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PLEDGE ANY AMOUNT PER MUSSEL HERE
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Posted on 01/24/2003 10:57:24 AM PST by conservativecorner
NEW YORK – National Education Association, with 2.6 million members, is the nation's largest union and one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. One of every 12 delegates to the 2000 Democratic National Convention was a member. In fact, NEA's contingent of 350 was larger than the entire California delegation.
Democrats a Tool of NEA
Any way one looks at it, that number represents political clout. In fact, it has so much clout that William McGurn of the Wall Street Journal contends, "Those of us who have long dismissed the National Education Association as a tool of the Democratic Party have been badly mistaken. Apparently it's just the opposite ... it's the Democratic Party that is the tool of the NEA."
Recent reports from the Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative legal organization, suggest that this high-powered association is clearly in alliance with the Democratic Party and may have overstepped the bounds of propriety with its partisan use of tax-exempt money.
The Federal Election Commission has been investigating allegations that NEA spent funds to benefit Democrat candidates directly, a clear violation of campaign finance laws that prohibit candidates and political parties from coordinating their activities with outside groups.
Democratic Party documents show that an organization called "National Coordinated Campaign Steering Committee," which included NEA representatives, set national and statewide campaign strategy for Democrat candidates and coordinated spending on their behalf.
While NEA's tilt to the Democratic Party has long been recognized and, I should hastily note, there is nothing wrong with that bias, the tax-exempt status enjoyed by the teachers' union comes with government rules on how union dues can be spent.
Operating funds intended to influence the outcome of an election must be disclosed. From 1994 to 1996, NEA listed zero dollars for political activity on its tax forms.
Should it be determined that NEA was in violation of tax law, the organization's political influence will be significantly impaired and, it should be noted, union members can recover the portion of dues used for political purposes.
Another media report says "tens of millions of dollars in workers' dues were spent on activities designed to defeat Republicans or elect labor-friendly Democrats in 1996."
Anti-choice
Within the Democratic Party, NEA funding and membership gave the teachers' union veto power over party strategies. It is therefore hardly surprising that the party was vehemently opposed to education vouchers or any other parental choice mechanism that challenged the union's hegemony.
Will NEA's tax-exempt status be revoked? Despite all of the evidence that may support this outcome, I doubt that will happen even with a Republican in the White House. NEA's political muscle does not end on one side of the congressional aisle.
Defending the Disastrous Status Quo
What NEA's power does suggest is that any genuine educational reform faces formidable opposition from the Democratic Party. In an unusually candid moment, former NEA national President Bob Chase noted in a 1999 keynote address, "For Congress, we supported pro-public education stalwarts on the Democratic Party, the folks who have helped Bill Clinton become the best 'education president' in history."
This comment was made as basic-skills scores for students in urban schools continued to plummet. It was a statement that defied the poor performance of American students on international tests compared to their counterparts in foreign nations.
But Chase was speaking not to students, parents or even teachers in his union; he was speaking to Democratic Party leaders, his colleagues in a political alliance. All they wanted to hear is that NEA can be counted on as a stalwart of Democrat politics.
By Herb London, president of The Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Indianapolis, and the John M. Olin Professor of Humanities at New York University. Readers may write him at The Hudson Institute, 5395 Emerson Way, Indianapolis, Ind., 46226. "Outside View" commentaries are written for UPI by outside writers who specialize in a variety of important global issues.
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PLEDGE ANY AMOUNT PER MUSSEL HERE
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This comment was made as basic-skills scores for students in urban schools continued to plummet.
IMHO, the cause of poverty is crime, not the other way around as the socialists contend. What the NEA has done to our schools is from moderately malevolent to downright criminal in inner city, minority schools. I thought the fall of the Berlin Wall was a miracle so perhaps a student, poorly taught, will one day sue the NEA for inflicting upon him/her the crime of a substandard public education......and win.
FReegards
Dumbed Down and Dumber Still
Source: The American Prowler; Published: January 15, 2003; Author: By George NeumayrWashington's education establishment
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 8, 2003; Author:Walter WilliamsNEA Hastens Death of American Education
Source: INSIGHT magazine; Published: January 6, 2003; Author: Ralph de ToledanoFiddling whilst Rome burns
Source: TownHall.com; Published: December 26, 2002; Author: Walter WilliamsGovernment School Monopolies Leave Children Behind
Source: Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty; Published: December 4, 2002; Author: Clint GreenThe silence of the lambs: McMillan blasts bureaucrats for destroying public education
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: August 15, 2002; Author: Craige McMillanTaking Charge: Let's Stop Aiding and Abetting Academicians' Folly
Source: HOME EDUCATION magazine; Published: July-August 2002; Author: Larry and Susan Kaseman’Open Directory’ --Society/Issues/Education/Education_Reform
Deconstructing Public Education
Source: www.newsmax.com; Published: July 26, 2002; Author: Diane AldenSpecious Science In Our Schools
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: July 9, 2002; Author: Alan CarubaSYMPOSIUM Q: Is the National Education Association Being Fair to Its Religious Objectors?
Source: INSIGHT magazine; Published: June 10, 2002; Authors NO: Stefan Gleason ////\\\\ YES: Bob ChasePublic Sector Subverting Productive Industry
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: May 16, 2002; Author: Henry PelifianHistory of America's Education Part 2: Noah Webster and Early America
Source: Sierra Times; Published: March 27, 2002; Author: April ShenandoahHow Communist is Public Education?
Source: sierratimes.com; Published:March 22, 2002; Author: Chuck MorseHistory of America's Education Part 1: Johnny is in trouble
Source: Sierra Times; Published: March 20, 2002; Author: April ShenandoahAudit rips Georgia schools' curriculum
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Published: March 11, 2002; Author:JAMES SALZERWhy schools fail: Samuel Blumenfeld warns Bush's education legislation is ineffective
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: March 2, 2002; Author: Samuel BlumenfeldPublic School Isn't Like I Remember It
Source: Too Good Reports; Published: February 28, 2002; Author: Phyllis SchlaflyWhat Is Lacking In Our Educational System
Source: Too Good Reports; Published: February 28, 2002; Author: Ben CerrutiThe charade of education reform
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: February 2, 2002; Author: Dr. Samuel L. BlumenfeldAmerican public schools: Working just as designed
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: January 21, 2002; Author: Vox DayHigh Schools Fail Thanks To Grade Inflation And Social Promotion
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: December 5, 2001; Author: Vin SuprynowiczWHY AMERICANS CAN’T READ
Source: Accuracy in Media; Published: December 4, 2001; Author: Reed Irvine and Cliff KincaidThe Failing Teacher and the Teachers' Code of Silence
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: December 3, 2001; Author: Glenn SacksTime for outrage! Linda Bowles reports latest results in America's public schools
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: November 27, 2001; Author: Linda BowlesIlliterate in Boston: Samuel Blumenfeld explains U.S.'s ongoing reading problem
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: July 20, 2001; Author: Samuel BlumenfeldNEA - Let our children go!
Source: WorldNet Daily; Published: June 23. 2001; Author: Linda HarveyCOOKING THE BOOKS AT EDUCATION
Source: Accuracy In Media; Published: June 5, 2001; Author: Cliff KincaidWhy Do Schools Play Games With Students' Minds ?
Source: The Detroit News; Published: April 1, 2001; Author: Thomas SowellThe Public School Nightmare: Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought?
Source: http://home.talkcity.com/LibraryDr/patt/homeschl.htm; Author: John Taylor GattoDumbing down teachers
Source: USNews.com; Published: February 21, 2001; Author: John LeoFree Republic links to education related articles (thread#8)
Source: Free Republic; Published: 3-20-2001; Author: VariousAre children deliberately 'dumbed down' in school? {YES!!!}
Source: World Net Daily; Published: May 13, 2001; Author: Geoff Metcalf {Interview}Could they really have done it on purpose?
Source: THE LIBERTARIAN; Published: 07/28/2000; Author: Vin SuprynowiczNew Book Explores America's Education Catastrophe
Source: Christian Citizen USA; Published: April 2000; Author: William H. WildDeliberately dumbing us down (Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt's, "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America"
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: December 2,1999; Author: Samuel L. BlumenfeldDeconstructing the Western Mind: Gramscian-Marxist Subversion of Faith and Education
Source: www.petersnet; Published: Winter 1997; Author: Frank MorrissLittleton Crisis to Government Control
The UN Plan for Your Mental Health
NonPartisan Action For a Better Redding
Quality of Education Commentary, Opinion, and Book Reviews
There is everything wrong with that bias. The first responsibility of the NEA is towards the education of students. Education is not supposed to back political parties; political parties are supposed to back education. And as it stands now, the Democratic party represents an active threat to the education of students; the NEA could not have made a worse choice of sock puppets partners, if they were in the least concerned with education.
Should it be determined that NEA was in violation of tax law, the organization's political influence will be significantly impaired
Horsefeathers. The IRS, the Dept. of Education, the Democratic party and the NEA are all part of the same syndicate. The influence can only be reduced if the flow of dollars from the taxpayer's pocket can be reduced.
Separation of SCHOOL and STATE!
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