Making Sense of 'Making Light'

[Updates below.]

You can't simultaneously attack the NEA and claim you support teachers.

-Teresa Nielsen Hayden

I call bullshit.

I consider a person's education to be one of the most important qualities they possess. A strong knowledge of history, effective arithmetic skills, and coherent communication abilities are, among other things, crucial to anyone who wants to go beyond everyday labor and living and lift themselves to a higher standard of living. I'm of the opinion that the intrinsic strengths young humans have can only take them so far without professional direction. The distance they may go before peaking might be considerable, but humans start off with a lack of understanding about the world around them and it sometimes takes a third party to bring awareness of the world to them. This is doubly true when you wish to expand your horizons beyond just being able to get by in life.

Educators, therefore, are important. High-quality, intelligent teachers and instructors are needed. And when enough of them are in existence, common goals and interests are likely to produce associations that work together to further their goals. These associations are abstractions, socially-constructed entities that cannot, by their nature, represent every person associated with them 100% nor appeal to everyone outside the association. The National Education Association is no different.

What is the purpose of the NEA?

To fulfill the promise of a democratic society, the National Education Association shall promote the cause of quality public education and advance the profession of education; expand the rights and further the interest of educational employees; and advocate human, civil, and economic rights for all.

That is it's current mission statement. Elevating "the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of popular education in the United States" was a founding motto back in 1857. Who can join the NEA?

Anyone who works for a public school district, a college or university, or any other public institution devoted primarily to education is eligible to join NEA. NEA also has special membership categories for retired educators and college students studying to become teachers.

So there are the basic characteristics of the NEA: what it does and who it represents. Anyone with the time can read through the NEA's take on various issues.

I note that it's obvious there is a fundamental slant at the base of the NEA's structure: it supports public education (read: government-run schools) and opposes shifting the system of education from the state to the private sector, even if that shift is limited to a few school-supporting services. Thus, the NEA is actively associated with continuing and promoting socialist education. I mean no insult in saying that; it's simply the truth.

From my point of view, the government does not belong in the education system at all. Therefore, I could foresee myself "attacking" the NEA at some point in the future for a policy or a statement. I wouldn't call it a "terrorist organization," but I might call it "misguided" or label it's stance on some issues "egalitarian nonsense." I venture that I'd have many beefs with the National Education Association, primarily because it and the vast majority of it's members believe I must be forced to provide for the educations of others and others must be forced to provide for my education. Up to a certain age, of course. Don't wanna get too crazy with all that coerced wealth transfer...

And yet I have plainly explained my support for teachers as demonstrated above. I support free individuals deciding to provide a service to those who want to buy that service. I support people who wish to enter into a profession for the purpose of helping children and adults increase their knowledge of the world. I support parents having the liberty to choose among institutions of education to pick the best options for their family.

I support teachers. I don't support the continued collectivization of education in this country. I hope this makes sense to Mrs. Hayden. It makes a lot of sense to me.

UPDATE 9/24/2004 10:50am
Oh boy. Go read the Vice article written by Gavin McInnes: Trenchcoat Mafia - The NEA Is Here to Shoot Up Your Classroom

In Sacramento recently they threatened to destroy anyone who opposed them, even an eight-year-old boy (a lawsuit is pending). In Indiana they hired a tire slasher to become one of their members and he immediately got to work destroying any car owner that stood in the way. In Michigan they killed a pet cat to show the owner what happens to blabbermouths. They have goldplated champagne coolers, lavish holidays all over the globe, and more politicians in check than any group in the Western world (not even the Republicans and the Democrats have as many lobbyists on Capitol Hill). They only very recently started paying taxes, and the little tax they do pay is a minuscule fraction of their annual income. They are above the law, make over a billion dollars a year, and control the hearts and minds of every newspaper in the country. They are the mafia. A group of chubby gluttons who squeeze the working man dry and then use that money to beat him further into submission. This is not the mafia featured on HBO. They're not even Italian. This mafia is actually a labor union known as the National Education Association (NEA). A gigantic, hydra-headed extortion machine that charges every teacher in America hundreds of dollars to "represent" them but is really only concerned with getting more money and crushing more opponents.

Posted by Drizzten at March 17, 2004 04:58 PM