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Content: The National Education Association
An overview of the positions,
power, and activities of the National Education Association. The National Education Association
Don Closson
The NEA
Merely mentioning the National Education Association can be risky. Many see it as an enemy both to education and traditional family
values in America. As the nation's largest, most powerful union,
capable of electing presidents and influencing politics at every
level, many feel that it is out of control and often acts contrary
to the conservative views of many of its members and the taxpayers
who ultimately pay for its existence. There are those within this
camp that see a dark conspiracy within the NEA: to keep our
children uneducated and subject to an evermore centralized,
socialistic national government which will eventually be absorbed
by a global, one-world system. Others, often those within the professional community of educators,
see the organization as the only hope for improving education in
America and for acquiring true professional pay and status for
teachers. To them, the NEA is the champion of democratic education,
seeking excellence and equity in the classrooms of our nation and
beyond. As in most issues, the truth probably lies somewhere
between these two extremes. Teachers who join the union usually belong to one of two groups.