Roundhouse rally? Depends on the topic
Let’s stipulate, first of all, that missing school is generally a bad idea. Children should be at their desks nearly 100 percent of the time, absorbing all the education their able teachers can spoon in. Even so, Superintendent Veronica García decided to let Santa Fe Public Schools students and staff off half a day to participate (if they chose) in a March 16 rally at the Roundhouse to support public education funding. Staff, teachers, parents and others had been lobbying for education all legislative session long. The rally, attended by some 1,500 people, was a culmination of session-long lobbying by administrators, educators, parents and, we’re sure, children whose parents want them to understand how governing works.
García’s calculation, as an educator, was that civic participation is an essential part of learning. As a superintendent, she was beyond concerned that state budget woes might cause cuts of up to $5.5 million to the school district budget, leading to layoffs, bigger classes and even 15 fewer school days.
Thus, a “snow day for action” was born, with school let out half a day and children and teachers allowed to go home. The choice to participate (or not) was their own. García took personal leave to attend; she wasn’t on the district clock, and called a “snow day” so that any teacher who desired could participate. Parents chose to take their children. Some children, with parental permission, did attend, riding school buses. Those were paid for by the National Education Association, and the bus drivers volunteered, García said.
Not so fast, says Department of Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera. She is launching an investigation (at taxpayer expense, we presume) to determine whether Santa Fe schools violated any state laws by using (what else?) taxpayer dollars for what Skandera termed political activity. Her department is looking into complaints about the rally, and Skandera wrote to Garcia: “Your actions appear to violate a number of statutory provisions.” Good thing Skandera hadn’t made up her mind before the investigation started. Oh, and she managed to alert the news media before getting the letter to the superintendent; the superintendent’s office began receiving queries about the “investigation” before ever being told one was underway. As for rally participation from schools and children, Skandera did not mind speaking in January 2016 to a rally held by charter school supporters — including students — outside the Roundhouse.
Possible questionable activities associated with the 2017 rally, according to the state, included using the district’s website to organize the event; using email lists, a “robocall” phone system and school intercoms to broadcast the plan; and paying employees to take part in activities outside the scope of their contracts. The big question, as we see it, is whether teachers felt free to show up or whether their bosses pushed them into it. That would be unacceptable, whatever one’s view of potential budget cuts.
However, for an administration that makes a practice of invading classrooms — whether signing laws, promoting legislation or otherwise co-opting schoolchildren for political purposes — to complain about kids and politics is beyond hypocritical. And, as García pointed out, the rally was not partisan. It was pro-education, not pro-Democrat or pro-Republican. Kids and teachers have been rallying for education since the advent of public schools. Goodness, Skandera even gathers administrators (at taxpayer expense when they are on the clock) at a meeting in Santa Fe to discuss which bills she wants them to support.
Here’s a compromise. Let the children and employees rally, protest or otherwise speak out at the Legislature. Do that after school, however, and without a big sendoff from the district. And, in return, Skandera can limit her “investigation.” It’s worth finding out, so long as it is done objectively, whether any staff felt bullied into participation. García is looking into that as well.
Then, let Skandera promise — with Gov. Susana Martinez chiming in — to never, ever be photographed reading to a child in a public school classroom. No more news conferences with tiny tots lined up around the smiling governor and her secretary. After all, we wouldn’t want to mix children and political activity. Think of all the hours that will add to the school day. Everyone wins.