PROPS: Opponents are out-of-staters

Voters of Idaho have an important decision regarding the future of our K-12 education system come this November. Decent people on both sides of the issue are making their case, pro or con, on Propositions 1, 2 and 3.

I was alarmed, however, reading an article in the Coeur d’Alene Press on the fundraising efforts by the supporters and opponents of the reform initiatives. Opponents have outraised supporters $1.3 million to $165,000. What caught my eye is the National Education Association (NEA), a union group based in Washington, D.C., contributed $1.1 million of the $1.3 million opposing the initiatives. It concerns me that an out-of-state, special interest group is pouring an enormous amount of money to influence the outcome of a vote involving the citizens of the state of Idaho.

MIKE THOMPSON

Hayden