[Vision2020] Putting Teachers Last in Idaho

[Joe Campbell]

Great letter! Shows the value of a real education: it keeps on giving!

On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 6:11 AM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of today's (May 20, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks t
> Sue Hovey.
>
> -------------------------
>
> Putting teachers last in Idaho
>
> Let's say you are in eighth grade and I am your teacher. You ask, "Is it
> true 700 teachers will lose their jobs so I get a computer next year?" And
> I reply, "Yes, according to the law." Then you, an inquisitive kid,
> continue, "Will you be one of those 700?" And I reply, truthfully, "I
> don't know, possibly." "Well," responds the student, "sounds like a dumb
> idea to me!" I reply, "To me, too."
>
> Tom Luna's latest press release says I have just politicized the class,
> proselytized students and violated the Teachers' Code of Ethics. I could
> be fired for this, he threatens.
>
> Ethics was irrelevant when Luna, with the help of the governor, software
> contractors and legislative leaders, drafted those dreadful bills.
>
> A case in point: Ethical leaders should hesitate to write into education
> law a new section providing insurance salespeople access to teachers when
> school starts, mandating teachers' signatures regarding the insurance,
> requiring the district to maintain a file of those signatures and
> potentially profitingthe two Idaho legislative leaders whose support was
> critical. Rep. Bob Nonini and Sen. John Goedde, chairs of the House and
> Senate Education Committees, both insurance salesmen.
>
> Superintendent Luna never taught a class, got an online bachelor's degree
> to run for the office and sought no public input as he crafted those
> bills.
>
> When we as Idaho voters repeal his laws and recall him, will he have
> learned the lesson: You can't put Idaho students first when you put their
> teachers last?
>
> Sue Hovey, Moscow
>
> --------------------------
>
> Later, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Astoria, Oregon
>
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to
> changeand the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
>  - Unknown
>
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