These Are Your Teachers?

WorldNetDaily ^ | July 14, 2005 | Joseph Farah

[FFforFreedom]

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These are your teachers?

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Posted: July 14, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

The National Education Association recently concluded its annual meeting in Los Angeles - and you might be surprised what the largest teachers' union in America talked about and decided.

I mean, let's face it. The state of public education in American today is not exactly state of the art. You might think falling test scores, higher drop-out rates, and functional illiteracy of graduates - despite ever increasing taxpayer commitments - would be causes for concern and debate at a forum like this.

You would be wrong. Here are some resolutions adopted by the representative assembly of the professional association responsible for educating your kids:

To participate in a national boycott of Wal-Mart (Two resolutions); To fight efforts to privatize Social Security (nine separate resolutions); To add the words "other" and "multi-ethnic" in addition to "unknown" in the category of ethnicity on all forms; To commemorate the "historic merger of the National Education Association and the American Teachers Association, which occurred in 1966"; To expose health problems associated with "fragrance chemicals"; (I assume this means perfumes. Another resolution called for designating areas of NEA meetings as "fragrance-free zones."); To fight indoor air pollution (two resolutions); To make health care an organizational priority; To expand efforts to elect pro-public education candidates to Congress in 2006; To promote the designation of April as National Donate Month to promote organ and tissue donation; To push for a commemorative stamp honoring public education; To push for more collective bargaining; To study the feasibility of a boycott of Gallo wine (A separate resolution banned the serving of Gallo wine at any NEA functions.); To develop a strategic program to help NEA Republican members advance a pro-public education agenda with the party; To defend affirmative action and oppose the Michigan Civil Rights Amendment; To oppose the annual observance of "Take Your Child to Work Day" during the regular school year; To oppose all forms of privatization; To investigate the establishment of affordable housing programs for members; To respond aggressively to any inappropriate use of the words "retarded" or "gay" in the media; To fight the "regressive taxation practices of the federal government"; To support education programs for prisoners and former prisoners; To support research on women and heart disease; To push for an "exit strategy to end the U.S. military occupation of Iraq"; To oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement; To push for debt cancellation in underdeveloped countries; To teach children about the "significant history of labor unions"; To develop a comprehensive strategy of support for homosexuality; To educate the public and members about identity theft; To explore alternatives to using latex balloons and gloves at NEA functions. That's a fair synopsis of the actions taken by the largest "education" association in America - the only union and lobby group that is actually tax-exempt by an act of Congress.

What is peculiar about this list? Well, nothing if you are familiar with this thoroughly destructive organization. But, most people are not. Most Americans probably still think the National Education Association has something to do with education. It does not. It is a thoroughly politicized agit-prop group with a radical agenda.

Of the nearly 70 resolutions acted upon affirmatively by the group, no more than a half-dozen had anything remotely to do with classroom education.

The first 14 resolutions voted on had nothing whatsoever to do with education in the traditional sense.

However, one NEA resolution adopted this year did perform a real service to the public. It's the one requiring the organization to make its resolutions more accessible to the public on its website. Check it out for yourself.

Do I exaggerate? Is it time to review this activist organization's tax-exempt status? Is it time to start paying attention to the kind of indoctrination to which its members submit your children?

[FFforFreedom]

We have written into our bylaws that we will not endorse political candidates at the state and federal level.

We tackle issues and I am attempting to teach others that it's much healthier to build your relationship with the business and civilian community to develop political leverage.

One way to tackle the funding of the Democratic Party with conservative union dues is to start pushing to identify these affiliated unions as political entities. We need to push our State and Federal legislators to start drafting legislation to mandate that a bargaining entity will not be allowed to mandate affiliation to these political organizations.

Most union members are conservative. I feel that if given the opportunity opt out of funding these outside entities they would do so.

Unions are mandated to work as a Democracy in order to maintain their Non Profit Status. We need to push them to be the Representative Democracy they claim to be.

We need to mandate that Rank and File be allowed to vote for State and National union leadership.

[FFforFreedom]

Unions attempt to control business by unity in boycotting, strikes, etc........

This is why there is always a push for unions to consolidate such as with the AFL CIO.

Have you ever payed attention to the universal union logo.

It's a globe with a check mark and the words Vote Yes for Unions.

This ultimately is a global effort. Check out the site Socialist Democrats USA

http://www.dsausa.org/dsa.html

[Congressman Billybob]

I offer you a heartfelt salute. The Fire Fighters are head and shoulders above most unions in their integrity and their commitment to the proper nature of American government.

Cordially,

John / Billybob

[brytlea]

I went back to school late in life to become a teacher. Almost nothing I "learned" in the classes I had to take was even helpful (I was glad to learn the lesson plan info, as it did help me figure out how to take the information and make it into something coherent).
Teaching isn't rocket sceince, and if you're reasonably intelligent, you can teach up thru high school level material. I taught a year of Integrated Physics and Chemistry and I never had either Physics or Chemistry. My back ground in those was very weak, but I learned it right ahead of the kids, and had a wonderful Physics teacher who I could get a little tutoring from, when I needed it.
BTW most of the homeschooled kids I got in class (many of them in our area home schooled until HS) were WAY ahead of my other students. And, contrary to popular opinion for the most part they were well socialized, and in fact, usually much more pleasant to be around as they knew how to interact with adults without trying to be center spotlight, unlike so many of my other students.
Congratulations on you and your son's success! I pray for many more ahead!
susie

[Free Baptist]

It just sounds like a labor union. What else would we expect? Who ever did believe they were interested in the best for America's children? We certainly never did.

Home schoolers since 1982.

[politicket]

So...is your favorite flavor the grape or the cherry Kool-Aid? Inquiring minds...

Quit sticking up for such a disgusting organization unless you are a true Socialist yourself. Let's see you defend each of the passed resolutions. I'm waiting...

[EdReform]

Time for some good ol' union busting. The NEA needs to be crushed.

[FFforFreedom]

It's very difficult to bust a Union. If you take a look at some of my posts that is exactly what we are starting in the fire service.

We can't bust the union with out providing an alternative.

Another positive approach is to educate the rank and file and push for reform from within.

We need to push for laws making it illegal to mandate funding of outside political entities in order to be a member of a local association that is the perscribed bargaining entity.

We need to start initiating associations that look out for the welfare of individuals on a local level while having built in protections of individual rights written into the bylaws of the association.

We need a National Right to Work Law.

Individuals have the right to fund these larger organizations such as the NEA. This should not be a mandate in order to recieve basic work place rights.

In the current system money is being extorted from conservatives in order for them to maintain a voice and have any power to control issues and contracts on the local level.

The whole situation reeks of abuse of Freedom of Association rights.

Conservatives money is being consolidated and invested in key political races and swing states to further the Democratic Party agenda.

It amazes me how Americans put up with this from Government and the unions.

It might interest you to know that the AFL CIO and IAFF both are made up of predominately conservative memberships.

WHAT A MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FFforFreedom]

I think Kook aid is more appropriate!

[EdReform]

It's very difficult to bust a Union...

Agreed. It is difficult to actually bust a union, but we must continue to expose their misdeeds and publicly embarass them at every opportunity.

We can't bust the union with out providing an alternative... We need to start initiating associations that look out for the welfare of individuals on a local level while having built in protections of individual rights written into the bylaws of the association.

See:

HOPE FOR AMERICA: Growing Non-Union Teacher Associations Provide Alternatives to NEA and AFT

Association of American Educators

more later...

HOPE FOR AMERICA: Growing Non-Union Teacher Associations Provide Alternatives to NEA and AFT

[KatieKat]

I am a NJ teacher who attended the NEA Convention in 2001. The purpose of the convention's actions are for the teachers, not the students.

In many public schools, teachers have little say in what is taught in their classroom. In my case, I must follow a "scripted" curriculum which tells me what to say and do each class period. I wish I only worked 6 hours a day - my official signout time is 3:00 but I'm often there until 6:00 writing lesson plans, marking papers, setting up class demonstrations or activities, contacting parents, etc. I can't do this during my planning/conference period, because another teacher uses the room and I must leave. At least once a month I'm back at school at night for some type of parent program or meeting.

The reasons children don't learn in school are varied. Teachers in my district cannot deviate from the curriculum. During a unit on speed and acceleration I was told to leave the math to the math teachers and to only teach the concept. How can a child understand the concept of speed without knowing the relationship between distance and time?

A second reason why children don't learn is because there is no discipline anymore in the classroom. Sure, children who commit serious offenses are disciplined, but I'm talking about the 1-2 per class that are so disruptive on a daily basis the others can't learn. Try to discipline these students and their parents refuse (we need parental agreement to keep a child for detention and these parents refuse to allow it). What I don't understand is why the parents of the behaving students don't demand that these misbehaving students be removed from school.

A third reason children don't learn is because of repeated disruptions. Just the intercom alone disrupts several times a class period. During our last class period of the day, we've recorded an average of 11 disruptions during one 40 minute class. The highest number was 26 in a 40 minute class period, just for announcements - each of which is repeated so as to waste more time and teach the kids they don't have to listen the first time.

Reason #4 is that all classes are heterogeneous, meaning containing children of all academic levels. This means that you have gifted children in the same class as autistic children. With class sizes averaging 30 students, that's about a minute per child after roll is taken and directions are given. Gifted students are unchallenged, and the mainstreamed specials are clueless. So most of them learn nothing. (Lower class sizes and homogeneous grouping would improve education 200% but the state says we have to mix them up so nobody gets "labelled").

Lastly, is the concept of social promotion. Students do nothing all year, then laugh at the teachers when they're promoted anyway. It doesn't matter what grade my students earn in my classroom because grades are overridden by administrators to keep failures below a certain rate. I keep an employment atmosphere in my classroom. I treat my students as if they were my employees, and try to teach them the habits they need to succeed in the work world. I try to stand firm on due dates like any company in the business world would, only to be told I have to give certain students extra time because of their IEP (which I refer to as the special ed blueprint to failure - even customers at a fast food restaurant aren't going to wait extra time for their meal just because the employee is "special").

If you want to do something about improving learning in schools, fight the lawmakers that are preventing learning from taking place with their ridiculous laws. The teacher's union can't change state laws; they must abide by them whether they agree or not. The union is funded mostly by dues, which are taken out of our pay - even if we don't join the union, they get 2/3 of the dues cost out of our check anyway. We're talking almost $1000 per year per teacher! So we might as well pay the full dues and get a few benefits. Why not affordable housing? My first 7 years teaching I made too much to qualify for housing subsidies, but not enough to qualify for a mortgage. After 7 years I made enough to get a loan for a mobile home. After 18 years, I'm stuck in that mobile home, still not making enough for a house. A little help from the union might have made a house possible.

By the way, private schools are no better. I resigned from teaching in a private school after I failed a student who turned in no written work whatsoever, only to be told I had to pass her because her parents had just purchased a new scoreboard for the gym.

So, you might ask, why do I continue teaching? I love kids, and I feel I can help prepare them for the future. I don't care if they don't know the pythagorean theorem or Newton's Laws of Motion off the top of their head. They can pick up a book and read that. The important thing is that they CAN read, and that they develop skills (like balancing a checkbook) and habits (like arriving on time) that will serve them success beyond graduation. Hopefully, along the way, they'll learn the other stuff, too. Until the district and the state allow me to really teach, that's the most I can hope for.

[Peanut Gallery]

The larger school districts have job fairs in the spring or early summer. It isn't too late though. You can go to the website for the school districts themselves, to the regional website for your local region, or to the SBEC website. Here are some links for you.

Do a google search for "region" and "ESC" and you will get the homepages for each TX educational region.

(Dallas) http://www2.ednet10.net/tpc/
(Fort Worth) http://www.esc11.net/
http://www.texes.nesinc.com/
(State Board of Educator Certification) http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/default.asp?width=1024&height=768

BTW, I used to teach public school. Now I homeschool.

[traviskicks]

LOL

[moog]

Some are just funny like the one about latex gloves and balloons, who cares? Despite being never having never touched alcohol, I don't really care what wine they use at their functions--let them get drunk for all I care.
Opposing CAFTA--I don't really care if the teacher's unions oppose it (they have nothing to do with it and it's dumb for them to make such a statement), most conservatives in my area actually oppose it too and rail against those who support it (I'm not either way on it, though I am concerned about our dependence on service-type jobs and that we are becoming less self-sufficient as a ntaion). Those are just a few. I don't advocate resolutions that have nothing to do with education, but I also wonder what other resolutions there were.

[moog]

----So...is your favorite flavor the grape or the cherry Kool-Aid? Inquiring minds... Quit sticking up for such a disgusting organization unless you are a true Socialist yourself. Let's see you defend each of the passed resolutions. I'm waiting...-------

I prefer water instead. Yes, I am a Socialist--I socialize with people every day. Actually, I know of many good, dedicated teachers out there. Some of them are my own relatives. It's the "blame it all on them" mentality or "all of them are like that" things that I don't like. Liberals use those tactics enough already (e.g. on George Bush or the military--I do NOT like org's. like Code Pink).

Resolutions--I classify them as so what?, duh!, and what the heck are they thinking? For example, I don't care what latex gloves they wear or what wine they drink. I don't support using the word retarded too much, but admittedly I'll use the word "gay" as negatively as I want. As far as CAFTA--they probably shouldn't make a statement on it. Actually, it's pretty dumb for them to since it involves other political realms. Curiously, most of the conservatives in my location don't support it either.

It is also interesting to note that it did come from WND. While, I do support many things they say and respect them, they will NEVER say anything positive about education, at least not that I've ever seen or heard.

I don't use the ACLU as my media source for religion (or anything else for that matter).

[moog]

I teach in Georgia. I am in PAGE-Professional Educators of Georgia. It's only $10.00 a month, and if I have a problem, I can be on the phone with an attorney quickly. They handle things like unfair dismissal, and false charges. I do not have "tenure" yet. A lot of folks who are not in education don't really understand tenure. It is merely due process, as you know. In most employment situations, due process rights occur after 90 days. We teachers must wait three years. Then of course if we are not doing our jobs, the principal must follow the steps to correct the situation. As you know, people who are not in education seem to think that once a teacher gets tenure, it is impossible to fire them. You and I both know it's not true.

Those outside the education profession don't understand that teachers spend their own time taking coursework for professional development credits in order to be able to renew their certificate. They also fail to understand that teachers spend many hours at home planning and grading. We also must arrange for conferences after school, go to PTA meetings on our own time, etc. Then these people complain about us getting the summer "off," which isn't entirely true either. I have taught summer school the last two years, and worked on my masters this summer. I am not complaining, but I feel that teachers earn their pay and then some.

The sad part is that even if we disagree with the curriculum, we have to do what our supervisors tell us, as does any employee. Most teachers that I know are conservative. College professors are a different story. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What you say is very true in most cases. I get about a week off during summer (we are year-round), but that and my breaks are often spent doing things for my job. There are about 5 teachers in my school who get only 2 weeks off the whole year and most others substitute or work 2nd jobs on breaks. We do need to realize that many, many people work hard in their various professions, INCLUDING many teachers. We should respect those who do. There are many days where I'll come home at 8 PM after leaving getting to work at 7 AM, and I STILL have several hours of grading and such. I don't have my own secretary (or even a teacher's aide) like some people do. I do it all on my own.

There is NO such thing as teacher tenure in my area. If one little thing happens, it can be all over. My uncle got falsely accused of molesting a girl and it cost him his teaching job and he had to do a lot to restore his reputation too.

My father and mother taught me to respect teachers. Even when I had some bad ones, they still expected me to behave myself, do my work, and to actually learn SOMETHING. They expected all of us kids to do so. I will say that some teachers don't realize the consequences of their actions. Some people are just out there to pounce on any negative thing a teacher does and use it to lambast them and the profession. The liberals do that with the military. I hope that we take time to recognize those teachers who do make a difference such as yourself. I make sure to tell any parent when I hear a good comment about his/her child and any teacher when a parent says a good comment about him/her. There's too much negativity in the world today.

I too, separate college and other education. I don't have much to do with college professors and thus, don't lump them in the same category as other educators. I think you are right in that they are more liberal.

[SALChamps03]

Thanks for sharing your opinion with me. Interestingly, I was required to attend new teacher orientation because I took a job in another county system this year. We spent two hours being warned about things not to do. The surprising thing is that the county attorney who warned us had an example in mind where the event had actually happened; things such as vulgar notes written to students, having sex with students etc. Teachers who do things like that give the rest of us a bad name, and cause us a lot of anxiety.

[A CA Guy]

It needs to be broken up.

[moog]

Thanks for sharing your opinion with me. Interestingly, I was required to attend new teacher orientation because I took a job in another county system this year. We spent two hours being warned about things not to do. The surprising thing is that the county attorney who warned us had an example in mind where the event had actually happened; things such as vulgar notes written to students, having sex with students etc. Teachers who do things like that give the rest of us a bad name, and cause us a lot of anxiety

NO ONE resents them more than me!!!!!!! Teachers who do things like that give fodder to those who blame teachers for the ills of society (the education is bad crowd) and encourage those who seek to create a climate of disrespect towards teachers and other public and nonpublic figures.

Here's another story. I rode tne bus and walked pretty much everywhere for over a decade. On my way to school, the bus driver commented to me on how courteous the students were to her from a certain high school. I challenged her to go to the principal and tell him. She did just that and he was flabbergasted. It was the first time he said that anyone had come to him about something positive. They even put it in the school newspaper. I think that we do need to acknowledge and deal with the bad, but we also need to seek out and acknowledge the good as well. If all we focus on is the negative in life, it doesn't reflect well on us as a group or individuals.

I get d--- lucky that there are a few parents who not only let me know when I mess up, but when I do something "good." It helps me to try to become a better teacher and person. We have been in school two weeks. I have a student who's been through some rough times and now he's being raised by his grandparents. He came up to me this week, gave me a big hug, and said, "You're the best teacher ever." I called up his grandma and said, "Either he's doing it because he likes me or he knows he's found my soft spot." The grandma said it was the first case and that, "He just adores you. He has a big heart and shows it to the people he appreciates." Talk about bringing tears to my eyes. There's a reason I teach and things like this are why I do and why I keep going.

[The Red Zone]

To study the feasibility of a boycott of Gallo wine (A separate resolution banned the serving of Gallo wine at any NEA functions.);

So what do the teachers drink, Le Peu?