The most vocal opponents of President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education (DoED) and reassign its functions to the states came from the two major labor unions that service educators, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). For the past forty-five years, the larger union of the two, the NEA, has worked closely with the DoED, not to help students academically, but to lobby for teachers and the NEA’s liberal agenda.

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The warning issued by Intercessors for America in their October 1, 1979, newsletter became a reality with the warning that the merger of the two powerful institutions would give the NEA its own branch of the federal government from which it could dictate federal education policy and lobby for more tax support. By that time, the melding of the NEA and the DEoE had solidified.

Within weeks of President Carter’s creating the U.S. Department of Education (DoED) on October 17, 1979,  the newly appointed Secretary of Education Shirley Hufstedler, a prominent California lawyer, met with officials from the National Education Association (NEA). Together they created a powerful bond that over the next forty-five years revolutionized American education from classroom teaching based on Biblical principles to education based on teaching progressive ideas based on Marxism.

As intercessors, we have another opportunity to believe God for the influence of the NEA to be broken over education in America and the power they once had in creating policy for our nation’s students. Without the federal help the NEA has enjoyed thus far, they will likely lose their membership, which will severely hinder their influence in education.

The mission of the NEA and the AFT, at this point, is to persuade the public of their usefulness and their concern for the academic welfare of the 49.5 million students who attend America’s 100,000 public schools. Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, issued a scathing press release declaring, “Gutting the Department of Education will send class sizes soaring, cut job training programs…take away special education services…”  The president of the AFT, Randi Weingarten, shouted, “See you in court.” Later she said, “I’m so mad, I’m spitting mad about this, because it’s hurting the people who can’t vote, children don’t vote!”

Terry Moe, in his book, Special Interest: Teacher’s Unions and America’s Public Schools, states, “As the most powerful groups in American education, they use their power to promote these special interests – in collective bargaining, in politics- and this often leads them to do things that are not good for children or for schools.

The largest union is the NEA. In 2022, the NEA collected $375 million in annual dues. The bulk of their spending went to groups or organizations to lobby for ballot measures and legislative actions.

Their outcry of opposition could be the exposure the public needs to raise an awareness of the liberal policies that undermined academics while promoting an immoral social agenda. They ruled as lords over education while they turned a deaf ear to public cries. Why? Because academics are not, nor have they ever been, a concern for the NEA and the AFT. Since their inception, unions have made their priorities clear. They do not concern themselves with academics.

At this moment, intercessors have a unique opportunity to reverse the curse that, for decades, has held power over the hearts and minds of our children and fed them false doctrines filled with perversion.

Pray:

1. Lord, we ask You to establish righteousness in our students. Let Your ways be known to our youth so they can excel in wisdom and knowledge.
2. Lord, we pray for your deliverance from the hands of the enemy that has held our students captive. You surround us with songs of deliverance so our students can learn truth and walk in Your way.
3. Lord, we pray that the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus will set the students in our schools free.

Add your own prayers in the comments below.

Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools,  Safety Zone: Scriptural Prayers to Revolutionize Your School, and Decrees for Your School. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. For additional information go to: takingthemountainofeducation.com. Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok.