The National Education Association (NEA), which usually passes a dozen or more pro-homosexual resolutions every year at its annual national convention, this year in San Diego went all-out in support of same-sex marriage. This emphasis on advocacy for homosexuals was spelled out in a five-point New Business Item E.
Point #1 tells its union affiliates to support state legislation that registers same-sex couples in a way that mimics marriage. This registration would cover taxes, inheritance, adoptions, medical decisions, and even immigration.
Point #2 says that states can call this same-sex registration marriage or civil union or domestic partnership so long as same-sex relationships are treated like marriage.
In Point #3, the NEA promises to “support its affiliates” in opposing state constitutional amendments and laws that “could have the effect” of differentiating between homosexual and heterosexual couples. The NEA’s California affiliate spent $1.25 million of teachers’ dues money on the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 last year.
In Point #4, the NEA supports repeal of federal laws and regulations such as the very popular 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. According to the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) list of laws that use DOMA’s definition of marriage, repeal of this law would create new Social Security and joint income tax benefits for homosexual partners.
The NEA’s only concession to those who disagree with these goals is Point #5, which acknowledges that churches have a First Amendment right not to perform same-sex marriages.
In the limited floor debate, delegates were booed if they mentioned that marriage should be between a man and a woman. New Business Item E was approved by a voice vote of about 60 percent to 40 percent.
The long list of policy resolutions approved by the nation’s most powerful teachers union included many references to “sexual orientation,” “gender identification,” and “diversity.” Since the NEA is the largest and most powerful teachers union, it is reasonable to assume that these attitudes will follow the teachers into the classroom.
Every year, the NEA convention passes a resolution endorsing “family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom,” which everybody understands specifically means abortion. And every year, some pro-life delegates try to pass a motion stating that the NEA takes “no position on abortion.”
The abortion-neutral motion has always been decisively defeated, never getting as much as 25% of the vote, and sometimes it is even ruled out of order by the chairman.
This year the pro-lifers introduced their motion as a bylaw amendment instead of as a resolution, a procedure that calls for a secret, written ballot instead of a voice vote. The abortion-neutral motion failed, but mirabile dictu, the secret ballot produced an amazing 39.4% voting for the abortion-neutral measure.
The swan-song speech of the NEA’s retiring general counsel, Bob Chanin, showcased the NEA’s animosity toward parents and others who don’t agree with the NEA’s leftwing views. Chanin, who served the NEA for 41 years, pitched his speech to respond to his own question: “Why are these conservative and right-wing bastards picking on NEA and its affiliates?”
Chanin answered, “NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power, and we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year.”
Such arrogance! The NEA would have a small fraction of its power and bank account if it had to depend on teachers “willing to pay” dues. In many states, teachers pay union dues because it is a condition of their employment. Many of the NEA’s contracts require school districts to promptly fire any teacher who fails to pay dues.
Some of these “right-wing bastards” identified by Chanin included Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, and the Bush Administration’s Department of Education. He added: “We are not paranoid, someone really is after us.”
Chanin is correct. Conservatives are after the NEA. Since this powerful organization has effective control of the public schools, spends millions of taxpayers’ dollars to indoctrinate schoolchildren, and spends millions of its own money to lobby for leftwing goals, the NEA deserves to be subjected to citizen surveillance and criticism.
For many years, the NEA nestled behind its status as a professional “association”; after all, that’s its name. But Chanin now unapologetically played up the NEA as a union, saying, “NEA and its affiliates should never lose sight of the fact that they are unions.”
One final Item of note: the NEA convention voted down New Business Item 66, which would have required the union to make public the salaries and benefits received by its executives.
Feminists Expect to Cash in With Barack Obama
The groups that elected Barack Obama are poised to cash in on their investment and the feminists are muscling to be first in line. The National Organization for Women (NOW), bragging that “we all worked hard to help elect” Obama, has helpfully spelled out the “feminist action agenda“:
- Pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to repeal the statute of limitations and allow women to sue employers for alleged wage discrimination long after bosses are dead and unable to defend their actions. The feminists made this their first priority, the House and Senate quickly acquiesced, and President Obama already signed the bill.
- Direct EEOC to compare pay scales in job categories held mostly by women or mostly by men, and then enforce wage control to equalize wages according to the feminists’ subjective definition of what they call Comparable Worth.
- Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to require paid parental and family leave at the option of the employee, rather than unpaid leave as allowed in current law. Reject all proposals to allow any portion of Social Security contributions to be paid into individual investment accounts.
- Appropriate $10 billion annually for daycare, early childhood programs, and grants for infant and toddler care so that mothers can be liberated from caring for their own babies.
- Stop federal funding of marriage promotion and fatherhood programs. Repeal all the restrictions put into place by Welfare Reform legislation that encourage welfare recipients to seek employment or training for a job.
- Expand the Child Tax Credit so that it covers all caregiving for married and non-married partners, and make it fully refundable for low-income working families.
- Stop all funding for abstinence education and replace it with funding for federal programs that emphasize contraception. Increase funding for Title X Family Planning Programs by at least $1 billion annually.
- Enact the Freedom of Choice Act, which would repeal all national and state regulations of abortion passed over the last 35 years, including the ban on partial birth abortion. Repeal the Hyde Amendment which bars federal taxpayer funding for most abortions.
- Halt adoption of a “conscience” regulation to allow doctors and other health care workers to refuse to perform abortions or provide contraceptive services they believe are morally objectionable.
- Require insurance companies to cover birth control, require pharmacists to fill contraceptive prescriptions, and remove the age restriction on over-the-counter so-called emergency contraception. Approve funding for embryonic stem cell research that requires killing embryos.
- Promote abortion programs, services and advocacy in other countries by spending at least $1 billion for international family planning. One of Obama’s first presidential directives canceled Reagan’s Mexico City policy that prohibited this.
- Nominate and confirm federal judges who support abortion and other feminist goals.
- Ratify the long-dead Equal Rights Amendment with no time limitation on the process. Ratify the United Nations Treaty on Women (CEDAW), which would make our laws, customs and textbooks subject to supervision and control by a UN committee of feminists designated as “experts.”
- Repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the military. Lift the combat exclusion on women in the military so women can be assigned to ground combat and submarines.
- Enact Hate Crimes legislation to cover acts of violence based on the victim’s real or perceived gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Fully fund, expand and aggressively enforce the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and enact the International VAWA (I-VAWA).
- Cancel the regulations that allow public schools to have any single-sex schools or classes, and withhold federal funding from any schools that do. Aggressively enforce Title IX against colleges and universities, and refuse to accept evidence of women’s relative lack of interest in sports.
- Oppose any constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Give same-sex couples federal benefits equal to married couples, add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal nondiscrimination laws without a religious exception.
- Establish a cabinet-level Office on Women so that lobbying for feminist legislation and regulations can be carried out by federal employees at taxpayers’ expense. Promote affirmative action for women.
- Appoint feminists to key positions in all the federal departments and strive for gender balance (i.e., 50% feminists) throughout the government. Establish a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender liaison position in the White House.
- Enact a single-payer (i.e., government controlled and taxpayer financed) health plan that includes unrestricted access to comprehensive abortion and contraceptive services. Pass an expanded SCHIP to include health services for all children, including illegal aliens.
- Provide a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. Rescind the Bush tax cuts. Restore the Fairness Doctrine in the media.
The premier feminist organization, NOW, has defined feminism for us, and it’s obvious how the Obama Administration is acquiescing in feminist demands.
Some NEA Resolutions Passed at the 2009 Convention in San Diego
A-14. Financial Support of Public Education. The Association believes that:
- Funds must be provided for programs to alleviate race, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination and to eliminate portrayal of race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identification stereotypes in the public schools.
- Full-day, every day kindergarten programs should be fully funded.
- Federal, state, and, as appropriate, local governments should provide funds sufficient to make pre-kindergarten available for all three- and four-year-old children.
A-25. Voucher Plans and Tuition Tax Credits. The Association opposes voucher plans, tuition tax credits, or other such funding arrangements that pay for students to attend sectarian schools. The Association also believes that any private school or agency that receives public funding through voucher plans, tax credits, or other funding/financial arrangements must be subject to all accountability measures and regulations required of public schools.
B-1. Early Childhood Education. The National Education Association supports early childhood education programs in the public schools for children from birth through age eight. The Association also supports a high-quality program of transition from home and/or preschool to the public kindergarten or first grade. The Association also believes that early childhood education programs should include a full continuum of services for parents/guardians and children, including child-care, child development, developmentally appropriate and diversity-based curricula, special education, and appropriate bias-free screening devices. The Association believes that federal legislation should be enacted to assist in organizing the implementation of fully funded early childhood education programs offered through the public schools. These programs must be available to all children on an equal basis and should include mandatory kindergarten with compulsory attendance.
B-14. Racism, Sexism, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Discrimination. Discrimination and stereotyping based on such factors as race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identification, disability, ethnicity, immigration status, occupation, and religion must be eliminated. The Association also believes that these factors should not affect the legal rights and obligations of the partners in a legally recognized domestic partnership, civil union, or marriage in regard to matters involving the other partner, such as medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, and immigration.
B-30. Educational Programs for English Language Learners. The Association believes that ELL students should be placed in bilingual education programs to receive instruction in their native language from qualified teachers until such time as English proficiency is achieved.
B-39. Multicultural Education. The National Education Association believes that multiculturalism is the process of valuing differences and incorporating the values identified into behavior for the goal of achieving the common good. Multicultural education should promote the recognition of individual and group differences and similarities in order to reduce racism, homophobia, ethnic and all other forms of prejudice, and discrimination and to develop self-esteem as well as respect for others.
B-40. Global Education. The National Education Association believes that global education imparts an appreciation of our interdependency in sharing the world’s resources to meet mutual human needs.
B-51. Sex Education. The Association recognizes that the public school must assume an increasingly important role in providing the instruction. Teachers and health professionals must be qualified to teach in this area and must be legally protected from censorship and lawsuits. The Association also believes that to facilitate the realization of human potential, it is the right of every individual to live in an environment of freely available information and knowledge about sexuality and encourages affiliates and members to support appropriately established sex education programs. Such programs should include information on sexual abstinence, birth control, family planning, diversity of culture and diversity of sexual orientation and gender identification, sexually transmitted diseases, incest, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and homophobia.
B-81. Home Schooling. The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.
C-15. Extremist Groups. The National Education Association condemns the philosophy and practices of extremist groups and urges active opposition to all such movements that are inimical to the ideals of the Association.
C-23. Comprehensive School Health, Social, and Psychological Programs and Services. The National Education Association believes that every child should have direct and confidential access to comprehensive health, social, and psychological programs and services. The Association believes that programs in the schools should provide —
- A planned, sequential health education curriculum for pre-K through adult education that integrates various health topics (such as drug abuse, the dangers of performance-enhancing dietary herbal supplements, violence, safety issues, universal precautions, and HIV education)
- Counseling programs that provide developmental guidance and broad-based interventions and referrals
- Comprehensive school-based, community-funded student health care clinics that provide basic physical and mental health, and health care services (which may include diagnosis and treatment)
- If deemed appropriate by local choice, family-planning counseling and access to birth control methods with instruction in their use.
C-24. School Guidance and Counseling Programs. The National Education Association believes that guidance and counseling programs should be integrated into the entire education system, pre-K through higher education.
C-28. Student Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification. The National Education Association believes that all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification, should be afforded equal opportunity and guaranteed a safe and inclusive environment within the public education system. The Association also believes that, for students who are struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identification, every school district and educational institution should provide counseling services and programs that deal with high suicide and dropout rates and the high incidence of teen prostitution.
F-2. Pay Equity/Comparable Worth. The “market value” means of establishing pay cannot be the final determinant of pay scales since it too frequently reflects the race and sex bias in our society.
H-1. The Education Employee as a Citizen. The Association urges its members to become politically involved and to support the political action committees of the Association and its affiliates.
H-7. National Health Care Policy. The National Education Association believes that affordable, comprehensive health care, including prescription drug coverage, is the right of every resident. The Association supports the adoption of a single-payer health care plan for all residents of the United States, its territories, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
H-11. Statehood for the District of Columbia. The Association supports efforts to achieve statehood for the District of Columbia.
I-2. International Court of Justice. The Association urges participation by the United States in deliberations before the court.
I-3. International Criminal Court. The Association believes that the United States should ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and recognize and support its authority and jurisdiction.
I-16. Family Planning. The National Education Association supports family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom. The Association also urges the implementation of community-operated, school-based family planning clinics that will provide intensive counseling by trained personnel.
I-21. Immigration. The Association opposes any immigration policy that denies educational opportunities to immigrants and their children regardless of their immigration status.
I-32. Freedom of Religion. The Association opposes any federal legislation or mandate that would require school districts to schedule a moment of silence.
I-33. Gun-free Schools and the Regulation of Deadly Weapons. The Association believes that strict prescriptive regulations are necessary for the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale and resale of handguns and ammunition magazines. A mandatory background check and a mandatory waiting period should occur prior to the sale of all firearms.
I-56. Linguistic Diversity. The Association believes that efforts to legislate English as the official language disregard cultural pluralism; deprive those in need of education, social services, and employment; and must be challenged.
I-59. Equal Opportunity for Women. The Association supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution (such as the Equal Rights Amendment). The Association urges its affiliates to support ratification of such an amendment. The Association also supports the enactment and full funding of the Women’s Educational Equity Act. The Association endorses the use of nonsexist language.
The above text is excerpted from NEA resolutions adopted at the 2009 NEA Convention. Much language has been omitted, but no words have been changed, added, or put out of order.
