THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 29 lines
Recent letters to the editor and political conventions have put the spotlight on the political strong arm of the National Education Association. Whether it's a speech to teachers in Hampton Roads, the official NEA website on the Internet or the Democratic convention in Chicago, the NEA has flexed its muscle with the (mis)use of union dues. It's time for this to change.
The landmark Beck Supreme Court ruling in 1988 stated that the union must rebate to nonmembers dues money spent on political or extraneous activities. Recent cases in both California and Washington have sent the unions reeling, resulting in rebates to their members.
I invite you to review their current Internet website (www.nea.org/), and you decide how partisan this group really is. A comparison of the candidates for president was so incredibly one-sided (gee, would you believe in favor of Clinton?) that I began to question if Dole was possibly a communist infiltrator sent here to ruin our country.
It's time for the political clout of the NEA and state education unions to be challenged. Since when has one political party/union cornered the market on what's best for our children? I think that should be left to those who should know what's best, the parents.
CHUCK FLAHERTY
Virginia Beach, Oct. 2, 1996 by CNB