No Way To Treat A Hero

TRADITIONALLY, IT IS the responsibility of the living to make sure that heroes who died too soon did not die in vain. The Reagan Administration seems to have a penchant for turning that commitment on its head.

Martin Luther King Jr., who died before his dream could be realized, has been refashioned by the Reaganites as the leading critic of affirmative action. After all, wasn't he attacking quotas when he spoke of a colorblind society?

Only last week, in his State of the Union Address, President Reagan cited Franklin D. Roosevelt '04 as the arch enemy of welfare. The selective right-wing memory seems to forget who created the American welfare state in the first place.

The biggest advantage of the New Memory plan is that King, Roosevelt and other dead advocates of social justice can't respond when the Reagan rhetoriticians paint them as the pilgrims of the New Right tactics of slash and burn government.

Given this record of disrespect for the dead, is it surprising then that Christa McAuliffe is being touted as a martyr for a cause other than the one she lived for?

CHRISTA McAULIFFE was not an astronaut. She was a public school teacher. She taught social studies and according to press accounts, stressed the impact of ordinary people on history.

She was aboard the space shuttle Challenger, not because of her commitment to the space program, but because of her commitment to public education. As the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe saw a unique and dramatic opportunity to inspire American schoolchildren with the excitement of learning.

But in the aftermath of the space shuttle catastrophe precious little has been said in support of public education. Instead, in honor of the seven dead American heroes who were aboard Challenger, President Reagan has promised that America will continue to "reach for the stars" and recently submitted a budget that provides for more dollars for NASA research and development.

While Christa McAuliffe surely would support continued space exploration, it must be remembered she went aboard shuttle on behalf of public education.

It is somewhat commonplace to say that public education in America is in disarray. Teachers in school systems across the country are on a work-by-the-rules policy, refusing to put in any time beyond their contractual obligation. Public school teachers command neither the pay nor the status they deserve. And students routinely graduate from high school unable to read or write and no doubt bitter towards society in general.

Christa McAuliffe risked her life in the hopes of restoring respect for teachers and enlivening interest in students.

However, in President Reagan's budget message to Congress, he made only one reference to education. And that reference called for a $1.4 billion cut in government loans to college and university students.

If Christa McAuliffe is to be truly honored as the hero she was, she must be remembered as a teacher--not an astronaut. Public education needs a serious reappraisal and revitalization. There could be no greater way of honoring Ms. McAuliffe than to embark on this mission in her name.