At a meeting with the nation's governors last month, George W. Bush's Education Secretary, Rodney Paige, called the National Education Association (NEA) a "terrorist organization" because teachers have been decrying Bush's broken promises on his education reforms. And, as Robert Borosage and Earl Hadley explain in a new Nation Online article, after waves of criticism of Paige's comment forced the Secretary to "apologize," he then attacked teachers for using "obstructionist scare tactics."
In response, the Campaign for America's Future and MoveOn.org have joined together to launch a petition calling on the President to fire Paige. Click here to sign the petition, here to circulate the letter to friends, and here for background material explaining why Rod Paige is so poorly-qualified to run the nation's public school system.
Paige has said his comments derive from his concern about minority children being left behind. Were that the case though, he'd be picking his fight with the Bush Administration, which has called for cuts in education funding across the board for the next five years. But Paige isn't protecting children, he's protecting the President. Let's call him out.
Peter Rothberg
At a meeting with the nation’s governors last month, George W. Bush’s Education Secretary, Rodney Paige, called the National Education Association (NEA) a “terrorist organization” because teachers have been decrying Bush’s broken promises on his education reforms. And, as Robert Borosage and Earl Hadley explain in a new Nation Online article, after waves of criticism of Paige’s comment forced the Secretary to “apologize,” he then attacked teachers for using “obstructionist scare tactics.”
In response, the Campaign for America’s Future and MoveOn.org have joined together to launch a petition calling on the President to fire Paige. Click here to sign the petition, here to circulate the letter to friends, and here for background material explaining why Rod Paige is so poorly-qualified to run the nation’s public school system.
Paige has said his comments derive from his concern about minority children being left behind. Were that the case though, he’d be picking his fight with the Bush Administration, which has called for cuts in education funding across the board for the next five years. But Paige isn’t protecting children, he’s protecting the President. Let’s call him out.
Peter RothbergTwitterPeter Rothberg is the The Nation’s associate publisher.