Empty jargon conceals extreme views of spokesman for Tammie Wilson's political group
Prioritize efficiency in spending. Fiscal responsibility and accountability. Allocating resources wisely. Responsible budgeting. Developing budgets that align with taxpayer expectations. Proactive planning. Careful consideration of spending priorities. Allocate resources effectively. Prioritize improving student outcomes. Embrace change. Make tough decisions. Drive meaningful changes that elevate our education outcomes. Equipping students for success. Work together to enact positive change. Engaging actively in the education process. Enact positive change.
The world-class collection of empty phrases quoted above are all from the opinion column the Daily News-Miner printed by Josh Church, the right-wing spokesman for Tammie Wilson’s campaign group, Citizens for Transparent Government. Wilson’s group is facing a fine for failing a campaign transparency test.
Missing from that column by Church was any hint of his extreme views on education and politics, which he has freely expressed on social media and in other places.
On X, formerly Twitter, he said that “Democrats are now the party of authoritarianism” and praised Putin as being “more intelligent, honest, moral and powerful” than our own leaders.
He has attacked public education as a failing institution, claimed that radical change is needed to improve schools, and that “the only way we are going to have true parents’ rights is to change the constitution and support a voucher system for school choice.”
“Support candidates for school board who demand radical changes to the operations and curriculum of these failing institutions,” he wrote on July 31, 2023 on the Make Alaska Great Again Facebook page.
Last September, he wrote that the only area in which the Fairbanks school board succeeded was the dissemination of “anti-faith and anti-family propaganda.”
“The schools these days are a dangerous place to send your kids,” Church claimed, referring to Fairbanks public schools.
“We need to change this. Not everyone can homeschool their kids, and while anyone who can, should, we still need to fix the schools for those who can’t,” wrote Church, who works as a financial manager.
“As a state we regularly come in within one or two points of being the 50th worst academically performing state. This is wholly our fault as a community. We can’t blame this on Commiefornia or Bidenomics. We are to blame for not electing people of moral courage to ensure our kids are learning good values and a quality education,” Church wrote for the right-wing Alaska Watchman.
I will deal at another time with how Church and other opponents of public education in Alaska are obsessed with the idea that statewide average scores on standardized tests are proof of a failed system, neglecting the intangibles, the weaknesses of the tests and the myriad of factors that determine success and how it is measured.
Church wrote the other day in the News-Miner, “I have even been criticized for suggesting that the deficient performance of Alaska schools is our own community’s fault.”
On May 6, I wrote here that Church chose to present himself as a thoughtful model of reasonable debate, representing Tammie Wilson’s group in opposing the effort to reinstitute the tax cap at last year’s level.
I said that had he been transparent about his real opinions, more people would have questioned not only his change in tactics, but also his claims about what the schools need.
“Believe it or not they are learning something at school all day,” he said last fall about students in the Fairbanks schools.
“It may not be how to read but they are learning something. It may be a disdain for your country and culture,” Church claimed.
When all the borough candidates he supported—Tammie Wilson, Jimi Cash, April Smith, Michael Humphrey, Aaron Gibson—were defeated in the 2023 election, he claimed that their opponents misled the public, had more people out with signs, worked harder to win, worked harder to get people out to vote, ran ads together etc. He also complained that the left’s “college kids have been educated to be activist for 20 years.”
Church also falsely claimed that three candidates he opposed last year—Tim Doran, Meredith Maple and Bobby Burgess—said the only thing needed to fix education is more money. They didn’t say that.
Some of what he said about the 2023 election was true.
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.
Write me at dermotmcole@gmail.com
