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1) EIA Exclusive:
Data from NEA's Most Recent Member and Local President Survey.
Last October, EIA brought you the results of
NEA's annual and local president surveys, encapsulating them in a report
titled,
The NEA Pyramid: The View Changes As You Rise to the Top of the Nation's
Largest Union. Today, I can bring you preliminary results from the
union's 2006 survey, accumulated just prior to the convention.
The "political leanings"
question of NEA members continues to provide the most controversial results.
Only 9% of NEA members describe themselves as "more liberal than most." Of
the rest, 29% describe themselves as "moderate liberals," 38% as "moderate
conservatives," 16% as "more conservative than most," and 8% as "don't
know."
Among NEA local
affiliate presidents, the results are similar. Only 9% describe themselves
as "more liberal than most." Of the rest, 27% describe themselves as
"moderate liberals," 45% as "moderate conservatives," 17% as "more
conservative than most," and 12% as "don't know."
If we were to take these
results at face value, we must conclude that NEA is a majority conservative
organization, and by a good margin. But there is reason not to take them at
face value, because NEA "conservatives" still favor Democrats, though the
margin is surprisingly close.
NEA asked which party
did members and local presidents support most often when they voted. Of the
members, 36% voted for "mostly Democrats," 17% for "more Democrats than
Republicans," 21% "about as many Republicans as Democrats," 9% "more
Republicans than Democrats," 8% "mostly Republicans," and 9% "didn't know."
Among local presidents,
the results were: 35% voted for "mostly Democrats," 22% for "more Democrats
than Republicans," 25% "about as many Republicans as Democrats," 9% "more
Republicans than Democrats," 6% "mostly Republicans," and 3% "didn't know."
Two other questions
worth perusing concern the relative knowledge that members and local
presidents have about their union. Members were asked to rate their
knowledge of how their dues were used on a scale of 1 to 5 – 1 meaning "not
all familiar" to 5 meaning "very knowledgeable."
Only 13% of members
rated themselves a 5, and another 13% rated themselves a 4. Of the rest, 30%
gave themselves a 3, 22% gave themselves a 2, and 22 percent rated
themselves "not at all familiar."
Among local presidents,
dues knowledge improved dramatically, with 38% rating themselves "very
knowledgeable," 28% giving themselves a 4, 18% giving themselves a 3, 8%
giving themselves a 2, and only 7% scoring themselves at 1.
Knowledge of "the most
important goals of the NEA" was not much better than dues knowledge. Only 5%
of members rated themselves "very familiar," with the most – 37% - rating
themselves as "not at all familiar."
Local presidents were
better, but still surprisingly weak. Only 8% rated themselves "very
familiar" with NEA's most important goals, with 14% rating themselves "not
at all familiar."
2) NEA Fan
Booster Club Defeated. Not swayed
by the recommendation of their Board of Directors, NEA delegates defeated an
attempt to create an "associate membership" category for those not employed
in education. The authorizing constitutional amendment received only 48
percent of the vote, and needed to two-thirds to pass. Oddly enough, the
accompanying required bylaw amendment did receive the simple majority it
needed, creating some confusion on the convention floor.
In essence the delegates
approved all the details of an associate membership category, but refused to
give the union the authority to enact them. NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin
later addressed the delegates and told them that because of the
constitutional amendment defeat, the bylaw "is inoperative and has no
effect," but will be "held in abeyance" in the case that future conventions
pass the authorization.
With their action, the
delegates effectively ended my chances of joining NEA. Quel dommage.
3) National Toddlers
of the Year. I'm getting a little
concerned about the selection of the National Teachers of the Year. It began
last year when Jason Kamras, who clearly
was about 15 years old, was chosen. But now I'm really worried after
having seen and heard 2006 National Teacher of the Year Kimberly Oliver,
who is all of 12 years old. Surely the so-called teacher shortage cannot
be so bad that our public schools are violating the child labor laws?
4) Other Action on
NBIs and Legislative Amendments.
Here are some of the new business items delegates addressed today:
* NBI 33 was approved.
It creates a committee to explore creating a website to defend public
education against negative propaganda in the media. The voice vote produced
a significant number of "nays," undoubtedly EIA readers who like negative
propaganda in the media.
* NBI 37 passed, after
the provision to organize a march on Washington was removed. The same
delegate introduces a march on Washington NBI every year, but not always for
the same reason. I think she might sell shoes on the side.
* NBI 39 – The anti-war
measure was not considered by the delegates. Two-thirds of the delegates
voted not to even bring it up for debate.
The delegates also
debated amendments to NEA's legislative program:
* Legislative Amendment
6 was approved. It puts NEA in opposition to the use of voter ID. A delegate
was kind enough to point out to me that NEA secret ballot elections, such as
the ones that took place yesterday and today, require the delegates to
produce photo ID before they can vote. Fraud in a vote for a one-year seat
on the NEA Board of Directors is apparently more worrisome than fraud in a
vote for President of the United States.
* Legislative Amendment
8 was defeated. It would have required NEA to work to repeal the No Child
Left Behind Act, but the NEA Positive Agenda essentially precluded this
amendment from passing.
* Legislative Amendment
10, restoring daylight savings time to its original dates, was defeated.
* Legislative Amendment
17 was approved, placing NEA in opposition to "federal legislation giving
financial incentives or pay to teachers based solely on the subjects or
fields in which they teach." The rationale for the item stated such programs
"serve to advocate NCLB's priorities and create a hierarchy, thus breaking
the union."
5) Upcoming Business.
These new business items are on tomorrow's agenda:
* NBI 46 calls on NEA to
publish an article on the implications of patronizing Costco. Well, they can
always head on over to Sam's Club.
* NBI 59 directs NEA to
investigate the test-handling practices of the Educational Testing Service
and other Praxis testing companies.
* NBI 64 is one I love.
It calls on NEA to "develop guidelines to assist state affiliates in the
resolution of conflicts between state boards of directors, state elected
officials, and the executive director." It was submitted by a delegate from
South Carolina.
It couldn't possibly have anything to do with this, could it?
* NBI 71 indicates some
delegates are worried about the recent actions of Warren Buffett. The item
directs NEA to solicit the opinion of its members "on the positive and
negative impact of large-scale philanthropy as it relates to public
education." Start with the
Annenberg Challenge.
* NBI 79 requires NEA to
form a task force to explore the idea of a U.S. Constitutional Amendment
guaranteeing every child in America a free, high-quality, public education.
I always thought a Constitutional Amendment that said this would be really,
really great: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people." But at least I know something like this
could never make it into the Constitution.
Other business to be
transacted:
* A proposed amendment
to NEA's policy statement on charter schools would add a provision requiring
a public hearing before a charter application is approved, at which
teachers, school employees and the community can testify as to "the positive
and negative impact of the charter on the authorizing school district."
* The debate on
resolutions will take place tomorrow, including one referencing mayoral
takeovers, one opposing the creation of charter schools as a remedy during a
state takeover of schools and school districts, one on home schooling that
requires passing assessments (not just "taking" them), and, of course, the
B-10 resolution that has caused such an uproar over the last few weeks.
As to the latter, it
will be debated on the floor, perhaps even heatedly, but I will stake my
reputation that the compromise language worked out by the Resolutions
Committee (first
reported here), will pass, and fairly easily. And no more will be said
about such things until, oh, 2011.
Note.
Tomorrow is the final day of the convention. In recent years, the convention
has ended in the early evening, and this one seems to be on track to do the
same. However, one or more long debates or a roll call vote can unexpectedly
throw off the timeline. In any event, EIA will be there until the bitter
end, but it will take several hours after the close of the convention for
the final communiqué to appear in your mailbox.
6) Quote of the Day.
"Sometimes I vote with my brain, and sometimes I vote with my bladder." – a
remark about today's new business item debates, overheard in the men's room. |
