‘Let’s make sure that Education
votes in 2008!’
 As
I write this article, I’m sitting in a hotel room in
Washington DC, watching the “Super Tuesday” election
results. I attempt to focus and type a few words, but I am
having trouble breaking the grasp of the media’s streaming
“winners and losers” projections.
I know that the excitement and apprehension I am feeling
tonight pales to what I’ll feel on the evening of Tuesday,
Nov. 4, when the leadership of our country, our state and
many of our Congressional districts will be determined.
The November 2008 election will be one of the most critical
in recent history with regard to the welfare of our members,
our students and our public schools. Our next president will
lead the nation in determining the fate of the No Child Left
Behind legislation. Our newly elected and re-elected legislators
will make crucial decisions that will impact fair taxation,
school funding, stronger accountability, higher education
and collective bargaining for public employees. Our next governor
will not only be in the formidable position of leading a state
that is diverse ideologically, economically and politically,
but he or she will have the authority, as well as the responsibility,
to veto any legislation that does not appear to be in the
best interest of the people of Missouri.
What are the recommendations of Missouri NEA and NEA with
regard to the upcoming elections?
Last spring, MNEA members made the decision to recommend
Jay Nixon for governor.
In January, our MNEA PAC made the decision to recommend “friendly
incumbents” for the Missouri House and Senate—candidates
who have demonstrated their support for public schools and
public school employees.
The NEA Representative Assembly delegates will make a decision
as to which presidential candidate the Association will support
at the meeting in Washington DC in July.
If there’s a question that I’ve been asked more
than any other, it’s been, “How do NEA and MNEA
decide which candidate to recommend?” It’s an
important question, and the answer is clear—In our association,
decisions to recommend are made only after careful consideration
of candidates’ responses to questionnaires, candidate
interviews and a vote by a representative body. In all cases,
the candidates we recommend have a record of working for children
and our schools by strengthening public education, ensuring
children’s health and safety, maximizing student learning
and respecting school employees.
We all have issues that are personally important to us—issues
that might compete as we make a decision about which candidate
to support. I hope public education will be one of your “litmus
test” issues. Our association has examined the issues
surrounding support for public education closely to see how
candidates “measure up,” and we hope that you
will avail yourself of the resources we make available to
our members.
If you have questions about our candidates or our process
of deciding which candidates to support, please don’t
hesitate to contact me at Chris.Guinther@mnea.org,
your Board of Directors members or your PAC Executive Council
members. Our organization prides itself on member involvement
in these important decisions.
So where should we focus our political attention from now
until Election Day? Although Nov. 4 seems distant, each of
us has a responsibility to ourselves, our families, our neighbors,
our profession and our country to learn as much as we can
about the candidates in the months ahead—so we are in
a position to make considered and informed choices when we
go to the polls. Let’s make sure that Education votes
in 2008!
by Chris
Guinther
MNEA president
sb,
spring '08
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