REFORM: Respect the voters' 'no'

The current legislature has created a climate so hostile to education, if they were to institute a teacher of the month program, the recipient’s face would appear on a wanted poster. The voters went to the polls last November to soundly defeat the so-called education reform bills, Props 1, 2, and 3. Rather than be respectful of the democratic process by which these measures were repealed, legislators immediately began grousing about the outcome and vowing to continue their fight to make these bills law. The people have said no. They have rejected this set of ideas.

Instead of responding to the voter’s clear directive, Senate committee chairman Goedde is now trying to repackage the same dross. And the lawmakers say our kids aren’t learning as they should. The voters gave you an “F.” You and Luna and Otter and everyone who backed these bills failed. You can’t change an “F” to an “A.” Idaho voters are smarter than that. They were smart enough to see that Props 1, 2, and 3 were a poison pill for public education in our state.

How can we seek to improve education by undermining teachers? The new set of bills, which I just read about in last Tuesday’s paper, seek to curtail teacher’s collective bargaining rights, to bully them into breaking their union affiliation, to allow school boards the authority to lower teacher’s wages, and to “set limits and criteria for any job related appeal made by a teacher.” It sounds like the perfect formula to run our schools into the ground.

Idaho does not exist in a vacuum. If we want our kids to perform on par with kids from other states, our schools must be funded and maintained as they are in other places, and teachers need to be compensated, granted the same rights, and shown the same respect they generally receive anywhere else in America. Without these things, the most talented teachers will pack up and go. It is just stupid to expect them to stick around and be treated like crap when other opportunities are available.

In his State of the State address, Gov. Otter outlined his plan to rescind the personal property tax on businesses. This tax brings in $141 million annually, much of which is used to fund our schools. He suggested the budgetary shortfalls could be made up by local taxes and levies. It sounds like our state wants to wiggle out of funding our schools any way it can. Maybe the next time Otter strums a tune on his guitar to entertain children in the classroom, he can yodel a country honk rendition of “We Don’t Need No Education.”

RUSS FAHLGREN

Worley