Ducey made to change his mind
Gov. Doug Ducey didn’t change his mind about funding education. His mind was changed for him by people power.
And what worked once can work again.
That’s an important lesson because you hear a lot of complaining about how the big-money interests pull the strings that make politicians jump.
Such frustration is understandable. But it leads to cynicism, which keeps people from engaging in a system that they really can control. It makes them stay home on election day. It leaves government to the few.
#RedForEd showed how to take back your government:
Know your strengths — old and new. Protesters used new tools of social media to organize an impressive number of people to exercise their old rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Emphasize your cause. #RedForEd made it clear from the beginning that this wasn’t about any individual’s paycheck. It was about education. It was about a cause bigger than one person but important to all people. Build your public support. The movement reached out with a message that touched even parents who were inconvenienced by the walkout. The red shirts and the slogan gave people an easy way to express solidarity.
Stand your ground and stick together. Teachers took a chance in the face of threats of lawsuits. They were told they could lose their teaching certificates. Maintain the focus. The movement didn’t quit. Even after Ducey made a proposal for higher raises. Teachers kept their focus and insisted this was about school funding in general, not just raises. Protesters were there through the long night it took lawmakers to pass a funding bill.
Those are the good-news lessons and they can be adapted and applied to a wide range of needs in Arizona, including university funding, affordable housing and child-care subsidies for the working poor.
But there’s bad news. Of course. It’s very true that money talks in politics.
It’s also true that dark money talks the loudest because the strings are invisible. That’s why Terry Goddard’s Outlaw Dirty Money initiative is an important next step for good government.
If you haven’t already done so, find a petition and sign it. The measure gives you a constitutional right to know who’s trying to buy elections.
And while we’re on the subject of the shadier side of political realities: It is also true that teachers are unlikely to get the full 20 percent raise Ducey is crowing about. There isn’t enough money in the budget to pay for the promise.
That brings us to another enduring lesson for how to exercise your rights.
Keep the pressure on. The minute people look away — or the election is over — the politicians will revert their original shape. They will forget all about the people and the promises. Unless you make them remember.
But still.
The promise itself is a huge accomplishment.
It happened because people got engaged. They made themselves heard. They can do it again.
And again.
And again.