Researcher Suspects NEA's Contrary Reactions to School Safety Reports
by Jim Brown
July 9, 2004
(AgapePress) - An ex-homosexual researcher is criticizing the National Education Association (NEA) for its conflicting reactions to two reports that debunk the union's contention that U.S. public schools are among the safest places for children to be.
Last week the Department of Education (DOE) released a report stating that nearly 10 percent of students have been victimized by educator sexual misconduct. Also recently, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educator's Network (GLSEN) unveiled a report that gave 42 states a failing grade on their policies designed to ensure the safety of all students.
Dr. Warren Throckmorton, director of college counseling at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, notes that the NEA took umbrage with the DOE's findings, dismissing the sexual misconduct report as "unreliable" and claiming the vast majority of America's public schools are safe.
However, Throckmorton notes, the NEA apparently did not care that the GLSEN report painted an even darker picture of school safety than the federal government did. Instead, the powerful union chose virtually to ignore the negative findings of the pro-homosexual educators group.
The academic counseling director says after responding in a manner that was "very defensive and almost hostile" to the Education Department's findings concerning sexual abuse, the National Education Association had "no comment" concerning the homosexual advocacy group's report on the widespread lack of safety in America's schools.
Throckmorton believes a simple explanation exists for the NEA's apparent double standard. "The National Education Association does have a very close tie to GLSEN," he says, "and I think that's probably why they didn't criticize that report. At the same time the NEA has been very critical of the DOE's program called 'No Child Left Behind.'"
Notably, the No Child Left Behind Act is the same law that required the study of sexual misconduct in schools that the NEA is now discounting.
