Obama and the NEA
I awake this morning to all sorts of stuff about whether Barack Obama will address the NEA delegates after they inevitably endorse him for President. And more speculation about whether a President Obama would toe the NEA party line.
Just a sample:
Where Is Barack When Teachers Need Him?
Obama To Snub NEA Convention? [UPDATED]
To Pander Or Not To Pander, That Is The Question…
Will Obama Get Tough with the NEA?
These are really easy questions to answer. In 2004, John Kerry actually snubbed NEA. He told them he would appear in person at the convention, the schedule was altered to allow for Secret Service procedures, and then poof! Hillary showed up instead (shrewd move by her) and Kerry didn’t do the satellite feed until the next day.
Was there a significant difference in the NEA effort for Kerry in 2004? Not that anyone noticed. So this angst over a personal appearance is a lot of hoohah.
The question of Obama’s future relationship with NEA is more intriguing. NEA didn’t do for him what AFT did for Hillary. In fact, NEA did nothing for him. Will he need NEA in the fall? Of course. He’ll need every Democrat. Yesterday he announced support for NEA’s plan to “reshape the federal role in education” by 2020. (Translation: Hide your wallet until 2021.) But his endorsement was hardly glowing.
“I applaud the NEA for its efforts to frame the agenda outlined in Great Public Schools for Every Student by 2020,” Obama said. “This document provides a roadmap for educators, elected officials, policymakers, and all who care deeply about the future of our children to consider and debate in the days ahead. And it provides critical starting points for a new educational compact.”
That doesn’t sound like “I’m signing on!” to me.
My guess is that a President Obama would have the same sort of mostly supportive, but strained, relationship that many Democratic governors have with the teachers’ unions. There is good reason to believe Obama and the NEA will not see eye-to-eye on many education issues – and I don’t mean his half-assed reference to merit pay at last year’s convention. I mean something from his actual record as a U.S. Senator.
NEA tracks every bill even remotely related to amending or revising the No Child Left Behind Act. In this session, the union supported 134 bills it believes will improve NCLB. It took no position on nine others.
NEA opposed 18 bills it felt would make NCLB worse. Sixteen of those bills were introduced by Republicans, and one by Joe Lieberman.
The lone Democratic bill NEA opposed? Obama’s S. 114 – The Innovation Districts for School Improvement Act. You can read for yourself what the bill proposes. But this what NEA says the bill proposes:
“Mandatory use of grant funds include: 1) establishing a teacher evaluation system using gains in student test scores; 2) allowing ‘community stakeholders’ to have a role in designing teacher evaluation systems; and 3) providing merit pay for teachers based upon gains in student test scores.” (I particularly like NEA’s scare quotes around “community stakeholders.”)
Obama has a thin record as a U.S. Senator, but one of his major forays into public education was singled out for opposition by NEA’s powers-that-be. So if you are an NEA delegate who believes in Hope and Change, your first Hope is that Obama will Change his mind.
