NEA Obama/Duncan endorsement would be a 'suicide pact'

The announcement that NEA is giving away all the political capital it has by making a premature endorsement of Barack Obama's re-election was the last straw. I read the reasons why the endorsement was made. On the surface, they seem credible.

It was noted that none of those who are running on the Republican ticket are likely to provide public education with any support. Undoubtedly, that is true. The seeds of the nightmare that is today's public education were planted by the GOP with its support of vouchers, its constant hammering on the so-called "Godless" schools and their "brainwashing" of susceptible children, and its Greek chorus of billionaires spreading the fiction that American schools were failing, when, in fact, American schools have continued to excel in all areas except those which are stricken with poverty.

And then you have the explanation of the how the calendar works against an effective endorsement of the president in 2012. If it is not done this year, the argument goes, the endorsement cannot be made officially until July 2012, long after it can offer any help for the president or for NEA.

My answer to NEA: Rework your calendar and show a little intestinal fortitude. By casting your lot with Barack Obama, and it pains me to say this, you are endorsing the president who has done more to destroy what is good about public education than any president in history...With all unions under attack, NEA, one of the few that is still doing well, had the opportunity to hold back its endorsement and perhaps gain some concessions from the president...Instead, NEA's leadership continued its recent policy of capitulating to the forces that that would love to eventually destroy public education (and the NEA itself). Public education does not need Jack Kevorkian. It has the NEA.

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2253§ion=Article


I hadn't thought about it, but it's interesting that the attacks on teachers since Obama took office, as far as i can tell, have concentrated on AFT-affiliated teachers.

Is this the case?

If so, it wouldn't be the first time unions were picked off one by one in that manner.

Sorry, I don't buy it, stupid is as stupid does and electing Bush at all was stupid, in 2004 it was beyond stupid all the way to cretinous.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

But that doesn't change the fact that a great deal of our public is indeed stupid and or ignorant.

And thus cost Kerry, and us, the election.

Sorry, but pinning the loss of any election on stupidity of the electorate and the deficiencies of public education is beyond the pale.

Then why is our society starting to circle the damn drain?

And why do so few of us seem to care about that fact?

"The smartest men in the room" at Enron, and other such geniuses. Not to mention that propaganda, which is what MSM is these days, is just as effective on the better educated than the less educated. After all, for decades the Democratic party convinced lots of people to vote for them, when it was against their better interests. Case one, getting teachers to vote for Obama in '08.

And frankly, I think a lot of people do care about that fact, but the fact is their voice simply aren't heard. Hell, you can have hundreds of thousands of people march for peace, yet it is barely a blip on the media radar. Since that is the case, what makes you think that the ongoing, tireless efforts that are ongoing in each and every community are going to make a dent on our national consciousness?

Not being snarky here, I really do wonder why some people can see the Emperor is naked while others seem totally unable to perceive reality.

ETA: I'll just point out that getting a degree and getting a high powered/high paying job does not necessarily imply that the person is "highly educated".

But I don't think that education and intelligence is that great a factor. Hell, millions upon millions have given up on voting because they find both Dems and 'Pugs unacceptable, and these are some of the poorest, least educated people in our society.

I think a great deal can be explained by individual personality, emotional and psychological make up. Which means there is no easy answer.

I agree with you to a certain extent that going to school, getting a degree and a high powered job doesn't necessarily mean that one is intelligent, there is still a correlation there between graduating from college and being more intelligent.

The smart, educated person?

Or the stupid, uneducated person?

Could it be that many of the people we now consider smart and educated aren't really as smart or as educated as was thought and perhaps that some of those who we consider not so smart and uneducated perhaps are sharper and know more than we have given them credit for?

If that is neither a Dem or a 'Pug, so be it. It is time that a serious statement was made about education, and about time that teachers stopped settling for the kinder, gentler way of having their profession destroyed.

Seems some groups leaders are not on the same page as their rank and file group members. And it happens quite often.

It's the same issue everywhere. Leaders not listening to or agreeing to harmful policies for lord knows what reason. Happens on larger scales smaller smaller scales.

:sarcasm: