The California Federation of Teachers set off a fuss when complaining about provisions of the Race to the Top education reform signed by Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday. The teachers union used the term "lynch mob provision" in updates to members referring to a proviso in the legislation that allows parents to force changes in school governance by collecting signatures from fifty percent of the student’s parents or guardians.
While civil rights organizations objected to the use of the term as conjuring up violent images that are racially offensive, there is another concern about the comment. That is: the people are considered a mob and cannot be trusted to know what’s good for them.
How else can the teachers union consider snubbing the wishes of parents to get the best education possible for their children? It’s a "we-know-best" attitude that I have seen from bureaucratic institutions before. How many times have I heard taxpayers referred to as a mob when they sign petitions to change tax laws or tax rates?
Instead of working with voters, or in this case parents, to improve the situation the unions defend their turf.
The union ought to re-consider this strategy. The people have a say in how they are governed or how their children are educated; the people who petition are not a mob.
The teachers union ought to remember the precious clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution declaring the right of the people "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Ignoring that provision to deal with grievances in a constitutional manner would, indeed, produce true mobs.