GOP is facing teacher tension

AIKEN - In the heated U.S. Senate contest between U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint and Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, even the political loyalty of South Carolina's public schoolteachers has become a campaign issue.

ADVERTISEMENT

Have a thought? Go to the Forums or Chat.

Subscribe  E-mail this story  Write a letter to the Editor  Printer-friendly version  Get news on your PDA  Get e-mail headlines

Republican operatives complain that Mrs. Tenenbaum, the Democratic candidate, is holding hostage rank-and-file classroom educators, making it difficult for them to express support for Mr. DeMint, the Republican nominee.

"They don't want their names out there," David Nix, the executive director of the Aiken County Republican Party, said of teachers who support Mr. DeMint.

And the perception that all teachers support Mrs. Tenenbaum because of her position makes it difficult for those who don't to speak out, teachers said.

"Not everybody in education is a Democrat," said Angela Tuttle, a special education teacher who spoke openly about her support of Mr. DeMint.

Schools are supposed to be nonpartisan. Ms. Tuttle, for example, who is not from Aiken or surrounding counties, was told by officials that she could not identify the school or county that she taught in when speaking to the media about the U.S. Senate race.

By twice winning the superintendent's post in statewide partisan elections, Mrs. Tenenbaum not only proved her viability as a force in South Carolina politics, she also inherited the assumed support of the state's powerful public school establishment.

This includes the Palmetto State's 55,000 teachers and administrators, along with politically active education groups such as the South Carolina Education Association, the state's largest teacher organization and a sharp critic of withering cuts to state school money.

Although her strong support of education gives Mrs. Tenenbaum a natural political advantage with teachers, her campaign dismisses Republican notions that she has a lock on this vote.

"Most parents, as well as educators, who have seen firsthand the progress we're making, very strongly support Inez in this race, as they have in past elections," said Kay Packett, the candidate's spokeswoman.

"But teachers are as individual as everyone else, so it's ridiculous to suggest that they all ought to vote the same way. I'm sure there are marketing executives who don't plan to vote for Jim DeMint."

This isn't stopping the South Carolina Republican Party, which has also blasted Mrs. Tenenbaum for spending and salaries in the education department, from claiming that educators are stifled from expressing their true political opinion.

They also criticize the South Carolina Education Association, pointing to its endorsement of Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards during the party's presidential primary earlier this year. On Aug. 15, they note, supporters of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and Mr. Edwards held a rally for the two men at the association's headquarters in Columbia.

The group's executive director, Richard Miller, said that Democratic organizers had rented the association's auditorium and that the association had nothing to do with the meeting.

"That's like saying every group that rents our building, we condone it. That's just not the case," he said. "It helps pay the rent."

Luke Byars, the Republican Party's executive director, argues that the group's endorsement of Mr. Edwards makes the association a partisan group - a violation of its tax-exempt status.

"If they're out there helping Kerry/Edwards carry the top of the ticket, they're going to be out there supporting from top to bottom," Mr. Byars said. "That sort of flushes their independence down the drain, if you ask me."

Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113 or scbureau@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Monday, August 23, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle