As if we needed reminding, U.S. Secretary Of Education Rodney Paige has demonstrated why we must stay engaged in the politics of education and be wary of its most recent manifestation, No Child Left Behind.
On February 23rd, Paige betrayed his disrespect for teachers by declaring that the National Education Association was a terrorist organization.
His comments came in response to the NEA’s leading role in efforts to address the widely recognized flaws and shortcomings of the Bush Administration’s No Child Left Behind federal education law. NEA, our national affiliate, has stated that the administration has an obligation to fix and fully fund NCLB.
Secretary Paige’s attempt to pass his comment off as a "bad joke" is even more insulting. As California Teachers Association President Barbara Kerr wrote recently, Referring to teachers as terrorists is no joking matter. His remarks send a clear message as to how this administration views teachers and the work they do to educate millions of children every day. President Kerr goes on to say, Name calling appears to be the administration’s response to parents and teachers who have legitimate concerns with President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Teachers and parents know that this law’s one-size-fits-all approach to learning hurts our kids. It wastes money on federal tests and more bureaucracy, rather than giving students the resources they need to succeed.
Both NEA and CTA have issued press releases calling for Secretary Paige to resign. We urge you to go to the CTA website and click on the links to send a fax or email to President Bush, Secretary Paige, Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and your member of Congress. Sample letters are available, which you can customize. NEA will send the faxes. We urge every member to take 20 minutes to go to the CTA website and let these officials know how you feel about Secretary Paige’s insult. Go to www.cta.org , click on the link under news: California Teachers Association Joins National Demand for Secretary of Education Rodney Paige’s Resignation.You may also sign a petition calling on President Bush to fire Rodney Paige: http://www.FirePaige.org
(See companion article on Page 7.) Paige’s Remarks Spark Shock And Outrage
ìMr. Paige’s ëterrorist’ remark has finally exhausted his credibility and disqualified him as a spokesman for national education policy.î –New York Times editorial — Feb. 25, 2004
ìInstead of attacking our teachers, this Administration must fully support our educators by reforming the misguided ëNo Child Left Behind Act’ and by giving them and our public schools the resources they deserve.î –U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin.
ìYet the incident raises a point that is far more disturbing than one thoughtless comment from Paige.î
Over the last few years, the NEA has increasingly been demonized by people who object to its positions or its existence. Its critics refer to it derisively as the "teachers’ union," as if there were something intrinsically wrong with teachers forming a union. Critics claim that the NEA doesn’t exist to help education, but to help teachers as if those two goals were mutually exclusive. The union got cross-ways with the Bush administration over the president’s No Child Left Behind law. Even after Paige backed off from calling the NEA a"’terrorist organization," he went on to decry the group’s "obstructionist scare tactics." Yet the same education law the NEA blasts has been criticized by many mayors, governors, school board members and parents, Republicans as well as Democrats.î
America’s teachers need to pool their resources and fight to have their voices heard. They face challenges in the classroom every day. They shouldn’t also have to face the challenge of a hostile education secretary.î –Tennessean editorial — Feb. 26, 2004