Being president of a union, especially one in a "Right to Work" state feels like being a character in Upton Sinclair's famous novel. Idealism leads him/her to think that hard work, a just cause, and good communications will lead to justice. The apparent adversaries are not the real leaders of the community. Somewhere else there are shadowy enemies that are revealed only imperfectly and even then a person feels paranoid for even thinking about puppeteers. But as one wit mentioned, "Just because you're paranoid does not mean that people are not out to get you."
Bill Purcell had the power to remove Pedro Garcia the way that Karl Dean did. Both would deny that they play such a role, but it is clear in retrospect, the mayor's power. Plus, in conversations with school board members, there were hints in reverent tones of the Mayor's wishes. When Garcia claimed he was "going to war" with the MNEA in May of 2002, and said things to discourage teachers from joining, with the active support of the Tennessean editorial board, the "war" lasted only a few days. Purcell was the only person with the power to stop that attack so suddenly. For the rest of his term, Garcia tried to be somewhat conciliatory toward the MNEA. At least he did not say obviously destructive things, like "I never miss a chance to pound the MNEA," or "If test scores are up, our changes will get the credit. If test scores don't go up, the MNEA will get the blame."
At the same time, Purcell believed in the "Forbidden City" philosophy of government the way Bush-Cheney cut the information flow to national news media. Union leaders and other citizens were deprived of financial data that would allow them to question Purcell's budget priorities. Purcell was happy to see the MNEA too engrossed in other fights to give him any pressure on matters of teacher pay. He took credit for giving more money to the school system than any mayor in history. However, he told them not to spend it. And they didn't--until he himself took the money in the form of using the school surplus to finance the budget increase in 2004.
The other apparent opinion leaders were shadowy members of the Chamber of Commerce, working through their education committee. These people seemed to have an inordinate influence on the Nashville Scene, The Nashville City Paper, The Tennessean, and NashvillePost.com--probably because they spent far more than any labor organization on advertising. One can only surmise that Drew Ruble's thesis was true: that the business community encouraged Garcia to try to eliminate the power of the most powerful labor organization in Nashville. One comment by school board member Kathy Nevill reflected this traditional point of view: "If we increase teacher pay then I have to pay my beginning accountants more in my business."
One false issue was created for MNEA President Jamye Merritt to fight regarding teacher bonuses. The money was never given to the system. It was only "promised" with so many strings attached that few teachers would have gotten any money. But it was used as a wedge issue to try to convince teachers in some schools that the MNEA did not care about their pocketbook. Details here.
Aside from an early comment by Garcia that he was a Republican, it is hard to find any special treatment by Republicans themselves favoring Garcia. Of course, the natural Republican prejudice against organized labor would suggest that they were helpers of any attack on the MNEA. But it is hard to nail down any specific "bad turn" the Republicans did the MNEA during Garcia's years.