The nation's largest teachers' union, the National Education Association, wants the U.S. to nationalize health care, start a nuclear freeze, adopt national energy policies and pass more gun-control laws. Yet it doesn't want teachers tested or parents to have school choice.
Here's a sampling of resolutions that passed during the NEA's July 1998 convention:
I-19. Housing and Health Care for All. The NEA claims that all people have a right to housing and health insurance at taxpayer expense.
H-6. National Health-Care Policy. The NEA wants a "single-payer health-care plan for all residents of the U.S., its territories, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico." It also backs any laws that would move the U.S. toward a single-payer, nationalized system.
B-40. Environmental Education. The NEA believes environmental education should encourage "protection of the Earth's finite resources" and raise awareness of overpopulation, "global warming, ozone depletion and acid precipitation."
I-6. Nuclear Freeze/Cessation. The NEA believes the U.S. "should adopt a verifiable freeze on the testing, development (and) production" of nuclear weapons.
I-1. Peace and International Relations. The NEA wants new disarmament agreements and opposes an anti-ballistic missile defense system, a.k.a. "Star Wars."
The NEA also passed resolutions calling on statehood for the District of Columbia, a national holiday to honor farmworker organizer Cesar Chavez, mandatory teaching about organized labor, community service for students and encouraging consumers to buy union-made products and services.
The Christian Teachers Association, a division of The Christian Defense Fund, provides an alternative for conservative Christian educators and home school teachers. For membership and benefits information call (703) 313-8893.