At the Representative Assembly of MNEA in October, John Summers gave a rousing speech to the assembled teachers. It was meant to be a "tough love" approach and he reported things that were difficult to hear. He first thanked the MNEA-PACE for the significant financial contribution to his election campaign, but then followed up by saying only one teacher, Tom Cash, was readily available to help him with the daily work. Indeed that one teacher was the only one he saw.
The MNEA is politically ineffective, he concluded. And that is the reason we are kicked around by the power structure. This same theory has been advanced nationally by Andrew Stern, the President of the SEIU. Stern claims that, "Giving money is the easiest part of politics. We need to have our members on the ground doing the daily work of electing our friends." Bold words -- and true. The problem is, many people have said the same thing, and tried the same thing before.
So where will John Summers and our other friends go? MNEA is still the best game in town, even with our imperfections. We were the first to jump to endorse Bill Purcell for mayor and other powerful interests soon followed. We successfully helped an overwhelming majority of the council persons be elected in 1999 -- the most progressive in the history of Metro. Even without the human numbers, our reputation and insight is valued by most candidates for any office.
Then what was the reward? Bill Purcell was most interested in bricks, mortar, and roofing. His only opinion on compensation was that the school board should hold it back. The large amounts of money given to the schools by the Mayor and council went almost entirely to construction or empire building in central office. So in the election of 2003 leaders did indeed have great difficulty in motivating teachers to be involved.
So what is left for progressive politicians in Nashville? Do they really want to diminish the MNEA, the strongest labor organization in the city? What would they do for support then? Money would be the only thing left -- just as in most state and national elections. The simple fact is the politicians are always looking for a crowd. Who else, besides certain churches, can turn out an audience for a political speech? Apathy is a strong enemy of all organizations today.
All potential leaders are trying to find groups, and leaders of groups, that can move people. If progressive politics is to survive in Nashville, the civic leaders must encourage the groups like MNEA to survive and thrive. Without labor, MNEA included, progressive politics is dead.