Let's take a look at Rod Paige's biography and see if he has any right to discuss the NEA and whether this one comment should condemn him:
It seems he was born into education since his parents were a principal and a librarian. He is the oldest of five children, all of whom have graduate degrees. He earned a bachelor's and then went on to earn a masters, and Phd in physical education.
He was a teacher, a coach, and eventually a school superintendent. He is the first local school superintendent to hold the US's top education position.
When Rod Paige first took the helm of the struggling Houston public schools seven years ago, Gayle Fallon, president of the local teachers' union, blasted him as "the most antiteacher superintendent we've had in the past decade."
By the end of Paige's tenure last month, however, Fallon was giving a far different testimonial. She gushed that Paige "will leave a better district than he came to" and that "he'll be a very effective Secretary of Education."
http://www.time.com/time/education/a...8013-1,00.html
Yep I can certainly see how this one statement should destroy the decades he has spent improving our nations education system.