The Republican War on Teachers
2012-01-06 - by
Here’s a good use for Bill Faison’s half-million dollars – or somebody’s: a super-PAC that hammers at the “legislature’s war on teachers.”
Here’s the message (or narrative, as we say today): “First they slashed education budgets and forced layoffs of hundreds of teachers and teacher assistants. Then they took college scholarships away from aspiring teachers. Now – in the dark of night and without public notice – they punish teachers for speaking out. Stop the legislature’s war on teachers.”
The worst wounds in politics are always self-inflicted. With this one, House Republicans damaged themselves – and their party – about every way they could.
They can offer no rationale for what they did, other than: Because we could. They offered no reason for how it helps education. They targeted teachers’ dues, but left untouched state employees and policemen. To top it off, they did it secretly and in the wee hours. They looked like a group of johns caught on the wrong side of town in a prostitution raid.
The Democrats can’t let this opportunity pass. So it stunned me to hear David Parker, the state party chair, say he “isn’t sure voters will care much about the process question…since it happened so fast that no one knew what was going on.”
Laura Leslie at WRAL reported that Parker said: “It was like a rigged horse race that’s already been run. Nobody cares about it after the horses have finished crossing the line. And that’s what the Republican strategy is.”
Wrong, David. This is why TV ads were invented: to inform people and tell them why they should care. And this is why the U.S. Supreme Court gave us super-PACs.
It’s also an opportunity for Governor Perdue to challenge Pat McCrory: “Where do you stand, Pat? With the legislature – or with the teachers?”
The Republican War on Teachers
2012-01-06/
Here’s a good use for Bill Faison’s half-million dollars – or somebody’s: a super-PAC that hammers at the “legislature’s war on teachers.”
Here’s the message (or narrative, as we say today): “First they slashed education budgets and forced layoffs of hundreds of teachers and teacher assistants. Then they took college scholarships away from aspiring teachers. Now – in the dark of night and without public notice – they punish teachers for speaking out. Stop the legislature’s war on teachers.”
The worst wounds in politics are always self-inflicted. With this one, House Republicans damaged themselves – and their party – about every way they could.
They can offer no rationale for what they did, other than: Because we could. They offered no reason for how it helps education. They targeted teachers’ dues, but left untouched state employees and policemen. To top it off, they did it secretly and in the wee hours. They looked like a group of johns caught on the wrong side of town in a prostitution raid.
The Democrats can’t let this opportunity pass. So it stunned me to hear David Parker, the state party chair, say he “isn’t sure voters will care much about the process question…since it happened so fast that no one knew what was going on.”
Laura Leslie at WRAL reported that Parker said: “It was like a rigged horse race that’s already been run. Nobody cares about it after the horses have finished crossing the line. And that’s what the Republican strategy is.”
Wrong, David. This is why TV ads were invented: to inform people and tell them why they should care. And this is why the U.S. Supreme Court gave us super-PACs.
It’s also an opportunity for Governor Perdue to challenge Pat McCrory: “Where do you stand, Pat? With the legislature – or with the teachers?”