Thank state leaders for this A+
For all the anti-public education saber rattling and funding threats, Saturday’s story by Idaho Education News drew a very different picture:
Public education has tremendous backing in the Gem State, as it should.
Indoctrination, Critical Race Theory and other hot-button items on some extremist agendas got little more than a legislative yawn and a shrug.
Teachers, administrators and other public school employees got pats not just on the backs, but in the wallets and pocketbooks — deserved and overdue.
A few of the highlights from the story published Saturday in The Press, wrapping up the 2022 legislative session:
• Raises for teachers in the 10% range
• $1,000 bonuses for teachers, administrators and classified staff
• Likelihood of better health care benefits for teachers
• Extra incentives for teachers in rural areas
• Free-lunch programs for students throughout K-12
• A number of benefits to taxpayers, although nothing much was done directly on property taxes
Today’s a good time to step back and see how much ground public education has actually made up over the past five or so years despite the efforts of extremists, starting with the malignant Idaho Freedom Foundation. Remember what IFF President Wayne Hoffman wrote in February 2019, two sentences that have galvanized not just those who agree with him, but those who demand that the Idaho Constitution's requirement of free public education be followed.
“I don’t think government should be in the education business,” Hoffman wrote. “It is the most virulent form of socialism (and indoctrination hereto) in America today.”
While the IFF and others have tried to destroy public education, the Legislature as a whole and Govs. Butch Otter and Brad Little in particular understand that a weakened education system will make Idaho competitively incompetent.
Our state leaders know that much greater support, not attacks or financial erosion, will bolster our citizens’ ability to lead productive, rewarding and happy lives. And isn’t that the goal of education, ultimately?
Despite the misguided assaults on our teachers and public education institutions, let’s never take our eyes off that ultimate prize.