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Hi Shannon — You can now donate! NEA is no longer paying to mail out flyers this year to all…
Hi Shannon — I’m not taking donations. I don’t have a team or staff and am doing this all online…
Where is your DONATION button??
Hi Alejandro — Thanks for the great question! Before getting into the details, I must say that I am not…
Mark Norberg 4 NEA Prez 
What are your plans to combat charter schools taking away funds from our public schools?
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Hi Alejandro —
Thanks for the great question! Before getting into the details, I must say that I am not opposed to PUBLIC charter schools run by teachers and accountable to school boards like any other school. Charter schools managed in this way could be wonderful laboratories for innovation. What I’m opposed to (and I presume what you are talking about as well) are privately managed charter schools. So, here are my thoughts:
1. As a national union, we must stop acting like just a division of the Democratic Party. A union’s true power is not working nicely within the establishment, but creating intense pressure OUTSIDE the system to advocate for what we want. Union membership has fallen from 30% of the workforce to just 10% — and the Dems have watched it happen. Same thing with the charter school movement. We need to be FAR more aggressive in pressuring our political leaders for what we want. But, that is going to take leadership — and members — not afraid to ruffle establishment feathers.
2. The best protection and regulation of charters would be at the federal level. Watch my video on an Education Bill of Rights. This is the centerpiece of my campaign and where I think we should be focusing our efforts. A ban on for-profit charters with very clear provisions on how public ones could be set up could easily be a part of our Ed Bill of Rights and a plank I think that would be extremely popular. Fighting to codify into Federal law our demands — not just about charter schools — is the most effective and efficient use of our time and resources, and a win at the federal level is the most secure.
3. Lastly, in the pursuit of taking on charter schools (and our agenda as a whole), I want to create a culture where action is seen as something we ALL must do, and where our leadership teams work to engage everyone in its approval and implementation.
What do YOU think? Do you agree or disagree with what I’ve said? My campaign is all about getting these kinds of conversations started.
Best,
Mark.
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Where is your DONATION button??
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Hi Shannon —
I’m not taking donations. I don’t have a team or staff and am doing this all online which is very inexpensive. Plus, teachers spend enough money on extra things as it is! If you want to support the campaign, the best thing you can do is just tell people about it, share my videos, and get people talking. Thank you for checking out my site!!
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Hi Shannon —
You can now donate! NEA is no longer paying to mail out flyers this year to all the delegates so I’ll have some unanticipated expenses. Any amount helps!
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Fantastic
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