Re: Educating teachers who never leave the classroom

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Yes, it is true, law does not allow funds of union dues to go to
political action, unless the member decides it.

I don't agree with 100% of the stances either....but if it comes down to
no union or union, I'll take membership, every time. I've been too much
administrator power grab and bad decisions in my near 20 year career
that can ruin a teacher's career in its tracks to not be a part of a
group that can protect the individual. Teachers have put in too much
time and effort in their education and craft to have it destroyed by an
administrator or board.

On 11/11/09, OEA member wrote:
> You do not have to contribute to the political action committee
> (PAC) of most teacher unions. That is normally an option.
>
> On 11/07/09, Union vs. No Union wrote:
>> Having worked with and without a union I am not so sure that I
>> want to be part of a union. No doubt that it is better to have
>> the union available but what about those who do not share the
>> political views of the candidates that union is backing. I
>> understand that union dues are paid by the teacher whether you
>> want to join the union or not because it wouldn't be fair for a
>> nonmember to reap the benefits from a union. However, if a
>> person choose not to be a part of a union shouldn't he/she be
>> able to waive rights to any advantages that being a union member
>> would bring? For instance, a teacher may be antiabortion but
>> the NEA supports a candidate that is prochoice. That certainly
>> would be an issue that may be a source of conflict for the
>> teacher to have her money being given to someone that does not
>> share her views on this issue. I just think that we should be
>> given a choice as to whether to join the union or not.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/07/09, Tanisha wrote:
>>> I used to work in a charter school where there was no union.
>>> Now, thank god, I work in a school district. I make an amount
>>> of money I can live on, have good benefits, get to attend
>>> professional development,and best of all can advocate for my
>>> students with out fear of retribution from administrators who
>>> are only out to make money. We need our unions! Anyways, I
>>> support all those issues that the NEA supports. Go NEA!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 11/04/09, Vanessa wrote:
>>>> It is time for teachers to know how our NEA union has used
>>>> us for political gain.
>>>>
>>>> * NEA is America's largest labor union
>>>> * Advocates leftist positions on a host of issues,
>>>> including abortion, sex education, teen pregnancy, school
>>>> prayer, socialized medicine, affordable housing, drug
>>>> testing, prisoner rights, bilingual education, global
>>>> warming, and health care
>>>> * Opposes merit pay for teachers
>>>> * Opposes school vouchers
>>>> * Ranks among the leading funders of the Democratic
>>> Party
>>>> * Has contributed vast sums to many leftwing
>>> organizations
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Based in Washington, DC, the 3.1 million-member National
>>>> Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in
>>>> the United States. It represents public school teachers and
>>>> support personnel; faculty and staffers in colleges and
>>>> universities; retired educators; and college students
>>>> preparing to become teachers. The NEA’s mission is “to
>>>> advocate for education professionals and to unite our
>>>> members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public
>>>> education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse
>>>> and interdependent world.”
>>>>
>>>> The NEA pursues these goals through its 14,000+ local
>>>> affiliate organizations (which are active in fundraising,
>>>> conducting professional workshops, and negotiating teacher
>>>> contracts); its 51 state affiliates (which “lobby
>>>> legislators for the resources schools need”); and its
>>>> Washington, DC-based national headquarters (which “lobbies
>>>> Congress and federal agencies on behalf of its members and
>>>> public schools, supports and coordinates innovative
>>>> projects, works with other education organizations and
>>>> friends of public education, [and] provides training and
>>>> assistance to its affiliates”).
>>>>
>>>> The NEA was founded in 1850 as the National Teachers
>>>> Association, and adopted its present name in 1857. Promoting
>>>> government-owned public schools and “modern” pedagogical
>>>> ideas, this union permitted no private school teachers to
>>>> join its ranks. These government-owned-and-run schools were
>>>> modeled on statist European education in Prussia, and
>>>> attracted socialist activist teachers who saw public school
>>>> students as perfect subjects for re-engineering society.
>>>> That remolding began with the anti-Catholic objectives of
>>>> Horace Mann (1796-1859) and expanded to the anti-religious
>>>> humanism of John Dewey (1859-1952).
>>>>
>>>> In a 1935 report presented at the 72nd annual NEA
>>>> convention, the union's future Executive Secretary Willard
>>>> Givens wrote: “A dying laissez-faire must be completely
>>>> destroyed and all of us … must be subjected to a large
>>>> degree of social control…. The major function of the school
>>>> is the social orientation of the individual. It must seek to
>>>> give him understanding of the transition to a new social
>>> order.”
>>>>
>>>> In a 2003 article titled “NEA Hastens Death of American
>>>> Education,” veteran journalist Ralph de Toledano wrote that
>>>> in 1938 “the Institute for Social Research, founded by the
>>>> Comintern, appeared on the Columbia University campus,
>>>> taking over the Teachers College, the country’s most
>>>> influential school of education.” “Better known as the
>>>> Frankfurt School,” de Toledano continued, “… [the Institute]
>>>> eschewed the economic aspects of Marxism and promulgated a
>>>> substitute based on Marx’s 1843 preachments. Later labeled
>>>> neo-Marxism, the program called for the destruction of
>>>> religion, the family, education and all moral values, along
>>>> with the capture of the intellectuals and the instruments of
>>>> mass communication such as the press, radio and films. To
>>>> this it appended a new Freudianism, which reduced human
>>>> relationships to rampant sexuality and the grossest pleasure
>>>> principles -- -- as "an inspiration" to
>>>> "every organizer" and "anyone contemplating action in their
>>>> community."
 

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