws on my children. We removed them from the public school system two years ago.

[summer]

Richard Rothstein is an idiot for saying this:

So use of this material to attack the union's patriotism is curious, showing how poisoned public discussion about education has become.

It's not 'curious.'

There were so many other teaching themes the NEA could have focused on, that would have been of interest to all concerned, such as the rebuilding of our nation following a tragedy, the way citizens reached out and helped each other, etc.

These are themes of patriotism as well as comfort to young children. The NEA missed the boat, and it's not the first time. Many teachers ignore the advice of NEA, as do prinicipals.

What is "poisonous" about the national debate on public education is people wrongly assume teachers and principals actually do everything the NEA tells them to do - teachers do not.

Rothstein's column gets worse and worse every week.

[Tacis]

Was this really from the New York Times? The reason I ask is that it uses, in several places, the word "conservative."

The New York Times seldom uses the word "consevative," almost always using, in it's place, the phrase, "Ultra-right wing, throwback, extremist conservative..."

It must be remembered that most true NYT writers are probably the students and heirs of those who wrote propaganda for so many years for Pravda.

[Always Right]

What is "poisonous" about the national debate on public education is people wrongly assume teachers and principals actually do everything the NEA tells them to do - teachers do not.

Then teachers should get new leadership in their unions which are more concerned about advancing liberal agendas then the education of kids.

[Always Right]

Was this really from the New York Times? The reason I ask is that it uses, in several places, the word "conservative."

Well, they did lable conservatives SIX times in the article and title, and Liberals ZERO times.

[RollingThunder]

The NEA is the real problem. There is no one to watch what they use in their liberal teaching of our children. And they get away with this thru not only the DemocRATic Party, but thru the ACLU, AU, Planned Parenthood, GLSEN, and others.

This will not be an easy fight, but we must continue to expose these frauds for what they truly doing to our children. The systematic indoctrination of our children into a godless anything goes society, always dependent on the government for everything.

[bankwalker]

Then teachers should get new leadership in their unions which are more concerned about advancing liberal agendas then the education of kids

Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone!

All in all you're just...another brick in the wall.

[summer]

Many teachers have dropped out of the teachers union here in FL. And, the NEA just changed leadership again. Teachers have little to do with leadership changes of the NEA and even less to do with policies of the union. It is not a cozy relationship between teachers and union officials - the union officials do what they want, and most teachers are too busy teaching to care what goes on in that union, which is always out of touch with the concerns of its members.

[summer]

BTW, this is a very interesting professional organzation for teachers:

TEACHERS FOR BETTER EDUCATION

They started in FL and are now national. The head person is a math teacher in Miami, who strongly supports Gov Bush's education policies. I have read publicly posted letters to the editors from this math teacher, and Gov Bush's correspondence to the teacher, thanking him for writing these letters.

This group of teachers is aligned with business leaders. As public school teachers, they support school choice, vouchers, tax credits and all kinds of reforms -- in addition to supporting the continued existence of public schools.

I like them because they are much more open-minded than the NEA.

[Always Right]

I like them because they are much more open-minded than the NEA.

That sounds like an excellent alternative to the NEA, which is currently obsessed with fighting vouvhers and promoting the gay agenda.

[summer]

I have been wanting to write an essay about them for FR, and to contact their head person, that math teacher. It is obvious to me there are more and more teachers out there very unhappy with the restrictive, narrow, partisian thinking of the NEA. As most people here on FR know, many public school teachers actually support homeschooling (including those who would like to homeschool their own kids, if they could afford to quit their jobs) and many other public school teachers send their kids to private schools. None of these teachers, including me, wants to see public education eliminated in this country, but it is simply false and wrong to think that public education alone is the choice for everyone. It is not, has never been, and never will be. Kids are different. Some thrive in other types of environments, and wherever a student is learning is where that student should be.

[summer]

Also, this teaching competition deserves some publicity here on this thread as well - the annual Teacher of the Year Award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization (VFW).

[Nat Turner]

E-mail: rrothstein@nytimes.com

this is obviously a PLANT!!!

[Pharmboy]

Great rant! My nomination for quote of the week.

[Holding Our Breath]

You, Mr. Rothstein, are part of the problem. We, OTOH, are part of the solution.

Hear! Hear!

[mrustow]

Perhaps the union's Web site does not get the balance precisely right. But the intemperate attacks against it go beyond reasonable criticism.

That's the New York Times boilerplate response to any right-of-Clinton position on any subject. Rothstein performs sleight-of-hand, in switching from the NEA's radical positions to union contracts, which touch on little of the most political issues.

Anyone with the barest familiarity with Rothstein, knows that he is nothing but a shill for the teacher's unions, and the radical multiculturalists in the schools and teacher ed programs.

[San Jacinto]

We will never improve schools with this approach.

The NYTimes is a real piece of work. (It is really a piece of something else, but the rule against profanity prevents me from saying what it is.)

To criticize the NEA is bad for public education.---- Isn't that like saying surgery for a cancer patient is bad for his health?

[yendu bwam]

Hey thanks! Wish I'd had time to do it real justice!

yendu b.