NEA calls for Bush to fire education boss

By Ben Feller
The Associated Press

	Rod Paige
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

WASHINGTON — The National Education Association (NEA) asked President Bush yesterday to fire Education Secretary Rod Paige for calling the union a "terrorist organization."

The White House said Paige's job was safe.

Paige, who made his comment in a private meeting with governors Monday, apologized for his choice of words but maintained that the union uses "obstructionist scare tactics" in its fight over the nation's education law.

Reg Weaver, president of the union of 2.7 million teachers and other school workers, said yesterday that those members deserve more than "unfair labels and mean-spirited apologies."

"We have heard from thousands of educators who came home from their schools on Monday to hear themselves and their professional organization referred to as terrorists by the top federal education official," Weaver said.

"Our members say that, once again, this national leader has insulted them, this time beyond repair, with words filled with hatred — and merely because they raised legitimate concerns about the president's so-called No Child Left Behind law."

Diana Garchow, a special-education teacher at Highland Elementary School in Bakersfield, Calif., said: "It's scary that you can't voice an opinion in this country without being called a terrorist. ... I don't care if it was a joke or what it was, that was a totally inappropriate comment."

Weaver asked Bush "to express his regret to the nation's educators and demand that Secretary Paige step down."

Paige said he is not leaving.
 
"I have a job to do, and that is to make sure that we remain steadfast in our efforts to provide a quality education to all our children — every single one," Paige said.

Bush spokesman Trent Duffy said, "The president wants the secretary to do his job, which is to improve public education for America's schoolchildren."

Championed by Bush, the new education law calls for expanded standardized testing, top teachers in all core classes, school choices for many parents and several other reforms.

The NEA says it does not oppose the law but wants Congress to change some provisions. And it wants to recruit states to sue the Bush administration over a lack of funding for the law, a move Paige has equated to assembling a "coalition of the whining to hold kids back."

Included in the 100-word statement that his staff characterized as an apology was Paige's assertion that "the NEA's high-priced Washington lobbyists have made no secret that they will fight against bringing real, rock-solid improvements in the way we educate our children regardless of skin color, accent or where they live."

At least two Democratic lawmakers, Reps. Jim McDermott, of Washington, and Betty McCollum, of Minnesota, called for Paige to resign or be removed from his job.

But otherwise, Paige's comments did not seem to cause immediate fallout on Capitol Hill.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company