RESIST THE STATE'S EDUCATIONAL COLLECTIVE
By Jim Spady
Seattle Times, August 11, 1999

        Gov. Gary Locke's continued refusal to appoint any of the Republican nominees to the supposedly bipartisan "A+ Commission" (the newly created Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission) is getting a little silly, kind of like a bad episode of "Star Trek Voyager."

        Now don't misunderstand me, I'm a big fan of "Star Trek," but even Trekkies have to admit that some of the episodes get a little out of control.

        In the current episode, Gov. Locke plays a Borg drone, leading a mission on behalf of the Great Collective (education status quo, teachers unions, liberal Democrats and liberal media) to seek out and destroy any "unauthorized Republican thinking" on the A+ Commission.

        The lion's share of the mission is quickly accomplished, because Gov. Borg and his Collective already control seven of nine (of the appointments to the A+ Commission).

        But that is not enough for Gov. Borg. He wants nine of nine. Everyone must be assimilated! Every independent thought must be extinguished!

        The Great Collective fears individuality, it fears initiative, it fears entrepreneurship, it fears incentives, it fears choices (especially choices made by parents), but most of all, the Great Collective fears real accountability and real personal responsibility.

        Pseudo-accountability, accountability in name only, discussions about accountability, commissions about accountability, none of that troubles the Great Collective. After all, that is the only way to keep the All Powerful Ones (voters) pacified.

        But real accountability and real personal responsibility are as threatening to the Great Collective as - gasp! - welfare reform.

        Accordingly, the Great Collective's Prime Directive is to seek out and destroy all unauthorized thinking and ideas by any and all means necessary, including taunts, insults, character assassination, and if nothing else works, delay.

        Why delay? Because if the Great Collective cannot control all thought on the A+ Commission, the Great Collective prefers to have no commission at all. "Our schools are too important to worry about a deadline" said Borg Queen (and Washington Education Association President) Lee Ann Prielipp in a recent Seattle Times article. But that's to be expected from those who fight for the eternal continuation of the Great Collective despite the desperate need of many families who seek nothing more than a better education for their children.

        I can't speak for the Republican legislators who nominated me, of course, but I hope that they stay the course and resist the attacks of the Great Collective and Gov. Borg.

        The A+ Commission needs people with diverse points of view, people who are willing to look at all the evidence, including the successes and failures of other states like Florida, Tennessee, Texas, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, which are all, frankly, light-years ahead of Washington in many ways. That evidence will show that real accountability - including parental choice, charter schools, merit pay and other innovative ideas - will dramatically improve teacher quality, student performance, parent involvement and community support.

        I don't know whether we'll ever be able to rescue Gov. Locke from the Great Collective, but I hope everyone agrees that it's time to turn off this silly episode of partisan politics and focus our efforts on helping the children.

        The Center for Education Reform is a national, independent, non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1993 to provide support and guidance to individuals, community and civic groups, policymakers and others who are working to bring fundamental reforms to their schools.

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