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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rat dog micro-cap picks... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KonKilo who wrote (38799)	12/20/2008 2:29:12 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

"To see how little we value education, just look at how little we spend on it." It is obvious you have never heard of the NEA,[National Education Association ] the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States. "The NEA has 3.2 million members and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. With affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the nation, it employs over 550 staff and had a budget of more than $307 million for the 2006–2007 fiscal year. Dennis Van Roekel is the NEA's current president. NEA is incorporated as a professional association in a few states and as a labor union in most states (but it is not a member of the AFL-CIO or other trade union federations). On its website, the NEA describes itself as a "professional employee organization,"[3] although it is often categorized as a labor union with strong leftist and liberal leanings "In recent decades the NEA has greatly increased its visibility in party politics, endorsing almost exclusively Democratic Party candidates and contributing funds and other assistance to political campaigns. The NEA asserts itself "non-partisan", but critics point out that the NEA has endorsed and provided support for every Democratic Party presidential nominee from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama and has never endorsed any Republican or third party candidate for the nation's highest office. . . "Others benefitting from NEA funding, according to the most recent filings, include Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International and AIDS Walk Washington. . . "Apple Inc. CEO, Steve Jobs, has criticized the NEA and other teacher unions for its lack of support for voucher programs, merit pay, and the removal of bad teachers. On February 17,2007 at an education reform conference in Texas, Jobs said, "What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in they couldn’t get rid of people that they thought weren’t any good?. . . "Florida affiliate, FEA, has seen a number of scandals. In March 2001, a secretary in the Port Charlotte, Florida embezzled $66,000. In October of the same year, long-time Broward Teachers Union president Tony Gentile was arrested on child pornography charges. The local union paid him a golden parachute valued at $140,000. In February 2003, $40,000 was embezzled from the St. Lucie County Classroom Teachers Association. And in April 2003, the FBI and Miami police raided the headquarters of the United Teachers of Dade after receiving a tip that president Pat Tornillo had embezzled or misspent millions of dollars in union dues. Critics charge that the scandals are symbolic of deeper organizational biases and problems within NEA .[32] "On October 1, 2008 the Virginia NEA affiliate president Kitty Boitnott was caught emailing teachers encouraging them to dress up on "Obama Blue Day" and "to sway John McCain supporters."[33]. Residents criticized the move saying, "They should teach students how to think, not what to think."[34] while Virginian Republicans criticized the attempt to sway students of voting age saying, "[schools] are a completely inappropriate place for teachers or education staff to be politicking on behalf of any candidate. Parents send their kids to school to get a bipartisan education."[35] Boitnott later admitted the letter was inappropriate. [36] "Recently the New York branch of fellow teacher union organization, the American Federation of Teachers has been criticized by the Department of Education for similar actions." en.wikipedia.org