Why an Early NEA Clinton Endorsement Will Backfire
By Anthony Cody.
In May of 2011, as the NEA and AFT participated in planning a major protest of the Obama administration’s education policies, the NEA leadership announced they were endorsing President Obama for re-election,more than a year prior to the election in November, 2012. It was never revealed what union leadership was offered in exchange for this early endorsement, but what we got was four more years of Arne Duncan, more Race to the Top, more Common Core, and more federal demands that test scores be included in teacher evaluations. It appears that NEA leadership may be preparing to make the same mistake by making an early endorsement of Hillary Clinton as soon as October 2nd.
I am not suggesting that NEA endorse Bernie Sanders instead. I think that while Senator Sanders’ campaign has offered much more substance on economic issues, his platform is very weak on K12 education. He should be pressed, as should Hillary Clinton and any other candidate, to take a public stand on the key issues we face regarding public education. I offered some key issues several months ago –– which remain largely missing from the campaigns.
For either candidate to get real grassroots support from NEA members, an endorsement ought to be the result of an extended dialogue with members. Hillary Clinton has engaged in a few phone calls with NEA leaders, but the membership has been left out. We need far more information about how the next president Why an Early NEA Clinton Endorsement Will Backfire - Living in Dialogue:
