Wingnuts To Picket NEA Convention

Damn those socialist teachers, always demanding fair pay, union representation, and full civil equality for all Americans. Communists, every one! No wonder the teabaggers are planning to "picket-and-pray" outside next month's NEA convention.

Citizens and conservative leaders who have serious disagreements with the radical agenda of the NEA leadership over issues like abortion, gun ownership, homosexuality, sex education, climate change, illegal immigration, etc. should take advantage of this ideal venue to deliver a strong, front-page message of rebuke directly to the nearly 10,000 members of NEA's leadership cadre -- with hundreds of news media organizations present to cover the story. Why do millions of Americans oppose the NEA leadership? Why do hundreds of thousands of NEA members resent being forced to join -- or pay steep agency fees if they don't? It's because the NEA leadership's extremist, left-wing, ultra-liberal positions in social, moral, and political issues have nothing to do with collective bargaining. NEA's leftist 'educrats' have dragged the union through the mud of dozens of divisive issues and candidate endorsements. It must stop.

NEA Hosts Netroots Anti-Bullying Panel

Lots of teachers are in the audience.

GOP Congressional Group Plans To Cut Federal Funding For The Arts To ZERO

A coalition of Tea Party-backed Congress members headed by wingnut Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) plans to cut 100% of all federal funding for the arts.

A group of conservative Republicans, called the Republican Study Committee, revealed a new plan on Thursday to cut federal funding for arts down to zero. This means the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities would be left in the cold. Not to mention the potential hit at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Run by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the over 150-person group's plan, the Spending Reduction Act of 2011, would "save" $167.5 million pulled from the NEA and the Humanities endowment and $445 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They are forecasting that this erasure of cultural funding would reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion over the next decade.

"Ex-Gays" Win Discrimination Suit

Remember how we all snickered when Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) filed a lawsuit against the NEA, demanding that "ex-gay" be recognized as an sexual orientation and therefore subject to employee protections? Well, they won.

In a case with potentially far-reaching implications, the superior court of the District of Columbia has ruled that individuals who formerly identified as gay or lesbian are a protected class that must be recognized under nondiscrimination laws pertaining to sexual orientation, reports the Fox Business network. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) brought the lawsuit against the National Education Association for failing to provide public accommodations for people who formerly identified as gay. The D.C. office of human rights sided with the NEA that sexual orientation protections do not extend to “ex-gays,” but the court held that under the D.C. human rights act, sexual orientation does not require immutable characteristics.

PFOX is demanding that the teachers group add an "ex-gay" person to their sexual orientation committee and immediately include "former" pole smokers to their list of protected employees.

Teachers Say Yes To Marriage Equality

The National Education Association, the nation's largest labor union, has endorsed marriage equality, with a couple of slight dodges. From the "new business items" recap of their national convention:

1. NEA will support its affiliates seeking to enact state legislation that guarantees to same-sex couples the right to enter into a legally recognized relationship pursuant to which they have the same rights and benefits as similarly-situated heterosexual couples, including, without limitation, rights and benefits with regard to medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, and immigration.
2. NEA does not believe that a single term must be used to designate this legally recognized "equal treatment" relationship, and recommends that each state decide for itself whether "marriage," "civil union," "domestic partnership," or some other term is most appropriate based upon the cultural, social, and religious values of its citizenry.
3. NEA will support its affiliates in opposing state constitutional and/or statutory provisions that could have the effect of prohibiting the state and its political subdivisions from providing the same rights and benefits to same-sex couples as are provided to similarly-situated heterosexual couples.
4. NEA will take such actions as may be appropriate to support efforts to (a) repeal any federal legislation and/or regulations that discriminate against same-sex couples, and (b) enact federal legislation and/or regulations that treat same-sex couples and similarly-situated heterosexual couples equally with regard to social security, health care, taxation, and other federal rights and benefits.
5. NEA recognizes that the term "marriage" has religious connotations and that same-sex marriages may not be compatible with the beliefs, values, and/or practices of certain religions. Because of its support for the separation of church and state and the right to religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, NEA supports the right of religious institutions to refuse to perform or recognize same-sex marriages.

NGLTF head Rea Carey reacts: “These historical resolutions acknowledge that no one should be left behind. The National Education Association and its members once again show their leadership and remind us of the influence educators have on our young people, LGBT and straight. We are deeply grateful to the NEA and its membership for adopting these resolutions and making a clear commitment to joining in the fight for full LGBT equality.”

NEA Considering Marriage Endorsement

Christianist news site OneNewsNow is first with the word that the National Education Association is considering issuing a resolution in support of marriage equality.

The NEA is currently holding its annual convention in San Diego, California. Educator and conservative activist Jeralee Smith called OneNewsNow from the convention to report that the executive council has approved language that will throw the full support of the NEA behind same-gender marriage, homosexual adoption, and other issues surrounding the homosexual agenda. "They will help to overturn legislation that is discriminatory against same-sex couples," she notes. "And then there is one little bullet about [how] they will recognize that marriage has a religious connotation and it's not compatible with beliefs and values -- because of that they recognize that certain churches should not be forced to conduct same-sex marriage." Smith says the resolution could be voted on as early as midday Friday or as late as Tuesday of next week.

The NEA is the nation's largest union with over 3.2M members.