The Union That Killed Education

newsmax.com ^ | Monday, Feb. 17, 2003 | Paul Craig Roberts

[paltz]

If you have a child in public school, you need to read "The Worm in the Apple: How the Teachers Unions Are Destroying American Education," a new book by Peter Brimelow.

Public schools are run by the National Educational Association. They are not run by people you can hold accountable, such as teachers, superintendents and school boards. The NEA opposes merit pay, charter schools and any decision by any school administrator that has not been determined in advance by collective bargaining.

Simply put, the NEA opposes everything except its own power.

In Connecticut, the teachers union filed a grievance demanding pay for an extra two minutes a week that the union claimed teachers worked. In Pennsylvania, a grievance was filed because coffee and doughnuts were not provided during a teacher training day.

Jaime Escalante, a teacher whose extraordinary success in teaching calculus to inner-city Hispanics resulted in a Hollywood movie, was run out of his California school district by the teachers union. Escalante, it seems, violated union rules by complaining about teachers who used the teachers' lounge as a real estate office and called in sick to extend their weekends.

A high school principal who requested that teachers write daily objectives on the classroom board was denounced by the union as a "draconian zealot."

Meanwhile, kids aren't learning. The vocabulary of the average American 14-year-old has dropped from 25,000 words to 10,000. San Francisco Examiner reporter Emily Gurnon asked teen-agers to identify the country from which America won its independence. Among the answers: "Japan or something, China. Somewhere out there on the other side of the world." "It wouldn't be Canada, would it?" "I don't know; I don't even, like, have a clue." "I want to say Korea. I'm tripping."

Brimelow next introduces the teachers. Sara Boyd, a recipient of many awards and accolades during her teaching career, experienced difficulty passing a mathematics competency test. She sued the state of California, claiming the test was racially discriminatory. But at her deposition she was unable to answer the question "What percent of 80 is 8?"

Teachers can't teach because the union won't let them. Perhaps it is just as well. Here are some course listings in the education department at the University of Massachusetts: Embracing Diversity, Diversity and Change, Oppression and Education, Introduction to Multicultural Education, Black Identity, Classism, Racism, Sexism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Oppression, Jewish Oppression, Oppression of the Disabled, Erroneous Beliefs.

Schools of education have turned teachers into agents of the therapeutic state, a new form of government analyzed by Paul Gottfried in his recent book, "Multiculturalism and the Politics of Guilt." Indoctrination and social reconstruction have replaced the traditional emphasis on reading, writing and arithmetic.

When you can stop laughing or crying, pay attention. Brimelow is serious. He knows the NEA inside out. But the media do not. Brimelow has a chapter describing how the NEA bribes the media for favorable stories by handing out "media awards." The Dallas Morning News won three awards for promoting a trip by area teachers to the state capital to lobby for money for teachers raises.

In 2000, when NEA delegates voted to strengthen their policy against merit pay for teachers, The Associated Press reported the opposite. Newspapers across the country then editorialized on the basis of the erroneous AP report.

The problem, says Brimelow, is that the NEA is the backbone of the Democratic Party and public education is a government monopoly. Brimelow asks Lenin's question, "What Is to Be Done?" and replies with 24 reforms.

One senses that Brimelow believes reform has little hope when it is opposed by NEA lobbying. If the NEA is to be undone, its undoing will come from parents and teachers deserting the schools. Homeschoolers, without benefit of fancy facilities, science labs and huge expenditures of money. outscore public school students.

Teachers themselves are dropping out, demoralized by lack of professionalism, chaos and crumbling educational standards. As readers recently pointed out to me, teachers are being imported from India and other Third World countries under the H-1B visa program to take the jobs that American teachers are abandoning.

Brimelow uses the wrong tense when he writes that "the teacher unions are destroying American education." They have destroyed it.

Dr. Roberts' latest book, "The Tyranny of Good Intentions," has been published by Prima Publishers.

Copyright 2002 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

[MissEdie]

Yes, here in SC the teachers are not unionized.

[RobbyS]

The Unions don't run the schools, not alone They are run by an alliance of administrator associations, school board associations, teacher union leaders, textbook publishers, national and state bureaucrats--collectively know as the Public School Establishment. Each aims at securing a maximum of public funding for the public schools, regardless of performance. Indeed, they almost encourage failure, since they can then demand even more funding to achieve the success that allude--not all but--a significant percentage of the public schools.

[RobbyS]

Correction: Success that eludes them

[Middle Man]

"If the NEA is to be undone, its undoing will come from parents and teachers deserting the schools."

No can do. Even families that send their children to private/parochial schools or homeschool still have to pay taxes to support the disintegrating public ones. That's the crux of why the education system won't reform: they still get a paycheck even as enrollment drops.

Maybe when we are confronted with the spectacle of a functionally illiterate educationist presiding over a classroom of empty desks and still getting her full salary and bennies, America will wake up. But by then the country will be too dumbed down to think of a solution.

[Hank Kerchief]

The Constitution authorizes funding for public education for the purpose of educating people ... in all the requirements necessary for understanding the foundations of our liberty.

Very interesting. What constitution would the be? None of the following words appear anywhere in the US Constitution or the Amendments, education, educate, learning, teach, teaching, and even the word liberty appears only in the preamble.

Since there were no government child training camps (read public education) until the 1840s, how is it that George Washington was so interested in it?

Hank

[Stand Watch Listen]

Thanks for the heads-up...appreciate it.

indexing

Here are links to various education threads (also containing numerous helpful links)

FReegards

The Union That Killed Education
Source: newsmax.com; Published: February. 17, 2003; Author: Paul Craig Roberts

Walter E. Williams: Inferior Education of Black Americans
Source:CNSNews.com; Published: February 05, 2003; Author: Walter E. Williams

Union Fraud Underscores Need for School Vouchers
Source: CNSNEWS.com; Published: February 05, 2003; Author: Linda Chavez

Time for public schools to throw in the towel?
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: January 27, 2003; Author: Dr. Laura Schlessinger

My Classroom From Hell
Source: The Wall Street Journal; Published: January 24, 2003; Author: Joshua Kaplowitz

Can more money make schools better?
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 21, 2003; Author: Phyllis Schlafly

Are public schools constitutional?
Source: NewsWithViews; Published: JANUARY 20, 2003; Auythor: Lynn M. Stuter

The intellectual rape of Oakland's schools
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 17, 2003; Author: David Horowitz

Hip-hop hogwash in the schools (Michelle Malkin)
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 15, 2003; Author: Michelle Malkin

Dumbed Down and Dumber Still
Source: The American Prowler; Published: January 15, 2003; Author: By George Neumayr

Washington's education establishment
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 8, 2003; Author:Walter Williams

NEA Hastens Death of American Education
Source: INSIGHT magazine; Published: January 6, 2003; Author: Ralph de Toledano

White Teachers Fleeing Black Schools
Source: Newsmax; Published:January 1, 2003; Author: Chad Roedemeier

Fiddling whilst Rome burns
Source: TownHall.com; Published: December 26, 2002; Author: Walter Williams

Government School Monopolies Leave Children Behind
Source: Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty; Published: December 4, 2002; Author: Clint Green

The silence of the lambs: McMillan blasts bureaucrats for destroying public education
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: August 15, 2002; Author: Craige McMillan

Taking 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 Alden

Specious Science In Our Schools
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: July 9, 2002; Author: Alan Caruba

SYMPOSIUM 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 Chase

Public Sector Subverting Productive Industry
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: May 16, 2002; Author: Henry Pelifian

History of America's Education Part 2: Noah Webster and Early America
Source: Sierra Times; Published: March 27, 2002; Author: April Shenandoah

How Communist is Public Education?
Source: sierratimes.com; Published:March 22, 2002; Author: Chuck Morse

History of America's Education Part 1: Johnny is in trouble
Source: Sierra Times; Published: March 20, 2002; Author: April Shenandoah

Audit rips Georgia schools' curriculum
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Published: March 11, 2002; Author:JAMES SALZER

Why schools fail: Samuel Blumenfeld warns Bush's education legislation is ineffective
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: March 2, 2002; Author: Samuel Blumenfeld

Public School Isn't Like I Remember It
Source: Too Good Reports; Published: February 28, 2002; Author: Phyllis Schlafly

What Is Lacking In Our Educational System
Source: Too Good Reports; Published: February 28, 2002; Author: Ben Cerruti

The charade of education reform
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: February 2, 2002; Author: Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld

American public schools: Working just as designed
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: January 21, 2002; Author: Vox Day

High Schools Fail Thanks To Grade Inflation And Social Promotion
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: December 5, 2001; Author: Vin Suprynowicz

WHY AMERICANS CAN’T READ
Source: Accuracy in Media; Published: December 4, 2001; Author: Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid

The Failing Teacher and the Teachers' Code of Silence
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: December 3, 2001; Author: Glenn Sacks

Time for outrage! Linda Bowles reports latest results in America's public schools
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: November 27, 2001; Author: Linda Bowles

Illiterate in Boston: Samuel Blumenfeld explains U.S.'s ongoing reading problem
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: July 20, 2001; Author: Samuel Blumenfeld

NEA - Let our children go!
Source: WorldNet Daily; Published: June 23. 2001; Author: Linda Harvey

COOKING THE BOOKS AT EDUCATION
Source: Accuracy In Media; Published: June 5, 2001; Author: Cliff Kincaid

Why Do Schools Play Games With Students' Minds ?
Source: The Detroit News; Published: April 1, 2001; Author: Thomas Sowell

The Public School Nightmare: Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought?
Source: http://home.talkcity.com/LibraryDr/patt/homeschl.htm; Author: John Taylor Gatto

Dumbing down teachers
Source: USNews.com; Published: February 21, 2001; Author: John Leo

Free Republic links to education related articles (thread#8)
Source: Free Republic; Published: 3-20-2001; Author: Various

Are 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 Suprynowicz

New Book Explores America's Education Catastrophe
Source: Christian Citizen USA; Published: April 2000; Author: William H. Wild

Deliberately dumbing us down (Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt's, "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America"
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: December 2,1999; Author: Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Deconstructing the Western Mind: Gramscian-Marxist Subversion of Faith and Education
Source: www.petersnet; Published: Winter 1997; Author: Frank Morriss

Littleton Crisis to Government Control

The UN Plan for Your Mental Health

Lexington Institute

NonPartisan Action For a Better Redding

Quality of Education Commentary, Opinion, and Book Reviews

[Lil'freeper]

Anybody know if one can be a teacher without being forced to join the NEA?

Absolutely you can, but I strongly urge you to get your own liability insurance. Most of the teachers I know joined the union for one reason only: 1 million dollars in liability coverage that they couldn't afford otherwise. Only fools teach without such coverage- you can get sued for making eye contact with a kid these days.

[EdReform]

Absolutely you can, but I strongly urge you to get your own liability insurance.

Teachers who want to belong to a Professional Education Association should consider joining the Association of American Educators (www.aaeteachers.org) instead of the Nation Education Association Union. The AAE offers excellent Liability Insurance.

Help Defund the National Education Association Union

[EdReform]

Fortunately, the National Education Association Union and their state affiliates are beginning to experience financial problems:

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Education Intelligence Agency COMMUNIQUE -- February 3, 2003

2) Lean Years Begin as Troubles Plague NEA. In January 1997, the Kamber Group informed NEA that the union was "an institution at risk." Many NEA officials took the warning seriously, most notably new President Bob Chase. But whether through inertia or the abstract nature of the threat, NEA did not change as dramatically as Kamber suggested it should. On May 13, 2002, EIA asked "Are the Fat Years Over for NEA and AFT?" NEA membership growth in 2001-02 was half that of the previous year, even as the number of potential members grew. Twenty state affiliates lost members.

Today EIA feels confident in proclaiming that the lean years have arrived:

* NEA had its worst recruiting year in 20 years, showing growth nationally of only 14,000 members, many of whom are paying discounted dues. Nearly 40 percent of this growth came from one state - California - whose own growth rate was half the previous year and expected to decrease even further in 2003-04. At least 23 state affiliates lost members.

* Perennially strong affiliates, like New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin, lost members.

* Perennially weak affiliates are getting weaker despite extensive assistance from NEA HQ. The Texas State Teachers Association, already in desperate financial straits, declined to 39,000 members this year. Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi also registered significant losses.

* The Nevada State Education Association lost 1,000 members - mostly education support personnel to Teamsters Local 14. And NSEA stands to lose another 5,000 members if the Teamsters are successful in gaining and winning a representation election in Clark County this year.

* Membership loss by the Michigan Education Association is the least of its problems. The union faces a $10.7 million deficit this year, a deficit it blames on the rising costs of staff retirement plans and staff retiree health care plans - the same problems that hit the Ohio Education Association two years ago, resulting in a large dues increase there. MEA officials are threatening to lay off of as many as 48 staffers, in a state where the staff union has often had an acrimonious relationship with management.

* The Maine Education Association also suffered a deficit this year, noting that while its revenues have grown an average of 2.5 percent annually for the past 10 years, its spending has grown 3.5 percent annually. Union officials say they have only 80 more full-time equivalent members than they did in 1992.

* Missouri NEA, which locked out its staffers in a contract dispute in September 2000, is heading down that same path again. MNEA staffers receive health coverage under a self-insured plan. When premiums doubled last September, MNEA management passed the full cost to the staff without, the staff union claims, negotiating the new arrangement. The staff is even more upset that the MNEA managers (executive director, elected officials and department heads) bailed out of the self-insured plan themselves, leaving the staff with a plan that may no longer be viable.

The staff filed an unfair labor practice complaint against MNEA with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB ordered the union to stop taking the additional premiums from employees' paychecks. Meanwhile, MNEA management filed its own unfair labor practice complaint against the staff union, claiming staffers refuse to bargain a new health insurance arrangement.

In an open letter to members of the MNEA board of directors, the staff union stated that "relationships and trust between Missouri NEA and management have reached an all-time low." (A heck of a statement, considering MNEA summoned the police during the 2000 lockout). The staff union also notified its members that "Although large shortfalls and looming obligations have been explained away, doubts still persist about other issues and confidence is low." This suggests that MNEA is also facing some financial problems.

* The Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE), down to 16,500 members, suffered a small insurgency at its representative assembly last November. A group of delegates, local presidents and rank-and-file members circulated a flyer expressing "No Confidence in Our President and Executive Director." Among the complaints were that information was being withheld, membership was dropping, dues were rising, staff was being utilized inefficiently, and that LAE officials were looking out for themselves instead of the organization. Fireworks may fly next month when the union plans to call a special representative assembly to approve a new budget and dues increase.

* According to one source, the U.S. Department of Labor, already planning to adopt stricter reporting requirements for unions, has notified NEA that some 27 state affiliates are subject to the requirements of the Landrum-Griffin Act, rather than the 10 or 12 currently filing disclosure reports.

All this while teacher employment is at an all-time high. What is the outlook when enrollment levels off, attrition accelerates and the layoffs begin?

Source:The Education Intelligence Agency
COMMUNIQUE -- February 3, 2003
On the Web at http://www.eiaonline.com

The Education Intelligence Agency conducts public education research, analysis and investigations.
Director: Mike Antonucci. PO Box 580007, Elk Grove, CA 95758. Ph: 916-422-4373. Fax: 916-392-1482.
E-Mail: EducationIntel@aol.com

---

Now is the time to help bust the NEA. We need to make more people aware that the NEA is NOT an "education association" but a labor union. The NEA and their state affiliates are opposed to Homeschooling, and have been charged with breaking federal law by illegally using teacher union dues for political purposes.

A simple way to help fight the NEA is to call the Association of American Educators and ask them to send you some of their brochures. Pass them out to teachers, parents, and college students who are education majors. Every time a teacher refuses to join the NEA, resigns their membership or asks for a refund, we put another chink in the NEA's financial armor. (It's also important to stand with and support those teachers who take this action because the NEA union thugs won't like it, and some will try to intimidate the teachers).

The National Education Association: Emphasis on the Ass

A Union by Any Other Name

The National Everything Association

Where Do My NEA Dues Go?

NEA Hastens Death of American Education

THE NEA IS A LABOR UNION!

[Teacher317]

being in the NEA is probably the best option if you're going into public school teaching for one reason: legal representation.

Not always. Depending on the facts of the matter, if the NEA's own pocket is at risk in any way, they very quickly shift strategy and move to protect themselves, not the teacher. Their members are important, but not as important as their treasure chest. They will leave you hanging if it is to their benefit.