The board of directors for the Illinois Education Association (IEA) is officially on record in support of the Occupy movement.
A resolution calling for the IEA Board of Directors to “…endorse the efforts of the Occupy Wall Street movement” was passed on a voice vote during the board’s November meeting.
The motion to pass a resolution of support was introduced by Suburban Higher Education representative Beverly Stewart and seconded by NEA Director Terrie Tudor.
The non-partisan Occupy movement formed during the summer, beginning with the occupation of New York’s Wall Street district. Since then, there have been Occupy events and demonstrations in cities around the nation and the world.
“The Occupy movement’s goals of economic equality and justice clearly align with the goals of IEA and our 132,000 members,” said IEA President Cinda Klickna.
Read news coverage about the Occupy movement.
Illinois Education Association is an association of more than 130,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.
Really? Crimes such as battery, sexual assault, and theft have been reported at several occupy encampments. Hundreds have been arrested for civil disobedience and unlawful assembly. So the IEA-NEA endorses criminal behavior?
Not all laws are moral. So to endorse a movement standing for the right to assembly and fair and equitable sharing of the burden of a free society in my mind is the moral thing to do.
As a retired teacher, life member of NEA, and retired member of IEA, I strongly support the IEA Board of Director’s endorsement of the Occupy Movement’s goals! It’s time that the middle class is heard loudly and clearly regarding the income disparity between the one percent and the ninety-nine percent and the little or no taxes the rich pay for the privilege of living in this great nation! All one needs to do is read about the greed on Wall Street and you recognize what the Bush tax cuts have done to our economy! We have lived through the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the era of the rise of the Ayn Rand greed-is-good philosophy; it’s time to speak out again about middle class values and fairness within the system. Corporations are NOT people, but they will do their best to control people! Our public education system is threatened by education profiteers who would replace teachers with computers and make the bottom line how much they profit, not how well they educate. Public employee organizations across the nation, organizations which represent the middle class, must join with others who are speaking out against injustice and greed! Right on, IEA!
This movement has nothing to do with educating the K-12 and college students in Illinois. This is the kind of political gamesmanship that costs the IEA members who are moderate to conservative in their ideology. The IEA should have never have endorsed this movement without first determining whether or not this endorsement represented the view of the dues-paying members.
If corporations do not pay taxes (and they don’t) and if the wealthy don’t pay on any more than $250,000 dollars of their taxes, and there are not enough funds to pay for public education, then this has everything to do with all students in Illinois and in the United States because they will not be receiving an adequate education.
I agree with Rob. Even if everyone agreed with the concept and issues that the Occupy Movement is promoting, their conduct during these protests have tarnished their ability to be convincing messengers to the public. Peaceful protest does not include the destruction of property.