Why is the Chronicle Surprised?

Absent rational principles, virtually any issue can be confusing. Absent rational principles, it can be almost impossible to identify a connection between events. Absent rational principles, we get editorials like that in Tuesday's Chronicle. Subtitled "The State Board of Education is still politicizing our children's textbooks," the editorial seems surprised that political considerations are a part of a government agency.


The paper's dismay results from refusing to recognize the essential nature of the board. Government is an agency of force, and the State Board of Education is no exception. Its edicts are imposed upon public schools, teachers, and parents by force. That competing interests want to control the use of that force for their own ends should not be surprising. Indeed, it should be expected.


As with other issues, such as Metro, the Chronicle wants us to believe that the problem is not an improper government agency, but rather those in charge. If only board members put aside their personal views and did what is best for the state's public school students, such issues would not even be raised. That simply isn't going to happen when so much political power is at stake.


If the Chronicle wants to see politics taken out of education, then it should advocate for government to get out of education. Politics and government are inseparable, a fact that continues to escape the paper's editorial writers. And that is precisely what we should expect from those who reject rational principles.