NEA: Education should take back seat to the power of the union
July 28th, 2009
Ah yes, two of my favorite topics rolled into one – unions and education. Love them or hate them, unions are a powerful force in this nation and none more so than the National Education Association. The NEA and its affiliates represent millions of teachers across the country rolling in millions of dollars in dues from its members.
The NEA like most unions is all about power – power for those it serves and power for itself above everything. The NEA cares little about the education of our children and now we have the organization’s own General Counsel, Bob Chanin, telling the NEA convention just that. Among his very interesting comments (see video below):
Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas; it is not because of the merit of our positions; it is not because we care about children; and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child.
The NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power. And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of million of dollars in dues each year because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent them; the union that can protect their rights and advance their interests as education employees.
This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing drop rate rates, improving teacher quality, and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary these are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights, or collective bargaining.
That is simply too high a price to pay.
Watch the video below the fold.
Thank you to the Heritage Foundation for unearthing this newsworthy gem.
Sad to say but this is hardly surprising. Unions’ number one job is to protect their constituency at all costs – education and children be damned. The NEA is simply a business out to make money for itself and to protect its own special interests. It is ironic that teachers, some of the most educated individuals in the country, are unable to think for themselves and see the NEA for what it is.
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