Today's teacher rally at Boise is more than a protest against
Idaho's anti-education
Legislature. This is an insurrection.
The Idaho Education Association did not summon its members
to Boise. Indeed, the IEA
has been subdued ever since the early 1990s when Republicans gained
absolute control
over Idaho. Working with sympathetic Republicans to get the best
deal for schools
worked when Idaho had plenty of money. When the state ran short,
the teachers union
maintained that posture, possibly because the post-Sept.11 attitudes
discouraged
confrontation and divisiveness
Idaho teachers have rebelled against that careful course. They've
launched the first major
teacher protest in 16 years - and only the third since 1980. It's
risky. They won't change
lawmakers' minds. Shutting down schools so teachers can attend
this rally may alienate
some voters.
But teachers have been provoked. Most years, lawmakers debate
about how much more
to spend for schools. This year, for the first time in Idaho's
history, the fight is about
how much to cut - both this year and next.
This is being done to preserve tax cuts.
The House Education Committee wants to dismantle a 39-year-old teachers' pay scale.
Idaho Republicans cheered a little too enthusiastically when
Oklahoma Gov. Frank
Keating spoke about fighting the teachers' union in his state.
You don't hear legislators regretting how they've treated schools
or teachers. They seem
to be relishing this opportunity to cut "government"
and see no distinction between
schools and other programs.
It takes a lot to rile teachers. Passive and politically disengaged,
some were genuinely
surprised when the Legislature cut school budgets, even though
that's been a done deal
for weeks.
It takes more than the loss of a pay raise to motivate so many
teachers. They're worried
about laying off teachers and cramming more students into classes.
That will reverse 20
years of progress in Idaho - permanently.
They're worried about a growing national teacher shortage and
how the Legislature's open
hostility toward education will impede recruitment.
Today's rally is not playing to the Legislature. It's playing
to the public. The sights and
sounds of thousands of teachers - many of whom spent hours on
the road to get there -
should alert people to the seriousness of this problem.
The question, though, is whether the rally is the story's finale - or its beginning.
Had it been organized from the top down, teachers probably
would not be so
enthusiastic about following up the rally with political action.
Incumbent lawmakers
could ignore them.
This is something different. It is spontaneous. It comes from the rank and file.
If the passion of thousands of outraged, frustrated teachers
spills over into this year's
elections, budget cutters have every reason to be nervous.
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