Johnson Calls Paige Remarks 'Outrageous'

U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige insulted every teacher and education support professional in America when he called the National Education Association a "terrorist organization" Monday (February 23, 2004), according to WEAC President Stan Johnson.

NEA President Reg Weaver issued a statement calling on President Bush to fire Paige for using "words filled with hatred" to insult the nation's educators.

"Secretary Paige's comments to governors meeting in Washington, D.C., were outrageous and demeaning," Johnson said. "He attacked teachers and education support professionals throughout the nation who teach the ideals of democracy and America to students in every community. He displayed a gross lack of respect for the dedicated people in the classrooms of America who make sure every child attends a great school."

Johnson said Paige apparently does not understand that the NEA and WEAC are run by members: the teachers and education support professionals who teach your children and live in your communities.

"When you attack the union, you attack the members and their dedication to your children's opportunities," he said.

Paige's remarks came during a private meeting with the nation's governors. They were confirmed by several governors in attendance, including Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle.

They come at a time when governors throughout the country are struggling with the impact of the Bush administration's so-called No Child Left Behind act, which creates a vast new set of education regulations but fails to provide the funding needed to implement them. The law - formally known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) - contains strict testing and accountability measures that educators have roundly criticized as unreasonable and purposely unattainable. Several districts in Vermont and Connecticut have refused federal funds rather than comply with the law, and such responses are growing.

The NEA has been fighting for changes to the law to make it fairer and to shift the emphasis from punitive measures to provisions that help children and schools succeed. The NEA also has taken the lead in calling for full funding the law so that its goals can be accomplished and every child in America can attend a great school.

"No doubt, Paige's comments are an attempt to mask the Bush administration's unwillingness to back up its education scheme with resources to help the very students it claims to support," Johnson said.

In Wisconsin, Johnson said, this funding failure by the Bush administration not only hurts children and schools, it hurts taxpayers by forcing school districts to raise property taxes.

For Paige - a member of Bush's cabinet - to use the term "terrorist" to describe an organization made up of teachers and support staff who are fighting for the children of America is "completely irresponsible," Johnson said.

In addition, Johnson said, Paige's frivolous use of the word "terrorist" should be disturbing to every American. "It reflects a callousness by a Bush administration cabinet member toward the gravity of the real threat terrorism poses to the world and to America," he said.

"Secretary Paige's hyperbole will surely backfire on him," Johnson said. "Such an attack was beneath his office."

Posted February 23, 2004