There's wailing behind the woodshed, all right

Here’s a question for members of the Idaho House Education Committee:

What are you doing to be as knowledgeable about public education issues as possible?

It is not a trick question. The public should know how thoroughly members of the committee research the data and reasoning behind issues that come before them; what regular interaction committee members have with educators; how much time and in what ways they engage with students in K-12 schools.

The question is logical in the wake of a disheartening exchange last week when Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra and her staff presented a $1 million request for committee support. The funding, sought by Gov. Brad Little on the strong recommendation of his “Our Kids, Idaho’s Future” task force, would train teachers to better identify and help students who are struggling with challenges including drug abuse, violence, horrible home lives and suicidal thoughts.

Our guess for at least some of the committee members is this: They’re clueless. They have no conception of what today’s teachers, administrators and students are dealing with. They see serious mental health issues among the kids as somebody else’s problem, perhaps something that could be remedied by parents willing to take those kids “behind the woodshed.”

That, in fact, is a partial quote from Rep. Tony Wisniewski, a Post Falls Republican. Wisniewski suggested that what’s needed now isn’t money for this social/emotional wellness stuff, but good old-fashioned “character development” and “respect.”

We wonder how much more character development would improve Idaho’s ranking as one of the highest suicide rate states in the union.

Or reduce the number of Idaho high school students who, according to the new Idaho Youth Risk Behavior Survey, have seriously considered suicide. (That number now is about one in every four students.)

For that matter, we wonder if Rep. Wisniewski would care to sit down with a special group of his constituents, some who no doubt voted him into office, and come face to face with neighbors immediately and dramatically affected by his decisions as a lawmaker.

He could meet with faculty, staff and students at Post Falls High School, who at the very moment Wisniewski was lecturing in Boise were having a hard time getting through the day. A bright, popular, Christian 17-year-old Post Falls High student had just days before taken his life, leaving behind a shattered family, devastated school and bereft community.

If that doesn’t build character, we’re not sure what will.