Votes really do count!

I love the way the Left falls back on clichés when it detects the spirit of democracy is raising its powerful head.

You've heard it: "They're like peasants at the gates with pitchforks!"

They're talking about average citizens who find their voice and put an end to political abuse.

Usually, the protesting citizens are adults who know the civic ropes, but in rural northern California, the protesters were high school kids. They were angry with an abusive school superintendent and school board and decided to make changes.

Was that school board surprised!

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The beautiful part was that, initially, no one in power took them seriously. Big mistake.

The students were, to put it bluntly, those "peasants at the gates with pitchforks."

The San Francisco papers launched that epithet at Californians who demonstrated in Sacramento in the '90s, protesting the forced addition of MTBE to gasoline, which in fact, contaminated drinking water.

Pundits did it again after the Tax Day tea parties, which brought more than 6,000 to Sacramento and thousands of others at gatherings across the state. It was even more galling when the scene was repeated nationwide.

Who knew so many people needed a way to show their frustration with government?

The libs took one look and hit back with snotty insults: "They were just bigoted, rednecks who were only following orders" – or "peasants at the gates with pitchforks."

The Japanese realized they awakened a sleeping giant after their attack on Pearl Harbor.

What the Left today hasn't fully realized is that it does the same thing each time it strengthens the hand of government against average citizens. You can only squeeze people who believe in freedom so far before they push back. The tea parties were a major visible sign, and it's not about to stop.

The best example is what happened at tiny (120 students) Tioga High School, in Tuolumne County, in Northern California near Yosemite National Park. It's one of two high schools in the sprawling, 665-square mile, rural Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District, run by a superintendent and five-person school board. Like most bureaucracies, they rule with an iron hand; rules are to be followed, no questions appreciated.

There had been ongoing problems with how things were run, teaching standards, personality problems, financial issues and more, which caused parental concern about the quality of their children's education.

But nothing really changed until Ryan Dutton, a favorite math teacher, was fired last September after allegations he'd cheated in a course at Cal State Fresno. The university, which apologized for what was called "any misunderstanding," cleared him. But the school board refused to reinstate the former professional football player.

Now, it was the students' turn to be upset, and they were furious. Parents might be angry about rules and regulations, but when a favorite teacher is dumped, well – them's fightin' words.

The kids weren't troublemakers. They just wanted a hearing and felt they had a good case to support their teacher. But they were ignored. Not knowing what to do, they decided to stage a walkout.

The day after the firing, the entire school walked out of class and sat in the parking lot, hoping to get the attention of the board for an explanation of the firing and to have their views heard. Students wanted Mr. Dutton back in class. They liked him because he was a tough teacher and a good teacher. Not surprisingly, the firing held.

Hundreds of people showed up at the December board meeting to support the rehiring of Dutton but to no avail.

But the seeds of organized dissent were sowed in the civics classes of teacher Tim King, who explained to students how the system worked. There was something they could do: They could force a recall election of the school board – all five members. They couldn't recall the superintendent, Mrs. Mari Brabbin, because she wasn't elected; she was hired by the board and had a contract.

King explained what a recall would entail, the guidelines to follow to make certain it would be legal. He also explained how much work it would be involved especially since only students over 18 could legally collect signatures.

They got busy: researched the law, put the petitions together and got to work. They needed to collect 1,200 signatures on each of five separate petitions, one for each board member. Parents chipped in to help, as did area residents, teachers and even the school principal.

Throughout, students told me, the board remained unmoved and simply stonewalled everyone, no comments. Tim King told me a "paper trail" was kept on him, an insidious threat to his job.

But the students got the necessary thousands of signatures and qualified the recall for the May 18 special election which had been called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for six statewide measures aimed at helping balance the state budget.

Statewide turnout was barely 23 percent. Five of the six tax measures failed.

In Big Oak Flat, however, turnout was nearly 60 percent, and the vote count showed a stunning 70 percent voted for the recall! All five school board members were tossed out of their jobs!

The kids, their supporters and democracy worked!

What a fabulous civics lesson for those students!

As Tim King told me, "My kids did it! It's the first time in California history that an entire school board was ousted, and it was started by students."

But the board got their last dig. Before the election, they voted to renew Ms. Brabbin's contract for three years with a raise."

How to undo that is the next challenge in Groveland.