January 10, 2012

Strong voice for education under Tea Party attack

State Rep. Roger Eddy (R-Hutsonville) has been one of the strongest voices for public education through his nine years in the Illinois House of Representatives. It figures he would be. Eddy is also the superintendent of his hometown school district.

Eddy is at the center of every major school policy issue. He is a member of the Classrooms First Commission, which has all but derailed Gov. Pat Quinn’s ambition to force consolidation of hundreds of school districts. He was a key architect of the 2011 tenure-and-strike reform bill (SB 7), converting it from an attack on educators into potentially beneficial policy.

Eddy played a pivotal role in preventing the establishment of a school vouchers boondoggle in 2009. That was a politically risky move. Although many legislators voted against the bill, the Wall Street Journal actually blamed Eddy for its defeat.

The Tea Party is not pleased with Eddy. By March 21 he could be a lame duck.

Adam Andrzewski, a 2010 GOP candidate for governor, a Tea Party leader and chairman of the "For the Good of Illinois PAC," has targeted Eddy for defeat in the March 20 primary elections. Andrzewski has endorced Shelby County Republican Party Chairman Brad Halbrook for the House seat in the 110th District.

Andrzewski claims to have a track record of success, taking credit for the victories of three endorsed candidates - Sen. Sam McGann (R-Carlinville), Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) and Rep. Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) - in 2010. His attack on Eddy focuses mainly on the fact that Eddy is supported by teachers unions and school management organizations.

Halbrook's web site doesn't mention education as an issue. He favors "freezing" property taxes, repealing the income tax increases that were temporarily imposed last year to address accumulated state deficits, requiring "forensic accounting" (a FGI PAC favorite term) of state finances and the "family values" issues you hear so much about these days.

You can expect a barrage of negative advertising against Eddy, starting about March 10.

Educators have much at stake

Eddy's defeat would be a loss to public school interests throughout the state, but his is not the only election to be decided March 20. But first, let's observe the fact that most incumbent legislators in both political parties are getting a free ride in the primaries. Of the 118 members of the House, 99 seek reelection this year. Of those, 74 are unopposed in their primaries.

In the Senate, 50 of the 59 current senators are seeking reelection this year. Of those 50, only 19 have primary election opponents. For all the talk about "throwing the bums out," the reality is that most of the bums are pretty well entrenched.

I have prepared a page listing all the candidates in contested House and Senate primary elections. They are listed by district number and included are their party affiliations, names, addresses and - for those who provided them to the Board of Elections - the URLs for their campaign web sites.

As you know, I think it is a good thing for educators and public school advocates to know a bit about candidates' views on school policy before casting their votes. If you don't know your districts - and the boundaries have changed - use the Board of Elections search form. Then proceed to the candidate link above to see if you have a contest.

Here's a good example. Notice that there are two Democrats competing in Senate District 25. One is Corrine Pierog of St. Charles. The other is Steven Hunter of Geneva. (There are also three Republicans running for that Senate seat. You can take a look at them if you want to. This is just an example of voter research.)

Pierog's web site has a lot to say about public education as an issue. She understands about disparities in school funding and favors state policy to bring about parity. That's a courageous stand, actually. An opponent might brand her as a big-spender or as someone who wants to "redistribute" wealth. She also lists early childhood education as apriority and stresses the importance of the P-20 Council. That's a lot more substance than most candidates provide on any issue.

Pierog has an interesting biography, a strong educational background. She is a school board member.

Well, how about Steven Hunter, her Democrat primary opponent? He seems like a nice guy, is an Army veteran, an employee of AT&T and a shop steward for his IBEW local. He has things to say, albeit somewhat superficially, about small business development, conservation of energy and communication technology - but not a word about public schools.

If all you knew was what their web sites say, who would get your  vote in Senate District 25?

If you're actually going to research candidates' web sites before you vote, there are some source materials that might help prepare you for what you will find. One of them is a book called Lying, by neuroscientist Sam Harris. You'll need to become familiar with this subject because you're going to see a lot of it throughout 2012.

I've read Harris' book. He is a bit extreme. He agrees with Kant that lying should be eschewed no matter what. So, guys, if she asks you if she looks "fat in this dress," Harris says you should tell her the truth. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

Perhaps it would be better just to consider the advice of Mark Twain:

"Lying is universal - we all do it. Therefore, the wise thing is for us diligently to train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously; to lie with a good object, and not an evil one; to lie for others' advantage, and not our own; to lie healingly, charitably, humanely, not cruelly, hurtfully, maliciously; to lie gracefully and graciously, not awkwardly and clumsily; to lie firmly, frankly, squarely, with head erect, not haltingly, tortuously, with pusillanimous mien, as being ashamed of our high calling."

A candidate who can lie as Twain advises might be worth voting for.