NEA Rejects Competition

Published October 1, 1997

Among the resolutions passed at the National Education Association’s annual convention in July were these:

A-1. Public Education. “The Association believes that its members should support public education by sending their children to public educational institutions.”

A-26. Deleterious Programs. “The National Education Association believes that the following programs and practices are detrimental to public education and must be eliminated: privatization, performance contracting, tax credits for tuition to private and parochial schools, voucher plans (or funding formulas that have the same effect as vouchers), planned program budgeting systems (PPBS), and evaluations by private, profit-making groups.”

A-28. Voucher Plans and Tuition Tax Credits.“The National Education Association believes that voucher plans and tuition tax credits or funding formulas that have the same effect under which pre-K through 12 nonpublic school education is subsidized by tax monies–undermine public education, reduce the support needed to adequately fund public education, and have the potential for racial, economic, and social segregation of children. The Association opposes all attempts to establish and implement such plans.”

B-63. Home Schooling. “The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience, the Association believes that if parental preference home schooling study occurs, students enrolled must meet all state requirements. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used. The Association further believes that such home schooling programs should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents.”

D-18 Competency Testing and Evaluation.“The National Education Association believes that competency testing must not be used as a condition of employment, license retention, evaluation, placement, ranking, or promotion of licensed teachers.”