If teachers are soldiers, who's the chief?

Education Secretary Rod Paige managed to drag the debate over No Child Left Behind into the back alleys when - in what has been characterized as a joke - he called the National Education Association a "terrorist organization" during a private discussion with the nation's governors.

We might have shrugged off the comment as merely dumb and offensive, but then came Paige's apology:

"It was an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind's historic education reforms. I also said, as I have repeatedly, that our nation's teachers, who have dedicated their lives to service in the classroom, are the real soldiers of democracy, whereas the NEA's high-priced Washington lobbyists have made no secret that they will fight against bringing real, rock-solid improvements in the way we educate all our children regardless of skin color, accent or where they live. But, as one who grew up on the receiving end of insensitive remarks, I should have chosen my words better."

It sure sounds to us like Paige simply used "terrorist organization" as shorthand for what he really believes, which is that teachers across America are lined up in support of No Child Left Behind, but are being thwarted by their union bosses and their lobbyists in Washington, D.C

Sorry, Secretary Paige, but we don't believe that's the case.

There are serious problems with the act known as No Child Left Behind, covering a gamut that runs from inadequate funding at the federal level to punishment of otherwise good schools for low test scores from a handful of poor, non-English-speaking, learning-impaired children.

If teachers are the "real soldiers of democracy," then their commander-in-chief is going to be left marching off in another direction by himself. They are a lot less interested in the politics of federal reform than they are in trying to get that troubled 11-year-old girl to read at her grade level.

Paige, a former teacher, appears to be under the misguided belief the Education Department in Washington, D.C., can do a better job of running Carson City's schools than the local school board.

Perhaps Paige should spend less time arguing with union lobbyists and more time talking with teachers, superintendents and school-board members. Our experience shows they're not too scary, and very few of them are armed.