Hell’s bells Print E-mail
Tuesday, 03 April 2007

Inflammatory e-mail sets off alarms 

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial 

4/3/07

      April 2-6 is Colorado Charter Schools Week — an opportunity for Coloradans to celebrate the flourishing of these alternative public schools, 14 years after passage of the landmark Charter School Act. State Rep. Michael Merrifield probably isn’t celebrating, though, judging from the blistering words he had for school choice advocates in a “private” e-mail that became public last week.
      Merrifield stepped down as chairman of the House Education Committee late last week, after an e-mail surfaced in which he told Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Sue Windels that “there must be a special place in hell for these privatizers, charterizers and voucherizers.” Merrifield apologized for any “misunderstanding, hurt, or offense” the statement might have caused. But we don’t think that will put the matter to rest.

      The contempt Merrifield holds for those who support innovation in public education is thinly veiled, when it’s veiled at all. His debt to teachers unions is well documented. And his prickly personality, combined with a persecution complex, make him an unsuitable choice to chair a committee that affects the lives of so many young people. That he was entrusted with such a position by Democratic colleagues is troubling.
      The e-mail not only offers a glimpse into the mindset of the man Democrats have walking point for them on education issues, but it exposes the more radical agenda lurking behind the well-meaning veneer that Merrifield, Windels and others in the Legislature put forward. It shows that their real agenda isn’t reformist, but reactionary — an effort to roll back the progress Colorado has made in education.
      Merrifield and Windels have portrayed their legislative assault on the state’s Charter School Institute as an effort to “improve communications” between school districts and the institute, for instance. But the e-mail indicates that they were plotting the institute’s demise, even if that offended pro-charter school Democrats. The duplicity hit a bipartisan nerve.
     “I feel we were deceived,” said Assistant Senate GOP leader Nancy Spence, the ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee. “(Sen. Windels) touted SB-61 as establishing a ‘good-neighbor policy’ among the state, charters and local school districts. But her e-mail shows she was trying to stop state-chartered schools entirely.” Sen. Peter Groff, a Democrat from Denver, said Merrifield “is clearly more concerned with defending a crippled and ineffective status-quo public education system then creating opportunities for all kids.”
     Merrifield stepped down as chairman for what’s left of the session, but the threat lingers. He remains on a committee controlled by Democrats, many of whom are only slightly less hostile to school choice than he is. And the Senate Education Committee is still chaired by Windels, who was smart enough not to spew bile over a public e-mail system but also was plotting against the Charter School Institute.
      Gov. Bill Ritter has thus far been silent on the flap. But since the e-mail has caused so much anxiety among charter school supporters, and raises questions about his own position on the issue, perhaps it’s time that the governor made more explicit his own views on education policy — and whether he intends to support the roll-back of public school progress in Colorado.
 

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