The awesome power of AM radio
As predicted, Sen. Howard Stephenson took to the talk radio airways to blast the state Education Office and defend himself from a Tribune story revealing he had pressured state education officials to influence education contracts.Stephenson, who is a fulltime industry lobbyist—something rare even in laissez faire Utah, called his K-TALK special edition "Stupid in Utah: How the Utah State Office of Education hurts kids and teachers."
State Superintendent Patti Harrington, apparently one of the seven listeners early Saturday morning, complained:
The title for his show was beyond the pale. I was disappointed in that from Sen. Stephenson.
Stephenson hammered state "educrats" for "subversiveness," dishonesty and resisting high-tech change. In short, they didn't do what he told them to do.
With a fair amount of struggling you might be able to get a podcast of the show here.
3 Comments:
Patti Harrington personifies one of the major deficiencies of the public education environment. In response to Stephenson's criticism, she cries about the title of the show being "beyond the pale" rather than addresses the issues.
When we who pay the salaries of public officials with our taxes criticize them, we are not trying to make them feel better about themselves. Instead, we want them to change their behavior or their practices. Whether they feel good about it is irrelevant - they are responsible for their own self-esteem.
Patti Harrington isn't some itinerant pizza delivery girl from Provo. She is a professional civil servant who is paid to take heat. I expect her to take it - and respond it like an adult.
The Utah Education Association has long been under fire for performance beyond the pale! The along with UAW have long lived their life expectancy or need!
Deseret Dawg is absolutely right. What the Superintendent should have said is that Sen. Stephenson has AGAIN stepped over the bounds of his elected position to push for something he personally wants to happen regardless of the value to the state. If Stephenson would quit trying to find solutions to educational issues in slick ad campaigns, he might have the time to listen to people who actually research education policy on a regular basis. Stephenson, like most of our politicians for life, has no interest in what's best for public education in Utah, his only interest is his own ego and career.
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