Honor our teachers

Four of my children were educated K-12 in School District 271, attending Winton Elementary, Lakes Middle School, and Lake City High. All graduated with honors, and by this time next year, will have attained one master's, two bachelor's degrees, and the fourth will be well on the way to an associate's degree.

I speak to the current labor legislation being considered in the Senate and House Education Committees. These are largely the same Proposition One laws brought forth last year as "Students Come First," also known as the "Luna Laws." The voters of Idaho soundly rejected all portions of Proposition One in the November general, yet here they are again. Rather than discuss the bills individually, most of which I believe are crafted to balance underfunded school budgets on the backs of educators, I wish to take another tack.

George Patton said, "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men." General Patton, looking at the lackluster state of education in Idaho, might say, "Learning may occur in the classroom, but the hearts and minds of our youth are won by educators."

It is a sad period in Idaho's history when legislative committees appear to be more focused on taking workplace protections away from educators rather than aggressively pursuing new revenue streams. Revenue, not austerity, is what is needed to pull Idaho out of the cellar in average per-pupil spending, salary of classroom teachers, college enrollment after high school, college graduation rate, attainment of BA degree, and attainment of an advanced degree.

Public service health is often measured in morale, and by all accounts, morale among Idaho educators is dismal. A clear demonstration of this is the "undercurrent of despair" uncovered by the Legislature's own Office of Performance Evaluations, which the Joint Senate and House Education committees seem willing to dismiss and ignore.

I recently asked my children to recall their favorite teachers; ones that they thought made a difference in their education. They responded not only with teachers, but also a principal and two bus drivers. I list the cited names so you understand that these are or were dedicated, committed, bright, engaged people, with human needs just like yours and mine, not widgets to be pushed around in a line item budget. Several of the people listed are deceased. May they rest in peace, they also are remembered and appreciated.

Winton Elementary

Bridget Hill

Cathy Thompson

Mary Jo Welch

Julie Johnson

Donna Grabenstein

Mamie Geib

Pat Jonas

Lakes Middle School

Don Jasper

Jeri Fisher

Jim Gray

Bob Brun

Lake City High School

Lacy Hedahl

John MacPhee

Donna Messenger

Mike Clabby

Eric Edmonds

Kara Smith

Sandra Seaton

Terry Peters

Van Troxel

Bev Chambers

Bus drivers George Morgan (Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird fastest man alive 28 July 1976) and Teddy Baca.

These and many other District 271 employees did then and continue now to hold the highest standards for educating and protecting our children. Why would we not honor and protect them with the same high standard?

Under the present and projected circumstances, what young educator would want to come to Idaho to teach, let alone feel secure enough to sign a mortgage? What young family would want to locate here in order to get a good education for their children? What will you tell the retailers in Coeur d'Alene when you take away money those educators would have spent in their stores? Will you preside over the dismantling of education in Idaho?

Let me be clear, we did not like Prop 1 then, and we don't want it now. Take us out of the education basement, but not at the expense of our most valuable resource, our educators.

Idaho's Rankings out of 50 states as of January 2012

Average per-pupil spending: 49

Salary of classroom teachers: 42

College enrollment after HS: 47

College graduation rates: 44

Attainment of BA degree (age 25 or older): 40

Attainment of advanced degree: 42

(From the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau)

Ben Theard has been a Coeur d'Alene resident since 1990. He's a retired firefighter, proud father and husband.