School Board Strikes Balance
They’ve got it right - finally. The Coeur d’Alene School Board is forming an important committee consisting of an equal number of educators and parents - despite administration protests. Remember the squawk last month when the board semi-muzzled parents who objected to whole-language learning? Well, the board decided at its Monday meeting to appoint a committee to investigate those objections. Superintendent of Schools Doug Cresswell stumped for a stacked-deck panel of 16 to 18 educators and six parents, adamantly insisting that “33 percent” parental representation was adequate. But Cresswell was as wrong as his calculations. Fortunately, Trustee Jane Curtis insisted on true balance, and colleagues Vern Newby and Tim Olsen sided with her. The committee will have 18 to 22 members, evenly divided between educators and parents. The trustees deserve Sweet Potatoes for truly involving parents. Meanwhile, the superintendent can go stand in the corner.
Don’t hold me to my campaign promises
What a difference incumbency makes. During campaign ‘94, Dick Compton and Dick Panabaker, Kootenai County commissioner wannabes, blasted the incumbents for planning to expand the courthouse - without voter approval. Now that they’re incumbents, however, the two Richards have unveiled plans for a $4.3 million courthouse annex - to be built without voter approval. Compton, Panabaker and other courthouse officials wore Cheshire-cat grins Tuesday as they discussed the lease-option arrangement, similar to the one proposed by their maligned predecessors. I thought the idea was good in 1994 (and said so in Hot Potatoes), and I think the idea is good now. We’re wasting money leasing much-needed office space. Compton and Panabaker have been good stewards of our tax dollars, but they deserve a hot Idaho russet for not acknowledging their flip-flop.
Homeless sex fiends need not apply
It may be practical, but it seems discriminatory that Coeur d’Alene’s homeless shelters won’t take boys. Period. Shelter managers are sympathetic but adamant. They figure that once boys reach adolescence, they’re often man-size, dealing with hormones and unpredictable. By contrast, I suppose, teenage girls are sugar and spice and everything nice. Certainly, mixing a troubled boy with girls who have been sexually abused could cause problems. But not all homeless boys are Sex Maniacs From Hell. The shelters’ one-size-fits-all-boys philosophy needs reworking.
, DataTimes MEMO: D.F. Oliveria’s “Hot Potatoes” runs Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can comment on the items by calling (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125.