From the beginning, a majority of the board members were also members of the NEA or AFT. One would do well to remember the words of past NEA Presidents:
- Catherine Barrett – “We are determined to control the direction of education”
- George Fischer – “To determine who will enter, who will stay, and who will leave the profession”
- Helen Wise – “We must defeat those who oppose our goals”
- John Ryor – “We will become the foremost political power in the nation”
“The NEA and its affiliates are such effective advocates. Despite what some among us might like to believe, it is NOT because of our creative ideas; it is NOT because of the merit of our positions; IT IS NOT BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT CHILDREN; and it is NOT because of a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have POWER and we have POWER because there are more than 3.2 Million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in DUES each year because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent them. The unions that can best protect the rights and advance of their interests as education employees.”
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