October 25, 2008
SIOUX FALLS -- A retired public school teacher and other supporters of Initiated Measure 10 Saturday rallied at the headquarters of the National Education Association's local affiliate in Sioux Falls to condemn NEA union officials' $1.1 million donation to the committee opposing Initiated Measure 10.
Supporters said opponents' "big lie" campaign has been almost entirely funded by the single $1.1 million contribution from the liberal mega-teachers' union headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Carolyn Anderson, a retired South Dakota educator, slammed NEA union officials for their involvement in the opposition to Initiated Measure 10.
“I was a teacher here in South Dakota for 22 years, and I was a member of the NEA. I am shocked and saddened that NEA officials would spend so much money perpetuating a lie about Initiated Measure 10.” said Anderson. “They should be putting that money into improving classrooms by helping educators better reach their students. Instead, NEA officials seem to concentrate on issues outside the classroom; issues that are often against South Dakota values.”
The official ballot description of Measure 10 authored by the Secretary of State reads as follows: “An initiative to prohibit tax revenues from being used for lobbying or campaigning, to prohibit governmental bodies from lobbying, to prohibit government contractors from making campaign contributions, to prohibit government contracts when the contractor employs a legislator or legislative staff member, and to require contracts with government contractors to be published.”
Dena Espenscheid of South Dakotans for Open and Clean Government, the group supporting a 'yes' vote on the proposal, said "the 'No Truth' committee's big lie campaign against Measure 10 has been almost entirely funded by powerful, ultra-liberal out-of-state union bosses whose left-wing political agenda is hostile to the values of South Dakotans."
"As with all other lobbying groups' opposition to this common sense reform, it's all driven by financial self-interest and money, our money." Espenscheid said. "Left-wing NEA union bosses want South Dakota taxpayers to continue being forced to pay for collecting and funneling union dues into the NEA's coffers, an abuse of our tax dollars that voting yes on Measure 10 will end."
Currently, the University of South Dakota system and local school districts withhold NEA union dues from teachers' paychecks at taxpayers' expense, then forward the dues money to union officials. The bulk of the money collected at taxpayers' expense goes to national union officials in Washington, who use the union's funds to lobby its liberal political agenda in Congress, including support for gun control and higher taxes.
Measure 10 would prohibit the use of tax dollars to collect union dues, requiring NEA and AFL-CIO union officials to use their own funds to collect membership dues, as all other private organizations must do.
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