Reflections on the GOP primary campaign trail

by John Eynon.

As a candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will share my reflections on my opponents’ speeches given at the Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinners.

My opponents could be bookends representing the same “common” theme”.  They advocate “the Governor’s Education Task Force 20 recommendations for Idaho schools”.  They claim that our local schools should be controlled at the local level and that “top down, agenda driven, Federal mandates” in education are a burden and hindrance in improving local schools.  They claim loyalty to the pre-amble of the Idaho Republican Party which clearly states that “The most effective government is the one closest to the people…that government is best that governs least.”

But has the Governor’s Education Task Force been faithful to the party platform?  The objectives of “Students Come First” legislation and Propositions 1, 2, &3 were overwhelmingly defeated by the voters of Idaho.  It is the lawful responsibility of the task force to accept the mandate from the people of Idaho.  A comparative look at the elements of Prop’s 1, 2, &3 and the task force subsequent 20 recommendations show that the committee cared little for acting according to the will of the people.

If you compare the “blue print” for those 20 recommendations with the recommendations of the 45 other states who “voluntarily” signed on to participate in Common Core State Standards, you will quickly recognize the incredible “clairvoyant” activity which took place between all of the State Department of Education leaders and the recommendations coming from the U.S. Department of Education.

Everywhere I go in Idaho parents ask me where the candidates stand on Common Core.  I tell them definitively that I oppose the implementation of Common Core Curriculum and Smarter Balanced Assessment Testing.  I have yet to hear my opponents make the same statement.  It would be impossible for them to declare their support for the Governor’s Education Task Force recommendations and be opposed to Common Core, and SBAC.  They contradict their supposed opposition to “big government” and top down agenda driven management of our local schools.  You cannot get any more “top down, agenda driven government” than Common Core Standards and SBAC which is being imposed upon our local schools. National Standards, National Testing, Student Tracking Systems are just more “Big Government”.

Although traveling across Idaho can be exhausting, I receive spiritual strength and resolve when I meet likeminded Idaho Patriots.  Parents and grandparents want their voices to be heard.  A Constitutional Republic can prevail by people moving from complacency to activism out of concern for their children’s welfare.  Personal data on every child in Idaho is being entered into a student tracking data base which is not being kept private to local school administrators.  Parents and grandparents know it is time to make their voices heard loud and clear.

Many teachers thank me for sharing their concerns.  A highly qualified professional veteran teacher explained that in all of her 35 years of teaching she has never seen teacher morale so low!   A young teacher in her late twenties lamented that she quit teaching after only five years because she hates Common Core and teaching to the test.  Another teacher worried that she might lose her job because she refuses to allow her children to take the upcoming pilot SBAC test.  Can Idaho afford to lose more highly qualified teachers and expect school improvement?  That answer won’t be found in a 75 to 1 student-teacher ratio of a virtual academy or sitting our students before a laptop computer all day long!

Our children deserve teachers who motivate, inspire, impart knowledge and yes…discipline them to help them become sovereign citizens of our great Republic rather than just the next “global workforce”.  As a current teacher, I speak for the majority of teachers when I say that we just want what is best for our students and fair compensation for our labor.

Isn’t it time we tell our State Representatives to exercise “Common Sense, and say NO Common Core”?

Please spread the word to all of your associates that they must make their voices heard during this primary election.  Please vote Eynon for Education on May 20. Idaho’s future depends on you.