Jackson Free Press

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said this morning that he has not changed his mind on what he considers the negative impact of teacher's unions like the National Education Association.

"They've gone too far," said Paige, author of "The War Against Hope: How Teachers' Unions Hurt Children, Hinder Teachers and Endanger Public Education."

"I'm not saying that unions are a bad idea," he continued. "We appreciate unions because unions have done a lot of good. There are unions that have done great things for the advancement of African-Americans. Our middle class may exist because of unions more than any other economic circumstances in the United States. But when it comes to schools, we've become over-unionized."

Paige served as secretary of education under President George W. Bush and was the keynote speaker during Jackson Public School's Summer Leadership Institute at Jackson State University's e-Center.

He challenged JPS teachers and administrators to work harder to teach children the benefits of education, and the importance of making good grades and learning.
In 2004, Paige referred to the National Education Association as "a terrorist organization," during a speech to several state governors. He said today that his opinion of unions was mischaracterized.

"Unions go to boards and ask for better pay, and when the boards can't come up with more money what they do, in many cases, is give the unions more control over the teaching environment. That's accumulated over the years to the point now where some school districts are just choked by union rules and regulations, especially in the eastern part of the United States," Paige said.

Kevin Gilbert, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators, said Paige's description does not describe the MAE presence in Mississippi, since MAE does not engage in collective bargaining. Gilbert added that Paige is also leaving out the union's role in teacher education.

"We hold workshops and training for our members. We have about 8,000 members across the state, and our members are highly educated and trained," Gilbert said. "I'm not a terrorist. As president of MAE, I come out of the classroom, I come out of the school system, and I care for each and every one of those students. Anybody is entitled to their opinion, but there's more to the story that he's not telling."

In 2004, the NEA criticized Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program, arguing that the law imposed new test-certified requirements and penalized schools showing no improvement through test scores, but also provided inadequate federal funding to help teachers raise test scores to an acceptable level.

Paige admitted this morning, however, that funding is an aspect of No Child Left Behind that he would have improved.

"I would have improved upon a lot of areas (regarding NCLB)," Paige said. "I would put more resources behind the support of teacher training. The bottom line is that no matter what the policy addresses, the real core of the matter will come down to the teacher and the student. And when I said resources, I mean money--and other kinds of support as well. Provide the teachers and the schools with strong support in terms of the kind of teaching and training they need, and making sure children are prepared for learning when they come to school."

CLARIFICATION 7/19/10: In stating that his opinion was mischaracterized, Paige was referring to teacher's unions in general, not his statement that the NAE was a "terrorist organization."