To prepare for their role in the upcoming election, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) sent out a survey to find out what their members want from their ideal future governor. Well, maybe we should say CEA’s ideal governor, as the survey questions featured an unabashed favoritism of anti-reform measures and a lack of alternatives for those who want to express their support of reforms, as shown below:

In this survey, there is no option for those who support anything the union opposes. The questions are loaded to skew the responses in a single direction; even if one tried to mark “other,” the survey mandates two responses per question, forcing the answerer to agree with at least something that the union desires. Any educator not in complete compliance with the CEA will have a hard time taking this survey without sacrificing their values, that is of course considering that they don’t want the CEA to define their values for them.

This poll will give way to nothing but a confirmation bias for the union, and is blatantly unmindful of Colorado’s educators who support education reform and see the positive influence various reforms have made such as charter schools. It’s equivalent to asking “what’s your favorite color?” and having the options to answer be “blue, indigo, azure, and navy.” What valuable information does CEA think it could gain from such a survey, I have no idea. I know that my teacher is smart. She doesn’t need the union to think or speak for her. If you are a teacher reading my blog please take a look at IndependentTeachers.org. If you want to join a professional organization that treats teachers as professionals take a look at  Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE).