The masters of euphemism strike again

The two major political parties in this country bring a wide variety of points of view and skills to the electorate every couple of years with the hope of getting the chance to lead. We don’t have to talk much about what the parties get out of this, of course. Just compare the net worth of a person who enters Congress to their net worth when they leave, and you know their “public service” is a very profitable venture. Even George Santos, recently expelled from Congress, is going to make bank for his “contributions” to our country. 

That’s about the extent of my agreement with the argument that “both parties are the same”. It is not my intention today to talk much about their very different approaches to policy and the very different levels of empathy, values, and relative skill in managing the economy. The Democrats win all of these by whatever measure you choose to use. The Republicans, on the other hand, win the messaging game by orders of magnitude that have always been vexing to me. 

Republicans have people believing…even many liberals and independents…that the Republicans are better at managing the economy than Democrats…despite every metric imaginable disputing that claim. Republicans have convinced a whole lot of folks that they are the party of Christianity and family values…despite every metric imaginable disputing those claims. Republicans are just so much damn better at making people believe things that just aren’t true. How do they do it?

In a 2021 study, evidence that the gap in the education level between people who identify as Democrats and those who identify as Republican is big and getting bigger. More highly educated people simply vote for Democrats. Now please understand that I am NOT saying that all people who support Democrats are intelligent and all less intelligent people vote Republican. ”Educated” and “intelligent” have different meanings. There are a lot of unintelligent Democrats and many intelligent Republicans.

Education has always meant more than increased intelligence. Through education, a person develops a world view, develops empathy, and develops an appreciation for diverse ideas that have gone so far in making the United States the most modern and powerful country in human history. Seeing the value in people who don’t look, act, and think like you is the sign of an educated person, and it is that person that frightens the Republican elite. People who care for folks outside their own narrow demographic understand the efforts Republicans have put in to “Making American Whi…” er “Making America Great Again.”

So what to do if you’re a Republican who fears an educated electorate? For many years in Michigan (and presumably elsewhere) Republicans have put the destruction of public education at the top of their political agenda. Beyond defunding our schools that drove Republican policy for 40 years, they did their level best to demonize teachers and teacher unions. ”Teachers are lazy…they only work 9 months a year and get paid a full salary.” ”Teacher unions are made up of thugs who protect pedophiles in our schools.” ”Those who can do; those who can’t teach.” 

As a public service announcement in spirit of some badly needed truth-telling, none of these claims are true. Most teachers work under a nine month contract and are paid for nine months. Teachers can choose to lower their own salary for those nine months so that they more evenly spread their income out while they are essentially laid off during the summer. Unlike any other profession in our state, however, teachers are not allowed to collect unemployment when their annual contract runs out. So scratch the “summers off with pay” argument. It’s simply not true.

Are there bad teachers out there who either don’t do a great job in the classroom or who commit crimes against children? Of course. Every profession can be measured by a wide range of skill and moral behaviors. But unions don’t protect pedophiles…at least none of the ones I have been part of. The fact is, it is school administration that often hides the records of misbehaving teachers allowing them to go find work in other districts. Fear of lawsuits has repeatedly put unfit teachers back in front of students, and that’s a failing of administration, not a conspiracy by union thugs.

The third of these Republican inspired lies: “Those who can do; those who can’t teach” has taken a severe hit since COVID. While it was never true, people came to understand the value of teachers once their kids were stuck at home. When it became the parents’ daily responsibility to make sure their children put in the minimum effort to even turn on a computer and then make the enormous sacrifice to actually turn on their camera, parents found out there was a lot more to teaching than collecting a paycheck for not working in the summer. The support for teachers since COVID is long overdue and much appreciated. And now that Democrats in Michigan have taken back the legislature from the DeVos backed anti-public education Republicans, the Republicans have lost yet another weapon in the battle to prevent the education of future voters.

So where did they turn from there? They did what they are best at: messaging. One of the most offensive euphemisms ever invented in our country is “Right to Life”. ”Keeping Women in the 14th Century” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, so Republicans had to come up with something to disguise the truth about their actual views on a person’s right to life. The party of capital punishment, restrictive health care, pro-poverty, anti-civil rights just had to make people believe they were “Pro-life.” They weren’t, and they aren’t, but they don’t let the facts get in the way of a good ruse. It’s what they’re good at.

Likewise, in the face of increased support for teachers and public education after COVID, Republicans needed new messaging. Stat! Enter “parental rights”. Somewhere along the way, Republicans put this euphemism into the mainstream to get people believing that parents have a much louder voice in public education than they actually have. This has led to a crisis in competency that is swallowing so many School Boards around our country. (Thankfully I live in a town where the electorate is having none of that, and our Board still understands the value of public education.)

There is no doubt that parents have and deserve a voice in public education as part of the community in which they live. But by definition, public schools serve the interest of the public. Parents from time to time are invited to have a voice in curriculum and textbook decisions. They are often invited to sit on hiring committees. But these roles were never designed to protect the interests of their individual child. 

Parents have the absolute right to control every facet of their individual child’s education. It’s called home-schooling. Beyond that, the mission of public schools is to help grow global citizens and to aid in the development of empathetic, informed voters. Parents have the absolute right to raise their children to be racist, homophobic, misogynists. It’s called home-schooling. (Please understand I am not saying home-schooling necessarily leads to these kinds of kids…I know many great home-schooled kids. But if your mission is to educate your kids in your own likeness, you home-school them.)

Banning books, restricting curriculum to meet your narrow worldview, and attacking teachers, administrators, and school boards for challenging your parochial views are not actually legitimate “parental rights.” Republicans have led you to feel they are, but like so many other things, Republicans have this one wrong. 

It was once again COVID that helped us see what role many parents actually want in their child’s education, and how much they truly rely on public education and its teachers and administrators. As I sat online talking to a screen with 2 or 3 students with cameras on, I wondered “if parents cared so much about being involved in their child’s education, why can’t they get them to turn the camera on and be present in class? Just that. That’s all I need.”

If public education is going to survive, it will be up to those in the community who understand the importance of a public education as well as the proper role for parents in that system. Ditch the euphemisms and pithy slogans and roll up your sleeves and the do the heavy lifting required to truly educate your child.