[Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?

[keely emerinemix]

My head has finally stopped spinning from the dizzying array of "facts" and 
the astonishingly glib conclusions drawn from Dale Courtney's guest column 
in yesterday's Daily News.  I write not so much to expose the error of his 
thinking, but the error of his character.

First, though, I'll say that he has every right to submit a guest editorial, 
and every right to blast the School District I served for three years and 
appreciate always.  The Daily News, which once was a reputable newspaper, 
has the right, I suppose, to print his words, although perhaps it would go 
down better if they acknowledged up front that Courtney is an elder at 
Christ Church, and the DN benefits directly from Christ Church's New St. 
Andrew's College's leasing of five parking spaces owned by the newspaper -- 
you'll recall, I'm sure, NSA's continuing wrangling with the City over 
parking, but you would be forgiven if you couldn't recall the DN's 
aggressive coverage of the issue.  There wasn't any.

It'd be nice if the DN disclosed that it benefits financially from an 
organization its city desk is supposed to cover, and it would be nice if the 
DN acknowledged a terrible fondness for all things Christ Church -- double 
weddings, cookbooks, regular columnists and such.  Still, the Daily News 
operates under whatever standards it chooses; Dale Courtney, a church elder, 
really ought to operate under only one:  the integrity befitting a professed 
Christian.

The fact is, Dale Courtney's theology, and the theology of Christ Church, 
and the theology of Pastor Doug Wilson, precludes him from ever supporting 
ANY request for additional funding for public schools, because their beliefs 
forbid it.  It's not a matter of Christian doctrine but of the 
Libertarian-influenced Reconstructionist movement that has so influenced the 
elders.  The Kirk believes, and teaches, that public schools, like any other 
"government" institution, are a burden -- a punishment, if you will -- 
imposed by God because of the unwillingness of the Church to seize control 
and take dominion over schools, courts, banks and other institutions.  They 
chafe under the yoke of taxes, and especially under that part that funds 
public education.  Support of "government schools" is seen as collusion with 
the enemy, and those children outside of the covenant (because they surely 
must be not among God's chosen) who attend public schools are simply 
collateral damage.   Further, says the Kirk, education is, at its heart, an 
entirely religious matter, and any education of children undertaken by the 
State is a challenge, however impotent, to the very Lordship of God.

Strong words, and words Dale Courtney and his pals won't deny -- at least 
vocally.  But they make clearheaded people, Christians and non-Christians 
alike, uncomfortable because their radicalness is exceeded only by their 
unfoundedness in Scripture.  They may speak the language among themselves, 
but when it comes to "outsiders" -- in this case, those readers of the Daily 
News -- they deny by an act of omission the real argument they have against 
the upcoming levy.  The fact is, Dale Courtney's beliefs require him to hate 
public schools, to hope for their demise, and to oppose any additional 
funding for which he will have to pay.  An honest man may believe these 
things, but a coward hides his true beliefs behind recycled statistics, 
false premises, and simplistic formulas.

Why not just say it, Dale?  Why not just say, "Hey -- it ain't the 
economics, it ain't the demographics, it ain't that I think Blue Knights are 
better than Bears.  It's actually that I hate public schools because they're 
an offense to a Holy God, and I would never choose to fund them nor support 
any additional funding for them."

No, Dale has instead chosen to repeat the late Jack Wenders' tiresome and 
disproven screeds against what he saw as a school district gone wild -- he 
even used some of the same stats Wenders, who died this summer, used to 
throw out.  But the facts are very clear:

-- A 13% drop in enrollment is not a death spiral.  In fact, because of its 
high-quality special ed and gifted/talented programs, MSD attracts many 
students from other districts.  And Logos has lost some kids to MSD, while 
MSD has lost some to Logos or the two charter schools that started up within 
the last decade.  And not even the number of families moving to Moscow to 
become part of Christ Church can reverse the overall flat-line of Latah 
County Growth.

-- Unlike Logos, MSD is required by state and federal statute to educate all 
children, regardless of the severity of their disabilities.  Perhaps Dale 
could give us information on Logos' programs for special needs and disabled 
children.  I believe there's a matchbook nearby that could contain it all.

-- Because MSD prefers to make staffing changes through attrition and not 
head-chopping, very few positions have been eliminated.  However, because of 
special education requirements from the Federal Government, deaf children, 
for example, each are entitled to a qualified sign-language interpreter, and 
provisions for the nurture and success of each student often requires 
additional personnel.  Not a worry for Logos -- they've chosen not to 
accommodate those who would be a burden on their support base.

-- You hear a lot that administrative salaries at MSD are bloated.  Candis 
Donicht of MSD has been a superintendent in Idaho for 18 years, and yet the 
first-year superintendent in Pullman already makes about $10,000 more a year 
than she does.  Teachers are paid better in Pullman, even though nearly 
two-thirds of MSD's teachers have master's degrees and are endorsed beyond 
generalized curricula.  Logos teachers are . . . well, very hardworking, 
clearly bright, and undoubtedly quite kind.  You'll have to ask Dale how 
their experience is quantified or their performances accounted for.

-- Pullman benefits greatly from a reasonably generous state legislature, as 
well as from the largesse of Schweitzer Labs.  Moscow School District 
consistently scores at or near the top of every possible measure of student 
success, in an environment made less secure not only by a stingy legislature 
but a church group dedicated to its demise.  A man of integrity, on a 
mission from God, would state that he is part of that group and an adherent 
to its beliefs.  Dale, on the other hand, doesn't.

If the levy fails, MSD's fund balance for next year means that "only" 
$400,000 in programs and staff would be cut; the year after that, the amount 
more than triples.   That money funds smaller classrooms, technology 
upgrades, staffing, programs and all sorts of things necessary -- and 
beneficial -- for modern schools, even in facilities that are less than 
adequate.  Moscow residents are already paying for an indefinite levy, a 
fact Dale seems especially angered by.  But Moscow's citizens have 
historically stepped up to the plate when it comes to funding public 
schools, and I believe they are too smart to buy into Dale's message  -- and 
too full of integrity to let him pretend his concern is motivated by simple, 
if not simply wrong, economics.

keely

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