Don’t believe what they tell you — Republicans have a lot of passion for the issue of education. We have good ideas and great interest in making sure that future generations of Californians have a top-notch education.
As a matter of fact, politican animal that I am, I devoted over a year of my life exclusively to the politics of education. I was the Campaign Coordinator for the successful Proposition 227 campaign to put an end to the use of bilingual education programs that were ineffective at helping schools kids to learn English. I was also the Campaign Manager back in 1998 for Gloria Matta Tuchman, the Republican challenger to Delaine Eastin, the lefty Democrat incumbent in the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. We lost by a few points that year, unfortunately.
One great thing about have a Republican Governor is that we have (or should have) a Republican State Board of Education, to offset the liberalism of current Superintendent Jack O’Connell.
So, it was with much dismay, in reviewing the Governor’s appointments today, to see that he made three appointments to the important State Board of Education, NONE of them from his own political party. We got a DTS and two Democrats (one of them clearly and education public employee union hack).
Perhaps no Republicans applied. Assuming that was the case, I wished I had known. I can think of a host of qualified Republicans for the post.
(By the way, it seems like I am penning too many of these critiques. But, hey, I don’t make the appointments, I just look ’em over.)