Rosen: Education's union label

Friday, May 18, 2007

Back in February, I wrote in this space about Senate Bill 73. Sponsored by a freshman Democrat, Sen. Chris Romer, it would have required Colorado public schools to adopt competency in the English language as a graduation requirement for high school students starting in 2012.

The merits of this are so obvious, it's a sad commentary on our public schools that such legislation would even be necessary. But remarkably, the knee-jerk reaction to Romer's bill by Democrats who represent the interests of the teachers' unions in the state legislature was nothing short of scorn. Senate Education Committee Chair Sue Windels dismissed Romer as a "wild-eyed newbie," who just doesn't understand the way the game is played.

Nonetheless, under public pressure, the bill was rescued from the Appropriations Committee graveyard and was ultimately passed by the Senate 33-1 (Windels being the sole dissenter). That's when the teachers' unions circled the wagons and applied the brass knuckles.

In the final weeks of the legislative session, SB 73 was killed by Democrats in a party-line vote in the House Education Committee, preventing it from coming to the floor for a full vote in the House. Their lame excuse was that the bill would be an "unfunded mandate" on public schools.

What utter nonsense!

Colorado public schools are funded with more than 7 billion taxpayer dollars. There is no more important function of these schools than to teach competency in the English language - reading and writing it. This is implicit in the fundamental mission of these schools. A mandate? You bet it should be. But how could it possibly be "unfunded?"

The educrats argue that there would be additional expenses incurred in designing and administering tests to comply with this requirement. How tough can it be to compose a simple essay question in English that has to be answered in English, and then grade that answer?

This is a smoke screen. What the educrats are really afraid of is being held accountable for results. Without testing, this requirement would be meaningless. Imagine the public outrage should people discover that an embarrassingly large percentage of would-be high school graduates can't competently speak or write our language. What an indictment of our government school monopoly that would be, and what an invitation to school choice, competition and vouchers.

The ease with which this perfectly sensible bill was killed in the legislature is testimony to the death grip that the teachers' unions have over education in our state. All four of the Democrats on the Senate Education Committee are current or former members of teachers unions. Of the eight Democrats on the House Education Committee, five come from the ranks of unionized teachers, one is the husband of a former teacher, and another was a winner of the Jeffco teachers union's "Friend of Education Award."

When Rep. Michael Merrifield was forced to resign his chairmanship of the House Education Committee after his arrogant remarks condemning charter school supporters to "a special place in Hell," he handed the post over to another unionist, Rep. Judy Solano, with Merrifield impudently announcing that he intended to reassume his chairmanship in the next legislative session.

It's useful and appropriate to have input from those with teaching experience in crafting education policy in government. But it's folly to allow them to dominate the playing field. Would we let unionized bus drivers dictate policy for the Regional Transportation District? Liberals complain about a conflict of interest when oil company executives serve on government energy panels. Can't they see the conflict of interest here?

The teachers' unions spend lavishly to get their people elected to public office. As long as they're calling the shots in the state legislature, public education will continue to be subordinated to their special interest at the expense of students, parents and taxpayers.

Mike Rosen's radio show airs daily from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA. He can be reached by e-mail at mikerosen@850koa.com.