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U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige is frustrated with teachers union officials and their opposition to the education reform legislation known as No Child Left Behind. But Paige's comparison of the National Education Association to a "terrorist organization" was uncalled for and further tarnished the lackluster reputation he has established as the nation's top education administrator. Paige made his remark in a Monday meeting with governors. There's no denying Paige's passionate support for Bush's education agenda, but opposing the president's policy is no act of terrorism -- except maybe in a dictatorship. By maligning the NEA with an inflammatory label, Paige...

"[Calling the NEA a 'terrorist organization' is] the most vile and disgusting form of hate speech, comparing those who teach America's children to terrorists." — Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe. Of course Rod Paige was wrong when he called America's most powerful teacher's union a "terrorist organization." Al Qaeda isn't nearly as bad at terrorism as the NEA is at educating our children. Everyone agrees, including Secretary of Education Paige himself, that his flippant comment went too far. He apologized, the White House is pleased that he apologized, and the Democrats are thrilled to have yet another opportunity to...

od Paige, the education secretary, made a staggeringly stupid comment this week, comparing the nation's largest teachers' union to a "terrorist organization" because it opposes many elements of the two-year-old No Child Left Behind Act. This is the latest in a series of missteps by Mr. Paige. President Bush came to Washington saying that education would be a centerpiece of his domestic agenda. Yet he chose as his education secretary someone who seems incapable of representing that policy or putting it in place. If the president wishes to succeed, he will need a far more composed and capable secretary of...

Teachers Union Asks Bush to Fire Education Secretary for 'terrorist' Remark Feb.24, 2004 By Ben Feller / The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Education Association asked President Bush on Tuesday to fire Education Secretary Rod Paige for calling the union a "terrorist organization." The White House said Paige's job was safe. Paige, who made his comment in a private meeting with governors Monday, later apologized for his choice of words but maintained the union uses "obstructionist scare tactics" in its fight over the nation's education law. Reg Weaver, president of the union of 2.7 million teachers and other...

WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Rod Paige says he chose poor words in calling the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization," but he stands by his claim that the group uses "obstructionist scare tactics" in its fight over the nation's education law. Paige used the terrorist reference Monday in a private White House meeting with governors while answering a question about the National Education Association, which has 2.7 million members. His words startled members of his audience, triggered outrage from prominent Democrats and deepened the divide between the country's top education official and its largest union. Paige told The Associated...

Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday.</p> <p>Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige's remarks about the National Education Association.</p> <p>"These were the words, 'The NEA is a terrorist organization,'" said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin.</p>

Rod Paige Criticizes Teachers Union Education Secretary Paige Calls Teachers Union 'Terrorist Organization' The Associated Press WASHINGTON Feb. 23 — Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday. Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige's remarks about the National Education Association. "These were the words, 'The NEA is a terrorist organization,'" said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. "He was making a joke, probably not a very good one," said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. "Of course he immediately divorced the NEA from ordinary teachers,...

<p>The Bush administration has begun issuing grants to help spread a United Nations-sponsored school program that aims to become a "universal curriculum" for teaching global citizenship, peace studies and equality of world cultures.</p> <p>The goal is to devise a curriculum to teach "a set of culturally neutral universal values to which all people aspire," based on human rights, equality of the sexes and "open-mindedness to change and obligation to environmental protection and sustainable development."</p>

<p>Education Secretary Rod Paige yesterday likened opponents of the Bush administration school reforms to racial segregationists of an earlier era who "bred racism" by confining blacks to separate, inferior schools.</p> <p>"Racism cannot end as long as there is an achievement gap" between white and minority students, who in some cities, such as the District, are up to 70 points apart on standardized reading and mathematics tests, the secretary said.</p>

President Bush's bipartisan education reform initiative, The No Child Left Behind Act, has increased public school education spending by 40 percent and has provided more funds to poor children than any other education bill in this country's history. So why is the secretary of education, Rod Paige, so upset? "The most egregious issue that we must confront as a minority is the achievement gap between the performance of minority kids and their peers," Paige said, while pacing behind a long lacquered table in his downtown D.C. office. According to the 2000 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, 63 percent...

WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Rod Paige said Tuesday that President Bush's visit to a Knoxville school with special challenges that still meets federal achievement goals will show other parts of the country what is possible. "We like to go to schools that make the point that ... with a large number at low socio-economic levels ... and a very diverse community, they still are able to achieve and meet adequate yearly progress as required by the law," Paige said in an interview with the News Sentinel. Paige will accompany Bush this week to East Tennessee. "We found such a school...

NEW YORK (AP) -- In an effort to break the Democratic Party's grip on the black vote, several leading black Republicans have accepted an offer from one of the nation's largest urban radio networks to deliver a weekly address targeting African Americans. Alphonso Jackson, whom President Bush chose to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will present the first address on Saturday at 1:06 p.m., said Jerry Lopes, president of program operations and affiliations at Pittsburgh-based American Urban Radio Networks. "We welcome the opportunity to speak directly to the African American community throughout our nation," Ed...

<p>A new semantic game is being played out in the corridors of the Capitol -- one that has been echoed in media outlets across America, thanks to a campaign by special interests and their allies in the Democratic Party. Typical of Washington's Beltwayspeak, a cry has gone up, saying that the No Child Left Behind education reform bill is "underfunded." Nothing could be further from the truth. President Bush has increased K-12 education spending by 40% since he took office. That's more in two years than it increased during the eight previous years under President Clinton. In raw terms, this president has increased education spending by $11 billion. As a nation, we now spend $470 billion dollars a year on K-12 education locally and federally -- more than on national defense.</p>

Schools required to turn over students' names to military recruitersBy RON HUTCHESONKnight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - Military recruiters looking for a few good high school students will have an easier time finding them, thanks to a federal law that requires schools to turn over students' names, addresses and phone numbers.Congress ordered the school-to-military cooperation as part of No Child Left Behind, the education overhaul that President Bush championed last year. The law, which went into effect in July, also requires high school administrators to let military recruiters onto their campuses.The terms apply to any school, public or private, that gets...

Professionalizing Teachers versus Improving the Profession by Chester E. Finn Jr. September 15, 2003 When the National Commission on Excellence in Education unleashed its blockbuster report, A Nation at Risk, in 1983, teaching was one of its foremost concerns. Slipshod preparation, shortages in key fields, and the inability to attract academically able people were just a few of the issues raised by the report. The commission made several recommendations to address these concerns, including higher teacher standards, performance-based pay, and alternative certification. Yet twenty years later, what started as an effort to improve the teaching profession has turned instead into...

Broadman & Holman, the publisher of my latest novel, "The Jericho Sanction," sent me out on the road this week to promote the book. It occurred to me as I was skimming news stories about America’s youngsters returning to school that if high school students were our "target audience," a sufficient number of them would not be able to read the words on the pages. Nor would their teachers. A great disservice is being done to the young people of this country when it comes to preparing them intellectually for the challenges that lie ahead. When I was a student...

Somewhere between Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, conservatives may have lost the battle against big government. Oddly enough, as the partisan differences grow sharper, the practical differences between the two major parties grows fuzzier, at least on domestic issues. Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard, describes Bush as a "big-government conservative." The president has shown no discomfort with big government or increasing federal spending. In his first two years in office, Bush increased spending on schools by 40 percent. He's proposed a prescription drug benefit for Medicare that will cost $400 billion over 10 years. On both...

Government Urges Colleges to Heed First Amendment Potentially Offensive Speech Must Be Allowed By REGINA CHEN Contributing Writer Friday, August 15, 2003 Responding to letters from across the nation about the state of free speech on college campuses, the U.S. Department of Education sent a strong reminder to universities that campus speech regulations should not infringe upon First Amendment rights. College campuses all maintain different speech policies targeting protests and political literature, intended to protect all students' rights—from those who may be expressing offensive speech to those who may be harassed by such ideas. The letter also clarified the...