Some teachers got an unwelcome surprise this year when they returned home from the National Education Association’s annual convention, held in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July weekend.
They learned their NEA leaders had quietly adopted a recommendation to “develop public and member support” for the “creation, amendment and/or passage of federal hate-crimes legislation” and other pro-homosexual measures.
The revelation comes at an interesting time: Democrats are trying to ramrod a “hate-crimes” bill. They hope to force President Bush to sign it by attaching it to military spending legislation.
If the strategy works, we will have a federal law that punishes crimes based on thoughts, not actions. In short, we will have official “thought crimes.”
Dr. James C. Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action, has warned that “the true intent of the legislation is not to punish what is already illegal. It is to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality.”
It’s no small matter that NEA leaders didn’t allow the some 9,000 delegates at this year’s convention to directly vote on such a controversial issue.
Some might say it’s just politics as usual for the NEA, so what’s the big deal? After all, the NEA spent at least $25 million on political causes in 2005 alone – and gave another $65 million to mostly left-wing groups.
What’s significant about the NEA leaders’ decision to support hate crimes, which occurred as early as May, is that it flew under the radar until after the convention in July. That marks a sharp turn from last year, when delegates received notice before the convention that they might be asked to take a vote on “legal rights” for homosexuals, including “civil unions/and or marriage” – in other words, a not-so-subtle endorsement of same-sex marriage.
After a media firestorm broke out, the NEA backpedaled, replacing the proposed resolution with a watered-down version that limited endorsement of same-sex marriage to “legally recognized” unions.
But at least there was a vote.
This year, NEA delegates didn’t even get a debate.
That’s because even the NEA doesn’t have to learn the same lesson twice. And last year, it clearly learned the dangers of publicizing its support for political causes that contradict the core values of many of its members – and in fact, have nothing to do with academics.
Another example of a lesson learned occurred this year during a floor debate over an amendment proposed by pro-life delegates.
The amendment would have clarified that the NEA has “no position on abortion.” A healthy debate ensued for a good 15 to 20 minutes. But then one delegate stood up and warned that taking an on-the-record vote on the abortion issue would cause a lot of unwanted public attention, according to Sissy Jochmann, chairwoman of the NEA’s Conservative Educators Caucus.
As a result, the amendment was promptly sent to a committee, effectively killing the measure.
But there’s a silver lining in this cloud of subterfuge. And that’s the evidence that even the 3.2 million-member NEA has a weak spot – namely, money.
In Ohio, for example, just one teacher’s dues amount to more than $600 a year, according to Judy Bruns, the crafter of the pro-life amendment. And in Bruns’ school alone, the number of teachers diverting their NEA dues to charities – so that their money won’t go to political causes they don’t support – has nearly doubled.
If that scenario plays out across America, the NEA actually has a lot to lose. And the risk is real when you consider the two court rulings handed down just before the July convention. One was an Ohio federal court decision giving a teacher the right to redirect her money to a charity because of pro-life convictions. The other was a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing states to require unions to get permission before they spend nonmember dues on political lobbying.
So, it’s no wonder the NEA feels threatened – and that its politics as usual are being done a little more quietly.
