WILL TEACHERS BE THE TARGET AGAIN?

Sometimes populist politics (translation: good old boys know better than damned left-wing politicians) can get in the way of reasonable and accurate debate. Mike Harris was, regardless of what you think of him, a great tactician. He knew the buttons to press to win votes. He attacked the most vulnerable which made him the people’s choice. In Toronto, our new mayor has risen to the top with his tireless repetition of the word “taxpayer.”

Just a few weeks ago, in his rather limp State of The Union address President Obama urged more people to become teachers. It’s a fair-to-middling populist issue because everyone seems to recognize that the race for technological success begins with a good education, so they pay it lip service – until it starts to cost money. America has struggled with the issue of a “good” education for years. There is a constant struggle between the Federal government and the States – the latter believing that education is their bailiwick. So what has resulted is a hodge-podge of testing that means nothing, merit-based promotions, charter schools, and even school vouchers. What is missing there, and perhaps here in Ontario as we welcome the coming of a new government come the Fall election, is the political will to make education a high priority, not just pious talk about it being a priority.

In today’s Times (March 16th) a very good piece about education. This one excerpt sums it up for me: ““Despite the characterization of some that teaching is an easy job, with short hours and summers off, the fact is that successful, dedicated teachers in the U.S. work long hours for little pay and, in many cases, insufficient support from their leadership.”

If all that sounds familiar, it should. Teachers make a wonderful target for the “taxpayer” who believes (always) that he/she is getting a raw deal from the damned government. The added comment often is that people who won’t work and live in luxury on welfare are sucking up taxpayer money. Next come the teachers who are not only protected by union agreements so that it becomes almost impossible to fire an incompetent teacher, to the notion (as in the Times article) that they have it easy: short hours, long holidays and good money. That is usually followed by something like: “Let them get into the real world where I work and see what a real day’s work is all about.” I know – it sounds absurd, but it seduces voters. Any politician who takes that route seems to be hailed as a hero fighting for the rights of ordinary “hard-working” people.

The trick is transparent: praise the “ordinary” voter and blast the elite. It simply works.