Posted on 03/30/2003 3:04:42 PM PST by Visioneer
BE ENCOURAGED... THERE'S HOPE FOR AMERICA'S CHILDREN AND FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WHICH THEY ATTEND!
Growing Non-Union Professional Teacher Associations across America are providing increasingly influential and viable alternatives to the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) whose self-serving chokehold on American education over the past 30 years has helped usher in the current national crisis in our nation's public schools.
One of the best kept "secrets" concerning the state of education in the U.S. today, is the fact that the Coalition of Independent Education Associations (CiEA) comprises the third largest teacher's alliance in the nation. And you can bet your boots this organization is NOT another labor union in disguise. In contrast to the "members-first;everyone else second" priority structure which typifies both NEA and AFT, this alliance and the independent teacher associations which comprise its membership, represent a dedicated force of results-oriented, excellence-driven teachers.
Without a doubt, the existence of these refreshingly distinctive independent teacher associations portends to be the long overdue breath of fresh air thousands of anxious parents and concerned citizens across America have been seeking for decades.
Best of all, thanks to forums such as this, this information will not remain a secret much longer....
(Note: All Professional Teacher Associations participating in the growing CiEA alliance are legally incorporated in their home states as 501(c)(6) "Professional Associations" instead of as 501(c)(5) "Labor Unions" or "Organized Labor" groups as are the state affiliates of NEA and AFT--which are both labor unions.)
The coalition's mission statement defines four guiding principles:
1. Priority on children
2. Emphasis on professionalism
3. Focus on educational issues while avoiding partisan political causes.
4. Freedom of choice. Every teacher must be free to choose which educational organization(s) he or she will support.
Most Americans would probably be surprised to learn that three of these independent state teacher associations have already attained the distinction of having more dues-paying members than NEA's state affiliate. Membership statistics for these groups are:
Texas – 100,000 members
Missouri – 44,000 members
Georgia – 54,000 members
As NEA membership growth slows in some states and begins to decline in others, non-union Professional Teacher Associations continue to experience steady growth across the country. Currently, over 200,000 dedicated and courageous public school teachers have chosen to affiliate themselves professionally with their state's independent, non-union professional teachers' association instead of NEA or AFT.
It is important to note that this growth among independent teacher associations is taking place in the midst of well-funded and well-staffed membership containment campaigns which, sadly, are often brutally relentless and include such nefarious tactics as outright intimidation, name-calling, subtle and not-so-subtle threats, workplace harassment, civil rights violations, and outright lies.
A partial listing of non-NEA state teacher associations follows:
Alabama
Alabama Conference of Educators
http://goacoe.org/
Arkansas
Arkansas State Teachers Association
http://www.astapro.org/
Arizona
Arizona Professional Educators
http://www.azpe.org/
Florida
Professional Educators Network of Florida
http://www.penfl.org/
Georgia
Professional Association of Georgia Educators
http://www.pageinc.org/
Iowa
Professional Educators of Iowa
http://www.peiowa.org/welcome.htm
Kansas
Kansas Association of American Educators
http://www.kanaae.org/
Kentucky
Kentucky Association of Professional Educators
http://www.kentuckyteachers.org/
Louisiana
Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana
http://www.apeleducators.org/home.html
Mississippi
Mississippi Professional Educators
http://www.mpe.org/
Missouri
Missouri State Teachers Association
http://www.msta.org/
North Carolina
Professional Educators of North Carolina
http://pencweb.org/
Oklahoma
Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators
http://www.apoe.com/
Pennsylvania
Keystone Teachers Association of Pennsylvania
http://www.keyta.org/
South Carolina
Palmetto State Teachers Association
http://www.palmettoteachers.org/
Tennessee
Professional Educators of Tennessee
http://www.teacherspet.com/
Texas
Association of Texas Professional Educators
http://www.atpe.org/
Virginia
Virginia Professional Educators
http://www.virginiaeducators.org/
Washington
Washington State Northwest Professional Educators
http://www.nwpe.org/
bttt
bttt
Keep them home!
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