The National Education Association was branded not only an enemy, but a “terrorist organization” by Secretary of Education Rod Paige Monday. While Paige later apologized for the wording of his comment, he did not retract the critique on the union. The wording of his comment was clearly an unfortunate slip, but the harsh nature of his statement against one of the largest teachers union in the country demonstrates a blatant disregard for any attempt to compromise for the sake of students. The statement also demonstrates complete contempt teachers just because they have stood up against Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act.
The Bush administration has taken an extremely confrontational approach throughout its term in the White House and Paige’s comment is just the tip of the iceberg. It should come as no surprise that the NEA – an outspoken opponent of Bush’s educational policies – was called a “terrorist organization,” grouped in with every other “enemy” of the administration. Anyone who disagrees with the way Bush has run his presidency is deemed an enemy.
Problems with education cannot be fixed overnight. They will take a long-term commitment and a willingness to compromise if anyone wants to achieve anything. If one side is verbally attacking the other side, it will be next to impossible to accomplish anything – especially if the person making such attacks is one of the top-ranking education officials. Public relations were created for a reason and Paige needs to take a course or two before shooting off his mouth again – especially in front an audience as diverse as a gathering of the nation’s governors where both political parties were represented. One must question what he would have said in the company of friends and friends alone.
While this may appear to some as just a slip of the tongue, it should come as no surprise that such a blatant attack, and the words chosen, come from a member of the Bush administration. The “us vs. them” mentality in the current administration – the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” idea that has led to refusals to compromise on certain issues and blockades for the possibility of finding the middle ground (see several of Bush’s nominees to federal courts and issues like gay marriage). And with this type of leadership and negative attitude, it will be nearly impossible to make the positive and productive changes the country’s public education system clearly needs.
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