First, Do No Harm
Back in July, NEA decided that $3 million was just the right amount of money to spend in Oklahoma to support SQ 744, a ballot initiative that would have raised per-pupil spending to the regional average. However, the union’s best efforts were only able to persuade 18.6 percent of the state’s voters. That comes to about $15.36 per vote.
So what? It’s only money, and there’s plenty more where that came from.
Well, the latest Sooner Poll indicates the campaign might have done the teachers’ union more harm than good. About 55 percent of those surveyed believe teachers’ unions are an obstacle that keeps schools from getting better. Only 25 percent think they make schools better. The opinion is shared by every demographic sub-group in the state.
The Oklahoma Education Association response to this news was curious, to say the least.
“What that Sooner Poll says to me is that one out of every four teachers are making schools a better place to be,” said OEA President Becky Felts. “It sounds like 25 percent of those surveyed have some type of contact with the teachers’ union and know what we’re doing.”
The first sentence makes no sense, and makes it sound like three-quarters of Oklahoma teachers do not make schools better, while the second sentence suggests that the majority of those surveyed were ignorant.
The first rule of recovering from an ass-whupping is to admit you got an ass-whupping. The second rule is to analyze yourself before you blame it on some outside and uncontrollable factor. Unless OEA does this, it may never get another chance to flush away $3 million in dues from NEA members in other states.
December 2nd, 2010 at 18:01
It is amazing how NEA and its affiliates spin data and seem to be completely oblivious to its negative impact. Is there no one on their Boards who ever says, “Enough is enough!”?
December 9th, 2010 at 03:30
NancyEH is right. NEA has become the land of “groupthink”. The leadership in many states is totally oblivious to the negative impact their policies and practices. The perception of NEA affiliates by the public and the membership has dropped dramatically due to being so dedicated to identity politics, the Democratic Party, and the way things used to be.