Teachers vs Union

Legislative Amendment 1 - Drug Testing Bus Drivers


More than 50 delegates submitted a measure to list the NEA as supporting "Federal legislation mandating a test for drugs and alcohol that is admissible in a criminal prosecution of a driver involved in an accident while transporting students."


If union bosses oppose school districts who try to fire teachers who should be registered sexual offenders for fondling, groping and threatening little girls with pieces of broken glass, I don’t think union bosses will support anything that will aid in the conviction of bus drivers driving under the influence.


Legislative Amendment 5 - Mandatory Kindergarten


This measure would make the NEA an official supporter of mandatory kindergarten. While this is understandable given the union’s dependence on the growth of the teacher workforce for its own growth, the stated rational is somewhat suspect.


Supposedly, mandatory kindergarten is necessary because “Kindergarten provides an essential bridge between prekindergarten and the primary grades.”


Let’s think this through out loud. Kindergarten should be mandatory because it bridges prekindergarten and first grade? We all know first grade is mandatory, but this logic could only be correct if prekindergarten were mandatory too.


Legislative Amendment 7 - Government Funded Family Tree Research


Some delegates want the NEA to support "legislation providing funding of DNA testing for African-Americans so they can trace their ancestry and their country of origin."


I want some input on this. While DNA testing may be important to some individuals, is it a proper role for government to play? What are your thoughts?


The union rational says, “Researching one's family tree is worthwhile and at times medically necessary. Most African-Americans cannot trace their ancestry to their country of origin. DNA testing would allow them to make that identification.”


Legislative Amendment 10 - Adds Tenure and Teacher Salaries to Bill of Rights


The final measure I’ll comment on is just another indication of the union’s arrogance. It is becoming clearer that union officials view this nation’s government and even its founding documents as the embodiment of their job security.


Some union officials want the NEA to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that “guarantees that every child has the basic right to a high-quality, free, and appropriate public education."


This is only one part of the movement by NEA officials to turn the Bill of Rights into their own union organizing and personal job security document. The union’s arguments in Davenport alleged that the First Amendment’s Free Speech guarantee applied to it at the expense of individuals. Now NEA officials reveal that they want to add job security for its 3 million members to the Bill of Rights and guarantee they are paid lavish salaries (“Congress must provide adequate funding”) (of which the NEA gets $245 per person).