Session Taught Education A Tough Lesson Gop Introduced Legislation That Failed But Worried Public School Officials

Growing complaints about public schools made the recently concluded legislative session a difficult one for education supporters.

Bob Maier, a lobbyist for the state teachers union, remembers being booed by the audience just for identifying himself at a meeting of the House Education Committee.

“We’ve never had such a difficult time,” Maier said. “It’s like a lot of people have had their minds made up that the school system is evil.”

The Republican majority in the state House included many religious conservatives who view public schools as cesspools of secular humanism which interfere with parental rights.

They introduced bills that would have allowed parents to use tax dollars to pay for private schools and restricted what could be taught in public schools.

Misgivings by GOP moderates and opposition by Senate Democrats saw to it that none of the efforts got very far. But if this session is any indication of things to come, some worry that public schools could be in for a rough ride.

“For the 12 years I’ve been here, both parties have vied to see which could be the better friend of public education,” said Rep. Brian Ebersole, D-Tacoma, after the House budget came out.

“But for the first time, the new House majority is full of people who are suspicious of public education and not convinced of its central place in democracy.”

Schools have brought it on themselves, insist conservative GOP lawmakers. They wouldn’t be under so much fire if they’d stick to the three R’s and let parents teach values.

“I think that a school should be a place where you go to learn educational things,” said Rep. Grant Pelesky, R-Puyallup, himself a fifth-grade teacher in a public school. “I don’t think it should be a place where they teach questionable societal values.”

For example, Pelesky said schools should stop teaching the theory of evolution or start teaching creationism on an equal footing.

“Evolution is a theory about how man got here. It’s only a theory,” Pelesky said. “Creationism is also a theory about how man got here. … If you’re going to teach the one, you ought to be able to teach the other.”

Pelesky said it’s not right that the state supports only kids who go to public schools. Parents ought to be given a choice, he said.

“You wouldn’t be happy if you could shop only at the Ford dealership and that was the only thing you could buy.”

Some moderate Republicans say public schools have problems, but the schools need tinkering, not a major overhaul.

“I think we have to be careful,” said Rep. Bill Brumsickle, R-Centralia, who argued against some of the cuts in his own party’s budget proposal for state schools.

As chairman of the House Education Committee, Brumsickle caught flak from religious conservatives for his cautious attitude. His office was deluged with angry phone calls after a “parents’ rights” bill was amended in his committee to remove some of its most controversial sections.

“We got threats. We got intimidating phone calls,” Brumsickle said.

The bill, which failed to clear the House, would have required written consent by parents before a student could take classes or receive counseling on topics including sex education, sexually transmitted diseases, suicide, and alcohol or drug abuse.

The measure was sponsored by Rep. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, who says she favors eliminating state and federal supervision of education and giving school boards more autonomy.

This year’s class of freshman Republicans brought new meaning to the term “conservative,” said Rep. Steve Van Luven, R-Bellevue.

Van Luven said he used to be considered one of the most conservative members of the House. This year, he said he was jokingly presented a T-shirt with a big red “M” on it - for moderate.

The conservatives didn’t have enough votes to get very far with their agenda this year, but Van Luven said schools might face more scrutiny down the road.

“If we have another election like the last one, it could devastate education.”

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Jim Brunner Staff Writer Staff writer Lynda V. Mapes contributed to this report.