I have had several emails from people at the NEA representative assembly asking me if I was no longer supportive of the Save Our Schools organization.
Apparently some delegate got up and said I had disassociated myself from the group.
I replied that this was untrue.
I was invited to speak this summer, and I declined but that was no indication of a lack of support, just a wish to minimize travel during the summer.
I participated as the lead respondent in an SOS webinar on June 19. I think that is a show of support.
I support SOS.
I support any organization that supports public education.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I also heard there was some guy there saying that Mitt Romney was bad for education, but that he totally forgot to mention how bad his opponent had been.
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Well then. . . I guess the question I have is does NEA support public education? Seems like they have been doing some undemocratic activities there. Not happy with the leadership there at all.
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Didn’t Biden speak and state that the teacher bashing would be worse under Romney
So that is our choice: continue to be bashed by Duncan/Obama or have it even worse under Romney?
That was the uplifting, supportive message from our VP? Between that and the email from Jill Biden, I think they are all clueless in DC.
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Not clueless, Linda. They just DO NOT care. They think they’ve got the election bagged. A better question to ask, is, how DO we make them care? Diane, do you have an answer for this one?
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Diane,
Thank you for clearing up the misinformation from one of our individual delegates. I know that many of our delegates will share this correction quickly, as sharing factual information is important to us all.
The NEA Representative Assembly is a very democratic process. Anyone and everyone may speak to a motion, as long as it is on the floor. Sometimes, that means that a person may share some misinformation. (Hopefully, someone else will make a correction.)
Some comments imply that the NEA Representative Assembly is not a democratic process. This is also based on misinformation. Often (and necessarily), the question is called before a person gets to make his or her point. Failing to get everything one wants is not an indication that it is not democratic – quite the opposite.
Just like in our popular media, it is often those who yell loudest who are heard outside the RA floor. They post and complain, and do everything they can to discredit the Association, simply because their motion was not passed or because they didn’t get their 15 seconds on camera. Once the question is called for, and the delegates VOTE to close debate, they vote the motion up or down. You can’t get much more democratic than that.
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Well, Jenowen,
Why is it then that delegates were told to not to complain about President Obama or his policies? And the union sure seems to be more about serving the president than public schools. Doesn’t sound like a lot of dissent is there and maybe NEA planted the delegate that stated Dr. Ravitch and others no longer support SOS.
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Really?
I’m calling shennanigans on this – if peopoel are not allowed to hav etheir voice heard it is hardly democratic – especially when those voices represent the membership rather than the interests of a few.
If I knew how, I’d replace this ineffective, non-representative union with a union that really stood for teachers.
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Jenowen,
Are all of your comments above related solely to the NBI seeking to establish some association with SOS? I was there for that debate. I didn’t take notes on all of the discussion, but I do remember one speaker saying that Anthony Cody had dissociated himself with SOS as well. I believe it was another speaker that said Michelle Rhee was now associated with SOS! These statements poisoned the well, and given the time frame, it was impossible to either confirm or deny them in time to make a difference in the debate.
Now, I would agree that anyone who says the RA is not a democratic process is unhinged; however, just because a process is “democratic,” that does not mean that power does not have its ways to manipulate the process. Parliamentary order contains many dirty tricks. One of those tricks is “Object to Consideration.” This little tool is available to make sure that there is no discussion, no debate, no vote. This tool was used at the RA.
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Jon: I was also there and I agree with you point for point. The abuse of the “Object to Consideration” rule has got to be addressed. It prevents the expression of the voices in the minority opinion. I am also appalled by several “Object to Consideration” rules that clearly did not have 2/3 of the support, but the Chairperson (DVR) ruled that they did because he knew no one would agree to the roll call vote. Clearly, not a true democratic process.
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I’m here at RA and posters here seem to be either outright anti-public ed ideologues (which is fine, you can’t fix…that), or disgruntled educators frustrated with some of the administration’s policies, and I certainly get that. Remember, though, that the Ohio teachers’ unhappiness with what they considered an imperfect candidate got them Gov. Kasich. If our dissatisfaction with an imperfect president gets us Mitt Romney, Grover Norquist, and Karl Rove administration, will we get access to policymakers, or will our organization be disbanded, defunded, and made illegal? For the record, this dissent is not evident from where I’m sitting, and there is much intelligent and passionate debate. Quite the opposite of the “undemocratic activities” alluded to below. But I’m sure your people heard your dog whistle.
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The Florida delegation totally trashed SOS. It was horrible yo listen to !
Sincerely,
Anne Marie
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Thanks for clarifying this, Diane. We appreciate your support and hope that the NEA will will come around to supporting SOS as well
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Thanks for clarifying, Diane. Your support is greatly appreciated and we offer our hope that your new book will find even greater success (if that’s possible) than did your last one. I also hope that the NEA will come around to supporting SOS as an ally in the struggle just as we continue our support for them.
Mike Klonsky
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I guess that leaves me to wonder. . . why is SOS supporting the union when they don’t seem to believe in the same principles at SOS? I would think that the union heads would have known that there is misinformation around who does and doesn’t support SOS. Or is it misinformation that the union has chosen not to support SOS this year?
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Stephanie asks, .’..why is SOS supporting the union when they don’t seem to believe in the same principles at SOS?’
You are misinformed, Stephanie. In his blog post today, SOS leader Jesse Turner lays out SOS’ principles. Please tell me which if any of these you think is in conflict with those of the NEA?
There were obviously a small group of misinformed or malintentioned individuals at the NEA convention who were trying to drive a wedge in between the union and its supporters. They won’t succeed.
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Mike,
I was told that NEA is not endorsing the SOS convention. . . seems to me that the leaders of NEA should have known that the person who got up and spoke was wrong. So are you saying that NEA is endorsing the SOS convention?
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Anybody who knows anything about your staunch support for teachers and public education should recognize that those words at the mikes were coming from an uninformed delegate(s), who IMO shouldn’t have even been there. I wasn’t there (have been in the past many a time), but I was quite ashamed at the outcome of the vote. Every delegate in that room should have known better. As to NEA being democratic, you bet it is. Again thanks for the clarification and your stance on public education.
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Okay, I pay dues to NEA, can someone calmly tell me why they would not support SOS and is the Rheeject aligned with SOS in any way? If so, I can’t support them either.
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Linda–& everyone who wonders–I would recommend that you read “Fred Klonsky’s Blog” & his post dated July 5–“Interview w/Myself…”
for answers. Also, go to the SOS website to see who has been affiliated w/SOS (Jonathan Kozol, Anthony Cody, Deb Meier, Diane
Ravitch) &, also, who will be speaking/running workshops at this
year’s August 3-5th event.
I can assure you, you will NOT see Michelle Rhee’s name ANYWHERE. NOR is she a covert organizer/member. S.O.S.
(Save Our Schools) is antithesis to everything that Michelle Rhee & her like espouses. If you are near a big city, it is likely that you have an SOS chapter there. Check it out so you can see for yourself.
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Is it possible that the “anti-SOS” speakers at the NEA-RA confused SOS with StudentsFirst?
*trying to give them the benefit of the doubt…
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Seems to me people may be confusing SOS with Stand for Children.
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Diane and followers:
Many teachers at the NEA RA support the SOS movement and were APPALLED at the comments made about SOS, Diane Ravitch, Nancy Flanagan, and Andy Cody. For the record, just a short time later, during the break after President Obama’s call-in, the NEA Peace & Justice Caucus hosted a panel of teachers from Occupy Education and the National Opt Out Movement. We discussed the important fight that these grassroots, feet-on-the-ground movements are waging and we support their work.
Elise Robillard, NBCT
National Chairperson of the NEA Peace & Justice Caucus
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I can’t tell you how informed this blog keeps me . . .
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Stephanie,
I didn’t attend the RA and I’m not sure where you’re going with this since you already seem to know the answer to your own question. But just to clarify, first of all, SOS is having it’s convention national education conference in D.C. August 3-5 — not a march like last year. Everyone and anyone who supports the goals of the SOS movement is welcome to attend. SOS doesn’t need any group’s “endorsement” to hold such a meeting, nor did we ask for it from our brothers and sisters in the NEA.
Obviously, some individual, on their own put forth a resolution asking for the NEA’s “endorsement.” Another individual jumped up and used the opportunity to spread lies and gossip about Diane, Anthony Cody and other SOS supporters, as Diane notes above. Whether or not any NEA leaders “should have known better” is not the issue here since the leaders don’t make the decisions at the RA.
If you need any more information about the RA, my brother Fred, who was delegate gives a good first-hand account on his blog. Be sure and read it. http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/interview-with-myself-about-the-nea-ra-now-that-i-am-home/
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Thanks Mike,
I appreciate the conversation and your link to your brother’s blog. I sometimes wish everything was just black and white.
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Please see this post/apology posted by the FL Delegate – http://www.bftteach.org/apps/blog/the-point-was
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Dr. Ravitch: As a true well-wisher, I worry about you. How can you keep up this pace? don’t ease up, but maybe slow down. Just a bit. We need you!
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A bit of what I have read here in people’s comments leads me to think that perhaps some have confused Save our Schools with Stand for Children? Just a thought…
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