Teachers Saving Children® Inc. - National
Newsletter
Volume 14, Number 5
June 2004
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“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Wow! These past six weeks have been incredible. It all began when the NEA’s support of the “pro-choice” march in Washington DC became national news through a front page story in the April 19, 2004 edition of the Washington Times (see related article). Since then there have been many phone contacts, e-mail communications, and media interviews. In addition, a number of pro-life individuals are becoming more involved than ever before because of their concern about the NEA’s abortion position.
As I have reflected on these past six weeks, I have been reminded of the Scripture passage that I quoted above. We must always be prepared to speak the truth regarding the Sanctity of Life even though there are many individuals who do not desire to hear the truth. They have turned away from it. But pro-life teachers need to be faithful in fulfilling the ministry that God has given us – to stand boldly for the Sanctity of Life.
Once again, the Lord has opened the door for Teachers Saving Children® to have an exhibit at NEA Expo 2004. This exhibit is one way to present the truth about the Sanctity of Life to thousands of educators and guests at the NEA Representative Assembly.
In addition, there are many delegates with strong conservative convictions who are uniting to take a strong stand on several issues of concern to the average Christian educator. It is vital that these conservative delegates unite not only for moral support, but also for the cause of Christ.
If you are a delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly, it is very important that you contact Teachers Saving Children® (330-821-2747) immediately so that connections can be made. Secondly, if you are not a delegate but know pro-life conservative delegates who will be attending the NEA RA in Washington DC, please pass this information along. We cannot stress enough the importance that these connections be made.
Just a note - Representatives of Teachers Saving Children® attend the NEA RA through the Teachers Saving Children® exhibit. These representatives may or may not be serving as delegates to the NEA RA itself. We educate on the life issue and union involvements in the life issue. In addition, many pro-life conservative delegates join the Conservative Educator's Caucus (CEC), through which conservatives are enabled to speak as a body/caucus on the RA floor. These two organizations share some of the same goals, though they have different functions during the year and at the Representative Assembly.
So, let us be ready in season and out of season to share the truth. Let us be determined in the cause of the Sanctity of Life; faithful and obedient to what the Lord has called us to do. Please pray that pro-life delegates have faith and trust in God for the victory as they endure the days of the NEA Representative Assembly and its Pre-RA activities.
Thousands of pro-life teachers and school staff required to belong to the National Education Association across the country are offended by the union’s co-sponsorship of a pro-choice march in Washington this Sunday [April 25, 2004].
The NEA headquarters on 16th Street NW near the White House will act as a hospitality center for the March for Freedom of Choice while the union’s nearby state affiliates in New Jersey and elsewhere are organizing buses to bring demonstrators for the event.
The march is being organized by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice America and other liberal and feminist groups.
Abortion “is a political issue and not an educational issue,” said NEA member Connie Bancroft, a middle-school teacher for handicapped children in Mahoning County, Ohio, who opposes NEA’s sponsorship of the march.
Miss Bancroft is executive director of Teachers Saving Children, a national group of 3,300 pro-life educators that seeks “a commitment to establishing respect for all human life from conception to natural death, especially among professional educators’ organizations,” she said.
“We’re supposed to be for children, and they say it’s OK to eliminate our very clientele. That’s hard to understand.”
The problem, say pro-life members of the 2.7-million-member teachers union, is that they are forced to be dues-paying NEA members because of collective-bargaining agreements in their school districts.
Meanwhile, the NEA takes positions on issues contrary to some members’ religious beliefs, which are protected by the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act.
“Every organization – association, political party and church – has significant numbers of members who do not agree with every policy item,” NEA spokesman Michael Pons said. “That is the greatness of an open, democratic organization such as ours.”
Pro-life NEA members said another major objection is that the union’s top management tilts toward abortion, as shown by NEA chief lobbyist Randall J. Moody’s dual role serving on the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Federal Political Action Committee, for which he was an original board member and treasurer for three years.
Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion-referral agency. Mr. Moody was a member of the organization’s board of directors from 1995 to 2002 and is still co-chairman of Planned Parenthood Republicans for Choice. The pro-life NEA members say Mr. Moody’s roles with Planned Parenthood are a conflict of interest.
Planned Parenthood said on its Web site the forthcoming march is “the largest pro-choice demonstration in the nation’s history.” An “interdenominational” prayer breakfast on the Mall to precede the march is “a direct challenge to the religious right and its claims to speak for communities of faith,” the organization said in a statement.
Mr. Pons did not respond to questions about Mr. Moody’s dual role with NEA and Planned Parenthood, but said the union is “one of hundreds of sponsors” of Sunday’s march.
“NEA is providing water, juice, a place to rest and access to our restroom facilities for our members on that day,” he said. “I haven’t costed out the water, but that is our only financial commitment.”
The NEA does the same for its members any time they are in Washington, he said.
“Any association member is welcome to our building any time,” he said.
Judy Bruns, a junior high language-arts teacher from Coldwater, Ohio, said the NEA’s support for abortion and other positions against members’ religious beliefs has caused many school teachers and support staff across the country to assert their right under the Civil Rights Act for a “religious-based accommodation” freeing them of their obligation to pay NEA dues.
The law directs the NEA to provide a “reasonable accommodation” to exempt members with a religious objection from paying the union’s national $134 annual dues payment.
State NEA affiliates charge union members additional dues, ranging from $230 in Oklahoma to $569 in Michigan.
NEA members receive liability, health and life insurance, which is why most school personnel stay with the union despite objections to its pro-choice stance and positions on many noneducation issues, said Sissy Jochmann, a second-grade teacher in the Pittsburgh area and chairman of the Conservative Educators Caucus, which has members in 10 states.
Mrs. Bruns, a board member of Teachers Saving Children, called the NEA’s support for the pro-choice march “senseless.”
“If the NEA is truly for ‘choice,’ we hope our union will be consistent and extend its hospitality and support to teachers who choose to participate in the annual Jan. 22 March for Life in Washington,” she said.
The NEA does not sponsor the March for Life and it does not offer the pro-life march corporate support.
For many years, NEA-elected state delegates to the union’s annual Representative Assembly have rejected pleas of pro-life teachers to be neutral on abortion, instead adopting an official position in supporting abortion, even for teenagers, in the name of “reproductive freedom.”
Delegates at the NEA’s 2003 convention in July in New Orleans rejected a proposal to drop stated opposition to a ban on partial-birth abortion.
Mrs. Jochmann said the NEA “should simply get out of the abortion issue altogether.”
“Our union needs to stick to education,” she said.
She said abortion “is harmful emotionally, physically and spiritually to women.”
“We believe women deserve better. We invite our union to support abstinence and the value of chastity, rather than partner with [the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States] against abstinence education,” she said.
Copyright ©2004 News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. This reprint does not constitute or imply any endorsement or sponsorship of any product, service, company or organization.
Bruce N. Cameron, an attorney for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in Springfield, VA, has a long track record of successful litigation against the National Education Association on behalf of aggrieved pro-life members.
According to Mr. Cameron: “It is an old story. The NEA hauls out some old cases where it assisted teachers who were pro-life. In comparison, the NEA claims that legal services has never spent a penny on a pro-abortion case. That statement is undoubtedly false. The NEA’s name appears on several “friend of the court” briefs filed with the U. S. Supreme Court which support abortion rights. I seriously doubt that the NEA’s name was placed on these briefs without the knowledge of the NEA and the input of its lawyers. Plus, the NEA-Rhode Island filed a lawsuit to require that abortions be covered by the state health insurance for teachers. Under the NEA state reimbursement policy for legal services, the NEA undoubtedly picked up a portion of the tab.”
It is vital that you contact your delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly, letting them know your philosophy on various issues. If you have a delegate(s) from your local affiliate attending the NEA convention, contact should be easy. However, many locals do not or cannot send delegates to the NEA RA. Therefore, state at-large delegates or cluster delegates need to be contacted. If you need the names and addresses of your delegate(s), please contact your local president or your NEA State Affiliate office.
Get involved by contacting your NEA delegates! Remind them to vote according to the wishes of the membership they represent, which includes you! Then hold them accountable by requesting a copy of their written report – which should include their votes on New Business Items, other proposals, and on candidates – upon their return! Remember: They are your representatives!
-Gary Allen
President of the (“pro-choice”) Ohio Education Association
December 6, 2003, OEA Fall Representative Assembly, Columbus OH
Editor's Note: “We are a voice for the voiceless” has been a Right to Life motto for years.
A special thank you to each person who has given $5, $10 or more to this special ministry opportunity. The Lord has graciously provided, through you, the funds needed for the exhibit space rental and miscellaneous fees, and monies to cover materials for distribution – free to educators who visit our exhibit. We are still, however, in need of additional funds to purchase multiple copies of You Are Special by Max Lucado, a very touching children’s book directed to children who are adopted. We plan to distribute these books at our exhibit. If enough funds are received, we will also purchase a few selected videos on human growth/development in utero for distribution to Science, Health, and Child Care teachers.
Thank you for your continued prayers as we prepare the display. Please pray for the Lord’s special anointing as we minister to individuals during the exhibit hours.
Reminder: Those individuals still desiring to support this exhibit financially should make checks payable to “TSC Inc. – National”. Please carefully note how the amount is to be designated (“NEA Exhibit”) so your contribution will be appropriately allocated.
We are currently accepting new memberships for the 2004-2005 membership year. Any new memberships received after June 1st are good until August 31, 2005. Renewal membership information will be sent to all current members in early July. Please note that ALL memberships will now be handled through the National Office. Each month States Affiliates will receive membership updates and their portion of the dues received.
Please help the Teachers Saving Children® office keep accurate records by verifying your membership information. Please check your membership forms for accuracy when you receive and complete it. Also, be sure to sign and date it. Thank you.
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