Hm, let's see: stupid dictators who actively despise knowledge and the thought process. Yup, that's who I want teaching my kids. You bet.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
Even at the nominally conservative private school we attend, the younger teachers often have been indoctrinated with leftist thought. My son has been trained to watch for liberal slant by my running commentary on current events, so he dissects the liberal slant from this year's history teacher immediately. In fairness, I should point out that a previous Civics teacher was a retired Navy LtCdr or Cdr, still serving in the Reserves. Good stuff!, unlikely to be found in government schools re-education camps.
Peter Hoaglund - Nebraska Senator and Humanist member of the Nebraska Board of Education said this in 1983 … Fundamentalists have no right to indoctrinate their children in their beliefs. We are preparing their children for the year 2000 and life in a global one-world society and those children will not fit in!
Adolph Hitler said….”Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state. The state will take youth and give to youth it’s own education and it’s own upbringing. Your child belongs to us already….what are you?”
Dr. W. Pierce of Harvard University said in 1973…”Every 5 year old student is mentally ill, because he comes to school with allegiance toward elected officials, founding fathers, institutions, government, patriotism, nationalism and sovereignty - all of these prove the child is sick because the well individual is one who has rejected all of these things and is what I call a true international child of the future”.
While I agree with this statement, the problem I see for homeschoolers is that the National Education Assosication will attempt to bring homeschooling under their umbrella through regulation. And the NEA has said so - see:
Reply # 37 in the thread Home-Schooling Under Siege
As we have seen, a wealthy NEA can buy whatever political clout they need to get their agendas passed. And the regulation and control of homeschooling is on their agenda. I believe that one of the biggest favors we can do for homeschoolers is to bust the NEA. To do that, we need to inform teachers that they are entitled to a refund of the portion of their dues that the NEA and their state affiliates used for political activities. This refund can amount to several hundred dollars. See:
Reply # 14 in the thread Let's Help Nail the Teachers Unions -- It is National FReep Time
Here's some interesting information from the The Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) COMMUNIQUÉ (On the Web at http://www.eiaonline.com) -- May 13, 2002 issue:
"1) Are the Fat Years Over for NEA and AFT?
It used to be relatively easy for EIA to obtain accurate, up-to-date membership numbers for NEA and its state affiliates, but recently it has become a lot more difficult. Perhaps it is coincidental that the numbers are becoming harder and harder to find just as the news becomes less and less cheerful.
The tremors are small: lots of talk about needing inroads with Generation X teachers... financial problems here... possible layoffs there. In the past, membership problems were localized in the chronic, hard-to-organize states that had competing organizations. Today, the sounds are more widespread. NEA has grown every year since the mid-1980s, but for the first time the end of the boom may be in sight. The union experienced an increase of some 37,000 members this year -- about half of what it achieved in 2000-2001. More alarming if you're an NEA official is the fact that 20 state affiliates had a decrease in membership last year -- even as the number of potential members nationwide continues to grow at a fairly steady 2 percent annual clip.
EIA cannot yet identify which state affiliates are growing and which are not, though it seems safe to assume that the large states -- California, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, et al. -- continue to enjoy solid growth, while perennial weak sisters are now having serious problems. Activities to reverse the trend are already underway. The NEA Board of Directors granted $175,000 to the Mississippi Association of Educators for additional organizing. The North Carolina Association of Educators is laying the groundwork for an effort in support of collective bargaining in the state. North Carolina law currently bans collective bargaining by teachers.
Accurate AFT numbers are even harder to amass, because more of its members are not K-12 teachers. Nevertheless, the same tremors are coming from AFT. The AFT Executive Council's organizing committee met to discuss ways to get younger members more involved and active in the union. EIA estimates that about 70 percent of teachers are NEA and/or AFT members. Public school teaching may be the most highly unionized sector of the American workforce (the private sector is only 9 percent unionized). Is something about to give?"
We also need to inform teachers and education majors that there are alternative professional education associations that teachers can join for much less than what they are paying to the NEA:
Association of American Educators
25201 Paseo de Alicia, Suite 104
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Phone: 949-595-7979 or 1-800-704-7799
Fax: 949-595-7970
Email: info@aaeteachers.org
Website: www.aaeteachers.org
Please note that the AAE is not a union. It is a professional association. Annual dues are $125 per year for teachers (includes $2 Million liability insurance - one of the reasons teachers join the NEA or AFT is for liability insurance). Student, retired educator, and associate/support memberships are $25 per year.
Here are some links that will be of interest to teachers (and parents):
"Grading the NEA - What Every Teacher Needs to Know About The National Education Association: A Special Report" by Perry L. Glanzer, Ph.D. & Travis R. Pardo (http://www.family.org/gradingthenea/news/a0012243.html)
"Teacher Unions and Parent Involvement" (http://www.educationpolicy.org/EPIseries/parent-bklt.htm)