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Sunday, July 3, 2011

#NEARA11 Delegates Reject Call to Oust Arne Duncan - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Delegates Reject Call to Oust Arne Duncan - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Delegates Reject Call to Oust Arne Duncan

Well, the National Education Association's delegates may not be very happy with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, but they doesn't want to call for his ouster—at least not publicly.

The delegates voted down New Business Item 22, which would have required the union to call for Duncan's removal.

Had it passed, it would have been the first time the union approved such a policy at a Representative Assembly—but not the first time it's called for the removal of the agency's head. Recall its reaction in 2004, when then-Education Secretary Rod Paige called the union a "terrorist organization."

There was a distinct feeling that delegates rejected the item primarily on the grounds of bad PR. Even those who