The National Education Association (which represents school teachers) is the largest labor union in the US.

And the union just held its annual conference, where officials voted on a number of resolutions to more clearly define its policies and values.

At this year’s meeting, the NEA voted to teach “white fragility,” which is, they say, produced by a white supremacist culture.

They also endorsed abortion, reparations for slave descendants, and recognized the US as a destabilizing force in South America which has led to the current immigration crisis.

Yet when the resolution which would “make student learning the priority of the Association,” went up for a vote, it failed.

However you might feel about these issues, we can probably at least agree that the teacher’s union should probably be focused on… teaching… rather than politics.

Apparently white guilt indoctrination is more important than real education.

http://www.aei.org/publication/nea-...OE9RfUZjXjiEnGt3YDyhotXL0OKawXsGVUlnVkKY

Simple enough, no more federal funds.

Public education will be the primary cause of the downfall of our nation.

The NEA is deporable, but it should be remembered that there are many individual teachers out there who continue to strive to do things right (often at the risk of losing their jobs).

The NEA does not dictate curriculum, as it has no legsl standing to do so.

The individual states provide standards and local Boards of Education decide upon how to best implement the standards.

The individual teacher has nothing to fear from the NEA as the union has no control over an individual's continued employment within a school district shouls said teacher ignore the NEA.

This being the 50th celebration of the landing of the man on the moon you should do a little bit of research into how those individuals who were responsible for that mission were educated.

That was then, this is now.

I thought most teachers belonged to the SEIU

Call it what it really is, our public indoctrination system.

Sending your children to public schools is, in most instances, child abuse.

From a Political point of view, i would say they have something in hand. Migrants are flooding the U.S for a better life and education is a vital tool which would be use to attain that better life. so a lot of them wanna go to school and get some degree. Teachers who are gonna teach these people also have a story to tell about what it will take to educate someone who has never heard of calculus or geometry.

Democrat-matriarchy, emasculating and dumbing down kids since the 1960s..

The NEA means nothing significant in in the proper and effective education of students, and it demonstrates no understanding of that role. Yak, yak, yak - hot air exudes. The NEA is purely a political organization with labor union mentality - a negative force with regard to true education, public or otherwise.. Compared to what it was in the 1960s, it has become a bad joke. Shame.

Based on solid academic achievement statistics alone, government schools in America are INDEFENSIBLE. And, MORE money has been tried ad nauseam.

Naw! It's those rabble-rousing QUAKERS!!

More like, fascist/marxist indoctrination in govt. schools(at all levels) will be our downfall. ;-{>8 If the kids actually got some public education, I'd be happy, surprised, but happy.

This need not be true - not at all - if parents and families will deeply involve themselves and take responsibility for the conduct and performance of their local public schools. Caring local impetus was the genesis and became the taproot of "public education". And, it needs to be primarily local again. It's your kid - it's your school - it's your community. Get onto your feet and, with others who care, take charge of your local schools. Make it right. To simply utter general complaints about the degradation of "public education" is useless - there is no central causative that can be cured. Reform, and rebuild, starts at local K-12.

Seeing as how it's been 50 years since the landing...and most of those men were 30 year olds that means that they were educated 60+ years ago, well before the fed began usurping control of education in the act of 'fairness' in the mid 60s. So no, we didn't get to the moon by 'public education', we got to the moon by local education.

That’s completely and utterly dependent upon where you live and the socioeconomic and political makeup of your community.

They sure as hell weren't "educated" by the current crop of Bolsheviks.

Kids now can't do basic math without calculators, they can't read or write cursive, they have no grasp of American history, they don't get any true social studies (what replaced it is social indoctrination and coercion).

There........fix tit for you.

These educated morons are too phugking stupid to understand they're being used by socialist commie radicals to turn our country into a one world schithole where everybody is "equal".

They'll "equal" themselves right into being the first through the FEMA camp gates for their reeducation.

I am a member of the NEA - solely for the Insurance, as I work in the school system.
I am retired military and have been working in education since I retired in '01, first as a teacher, now as support - sort of like counselors and teacher specialist, but I work with Students with Disabilities.

Here's my "take" on te NEA: Started out ona good foundation, empower teachers, provide a voice, provide protection.

Now: It's all "give me, give me, give me" To the best of my knowledge, NEA has NEVER supported a Republican. I remember 12 years ago with Obama, how he was gonna fix the economy and bring PRIDE back to the White House, etc.... NOTHING about educating children. Then Hill-a-beast Same thing, first female, blah blah blah. Now they support any Democrat, and encourage all members to indoctrinate the students,

Cursive writing is not taught or evaluated (It was "unfair" to certain students...) Our Constitution is written in cursive, which means if the next generation can't read it, they can't understand it..
Time: Can't read a clock (unfair to the poor....) and every kid has a cell phone with the time on it, of course time has no meaning. "Running to McDonalds is an acceptable measure of time: maybe 5 minutes, maybe 30 minutes, no definition of time, they are trained to bells to moves classes.

Meanwhile, several "teachers" are sitting behind their desks working on advanced degrees so they can get titles and letters after their name, and get promoted (more $$$) and make decisions that benefit THEM, not the students.

Want a REAL eye opener? Check how much your local BOE spends annually on "Professional Development" and travel. It's all public record...

My wife is one of those big shots: this summer she went to St.Louis and Miami and I tagged along (paid my own way of course), and she's not the favorite one. The favorites go to San Francisco, Boston, New York, Chicago. etc, Like Moochelle Obama, they take their entourage and go first class, paid for by tax dollars...

Mostly commies!

The one thing that stood out in those films we the complete lack of diversity, the only qualification was being smart, there were no bonus points for being, black, white ,red or blue, happy, gay,shemale or bald, you only had to be smart, the pictures look like a bunch of smart white men ! Go figure!

Got to the moon and back on a slide ruler.....

Now we can't go to another city without our phones and GPS.

My ex-wife was a teacher, and a good one. To her credit, she fought that stupidity until the day she retired. She was always on the wrong side of voting. Sometimes the only dissenting vote in the whole school on a dumbass initiative.

The NEA still sends me emails. How they got my email address is beyond me and they won't delete it. Makes me grit my teeth every time I get one from them..

Advanced bullshit degrees. Colleges of education are mostly repositories for the weakest students on campus.

School boards are politicians. You will find very outlandish liberal policies in democrat run areas. A conservative area will vote these people and their policies out of office.
As stated above most teachers belong for the insurance.
Like every thing else you have to pay attention to what’s happening. Education is no different. Hasbeen

This is true. I took a graduate course on correlation and regression during the summer session. The school decided to throw in a group of teachers working on advanced education degrees. I remember the other students rolling their eyes at how slow the teacher students were, and the stupid questions they asked. They slowed the whole class down.

Anybody interested in the comparative intellectual horsepower among majors should look at the average SAT and GRE scores.

Paul

The Bolshevik template has been proven effective elsewhere so it will be put to use here as well.

I spent 30+ years in the public education system, teaching skilled trades such as auto mechanics, collision repair, welding, and machining. I retired in 2011. Lots of my students are making a good living now, using the skills I taught them. Their taxes are providing me with a fairly comfortable retirement, and I get calls for advice from some of them on a regular basis, including two kids from 15 years ago who are running a pretty competitive round track race car.

The worst thing anybody could call me during the time I was teaching was "Educator". I was quick to inform them that an educator is a lard-butt bureaucrat who couldn't make the cut in the classroom, got a master's degree in Outdoor Masturbation, and became a whiz-poor middle manager enforcing ridiculous requirements on the classroom teachers. The administrators hated hearing that, but they couldn't argue with my logic. Since I had skills none of them could master, they didn't have much of a choice but to put up with my attitude! I loved it!
Jerry

You aren't kidding, hasbeen. They're embedded like ticks in my purple area. And they're dumbing down the kids while they're elevated social status from advanced degrees helps them avoid the results of their liberal ideologies.

Wish there was a dumpster big enough to hold them all.

My wife is a 28 year elementary K-3 public school teacher who has never joined the union, because she thinks the union puts teachers' interests ahead of kids', such as voting to strike as part of contract negotiations, and because of the leftist political agenda. She is only one of two such teachers at her 21-teacher elementary school. A voice crying in the wilderness. She is the most experienced teacher at her school, and the other teachers, especially union activists, have learned to leave her alone and not bring up the subject. Sad situation, but the leftist agenda is also ingrained in the school district administration, and a majority of the elected school board members. Simply a reflection of society in a blue suburban environment. All we can do is vote right, and hope for the best.

The nea ia the biggest enemy of this country and has been for 60+ years. And for those of You with Your head in the sand THEY DO MAKE CURRICULUM DECISIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noting your words shown in bold type, and based on some experience, I quickly would say you are mistaken there (in bold) and willingly will debate against your position with you before an audience of learned and open minded people

Only if local parents and school boards let them do so.

Spoken like a true "educator". How about discussing the intricacies of rebuilding a variable valve timing sequential fuel injection V-8 engine afterwards, before a jury of master mechanics, if you dare? I'll wager I'll be able to hold my own better under your form of inquisition!
Jerry

Help build the world you want to live in.


Get your master's of education.

A sign seen along the freeway as we passed through the liberal cesspool of Salem Oregon.

Does not leave much to be said.

You're giving me the feeling that you don't actually understand the qualifications, role and responsibility of a "true educator" and that you don't really want to defend your earlier statements. Then again, maybe instead of trying to deflect to your area of "expertise", you might decide to try giving some solid evidence in the face of serious challenge.

As for your rejoinder about "discussing the intricacies of rebuilding a variable valve timing sequential fuel injection V-8 engine afterwards, before a jury of master mechanics", please note that I have claimed no expertise in your field of mechanics - nor have I stated such a bold stance as yours about one who is an "educator". That said, after we finish #1, I will be delighted to discuss the intricacies of rebuilding a variable valve timing sequential fuel injection V-8 engine, and probably would therein be able to learn some new things well beyond the engine rebuilds I have done in the past.. I would certainly dare do that with you.

And, in quid pro quo, after that, maybe you would care to discuss, before a group of learned persons, the development of the dodecaphonic approach to musical composition, particularly as exemplified in the serial technique and tone row works by Schoenberg and his students Webern and Berg.

I can't respond to your wager offer, as that sentence does not make much sense. I'm certainly not an inquisitor.in the historical sense, but do like to ask questions in order to learn.

^^^This^^^

Unfortunately, there aren’t many REAL teachers left in today’s Public School System. There are a few good ones left, however like the Campfire’s own Birdwatcher.

My wife has been a teacher since 1989, but never supported the Leftist union. Sadly it has a lot of sway over of schools, which is one of the main problems with our schools. They consistently fight against inner city families that want vouchers so their children can escape the Liberal inner city school hell holes that they have helped to create. Yeah....they REALLY care about children....Just like most unions these days, they only care about money and power.

Talked to a friend's daughter the other day. She's in her first year at teacher's college.

I about had to gnaw my arm off to get away from her as she complained how unfairly teachers are paid and how she'll have to move to a state where abortions are legal.

Wow!

Wow, indeed. That ain't promising at all - does not sound like good teacher material, at all. Sorry you have some down moments there.

She's in her first year of college, she doesn't know chit yet.

Engineering pays better. Of course there are calculus courses to pass, and physics, chemistry, statics/dynamics, mechanics of materials, electromagnetics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, circuits and signals, digital systems ...

Do well enough in those and you'll have a chance at being admitted to the upper division.

Hey Jerry - still waiting to see what you provide and discuss your evidence regarding your general claim about those who are "Educators" - and then we could go on to discuss "rebuilding a variable valve timing sequential fuel injection V-8 engine." It would be good for me to become better educated on both topics. Then, as offered, we could move on to 20th Century orchestral composition..

\

Plus, Plus on this issue. Cheers NC

Education majors are the new phy Ed majors

Easiest degree to obtain so it draws typically the poorest students who 30 years ago would not be accepted into college. Had more than one college professor tell that with education majors in his classes.

It used to be fairly rigorous 5 0 ago to get into teaching and a lot of bright females chose this major because unable to get into other career fields.

Sounds like too much work and my head hurts just thinking about taking a stem class. Heard that from a female Ed major.


A lot of lazy people go into teaching to get their 4 months vacation a year but feel they should make the same as someone who gets 2 weeks vacation a year.

On the inside, I've experienced some lazy teachers at times, and some who were not very effective as teachers. Along the way, also met some people in teacher education who probably were not worth the time and resources being invested in their effort.

It is really easy for observers to highlight those, quote experiences with them and ridicule the breadth of public education on that basis, Quite often, those doing the ridicule were those who did not invest themselves in their own education to the degree necessary to gain the insight and equanimity needed to undertake valid critique of teachers in general and public education as a whole.. That's not difficult to picture, is it?

I would be among the last to give broad praise to the state of public school endeavors across the board today, and also among the last to take some of your general and casual anecdotes and try to extrapolate negatives to the overall situation. Well-educated people tend to not do such things.

There is no effort in this post to note or highlight some of the out-of-this-world great teachers and school leaders experienced over the years, or to try to explain the magnificent results of their investments and labor on behalf of public schools and students. Those among us who did our best to benefit from teachers in our schools are likely to realize and acknowledge the presence of those positives, which are at work even today. Carping and expression of bitterness are fairly easy. Making the effort to truly assess and critique with value is not easy.

I can't seem to remember the most recent Campfire thread about excellent teachers, or effective public schools, or bright and promising young folks headed into teaching careers. Wish I could.

#1- great teachers stand out in our memories because they are so rare.

#2- public education is largely judged on the basis of its product: the students.

my Dad was a high school science teacher and football and wrestling coach.He taught from the 60's to mid 90's.In the 60's through early 80's he could fail students who didn't do home work and not make the 70 per cent test average. then in mid 80's that all changed. Students who refused to do homework, failed tests passed.


Now we have teachers that can't pass 8th grade proficiency exams teaching tomorrow's leaders.

Blaming teachers for parents failures... births a new generation of snowflakes.

and the parents and lack of parents completes the problem

Went from the best educational systems in the world during the space race to mediocre