Thursday, April 13th, 2006...6:21 am
Maybe They Can Subpoena the Spirit Club For Making Students Sit Through Another Stupid Pep Rally
I like Rep. Jonathan Paton, I’ve seen him at Hotel Congress a couple of times, and seems to be a decent guy. What frustrates me about him is that he believes that he needs to pander to the right wing of his party, a right wing that doesn’t like him too much and won’t no matter what he does.
His latest act is attacking the Tucson Unified School District. He is angry over a speech given at Tucson High School by United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta. He is angry over statements supportive of Hugo Chavez and, most infamously, for saying “Republicans hate Latinos.” Okay, I love Dolores Huerta, but the latter statement was probably inappropriate. However, it is instructive to note that Huerta was invited by a student organization. If local Republican leaders don’t like the tone of the speech, a conservative student group can invite someone else to talk. I can’t remember what that is called, it’s a Greek word, oh yeah, democracy.
(They can invite Randy Graf or Joe Sweeney and confirm that some Republicans, in fact, do hate Hispanics)
Paton has sent a letter to the district demanding answers on both that and the amount of money spent on busses for Monday’s rally. I can see that, if there are constituents who want answers. However, Paton is now threatening the district with subpoenas and “invited” Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer to “attend” a legislative hearing. He’s got to know that his colleagues will just use this as an excuse to berate Pfeuffer in public (anyone who has seen the way they treat witnesses would know what I mean), and I don’t see what this can result in except yet another reason for the legislature to go after public school funding.
Yesterday, Paton also announced that he is again going after TUSD, again for a speech made at Tucson High School, this time by Rep. Raúl Grijalva this past Tuesday. You may remember at the begining of the month Grijalva, along with many local educational and civic leaders including Republican Mayor Bob Walkup, put out a call asking that students not participate in walk-outs and promised other opporitunities to discuss issues. In an open letter to the community, Grijalva and 25 others said:
To this point, only some student leaders have had the opportunity to participate in discussions about possible events to be held this week and in the future. We are committed to giving all students the opportunity to voice their opinions in a safe environment. Each school will provide opportunities from a menu that includes, but is not limited to, class discussions, forums, debates, panels, and letter or petition writing.
So, Grijalva was doing what he and many local leaders wanted, giving students a chance to express themselves without leaving class. Apparently, this wasn’t even a full blown speech, but mostly a question and answer session. It is ridiculous to think that a congressman can’t talk to a group of high school students in his own district.
Neither Huerta or Grijalva is Paton’s political cup of tea. This goes without saying. But it is overkill to declare war on the school district over this matter.
3 Comments
April 13th, 2006 at 8:35 am
Pfeuffer ought to take those student leaders who organizezd the event to the hearing and let them speak on his behalf. Let’s see the bullies in the Legislature beat up on some kids.
April 13th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
What is wrong with Pep Rallies?
Why do you hate America? ;P
April 14th, 2006 at 8:40 am
The bullies in the legislature don’t care who they’re beating up. They’ve attacked young people during committee hearings before and there’s no doubt they’d do it again. You can’t challenge their deeply-held convictions. They’re attempting to intimidate the democracy out of the process of creating public policy. And in Arizona, for the most part, they’ve been successful.
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