Reply #15: ok, I'll bite... [View All]

[mike_c]

...since I've got ten minutes or so before I have to get ready for class. I'm a professional educator too, as well as a working scientist and as progressive a liberal as the night is long, IMHO. I'm a member of the California Faculty Association and by default, the California Teachers Association. I'm not a member of the NEA unless by some twist my CTA membership makes me some sort of ghost affiliate).

My position is that the NEA should function as an advocate for teachers and for improving the quality of education, but that it should not lobby on behalf of educational policy except in so far as it directly supports those objectives. Bit of a grey area, I realize, but when teachers begin feeling dumped upon by their foremost national advocacy agency, something is wrong.

On the other hand, Paige's remarks simply serve to underline what should be abundantly clear by now-- unless you're a wealthy Republican donor, you are "the enemy" of this administration.