INTIMIDATION CHARGES LEVIED BY BOTH SIDES

Cape Girardeau Superintendent Neyland Clark believes a petition drive seeking his resignation is linked to National Education Association activity.

He also thinks that part of his woes have been created by an internal struggle by the district's two teacher groups: the small but vocal NEA, and the larger Missouri State Teachers Association.

But the two education organizations insist no rifts exist between the teacher groups.

Brenda Woemmel, last year's local NEA president, scoffs at the petition link.

"There is no evil empire here manipulating the Cape Girardeau public. This sounds like a man grasping at straws," Woemmel said. "We have asked some tough questions. He and the board don't like to be questioned, and I think the public's experience demonstrates that."

Some board members aren't so sure.

Lyle Davis said if NEA members didn't start the petition drive, they have spurred it on.

"The NEA has a real `let's get Neyland Clark focus,' not `let's air our concerns and work through our differences.'"

Davis said it seems the NEA is more interested in furthering a particular cause rather than furthering the district. He called the organization secretive and demanding.

But charges of intimidation have been levied by both sides.

While Clark says the NEA has practiced intimidation as a way to create conflict, Woemmel points her finger at those in charge. "Many people feel intimidated," she said. "They are afraid of the administration. We have had some people who joined NEA and then were harassed."

Neil Casey, last year's Community Teachers Association president, agreed that Clark's troubles have nothing to do with the teachers organizations. The CTA is the local chapter of the MSTA.

He says the groups went out of their way to work for teachers and not to have turf battles over organizational rivalries.

If anything, Casey said, the rift exists between the administration and teachers.

Casey said he witnessed Clark's discomfort when the NEA asked to see specifics of the superintendent's contract. Clark balked at the request initially, but then agreed after he set specific ground rules, Casey said.

"It was implied intimidation," Casey said. "Brenda Woemmel has been tough, but she's been very professional. She has asked tough questions, but they have been in private meetings, not done for showboating."

Part of the controversy centers on board member Steve Wright, whose wife Kathy is an active NEA member. She teaches at Central High, and several board members privately have called the connection a conflict of interest.

Wright denies any formal association with the NEA, and said he isn't sure what the NEA's agenda might be.

"Dr. Clark's problem is not the NEA. It's not the CTA. It's how he comes across to the community," he said.

Officials with the Missouri School Boards Association have told board vice president Kathy Swan that NEA staff members read local newspapers, hunting for conflicts. Finding one, the NEA moves in to establish a foothold.

She said that Amy Randol, spokesman for the group seeking Clark's resignation, has requested the same information and records that the local NEA has been requesting all year long.

But Randol said the petition effort isn't linked with the NEA, although she and the NEA are after the same information.

Clark's belief that the NEA is behind the conflict carries a lot weight with Swan. "He has been involved with the NEA in Kentucky," Swan said. "He has the experience of seeing the cards fall."

Clark also thinks it's more than happenstance that the concerns raised in the petition drive are identical to the local NEA agenda.

The local NEA formed shortly after Clark's arrival in Cape Girardeau, but NEA members said that was coincidental. "We were looking for a more effective organization," Woemmel said.

The NEA membership is 50. Most of the members are at the high school. That compares with 228 members of the MSTA. Some teachers have opted for no representation. Cape Girardeau employs about 330 teachers.

The school district administration has a count of NEA members, but is unable to get the names of NEA members who wish to remain anonymous.

While the teachers groups might be amenable, their philosophies are quite different.

MSTA is a professional teachers organization that opposes collective bargaining. NEA is a teachers union that embraces the practice.

Jo Peukert, incoming president of the CTA, said she would never again join the NEA. She said the NEA's approach to problem solving involves attacking people rather than the problem. And she doesn't like union tactics the NEA sometimes employs.

One Central High School teacher joined the NEA after tiring of incessant requests and lobbying by NEA members.

"I was not threatened or intimidated," said the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous. "They just kept saying that if I cared about education I would join. The reason I initially joined was to get some people off my back."

This teacher finds it hard to believe the NEA has played much of a role in Clark's troubles: "That's a cop out."

The teacher believes a core group of NEA members sets a negative tone for the local organization.

"The NEA is very militant, and I have yet to hear any NEA member say anything positive," said the teacher. "I need to be part of a positive group."

The teacher said Clark, as superintendent, should possess the skills to extricate himself from this situation. "We pay him enough. It's automatically assumed by us lowly teachers that he will know how to deal with this."

Tomorrow: Steve and Kathy Wright talk about school business. He serves on Cape Girardeau's school board. She teaches chemistry and is active in the local NEA.