On April 1, President of the NEA Dennis Van Roekel issued the following public statement in support of those victims of right-wing abuse of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
“The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should not be used to intimidate or promote political agendas. These fishing expeditions create a climate that chills academic inquiry and threatens academic freedom. How is our society served by putting tape over the mouths of the very people who ensure an open dialogue? Higher education faculty members have the First Amendment right to speak out on matters of public concern, and that includes voicing their opinions about political activities and pending legislation. Everyone benefits when scholars explore ideas, find facts and discuss different points of view.
“The preservation of free speech and academic freedom is also supported by the courts. The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that the personal emails of school employees are not subject to disclosure under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Just last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reached the same conclusion in a similar FOIA case.
“FOIA undeniably plays a critical role in our system of checks, balances and accountability. With that in mind, the public must also hold politicians accountable for wasting valuable time that should be spent getting budgets back in the black, creating jobs and improving schools. It’s time to stop making politically motivated, burdensome requests and instead focus on the priorities that are important to working families.”
A month ago, when the rabidly anti-union Michigan based Education Action Group went after my emails using an Illinois FOIA statute, I received the following:
If and when an adverse employment action were threatened or taken against you by your district, an IEA attorney would work directly with you and Oliver. Any member who has their their employment status challenged by a parent, board member, community gadfly, outside agitator etc is given all appropriate assistance REGARDLESS of whatever personal opinions they espouse. This is a longstanding IEA practice. Like any other member, your conduit to services are through your UD. Oliver is ready to respond in his usual high quality manner.
Ken Swanson and Audrey Soglin
No public statement of support was ever offered or given by the leaders of the IEA, even though the reason for the FOIA request was my union activity. I was simply told who my “conduit to services” was.
Fred Klonsky 
That is because Ken sucks, but I am sure Cinda will be much better.