NEA Membership Decline Heralds Loss of Power and Influence/ ( Good News!)

Education News ^

[wintertime]

Things are looking grim for teachers unions. The National Education Association (NEA) membership has declined by more than 100,000 since 2010, and the union’s own projections indicate that within two more years it could have lost a total of 308,000 full-time teachers and other workers. This would represent a 16% drop in membership from 2010.

It’s not simply member numbers at stake, but the dues each member provides. If projections are correct, then the NEA budget will decline 18% and they’ll have $65 million less to work with.

Greg Toppo of USA Today reports that the NEA explains the unprecedented membership losses on a combination of long-term factors such as the expansion of online learning and changing teacher demographics. While they acknowledge things are unlikely to ever return to the way they were, the NEA remains unbowed.

[C210N]

How many of the nation’s founders had their pre-college education in England?

Pre-college? I think making the 3000 mile 3-4 week trek was mostly reserved for college years or the whole educational she-bang.

Here are some Declaration signers educated in Europe... most were sent, but some just were born and raised. Looks like more of the Southerners were sent to European educations than Northerners:

Francis Lewis, NY delegate, educated in Scotland and England before coming to America.

That's 11 out of 56 signers. John Witherspoon, NJ delegate, educated at U of Edinburgh.

James Wilson, PA delegate.

Charles Carroll, MD, school in France, then law school in England.

William Paca, MD, London.

Richard Henry Lee, VA, sent to England for his education.

Thomas Nelson, VA, sent to England...

Thomas Lynch, SC, sent to London...

Arthur Middleton, SC, sent to London..

Thomas Heyward, SC, sent to London...

Edward Rutledge, SC, sent to London...

[wintertime]

All of the Founding Fathers received their pre-college education here in the colonies. It is likely that when they were speaking of education of the young, they had their **own** educations’ in mind. They would likely be HORRIFIED to see how we warehouse our nation's children in prison-like structures and in many ways treat them like prisoners.

So....What types of education did our Founding Fathers enjoy?

— homeschooling
— private tutoring
— one room schooling organized by the parents
—dame schools in the homes of trust neighbors
—apprenticeships
— an “academies” in the homes of respected tutors to prepare the wealthy for entrance into college as young teens.

The next time you pass a government school, please ask, “Does that look like a minimum security prison?”

The next time you see a school bus, please ask, “Does that look like prison work gang transport?”

The next time you see children waiting at a school bus stop, please ask, “Do those children look like day laborers soliciting work?”

[wintertime]

Finland has very high requirements for entry into teaching and its training standards are much higher.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The SAT and ACT scores of all government teachers should be posted online for all to see.

All government teachers should be required to take the GED for high school drop outs every four years. Most would fail the math section. The dismal scores of those who do pass should be posted online for all to see.

[Tax-chick]

The next time you see children waiting at a school bus stop, please ask, “Do those children look like day laborers soliciting work?”

Many, especially boys 12-and-up, would get more out of a day of manual labor than they do out of a day of school. And after spending their early teen years laying asphalt, cleaning bathrooms, or picking squash, they would be willing to spend their own earnings on education and work hard to acquire skills for more agreeable employment.

I recall that Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute not only provided freedmen with a solid practical education, including some lab sciences, but also had them building and maintaining the school, growing food, doing tailoring and shoemaking, and all the necessities of survival.

Work is good for young people. A few are academically driven, but a majority, in my opinion, would benefit more from learning roofing or tailoring than they do from endless hours sitting about.

[wintertime]

I completely agree with every word of your post.

[Tax-chick]

I love it when that happens ;-).

They could even listen to college lectures on CD or iThingie while roofing or tailoring!

[listenhillary]

“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”—Josef Stalin

“The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions at state expense.”—Karl Marx

“The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all: it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.”
H.L. Mencken

“And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.”
H.L. Mencken

[SuziQ]

LOL! Is that sign supposed to read Unions ARE My Cup of Tea”? If she’s a teacher, she should be ashamed, but something tells me she wouldn’t be.

[Zakeet]

Is that a teacher holding that semi-literate sign?

The picture was taken during the occupation of the Wisconsin legislature by the teachers' unions. Given her appearance, attitude, demeanor, and the nature of the event, it's entirely logical to assume that ... yes ... that babe is a teechure.