NEA Leader Its Not About Kids Its About Power
This is an
explanation of the nasty Teachers Union Protests in
FLASHBACK In
2009, after 41 years as the nations top education lawyer for the National
Education Association,
Bob Chanin gave his farewell address in which he
said it’s not about kids, but about power.
“Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of
our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. 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. NEA and its affiliates are effective
advocates because we have power.”
“And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who
are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year,
because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent
them, the unions that can protect their rights and advance their interests as
education employees.”
“This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with
closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and
the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary.
These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not
be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective
bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.”