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NEA Pro-Dem But One Bush
Photo
Stirs the Partisan Pot |
 August 13, 2004
- It’s probably common knowledge by now that a 33 year
old mom and middle school English teacher, Shiba Pillai-Diaz of Crossroads
South Elementary School in Monmouth Junction Middle School, walked out on
her job after she was told by her Asst. Principal, Mark Daniels, to remove a
picture of President Bush from her classroom. She was told that if she cared
about her employment, she would accommodate the request.
The White House-issued photo of the Bushes was pinned to a bulletin board
that held portraits of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and a copy of
the Constitution. The request to take it down was in response to some
parents who, after objecting to the picture hanging in their children’s
classroom during a back to school parent teacher conference, gave her an
ultimatum to either hang a picture of John Kerry beside it or to take it
down.
The Principal, Jim Warfel, took a position that she was making a political
statement by having a picture of the current Republican president in her
classroom. He accused her of "inflammatory politics” and causing disruption
and hatred” before telling her to hand over her keys and "get out” of the
building. It gets worse. The Superintendent, Gary McCartney, warned her
against telling the story to the press. He alluded to the idea that she
would be choosing between her job and her principles.
There is a remote possibility that Ms. Pillai-Diaz was perhaps
subconsciously promoting President Bush’s run for reelection by exhibiting
his photo on her wall, a better likelihood is that his photo was displayed
because he is the sitting President of the United States and therefore
should be hanging in every classroom. However, the whole incident serves to
bring to the forefront a much more serious problem involving the National
Education Association (NEA).
The fact is that the NEA has been practicing partisan politics for 25 years.
They have been using union members’ dues (without their acquiescence) to pay
for the presidential candidacies of Democrats as well as promote liberal
leaning policy, without any serious challenge from the teacher members,
school administrators, or the public. Is the public school system a place
where political beliefs can be treated equitably? Should the schools be
written off as traditionally liberal without a fight?
Last Spring I received boatloads of literature in my school e-mail promoting
the election of Gery Chico, a Democrat running for the IL Senate. When I
inquired about whether a school system should allow a partisan campaign via
e-mail, I was told it was perfectly acceptable for the teachers to be
barraged by cyber propaganda telling them to endorse a candidate for office.
A double standard, you say? You bet. Most on-line bloggers commented that if
Bill Clinton’s picture had been displayed on a wall, not a remark would have
been said about the divisive nature of the teacher who hung his photo on the
wall. But an endorsement of George W. Bush in the confines of the education
community is sure to elicit disapproval.
The NEA has run a very effective campaign to discredit our sitting president
because he has challenged the "soft bigotry of low expectations” which
occurred on "their watch.” The status quo they’ve created is their lifeline
and they see it slowly drifting away. To that end, they have convinced those
associated with the educational community (PTA, teachers, administrators)
that all of the problems can be resolved by more money and smaller class
sizes. But that is simply not true.
Injecting some competition into the education market through school choice
is the logical solution to any system bogged down by bureaucracy and
inefficiency. Allowing students to transfer to independently run educational
institutions rather than attend public schools which aren’t meeting the high
expectations we should have for our most precious resource, is probably the
most beneficial bi- product of the NCLB legislation. But making inroads into
the public school system is kind of like trying to get the message out in
the mainstream media. It’s that hard!
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