PET Fall 95
Teacher's PET Fall 1995
Published in October of 1995
The National Association of Professional Educators discussed joint goals with PET and exchanged a wealth of information at their annual meeting. At that same meeting, the Georgia and Missouri affiliates committed to helping PET to grow.
Georgia will help with our plans for a professional magazine. Dr. Adrian Baird, a Georgia PAGE consultant now living in Tennessee, will lend his expertise to the project.
Ron Crain, Assistant Executive Director of MSTA, gave a brief history of the Missouri organization and pledged their support to PET.
NAPE President Bill Crockett, a member of the Texas affiliate, recognized Knox County as the newest alliance member of NAPE.
Texas is one of the first states to surpass NEA in membership.
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PET Meets With Zach Wamp
This summer's session with US Representative Zach Wamp established an important line of communication for PET.
Several issues were addressed dealing with federal mandates that could hurt Tennessee's children and teachers.
Also discussed was the 'fair share bill', which would force Tennesseans to pay union dues to local, state, and national unions to which they don't belong. In April of this year, Indiana outlawed the forced collection of union dues from teachers.
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PET Membership Accelerates
PET units across Tennessee are receiving requests for information daily from teachers and others interested in education .
Walter Jewell, Pet Executive Director, has been putting in overtime to keep up with applications and information requests.
Membership is expexted to more than doubled since last year.
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PET Booth at Knoxville ETEA Meeting
Larry Clark, PET Knoxville affiliate contact, has secured a booth at the upcoming East Tennessee Education Association meeting. Look for booth 406 at the World's Fair site in Knoxville on October 26 and 27.
Volunteers are needed to help with the booth. If you can help, please contact Mr. Clark at (423) 573-7847.
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PET Opens Communication Link With Email
PET can now be reached via email at pet@teacherspet.com. Members and interested parties can now email their requests, letters, and stories for instant delivery.
PET is also sending out letters by email to teachers across Tennessee with information on PET and what it can offer as an alternative to TEA/NEA.
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Bradley Teacher Claims NEA Dues Support Gays
While Bradley County Education or Hamilton County Education may not be promoting the Gay and Lesbian History Month in Cleveland or Chattanooga this October, their dues will be supporting it across the United States.
In fact, the NEA uses a manual to train educators on issues involving "gay and lesbian students" that includes such recommendations as bringing openly homosexual adults into the classrooms as "resources" and replace the word "marriage" with the neutral term "permanent relationship." This is found in the NEA manual titled, Affording Equal Opportunity to Gay and Lesbian Students Through Teaching and Counseling: A Training Handbook for Educators.
The NEA also has within its ranks the "Gay and Lesbian Caucus."
My point is the Bradley County Education and Hamilton County Education are certainly aware of this advocacy of homosexuality by the NEA as a normal choice within its ranks. Their dues money support this agenda.
And now they want to sign petitions. Too little, too late.
Greg Cain, Teacher in Bradley County
* Originally printed in Cleveland Daily Bann
er
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Not Everyone Has Discovered PET
Well, once again the NEA made a decision to further the education of our children (that is their job isn't it?) by passing an official resolution to observe October as "Gay/Lesbian History Month."
The push (shove) for NEA membership is on -- I think this latest fiasco should let some who are sitting on the fence -- as far as membership -- know what side to come down on.
Teachers are told they need to belong to the NEA the good they do is enjoyed by teachers as a whole. Well, couldn't it be said that the bad they do hurts teachers as a whole?
Why doesn't the NEA "fess up"? They are not an association; they are a union (Forbes magazine's "largest and richest brass knuckled labor union"). They are only interested in furthering their agenda and negotiating their salaries. (NEA secretaries make more than most college educated teachers.)
The NEA also gets more than $785 million in revenues annually. Why do they need state and federal tax dollars?
This year teachers need to negotiate their own salaries and get an automatic $500-a-year-raise -- just cancel their NEA membership. (You must write a letter to resign or you're in for life.)
For teachers who are intimidated by this bunch because you will lose your liability insurance, check with your homeowners or renters insurance for a professional liability rider.
If you are still afraid to stand up to them, perhaps an orthopedic surgeon can be found who will donate his services to put you in a backbone.
Rhonda Thurman -- Hixon, TN
*Originally printed in Chattanooga Free Press
** Ms. Thurman has been contacted and will be comfortable with our organization.
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Insurance Questions
Does PET have the same insurance protection in liability as TEA's liability insurance?
Not only does PET's insurance have a million dollar coverage for liability like TEA's does, it surpasses TEA's by including a civil rights clause. In other words, PET's cases are not reviewed as to whether they will be accepted or not. All cases are automatically accepted and litigated.
Are coaches covered?
Absolutely. As long as a coach is on the job in their coaching capacity, PET liability insurance is in force.
Has PET insurance been tested?
Yes, a number of times, and each with positive results.
Must a member of PET join the local unit in order to get the insurance?
No. As a PET member, you have a choice, but we strongly encourage you to actively participate locally because these units are ultimately the lifeblood of the state organization. Remember, we govern from the bottom up -- not the top down.
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Dr. Bernard Bull is NCIPEA Delegate
Dr. Bull, former president and current board member of PET, represents PET as an official delegate to the National Conference of Independent Education Associations which met this summer in conjunction with the annual meeting of Concerned Educators Against forced Unionism.
Former US Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander met with 50 representatives of NCIPEA.
In addition to a briefing on national education projects and programs, the group received a firm commitment from Alexander that the delegates would be invited to participate in the national education arena in an effort to convey to the American public the fact that there are over 250,000 nonunion professional educators whose positions on public education in America must be heard.
The major objective is to guarantee every American boy and girl an uninterrupted program of quality education.
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Unfunded Mandates
Roger Zion, our legislative liaison in Washington, DC reports that local school officials support the move in Congress to require the Federal Government to provide funding for anything that it requires school districts to do.
School officials say that they are forced to use school funds to comply with federal mandates which should not apply in their districts or are of lesser importance than other educational needs. Teaching supplies and personnel costs suffer because the expense of federal mandates must be satisfied first.
If the federal government paid for the costs of what they required districts to do, the educational funds could be used to improve education.
Federal observers note that the NEA and some other groups oppose requiring funding of programs it imposes on school districts because "safety and some educational services would be in jeopardy without the force of federal law." What this means is that the union expects that the revision would result in less federal intervention, and they prefer federal directives rather than local control -- even at the expense of funds available for classrooms and teachers.
PET is opposed to federal control, and continues to lobby for more state and local control for Tennessee schools.
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Collective bargaining
Dr. George Nerren, Tennessee School Board Association Deputy Executive Director, spoke at the PET/NAPE meeting this past summer on how collective bargaining doesn't work as many claim.
At the request of Bradley County unit, BCAPE, Dr. Nerren sent copies of a research project entitled Fifteen Years of Frustration, Failure, and Fatigue, in which he outlines and documents the fact that most systems which bargain have failed to keep pace with non-bargaining systems in the areas of salary, benefits, and conditions of employment.
The in-depth study stirred much interest, and drew angry criticism from TEA officials.
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NEA Gay Resolution Prompts Calls in Sullivan County
The Kingsport Times-News reports that a National Education Association resolution supporting the awareness and commemoration of gay life-styles within curricula has generated considerable response in Sullivan County.
Sullivan County Superintendent John O'Dell says he has received between 15 to 20 phone calls as well as a few personal visits from worried parents concerned that the school curriculum could encourage Johnny to become more interested in Jim than Jenny.
"Of course, what I have expressed is that what the NEA does has no influence on our curriculum or how we teach," O'Dell said.
NEA Resolution B-9, titled Sexual Orientation Education, states the association "recognizes the importance of raising the awareness and increase the sensitivity of the community to sexual orientation in our society. The association supports positive plans that lead to training programs for educating employees for the purpose of indentifying and eliminating sexual stereotyping in the educational setting." Recognition of Gay and Lesbian History Month is recommended to enlighten people to homosexual and bisexual contributions.
James Thayer, president of the Sullivan County Education Association, said, "I wouldn't want to speak for the whole association before they're polled, but from the responses I have received, I believe most teachers have difficulty with the resolution."
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