WHO'S AN EXTREMIST
           (From 5/20/1997 Wall Street Journal,
                  Electronic Edition)

When one thinks of hotbeds of radical political activity,
the Albany-Schenectady area of New York does not immediate-
ly spring to mind.  Yet political extremism is on the rise
there, according to the Upstate New York Coalition for 
Democracy.  Twenty-one local labor, civil rights and public	     1
interest organizations formed an alliance to put an end to
this blight on the community.  They group "is dedicated to
upholding democracy and the constitutional rights of all
people" and is also "committed to supporting and promoting
diversity and mutual respect."

The first task to fulfill this mission was to survey the mem-
bers to determine where and how the extremists operate.  
The survey asked coalition officials to report on the local         2
activities of the Aryan Nation, Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and 
militia groups.

But there's something funny about the seven-page survey.  
There are no questions about swastikas, cross burnings, racial 
incidents, hate crimes or weapons stashes.  Instead, there 
are a slew of questions that could be associated with the 
activities of the other "Radical Right" organizations listed--
Citizens for Excellence in Education, Focus of the Family,          3
Concerned Women for America, National Association of Christian 
Educators and a host of other mainstream conservative organiza-
tions.  The survey even mentions that dreaded category of extre-
mist groups "Taxpayers' Association: (list specific name)."

The Coalition for Democracy's member organizations cover a 
wide variety of issues.  There's the Albany County Rape Crisis 
Center, the YWCA of Schenectady, New York State Alliance for 
Arts Education, and local affiliates of Planned Parenthood,        4
the Anti-Defamation League, the Humanist Society and People 
for the American Way.  But the coalition's concerns seem to 
exclusively reflect those of one type of organization--
teacher's unions.

New York State United Teachers, the state affiliate of the 
United Federation of Teachers, provides a headquarters for 
the coalition.  The New York state affiliate of the National       5
Education Association is also a coalition member.

Most conservative organizations--and teachers--are unaware 
that the AFT and NEA give hundreds of thousands of dollars 
each year to monitor "extremist activities."  The NEA Human
and Civil Rights Division produces "Extremism Watch," a per-
iodic report for the board of directors.  Under "Regional Ex-     6
tremist Activities," NEA lists every voucher bill proposed in 
every state, plus tuition tax credit legislation.  Under the
heading "Strategic Accociation Responses to Extremism," NEA
noted the work of one local affiliate that protested an un-
favorable story in U.S. News & World Report.