#RedForEd

A few folks asked me if I had anything to say about the #RedForEd movement. Yeah. I have a lot to say, and the entire take can be boiled down to three words: it's about time.

I've spent a lot of time going around the country advocating for people to stand up and fight for their schools, for the kids who go to them, and for the teachers who teach in them. I've rallied friends and strangers around the idea that all of us have to be willing not just to speak up on behalf of our schools and teachers, but to do so loudly. I've asked people to hold those difficult conversations that point to what is clearly happening: the systematic destruction of our public education system.

Photo by Gina Maravilla

That educators (and it IS educators, not just teachers) have finally had enough should come as no surprise. It's the inevitable result of trying to run a growing state like Arizona on an austerity budget that year-after-year took away the state's ability to make the necessary investments in education. Arizona is home to seven million people, and the money coming into the state's general fund is a mere $9.8 billion. That's not enough to fund basic programs and services. On top of that Arizona gives away $15 billion (and counting) annually in corporate tax breaks and rebates. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee — which analyzes the effects of budgets and budget proposals in the AZ — has pointed out for many years that these breaks haven't worked.

And we wonder why we have a teacher shortage, or why a teacher and 49,999 of her best friends decided to leave school and visit the capitol today.

They had no choice. I'm glad they're doing it. This is their time, and this is their fight. Don't believe anyone who tells you that this is all about politics. It's not. It's about wanting something good and right and deserving for our kids, and the people closest to them standing up and fighting for them.

I stand with them.

All decent people should.

#RedForED bitches.

And a note for the purists: Not for nothing, but the next time someone comes up to me and tells me I'm wearing the wrong color red, or my shirt doesn't have the proper graphic I am kindly going to tell them to suck it. This has happened to me twice over the last week. It debases the actual purpose of what's happening and takes a galactically stupid argument from trite to trivial in a nanosecond. I've made a career out of fighting for kids and teachers, and up until a few weeks ago no one noticed or cared what color I was wearing. Shit, I was #RedForEd before it was cool.

'Don't boo . . . vote!"

Don't boo . . . vote! — President Barack Obama

Elections count. Every vote counts. And tomorrow voters in the eighth congressional district in Arizona have an opportunity to do themselves and the nation a great favor by voting for Dr. Hiral Tipirneni. Read her website. She's rational, supports common-sense policies that are good for our area, will protect social security and Medicare, is well-spoken and clearly bright.

In other words, she is everything her opponent, Debbie Lesko, is not.

I know Debbie Lesko, and I know her well. She was a parent in a school district I used to work for, and the experience was less than gratifying. During the three finance campaigns I ran while there, Lesko opposed them all. She didn't just offer opposition, she lied about the school district's position, lied about tax rates, lied about where money would be spent and . . . well, she lied. A lot. The best one: the school district planned to replace teachers with computers. No kidding.

Things went from bad to worse when she was elected to the Arizona legislature, where she had a less than starling tenure. In fact, during her term, she didn't introduce a single piece of legislation that was not cooked up by ALEC or the Koch Brothers. Not a single original thought passed through her head. But a lot of dark money did pass through her dirty little fingers.

Meanwhile, she voted to deny services for the poor, sick and elderly. She voted against registering dangerous firearms and against students, teachers and schools. She did, however, vote for school vouchers, and to give Arizona employers the ability to deny birth control coverage to women who work for them.

While her legislative record is a clear disaster, Lesko the person is worse. She will lie, cheat and badger any individual who stands in her way. She is a thin-skinned sycophant who no more belongs in Congress (or any other elected seat) than my cat. When she voted against a bill that would have required a waiting period and registration of firearms in Arizona I took to Twitter. I called her vote a disgrace because it was. She took exception, as she always does to legitimate criticism, and responded to my Tweet with a not-too-subtle —not to mention misspelled — threat (and, not for nothin', but I kill it on Twitter with my witty political commentary. You can find Bad Hombre Jim @Phxflyer). Not getting the response she had hoped for, she emailed me at work, copied my boss, and again threatened me and my school district with payback. This is the behavior of a petulant child, not a congressional representative.

We live in serious times, and we deserve serious people to represent us. We deserve better than a small, petty person like Debbie Lesko. We deserve an adult.