By Jim Brown
The president of a think tank based in Washington State urges strict oversight of the National Education Association (NEA), not only to protect the rights of teachers but also to safeguard against policies that may ultimately harm America’s schoolchildren.
Bob Williams, president of the Washington-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation, closely monitors the activity of the powerful teachers’ union known for its liberal political agenda. And although NEA president Reg Weaver says he wants to reach out more to Republicans, Williams remains skeptical.
In an interview following the annual NEA Convention in New Orleans, Weaver told the Washington Times he is asking state affiliates of the NEA to back more Republican candidates, even though the union is overwhelmingly pro-Democrat. However, Williams believes Weaver’s vow to court Republicans is disingenuous.
“During the convention, the NEA said they would target 16 states and made it clear that in those 16 states they’re trying to elect more Democrats to Congress and the U.S. Senate — and they are willing to support any Democrat over Bush. That hardly sounds like they’re reaching out to the Republicans,” Williams says.
Williams also raises concerns about the NEA’s forthrightness — or lack thereof — in its financial accountability. He notes that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor is attempting to require unions to file disclosure reports showing how their funds are being used. Yet Williams says currently 32 of the NEA state affiliates are suing the Department of Labor to prevent it from filing these basic financial reports.
Williams thinks the NEA affiliates are resisting full disclosure because, in many cases, teachers’ funds are being used for political causes with which they disagree — a clear violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Other than Weaver’s remarks, nothing happened in New Orleans to indicate that the NEA might be moving in a more conservative and family-friendly direction. At the convention, the NEA passed resolutions supporting a federally-run health care program, teenage abortion, and programs to teach young schoolchildren to be accepting of homosexual, bisexual, and trans-gendered lifestyles.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
