Martha Wong versus the "soccer moms"

You may recall that the Texas Parent PAC gave its first endorsement of the general election season to Ellen Cohen. You may not be aware of how the Wong campaign reacted to this news.

Founder Carolyn Boyle of Austin said Wong "has earned a grade of 'F' for her leadership and voting record on public education," instead favoring initiatives to support private schools.

The PAC planned to make its formal announcement in a news conference with Cohen Tuesday morning at West University Elementary School, past the Examiner deadline. Boyle pointed to a bill Wong sponsored in 2003, HB 2101, that would have provided public funding of $175 million a year to private schools established by educators that wouldn’t have been required to have accredited teachers, curriculum standards or be subjected to state performance testing.

"It was an irresponsible bill with a blank check from the taxpayers," Boyle said. The bill died in committee.

Josh Robinson, Wong's campaign manager, called the PAC a "fringe group that's clearly not done their homework."

He said Wong is "a leader in education," and cited her background as a classroom teacher and administrator.

Let's put aside the fact that Josh Robinson called a group that cited a specific bill as a key part of its grievance against his boss ignorant and focus on the fact that he called them "fringe". I daresay ol' Kent Grusendorf would have a different opinion, but never mind that, either. I just love it when an officeholder insults a large portion of her own electorate. That's always a good strategy for winning a close election. We who support Ellen Cohen salute you, Josh. You're doing a heckuva job.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 05, 2006 to Election 2006