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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (21259)	6/23/2000 10:15:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

>>My sister is a teacher so I hear about problems all the time. Most are with the administrative heirarchy and nearly all boil down to lack of funds. She only mentions the union as a source of insurance. What a joke, The US spends currently 2-4 times per capita on student education as other countries which achieve better results. In fact, studies show that funding is actually inversely related to results in the US. The unions are a major problem in their opposition to reform: NEA's Political Activities Detailed JOHN SOLOMON Associated Press Writers By Larry Margasak and Thursday, June 22, 2000; 4:13 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON - The nation's largest teachers union, which reports to the IRS that it spends no union dues on politics, spent millions of dollars to help elect "pro-education candidates," produce political training guides and gather teachers' voting records, internal documents show. The National Education Association documents reviewed by The Associated Press provide a rare window into the internal workings of one of the most powerful unions in the country. The union said Thursday it believes it complied with the law. The documents state that the union since 1994 has budgeted or spent money from its general account - funded by about $200 million a year in teachers' dues - on activities ranging from recruiting teacher-friendly candidates to helping state affiliates raise political action committee funds. A July 1999 strategic plan states the union budgeted $4.9 million for the 2000 election for such things as "organizational partnerships with political parties, campaign committees and political organizations." Part of the money, the document said, would be spent on a "national political strategy" that involves "candidate recruitment, independent expenditures, early voting, and vote-by-mail programs in order to strengthen support for pro-public education candidates and ballot measures." Two former top Internal Revenue Service officials said the documents raise questions about whether the group has properly accounted for political activities on its tax returns. The NEA, which represents 2.5 million teachers, reported no political expenses on its returns for each year from 1993 through 1998.... washingtonpost.com

To: TigerPaw who wrote (21259)	6/23/2000 11:44:00 AM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

My sister is a teacher so I hear about problems all the time. Most are with the administrative heirarchy and nearly all boil down to lack of funds. My wife is a teacher, so I hear about problems every day. Many are with the Administration and though equipment is burglarized regularly, it is quickly replaced. She finds herself unable to motivate people with "victim" mentalities, who otherwise lack nothing for success. Cheating is so rampant that students must wear ID badges when testing even for regular finals tests. Sometimes teachers help the students cheat, or encourage other teachers to do so, probably just their answer to social promotions being scrutinized more closely. My wife purchases what she feels necessary in her classes with her own money if it's important. You cannot "purchase" a new self-concept for these kids. What agrees with their self-concept is failure, inured by the social welfare system that treats them as children, possibly of a lesser god. Home school probably works well for motivated kids and dedicated parents. I don't see it as a general solution. I think the issue is obviously choice, not general solutions. My sister taught her kids at home and her husband was alcoholic and abusive. After that she enrolled them in a Lutheran school and worked at the school to help pay the tuition. You don't understand how desperate people are to have choice and vouchers are the only way for the lower income groups. 70% of the black and hispanic Californians want this and the overall percentage is in the 50's. The initiative is on the ballot and now the Governor is vowing to fight it. The hubris against these communities is amazing, but to quote the Governor, vouchers are "risky". Sounds familiar. Social promotion was "risky". Welfare was "risky" also. A generation of graduates with diplomas and no skills is "risky".