There was an interesting comment posted yesterday responsding to what Kate Folmar wrote on the San Jose Mercury’s blog about the gubernatorial campaign and the theme of taxes.  It’s a comment I can’t stop thinking about it.  It reads:

"I really wish someone (Angelides campaign? the press?) would call Schwarzenegger out on this taxes thing. What does "not raising taxes" have to do with the 7 million Californians without health insurance, or the millions more who are struggling to survive under skyrocketting housing, child care and other costs? These are the problems that need fixing, and these are the problems that should be at the center of the debate.

"Raising taxes vs. not raising taxes is such a red herring, and out [sic] state will continue to suffer if that is where the debate is focused."

Indeed, there are a great many things at stake in California aside from tax increases.  I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t some truth to the idea that taxes are a red herring.

Our attention is being diverted from the ugliness of liberal corruption taking place behind closed doors.  Actually, the doors aren’t entirely closed.  They’re cracked open just enough for some to see what’s taking place.  The problem is, the Governor’s office isn’t talking about it and the media only reports it sporadically.  Don’t expect Angelides to talk about it.  There’s no problem as far as he’s concerned.

I’m writing today about the State Board of Education and a years-long internal struggle over bilingual education.  It’s a struggle that Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration has apparently decided to abandon in favor of kumbayah politics.  (Pardon me, Sun Tzu-Art-of-War politics.)

To set the stage for today’s news about the struggle at the SBE, I’ll refer to a column written by Jill Stewart in March of this year, entitled “Will state school board stand tough?”
 
“AS TOUGH AS I’ve been on former Gov. Gray Davis, I’ve taken pains to single out his remarkable efforts to fix the public schools and their disastrous teaching methods, even in the face of intense opposition by labor unions and his own California Democratic Party.

“With Davis gone, leading Democrats in Sacramento are shamefully gearing up for another major assault to roll back public-school reform. And it’s not at all clear that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is as focused as Davis was on stopping them.

“Led by Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Jackie Goldberg, an undying apologist for the discredited fads that helped send California to near the academic bottom among the 50 states, Sacramento’s far left has mounted another of its bizarre efforts to lower standards and dumb-down kids. 

“Their favorite target is, again, Latino kids, who many far-left Democrats just cannot seem to see as equals in the classroom. California’s Latino kids have proved they are equal to it, showing big academic gains in reading, writing, math and English in statewide testing over the past five years.
“The gains by children now immersed in English, thanks to Proposition 227 (a measure virulently opposed by the far-left), are historic. It’s a quiet miracle that poor immigrant children show sustained gains on tough statewide tests that can’t be gamed.

“But now, on March 9, the old anti-reformers will pressure the California Board of Education to adopt a plan that dumbs down Latino children. With Schwarzenegger’s education-policy people snoozing, the rollback has at least a chance of approval from the Schwarzenegger-appointed state Board of Education and its confused president, Glee Johnson.

“What an unmitigated tragedy, if the board caves.”

Unfortunately, it would appear that Arnold is the person who caved.  

The Sacramento Bee reports today that SBE President Glee Johnson, a Republican, resigned her appointment out of frustration with the Schwarzenegger administration and that the Board is scheduled to elect a new president today.

“The California Board of Education, which sets policy for the state’s 6 million public school students, will meet today with no money in its budget, no president and feeling neglected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“On June 30, the same day the Republican governor signed a budget that did not include any money for the board’s staff, the panel’s president, Glee Johnson, abruptly quit.

“‘I think she felt the Governor’s Office was overlooking the significance of the board and what it does,’ said Roger Magyar, the board’s executive director, adding the budget mess was a factor.

“Johnson, who as an aide to Gov. Pete Wilson helped usher in school standards and accountability, did not give a reason for her resignation and was not available for comment Tuesday.

“But during her six months as president, the 11-member board split on several matters, including how English learners should be taught — a recurring issue that has divided Democratic lawmakers and the board.”

So who might replace Glee Johnson, the Wilson appointee who fought for standards and accountability?  None other than Joe Nunez.  Remember Joe? 

He’s the guy who served as chairman of the Alliance for a Better California – the organization that spent nearly $100 million to defeat the governor’s reform initiatives in 2005.  The guy who filed an FPPC complaint against the governor after he was reappointed by Schwarzenegger as a member to the SBE.  The guy who will bend over backward to do whatever the teachers union wants him to do.

And appointed yesterday, just in time to cast a vote for Nunez, no doubt, was Dr. David Lopez — a man who got the job after being interviewed by Maria Shriver. 

But don’t fret, dear Flash Report reader.  It’s all part of the Sun Tzu, Machiavellian strategy to protect the world from tax increases and maintain power.  Right?  Isn’t that how it works?  Isn’t that the good news we’re supposed to swallow on this lovely summer morning?
 
But back to Sun Tzu and Machiavelli and which ever other ancient strategist you like to fall back upon to justify bad policy in the name of good politics. 

The best way to stop the bad policy emanating out of the governor’s office is to campaign for his reelection and ensure that he wins by a landslide.  Double digits are necessary.  No, not to give him a mandate, but to put into statewide office conservatives like Tony Strickland and Tom McClintock who will put their foot on the brakes of state government that is far more liberal than the rest of the state. 

So volunteer.  Do whatever it takes to put conservatives in office who will be a check on this administration and keep it from furthering the agenda of the teachers union and every other union that has Sacramento in a deadly chokehold. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.