It will shock no one to learn that teachers’ unions are overwhelmingly in the tank for Democrats. But the National Education Association took its fanaticism to a new level at its Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly, which wrapped up yesterday in Washington, D.C.
The event, which brought 9,000 teachers to the nation’s capital, featured “Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president,” according to the Associated Press, which described the meeting as showcasing “all the trappings of a re-election rally.” “You are our knight in shining armor,” read one inscription.
The pro-Obama hysteria also spilled into anti-Romney hostility: One teacher who expressed her support for the Republican candidate was booed off the stage, while several Republican teachers who spoke to the Associated Press refused to give their names because “they were so worried about retribution from their colleagues.” Another teacher complained of the harassment against teachers who refused to be “EFOs”: Educators for Obama.
At last year’s convention almost three-fourths of delegates voted to endorse President Obama for re-election, citing, in the words of NEA director of government relations Mary Kusler, “the incredible legacy and vision of this current administration.” The vote marked the earliest endorsement in a presidential cycle in NEA history (a history that has been staunchly Democratic: The organization has never backed a Republican for president).
Glad to see the teachers are focused on America’s kids.