Gov. Jim Thompson Monday told a group of Illinois’ educational administrators that it is up to the education community to prevent another funding catastrophe next year.

The governor said he will advocate a tax increase to support education in fiscal year 1989. However, Thompson qualified that remark by saying the money will not be had “without fighting for it.”

This comes as no big news to anyone who has followed the education funding fiasco that has unraveled the past few months. Because a tax increase failed last summer, tuition at NIU had to be increased by $150 for this semester. Similar boosts were made at other state universities.

The fact that Thompson recognizes a need for an intense lobbying campaign if Illinois taxpayers are to give in and pay a little more for the sake of education in the state is no surprise.

However, thanks to Big Jim, education might already have the deck stacked solidly against it.

In each of his last two gubernatorial campaigns, Thompson has promised taxpayers he would not raise taxes. But, in each instance, the governor has not wasted any time declaring he was wrong and stating the need for tax hikes.

Understandably, such tactics do not rest well in the minds of the state’s taxpayers. Unfortunately, such tactics also have a tendency to stick in the minds of those same taxpayers.

This is what grudges are made of. And grudges die hard.

Thompson is correct when he says getting the citizens of Illinois to favor an education tax hike will be an uphill battle. He also is correct when he says the education community will have to fight that battle.

But the governor must now go beyond the obvious. He must assume the role of general in the battle. And his first mission is to admit he was wrong by saying one thing and doing another.

Some Illinoisans believe the governor stabbed them in the back by breaking his campaign promises not to raise taxes. This clouds the tax payers’ perceptions of how vital an increase is to education. Consequently, a hesitant citizenry emerges.

Thompson must make the first move and apologize. Only then can the education community go into battle with any hope for victory.