Tennessee Tea Party Republican Representative Bill Dunn, Knoxville, saw fit today to inject his extremist anti-public education views into the Memphis Pre-K sales tax referendum today with a column in The Commercial Appeal.  Such is the behavior of politicians who these days can only see as far as their hysterical delusional affirmation.

It’s an indication of the groupthink that characterizes the Tennessee Legislature these days that the political antipathy to public education continues to drive campaigns to prevent Pre-K from becoming a much-needed part of the Tennessee educational agenda.

That said, it’s one thing to express opinions on the floor of the Tennessee Legislature, but there’s something untoward about his bringing his attacks into a referendum that has no state implications and is strictly a prerogative of the voters in Memphis.

If there is anything that defines Mr. Dunn’s educational points of view, it is his ability to mangle research and disregard the consensus that shows that the benefits of Pre-K.  We’ve written often about those benefits here and we will again next week.

Suffice it to say that before you read Mr. Dunn’s latest attack on progressive (we’re sure that’s a bad word to him) educational policy, keep in mind that he’s the same representative that pushed a state bill to inject his religious beliefs about creationism into science classes of Tennessee schools and gag conscientious science teachers at the risk of losing their jobs.  He also is a major proponent for school vouchers, and based on his comments, it is a position taken to attack public education and its financial foundations.

To ideologues like Mr. Dunn, learning and scientific fact are dangerous things, because they create people who are capable of reasoning and critical thinking, and as much as anything, those are things he must stamp out at all costs.

If you really want to know the facts about Pre-K, click here for a summary from the National Institute on Early Education Research.