A disturbing  presentation posted on the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) website, under management of Executive Director Bill Keim, seeks to bully those who disagree with their lobbying position on education funding.  WASA associates those with differing views to German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Russian communist dictator Vladimir Lenin.

The presentation, titled “Advocacy: Why Be Engaged?” was posted by Assistant Executive Director of Government Relations Daniel P. Steele, as a representative of WASA.

The presentation includes three citations from my published research:

- “Lawmakers of both parties have been providing massive increases to K-12 schools. By any reasonable standard, the Legislature is already funding a solid public education program, at Cadillac levels.”  [Washington Policy Center Blog, Sept. 7 and Sept. 12, 2016.]

- “Rather than debating the balance between local and state-level funding sources, lawmakers should seek ways to expand family choice in education.”  [Legislative Memo, January 4, 2016.]

- “In public education, changing funding sources is less important than improving how the money is used.  A better model for funding public education would be to give parents a greater role in making key educational decisions.”  [Legislative Memo, January 4, 2016.]

The presentation cites a range of statements on education by Arik Korman, of the League of Education Voters, Jami Lund of the Freedom Foundation, Lisa MacFarlane of Democrats for Education Reform, Dave Powell of Stand for Children, and the Washington Roundtable/Partnership for Learning.

WASA then points to “big lies,” like those propagated by Goebbels and Lenin.  It’s hard to see what reasonable statements by respected Washington state education researchers and advocates have to do with 20th century European leaders who murdered millions of their own citizens.

It is not possible to have an informed conversation about education reform when WASA implies that people who hold alternate views are fascists and communists.  This mean-spirited tactic comes across as a transparent effort to bully others into silence.

Reasonable people can disagree.  Engaging in name-calling while citing the most reprehensible figures from history does not make progress in improving public education.  Instead, all of us who care about children should work together in a peaceful and collaborative way to make sure schools are well funded and use public money effectively, so that every child learns.