NEA Republican Assembly Members Fear Retribution
Ian Tuttle relates the mood at the NEA Convention was not conducive to delegates out of lockstep with the NEA “Party Line”, in the National Review:
The event, which brought 9,000 teachers to the nation’s capital, featured “Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president,” according to the Associated Press, which described the meeting as showcasing “all the trappings of a re-election rally.” “You are our knight in shining armor,” read one inscription.
The pro-Obama hysteria also spilled into anti-Romney hostility: One teacher who expressed her support for the Republican candidate was booed off the stage, while several Republican teachers who spoke to the Associated Press refused to give their names because “they were so worried about retribution from their colleagues.” Another teacher complained of the harassment against teachers who refused to be “EFOs”: Educators for Obama.
Intimidation tactics are not confined to the trades unions.