Education Reclamation

A new state law wrests control of Colorado City schools away from polygamist zealots

A A A Comments By John Dougherty Thursday, May 19 2005

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Teachers, Bateman says, remain petrified of offending FLDS school administrators and board members.

Years of religious indoctrination have made the teachers -- especially the women -- incapable of challenging the authority of men.

Peter Scanlon

Governor Janet Napolitano has finally taken action against Colorado City polygamists.

John Dougherty

Colorado City high school teacher Deloy Bateman deserves a substantial pay raise.

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"They have never thought for themselves in their lives," Bateman says. "Even when you get into a situation like this, they still don't know what to think."

What most teachers want, Bateman says, is more pay.

Bateman has taught science at the high school for 24 years. Last year his base salary was $27,000. He supports a large family on this meager salary, and when I spoke to him Saturday he had been working on scavenging car parts to fix his family van.

Few teachers in the country have done as much for students in the face of such hostile working conditions. Bateman voluntarily teaches more than a dozen classes every day. He begins before dawn and teaches into the evening. He's created a state-of-the-art science laboratory at his own expense. He drives students across the Arizona Strip on geology excursions in his personal vehicle.

"I've been here for 24 years, and it's literally been 18 hours a day," he says.

Bateman says he's cautiously optimistic that the day he has dreamed about for years -- a day when the FLDS no longer controls the school district -- is about to become reality.

"It's about time," he says. "We are ready for a change for sure."

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