Song of Songs
30th August 2005, 10:56 PM
I found this article on Focus on the Family's daily newsletter...
Many Christian teachers are upset that the union dues they pay to the NEA are used for purposes contrary to their Christian beliefs. This article says teachers have a right to divert their union dues to a charity of their choice so that it is not used for ungodly purposes!
"Many don't know that they have an option, through the Civil Rights Act, of diverting their union dues, or a good portion of their union dues, to a charity of their choice, if they have an ideological -- particularly a religious -- disagreement with the union,"
Blessings to all who are teaching the next generation!
Song of Songs
Conservative Teachers in NEA Fed Up
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Tired of working for change within the liberal union, right-leaning educators may be ready to bolt soon.
Pro-family conservative teachers haven't been welcome in the National Education Association (NEA) for decades -- but now, even those who have stayed to work for change from within the union say they may be reaching the end of their rope.
Members of a caucus of conservative educators formed several years ago inside the giant, liberal teachers union say they are tired of having their voice silenced -- and may be looking to leave the NEA.
"We've made an honest attempt to try to dialogue in a democratic way on our viewpoints inside the union," one conservative caucus leader, who asked not to be identified, told Family News in Focus recently. "And we have found each year they have a new strategy to silence our viewpoints."
University of Colorado educational leadership professor Dick Carpenter isn't surprised to hear that such activity is going on. He told CitizenLink there are thousands of disaffected teachers in the NEA and its rival, the equally left-leaning American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
"There have been some within the union -- conservative teachers and even those who have organized within the union as conservative educators -- who have attempted to create some level of change," Carpenter explained. "But what they've discovered is that that's an almost impossible task, and many of them are throwing up their hands and looking for another option."
There are myriad reasons why such teachers are fed up.
"One is that they are discovering that the NEA doesn't represent their interests in terms of their political beliefs and ideological beliefs and appears to have no interest in ever doing so in the future, either," Carpenter said. "We're talking about anything from how the union spends its money in terms of the political candidates it supports, to positions the union takes on social issues like abortion and sexual orientation."
Carpenter, a former teacher and principal, said the NEA claims to be about teachers and about children -- but is primarily about power.
"It's the power of an organization to perpetuate its own liberal belief system," he said, "using the name of teachers and -- even worse -- using the smokescreen of children to make that happen.
"It is a labor union -- and labor unions do what labor unions do, and to pretend that it is something that it's not, and to pretend that it is for something other than what it stands for as a labor union, is disingenuous."
The good news for conservative teachers in both the NEA and the AFT, Carpenter added, is that they have options if they leave.
"One alternative is not to be represented by any union or by any association, and many teachers have chosen to do that," he said. "Second, there are organizations that will provide real benefits, such as liability insurance, but which do not come with strings attached -- for instance the Association of American Educators and Christian Educators Association International. These organizations represent teachers in a professional sense, not necessarily in a collective bargaining sense, but in a professional sense."
Gary Beckner, who heads the Association of American Educators, said thousands of teachers each year contact his organization.
"Our own surveys (and) frankly, even the NEA's own surveys," he told Family News in Focus, "are indicating that teachers are getting fed up with a union taking their dues and spending it on partisan politics and telling
their own members how they should vote."
Then there are some teachers, Carpenter said, who live in states that require them to pay union dues. But even when a teacher is compelled to pay union dues -- the money doesn't have to go to the union
"Many don't know that they have an option, through the Civil Rights Act, of diverting their union dues, or a good portion of their union dues, to a charity of their choice, if they have an ideological -- particularly a religious -- disagreement with the union," he explained. "Teachers have done so successfully."
For teachers to divert money from the teachers unions, Carpenter added, undermines the very source of the union's power.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: The Christian Educators Association International and the American Association of Educators both provide professional representation for their members.
To find our more about each organization, please see their respective Web sites.
http://www.ceai.org/index.htm
http://www.aaeteachers.org/
Many Christian teachers are upset that the union dues they pay to the NEA are used for purposes contrary to their Christian beliefs. This article says teachers have a right to divert their union dues to a charity of their choice so that it is not used for ungodly purposes!
"Many don't know that they have an option, through the Civil Rights Act, of diverting their union dues, or a good portion of their union dues, to a charity of their choice, if they have an ideological -- particularly a religious -- disagreement with the union,"
Blessings to all who are teaching the next generation!
Song of Songs
Conservative Teachers in NEA Fed Up
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Tired of working for change within the liberal union, right-leaning educators may be ready to bolt soon.
Pro-family conservative teachers haven't been welcome in the National Education Association (NEA) for decades -- but now, even those who have stayed to work for change from within the union say they may be reaching the end of their rope.
Members of a caucus of conservative educators formed several years ago inside the giant, liberal teachers union say they are tired of having their voice silenced -- and may be looking to leave the NEA.
"We've made an honest attempt to try to dialogue in a democratic way on our viewpoints inside the union," one conservative caucus leader, who asked not to be identified, told Family News in Focus recently. "And we have found each year they have a new strategy to silence our viewpoints."
University of Colorado educational leadership professor Dick Carpenter isn't surprised to hear that such activity is going on. He told CitizenLink there are thousands of disaffected teachers in the NEA and its rival, the equally left-leaning American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
"There have been some within the union -- conservative teachers and even those who have organized within the union as conservative educators -- who have attempted to create some level of change," Carpenter explained. "But what they've discovered is that that's an almost impossible task, and many of them are throwing up their hands and looking for another option."
There are myriad reasons why such teachers are fed up.
"One is that they are discovering that the NEA doesn't represent their interests in terms of their political beliefs and ideological beliefs and appears to have no interest in ever doing so in the future, either," Carpenter said. "We're talking about anything from how the union spends its money in terms of the political candidates it supports, to positions the union takes on social issues like abortion and sexual orientation."
Carpenter, a former teacher and principal, said the NEA claims to be about teachers and about children -- but is primarily about power.
"It's the power of an organization to perpetuate its own liberal belief system," he said, "using the name of teachers and -- even worse -- using the smokescreen of children to make that happen.
"It is a labor union -- and labor unions do what labor unions do, and to pretend that it is something that it's not, and to pretend that it is for something other than what it stands for as a labor union, is disingenuous."
The good news for conservative teachers in both the NEA and the AFT, Carpenter added, is that they have options if they leave.
"One alternative is not to be represented by any union or by any association, and many teachers have chosen to do that," he said. "Second, there are organizations that will provide real benefits, such as liability insurance, but which do not come with strings attached -- for instance the Association of American Educators and Christian Educators Association International. These organizations represent teachers in a professional sense, not necessarily in a collective bargaining sense, but in a professional sense."
Gary Beckner, who heads the Association of American Educators, said thousands of teachers each year contact his organization.
"Our own surveys (and) frankly, even the NEA's own surveys," he told Family News in Focus, "are indicating that teachers are getting fed up with a union taking their dues and spending it on partisan politics and telling
their own members how they should vote."
Then there are some teachers, Carpenter said, who live in states that require them to pay union dues. But even when a teacher is compelled to pay union dues -- the money doesn't have to go to the union
"Many don't know that they have an option, through the Civil Rights Act, of diverting their union dues, or a good portion of their union dues, to a charity of their choice, if they have an ideological -- particularly a religious -- disagreement with the union," he explained. "Teachers have done so successfully."
For teachers to divert money from the teachers unions, Carpenter added, undermines the very source of the union's power.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: The Christian Educators Association International and the American Association of Educators both provide professional representation for their members.
To find our more about each organization, please see their respective Web sites.
http://www.ceai.org/index.htm
http://www.aaeteachers.org/