Paige Apologizes for Teachers Union Quip
By ROBERT TANNER
The Associated Press
Monday, February
23, 2004; 8:50 PM
WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest
teachers union a "terrorist organization" Monday, taking on the
2.7-million-member National Education Association early in the presidential
election year. Paige's comments, made to the nation's governors at a private White House
meeting, were denounced by union president Reg Weaver as well as prominent
Democrats. Paige said he was sorry, and the White House said he was right to say
so. The education secretary's words were "pathetic and they are not a laughing
matter," said Weaver, whose union has said it plans to sue the Bush
administration over lack of funding for demands included in the "No Child Left
Behind" schools law. Paige said later in an Associated Press interview that his comment was "a bad
joke; it was an inappropriate choice of words." President Bush was not present
at the time he made the remark. "As one who grew up on the receiving end of insensitive remarks, I should
have chosen my words better," said Paige, the first black education
secretary. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin said Paige's words were, "The NEA is a
terrorist organization." Paige said he had made clear to the governors that he was referring to the
Washington-based union organization, not the teachers it represents. Weaver responded, "We are the teachers, there is no distinction." Paige's Education Department is working to enforce a law that amounts to the
biggest change in federal education policy in a generation. He has made no
attempt to hide his frustration with the NEA, which has long supported
Democratic presidential candidates. Asked if he was apologizing, Paige said: "Well, I'm saying that I'm sorry I
said it, yeah." In a statement released to the media, Paige said he chose the
wrong words to describe "the obstructionist scare tactics" of NEA lobbyists. Said White House spokesman Scott McClellan: "The comment was inappropriate
and the secretary recognized it was inappropriate and quickly apologized." Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, put it in
stronger terms, accusing Paige of resorting "to the most vile and disgusting
form of hate speech, comparing those who teach America's children to
terrorists." Education has been a top issue for the governors, who have sought more
flexibility from the administration on Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law, which
seeks to improve school performance in part by allowing parents to move their
children from poorly performing schools. Democrats have said Bush has failed to fully fund the law, giving the states
greater burdens but not the resources to handle them. The union backs the intent
of the law but says many of its provisions must be changed. The NEA spends roughly $1 million a year lobbying in Washington. It is also a
big political donor, mostly to Democrats. In the last presidential election cycle, 1999-2000, NEA and its political
action committee donated $3.1 million to federal candidates and national party
committees, with about $9 of every $10 going to Democrats. At that time,
national party committees were allowed to raise union donations, part of the
so-called soft money that they are now barred from accepting. Missouri Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, said Paige's remarks startled the
governors, who met for nearly two hours with Bush and several Cabinet
officials. "He is, I guess, very concerned about anybody that questions what the
president is doing," Holden said. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, said, "Somebody asked him about the
NEA's role and he offered his perspective on it." Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, a Democrat, said the comments were made
in the context of "we can't be supportive of the status quo and they're the
status quo. But whatever the context, it is inappropriate - I know he wasn't
calling teachers terrorists - but to even suggest that the organization they
belong to was a terrorist organization is uncalled for." Paige, in an interview, talked at length about his agency's efforts to work
with states over their concerns with the law. He said meetings with state
leaders have erased misunderstandings and a tone of confrontation. But he said some opposition to the law has been stirred by at least three
groups that are "hard nosed, highly financed and well organized." Asked to name
the groups other than the NEA, Paige declined, saying: "I've already got into
deep water with that one, haven't I?" The governors were in Washington for four days of discussions at the annual
meeting of the National Governors Association, though the usual effort to build
consensus was marked by partisan politics that Democrats said couldn't be
avoided. In brief public comments, Bush told the governors that rising political
tensions of an election year won't stop him from working closely with them. "I fully understand it's going to be the year of the sharp elbow and the
quick tongue," Bush said. "But surely we can shuffle that aside sometimes and
focus on our people." --- AP Education Writer Ben Feller and AP Political Writer Ron Fournier
contributed to this report.
