Judith Billings

Reader T.L. from Tacoma writes:

Dear Sound Politics,

Do you have any thoughts on the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction? I'm new to the area and still trying to come up to speed on the idiosyncrasies of Washington State politics. From reading the voter's pamphlet it appears we have two previous holders of the position, somebody who thinks more money and less accountability will solve all problems, a complete loon, a guy trying to be all things to all people, and a guy who wants to bring in the bulldozers and then rebuild from scratch. Is that it?

Yes, T.L., that is it. We think you're already up to speed.

The only candidate worth considering for this position is the incumbent Terry Bergeson. She's not quite our dream candidate, but she has at least supported some education reforms (e.g. charter schools) and is committed to the WASL. Whatever you do, do not vote for Judith Billings, a fictional character created and scripted by the staff writers at the Washington Education Association. Even the Seattle Post-Intelligencer can understand that the anti-reform, anti-accountability Billings would bring the schools little more than "unfocused drift"

Billings has indulged in musings on whether all students need such challenging course work. Yes, students do need algebra, so they will have options in life.

At the same time, here at Sound Politics we take a naughty pleasure in watching the WEA blow thousands of dollars of its members' compulsory dues on a shitty, unelectable candidate like Judith Billings. After all, our state's quality teachers can only stand for so much waste, fraud and abuse before they rise up and liberate themselves and our public schools from the tyranny of the WEA extortion mafia.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 29, 2004 09:06 PM | Email This