Former general counsel of the NEA 2009:
Despite what some of us would like to believe it is not because of our grand ideas, and it is not because of the merit of our positions, and 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 over 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year because they believe we are the union that can most effectively represent them.
The NEA is about power. They collect dues and then they do what they like with it. I am supposed to be part of a union, and never at any time have they asked me what I think. They TELL me what to think, when they bother to communicate with me at all.
Just a few hours ago, a former student of mine contacted me on Facebook. This is what he said. "I don't know if you remember me. I was in your ******* class a few years back, and I wanted you to know you are one of the most interesting teachers I ever had. your (sic) just a really interesting guy that actually loves to teach his subject, most teachers don't have that." I am here for the students. I am here to teach. I am an educator. The people out picketing and rioting in Wisconsin and who may join them in Nevada are not interested in your children or in jobs generally speaking. They care about THEIR job.
When Gibbons was our governor, I wrote him twice, knowing that if he acted on what I said, I stood the risk to lose my own job. What the state may yet learn is that they need me more than they think. We can afford to get rid of people. We cannot afford to eliminate good teachers. Unfortunately, this isn't about good teachers. It's about the NEA and the people who pay it dues.
Thus they clothe themselves with odd old ends stol'n forth from holy writ and seem saints when most they play the devil.
I am tired of all the people who politic and use children as a tool, a means to get what they want, when they have no care whatsoever for the well-being of the children if honestly admitted. They own politicians. They own many of us. No harness on my back. Like other movements, the education debate is using your children to get you to agree with them. Force them to prove they care. Don't just accept that premise.
The NEA is about power. They collect dues and then they do what they like with it. I am supposed to be part of a union, and never at any time have they asked me what I think. They TELL me what to think, when they bother to communicate with me at all.
Just a few hours ago, a former student of mine contacted me on Facebook. This is what he said. "I don't know if you remember me. I was in your ******* class a few years back, and I wanted you to know you are one of the most interesting teachers I ever had. your (sic) just a really interesting guy that actually loves to teach his subject, most teachers don't have that." I am here for the students. I am here to teach. I am an educator. The people out picketing and rioting in Wisconsin and who may join them in Nevada are not interested in your children or in jobs generally speaking. They care about THEIR job.
When Gibbons was our governor, I wrote him twice, knowing that if he acted on what I said, I stood the risk to lose my own job. What the state may yet learn is that they need me more than they think. We can afford to get rid of people. We cannot afford to eliminate good teachers. Unfortunately, this isn't about good teachers. It's about the NEA and the people who pay it dues.
Thus they clothe themselves with odd old ends stol'n forth from holy writ and seem saints when most they play the devil.
I am tired of all the people who politic and use children as a tool, a means to get what they want, when they have no care whatsoever for the well-being of the children if honestly admitted. They own politicians. They own many of us. No harness on my back. Like other movements, the education debate is using your children to get you to agree with them. Force them to prove they care. Don't just accept that premise.
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