It's been said that those who wish to hold onto the ideal image of democracy in action, ought to avert their eyes when the Legislature is at work.
That was certainly the case last week as the House of Representatives labored to produce an education reform bill that would allow Massachusetts to apply for federal funds being offered under President Obama's "Race to the Top" initiative.
Having spurned Gov. Deval Patrick's suggestion that they remain in session after Thanksgiving to finish work on the bill, House members were clearly under the gun when they returned to Beacon Hill this week. Applications for Race to the Top funding — which could amount to $250 million over the next four years in the Bay State's case — are due the middle of this month.
House members got a bill out early Thursday morning — but only after ignoring the rule which declares sessions cannot go beyond midnight, adding amendments which few members appeared to have read or understood, and making further changes during an informal session later Thursday some of which were apparently dictated by the teachers' unions.
And we, like many voters, thought the whole point of reform was to wrest some of the control unions now exercise over what happens in our schools. That's one of the guiding principles of the Race to the Top program as well, so it remains to be seen whether the bill that emerges from the House-Senate conference committee passes White House muster.
Don't get your hopes up. The Senate version of the bill passed in November was also heavily influenced by the unions. And while we were heartened by the appointment of Essex County's own Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Brad Hill to the conference committee, these reform-minded Republicans' influence will be limited.
We suppose there are lessons to be learned in the way this bill has struggled to life, they're just not the kind you want to teach kids raised to believe that government is all about doing the right thing the right way for the majority of its citizens.
