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Article published Sep 22, 2004
Teachers' group forms alliance with partisan
organizations
If you get invited to a "house party" this week
to support public schools, be aware that what you've really been invited to is a
partisan political rally.The South Carolina Education Association is joining its
parent organization, the national teachers' union, in pushing these house
parties in support of the National Mobilization for Great Public
Schools.According to an SCEA news release, this campaign is "a joint venture
between the National Education Association, The South Carolina Education
Association and national co-sponsors to draw attention to public education
issues in America."What the release does not say is exactly who these "national
co-sponsors" are. They include the Campaign for America's Future and MoveOn.org.
These are Democratic campaign organizations that exist to elect Democrats and
defeat Republicans. They are not pushing what's best for public education. They
are pushing a partisan campaign.By allying themselves with these excessively
partisan groups, the teachers' union and its South Carolina branch have revealed
their partisan agenda.The group also details its goals as it offers hints for
what should be discussed at the house parties.The Education Association states
that people should discuss the General Assembly's failure to fully fund
education, the fact that teachers haven't gotten raises as big as the group
thinks they should, and Gov. Mark Sanford's "voucher plan designed to drain
public funds from public schools."According to the group, building great public
schools means rejecting a bill that would spur the development of charter
schools and maintaining huge bonuses for teachers who earn national
certification despite the lack of evidence that the program improves classroom
performance.In short, the Education Association doesn't rally people to
innovation and finding answers to the problems facing our public schools. It
seeks to reinforce the same methods that have not produced significant progress.
It simply wants to spend more of your money on them.And it has openly aligned
itself with partisan political campaigns to pursue that agenda.