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Home Archives for National Education Association

3/27/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Senate Bill 57 School Transparency Defeated But Not Forgotten

It's been a full week since the establishment education lobby and Democrats on the House Education Committee teamed up to kill the spending transparency in Colorado's Senate Bill 57. Amazingly, this little bill that (almost) could in our Colorado state legislature is still making national waves. From an essay written by Paul Miller and published today by American Thinker:This past week in Colorado, Senate Bill 57, also called the Public School Financial Transparency Act, which simply require public school districts to put their spending online, died in committee. How could any responsible public official forbid parents from seeing how their tax-dollars are spent educating their children? The answer to that question is simple: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: accountability, alive, American Thinker, Ben Hummel, brilliant, campaign contributions, cartoon, children, coincidental, Colorado, Colorado Spending Transparency, Democrats, essay, establishment education lobby, favor, fight, House Education Committee, important, kill, lampooning, link, lobbying associations, members, National Education Association, national waves, neutral position, online, opposition, parents, Paul Miller, politicians, provide, public official, Senate Bill 57, spending transparency, state legislature, take a hike, tax dollars, taxpayers, testimony

11/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Susan Greene: Conservatives Need Not Apply for CSU Chancellor

Susan Greene at the Denver Post scoffs at the idea of retiring U.S. Senator Wayne Allard serving as president of Colorado State University:The National Education Association has graded him with an "F." And the American Association of University Women has rated his work with a "zero." "Sen. Allard is a kind and humble man. But his voting record on educational issues has not received passing grades," says former at-large University of Colorado Regent Jim Martin. "To appoint him would not be in the best interest of the institution or the state." Allard's environmental record — most notably, his doubts about humankind's part in climate change — also would besmirch the university. In other words, Greene is hanging a sign on the door … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General Tagged With: advanced degree, American Association of University Women, argument, Bruce Benson, cocktail party denizens, Colorado State University, Denver Post, environmental record, federal government, gauche, Jim Martin, National Education Association, qualified, quality of education, regent, scoffs, skepticism, Susan Greene, Wayne Allard

10/28/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

NEA’s Spending Habits Once Again Show Education as a Low Priority

The Wall Street Journal reports:Here's a pop quiz: Who's donated the most money to an effort in California to defeat Proposition 8, an initiative on the November 4 ballot that would define marriage as between a man and a woman in the state? A) Gay-advocacy organizations B) Civil-rights groups C) The California Teachers Association If you guessed "C," you understand the nature of modern liberal politics. And if you didn't, perhaps you're wondering what exactly gay marriage has to do with K-12 public education. The high school dropout rate is 1-in-4 in California and 1-in-3 in the Los Angeles public school system, odds that worsen considerably among black and Hispanic children. So you might think the CTA, the state's largest … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Education, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: abortion, agency fees, Big Labor coalition, black children, California, California Teachers Association, civil rights groups, clout, Colorado, dropout rate, Education, gay advocacy organizations, Hispanic children, initiative, Los Angeles, marriage, members, Mike Antonucci, modern liberal politics, National Education Association, No on Proposition 8 campaign, parental notificationk, Proposition 4, Proposition 8, public image, public school system, socially liberal agenda, teachers union, unemancipated minors, Wall Street Journal

10/28/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Attorney’s Vulgar Racist Slur a Stain on Big Labor Opponents of Right-to-Work

As reported in the Denver Post, this is the kind of story that Big Labor would rather sweep under the rug. A union attorney exposed for his racist, vulgar email messages sent to Ryan Frazier, a leading supporter of Amendment 47, and also (apparently) for practicing law in Colorado without a license. It wasn't like the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) had much choice but to get rid of DeAngelo Starnes - otherwise a natural ideological fit. It is not insignificant to note that UFCW has spent nearly $5 million on state issue campaigns this year - mostly to fight Amendment 47 (Right-to-Work) but also to spread lies about Amendment 49 (Ethical Standards) and Amendment 54 (Government Contracting Reform). Only the National Education … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, Big Labor, Colorado, DeAngelo Starnes, Denver Post, Drunkablog, email messages, Ethical Standards, good government, government contracting reform, ignominious, National Education Association, practicing law, pro-worker, racist, right-to-work, Ryan Frazier, snide commentary, supporter, union attorney, United Food and Commercial Workers, vulgar

10/2/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

CoDA’s “Educate the Idiots” Members Biggest Funders of Protect Colorado’s Future’s Campaign of Deception

If you haven't seen or heard it by now, Colorado's "progressive" Democrat coalition got a little more behind-the-scenes exposure yesterday than they would like. A series of slowly leaked documents by Face The State are uncovering the inner workings of the coalition - known as the Colorado Democracy Alliance (CoDA). The light of the day has given us some useful insights. We are starting to see what the Left's agenda for Colorado is, why they have coordinated the spending of so much money to take over the state legislature, the governor's office, and so much more. No document has received quite as much attention as this one:In a confidential internal memorandum obtained by Face The State (PDF), the Colorado Democracy Alliance outlines a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: "Educate the Idiots", AFL-CIO, African-American, agenda, Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, Andrew Romanoff, behind-the-scenes exposure, Bill Ritter, Bridget Johnson, campaign message, campaign of deception, change we can believe in, children of color, Colorado, Colorado Democracy Alliance, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Ethics Watch, confidential, covert, Democrat, Democrat leaders, document, donors, dropouts, dues, education employees, Evan Dreyer, exclusive list, Face the State, freedom, GEDs, government ethics, Governor, Hispanic, hoodwinked, idiots, indignant response, individual rights, institutional members, issue committee, Joan Fitz-Gerald, John Stocks, leaked documents, Left, liberal structure, lies, members, memorandum, minorities, National Education Association, Native American, off the record, Okie Campaigns, operatives, progressive, ProgressNow, Protect Colorado's Future, represent, Rocky Mountain News, Rocky Mountain Right, SEIU, Slapstick Politics, smart people, special interest groups, state legislature, state Republican Party leaders, strategy group, teachers, The Daily Blogster, union elite, union leaders, union power, worker welfare

9/19/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Teachers Union Spreads Fear and Disinformation about Amendment 47

Michael at Best Destiny, a Jefferson County teacher by day, writes:Yesterday, the union representative at one of my schools came back from a district-wide meeting in breathless distress over this year's ballot. She said that, based on what was told to her in her meeting, there was the potential that the passage of Amendment 47 could mean the "end of teacher representation, and the school district would no longer have to follow any rules about how they ordered you to spend your time." She even went so far as to say that the passage of 47 would be more devastating for schools than the failure of either the Mill Levy increase or of the Bond election. Another anecdote that shows the teachers union - in this case, the Jefferson County … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, American Idol, ballot initiative, Best Destiny, Blue Book, deception, Democrat, disinformation, district-wide meeting, Evie Hudak, facts, fear-mongering, hair loss, independent thought, infertility, JCEA leaders, Jefferson County, Jefferson County Education Association, labor organization, Michael, my union said so, National Education Association, nonsense, party platform, Political contributions, Protect Colorado's Future, public educators, right-to-work, sad commentary, school, state senate candidate, teacher, teachers union, think for themselves, union dues, union representative

9/10/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrat Cary Kennedy Admits Amendment 59 is Anti-Taxpayer

In case you had any doubts about the intentions of leading Colorado Democrats in bringing forward Amendment 59, Education Week brings you the straight skinny (H/T Rocky Mountain Right):Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff praised the [National Education Association]’s state chapter as one of the “most aggressive and successful” groups assisting Democrats in their takeover Colorado’s Statehouse and governor’s mansion. State Treasurer Cary Kennedy (no relation to RFK Jr.) said that Democrats would win a ballot initiative to “drive a stake in the heart” of the state’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights [TABOR]--a conservative cost-cutting measure. Yes, the Democrats behind Amendment 59 - Andrew Romanoff and Cary Kennedy - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 59, Andrew Romanoff, ballot initiative, Cary Kennedy, Colorado, Colorado Education Association, Democrats, Education Week, Governor, liberal interest groups, motivations, National Education Association, Rocky Mountain Right, Speaker of the House, statehouse, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers, teachers union, unguarded opinions

8/18/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Union Members and Fee Payers Foot Bill for Leaders’ DNC Invesco Suites

From Bloomberg.com (H/T Mike Antonucci):Seven unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, have stepped in to help pay for the Democratic National Convention in Denver after the host committee announced in June it was $10 million short of its fundraising goals. The host committee, as a private organization, can accept unlimited corporate, union and individual contributions. And while presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee are refusing contributions from registered lobbyists, the ban doesn't apply to the convention. Mike Antonucci also cites a Los Angeles Times piece that indicates donors can get "stadium skyboxes" to watch the Obamessiah's big … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, Labor, National Politics, Sports and Leisure Tagged With: agency fees, American Federation of Teachers, Barack Obama, Bloomberg, Democratic National Committee, Democratic National Convention, Democrats, Denver, executive suites, fatcat, fundraising, host committee, Invesco Field, labor bosses, labor unions, Los Angeles Times, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, Obamessiah, registered lobbyists, stadium skyboxes, teacher unions, union members

7/11/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

AFL-CIO Tells IRS with a Straight Face It Spends No Money on Politics

Do you ever wonder why there's such skepticism about Big Labor's support of legislation that attacks workers' ballot privacy, not to mention Big Labor's opposition to legislation that gives workers more freedom over their earnings? Underreported news like this from the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) would give a satisfactory answer. Here's the letter from AWF to the Internal Revenue Service:On behalf of the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), and rank-and-file working Americans, I urge you to investigate the apparent incongruence contained within the 2005-2006 tax filings by the AFL-CIO. According to their annual LM-2 financial disclosure form filed with the Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO spent $41,620,583 on political activities … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: AFL-CIO, Alliance for Worker Freedom, Big Labor, corruption, Department of Labor, fair elections, Internal Revenue Service, LM-2, National Education Association, political activities, political expenditures, tax evasion, workers' funds

6/4/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

NEA Endorses Obama, Giving the Rest of Us a Reason to Vote McCain

Did you need a reason not to vote for Barack Obama? Perhaps need a reason to vote for John McCain? If I'm not convinced already, this press release from the National Education Association sure helps to push me in that direction:National Education Association President Reg Weaver announced today that he will ask the 9,000 locally elected delegates to the Association's Representative Assembly to take a formal vote to recommend that NEA's 3.2 million members support Barack Obama in his bid to become President of the United States.... The contrast between Obama and McCain on issues that matter most to NEA members – the economy, education and health care – is indeed stark. Obama opposes using public tax dollars to provide financial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, endorsement, John McCain, National Education Association, rhetoric, vouchers

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Ben DeGrow
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