As usual, one of my favorite teacher friends - Michael at Best Destiny - makes some excellent big picture points about the state of public education, teachers unions, and the hard-working people in the classrooms. His post is a thoughtful follow-up to the story of the unsurprisingly biased Rocky Mountain High School (Fort Collins) math test reported at Face the State and covered here. One point Michael makes is one I don't make enough but needs to sink home with some: The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, that, contrary to popular belief, teachers are not all Democrats. It has been my experience, having worked in 23 schools in my career (yes, I have an odd job description), that there are vastly more Republicans in the education profession … [Read more...]
Fairness and Integrity: Flunking the Test in Fort Collins
According to one Fort Collins high school math teacher, you can't believe anything I say. If his opinion doesn't bother you, then go ahead and read. My Independence Institute colleague Amy Oliver helped to uncover the story of the slanted Rocky Mountain High School math exam, which is covered this morning at Face the State: RMHS is part of the Poudre School District; its teachers are members of the Poudre Education Association (PEA). The Colorado Supreme Court recently announced that it will hear arguments alleging that the PEA illegally campaigned for democrat candidate for state senate, Bob Bacon. Faithful readers of this site may know something about that issue. For a refresher, here's an op-ed I wrote last July after the state court … [Read more...]
The Case of CU’s Phil Mitchell: He Deserves an Investigation
Once again, the Post's David Harsanyi brings an important case to light. In today's column, he highlights the case of Phil Mitchell, a veteran instructor at the University of Colorado who was recently fired. For having views or professional practices like Ward Churchill? Hardly. Mitchell is a conservative Christian who claims he was set up. (Disclosure: Though I've never met Mitchell, we have mutual friends.) To his credit, Harsanyi presents the case in a fair and balanced manner: Mitchell can relay stories of the nasty anti-Christian bigotry he's experienced on campus. I suspect that bias is very real. But those are the hard knocks of free speech. The question is: Do those incidents mean there is a conspiracy to remove him from CU? It … [Read more...]
Pulling Back the Lid on Colorado School Financial Accountability
Face the State is on top of a story about public education agency fiscal mismanagement that I've personally been aware of for some time. I urge you to read the story and ask yourself several questions: - Is Centennial BOCES an isolated case or symptomatic of a larger trend? - Why do some in power in the local education establishment strenuously resist real financial oversight and accountability? - Why are taxpayers constantly begged for more funds for the school system, yet struggle to find a clear, careful, and comprehensible accounting of how all public funds are spent? (Have you ever requested a copy of your local school district's budget and financial statements to review?) - Shouldn't we encourage the State Auditor … [Read more...]
WorldNetDaily Notices Merrifield’s Infernal Remarks
More than a month after Colorado's Face the State launched onto the Internet map with its exposure of a hateful, anti-charter school email by Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, the well-trafficked pioneer site WorldNetDaily recounts the story to its vast conservative audience. To the chagrin of the education status quo defenders at the Colorado State Capitol, this story continues to have good traction. Kudos, Face the State! … [Read more...]
Seebach Skeptical of NEA-Funded Review Project
In Saturday's Rocky Mountain News, columnist Linda Seebach brought attention to the biased, teachers union-funded Think Tank Review Project - featured on Mount Virtus back in January. When I publicly criticized the Project, I received a long, friendly email response from Project co-chair Kevin Welner. In our exchange, Welner and I came to agreement on our mutual respect for Ms. Seebach's evenhanded, analytical approach. A couple key grafs from Seebach's column: After the formal discussion was over, I broached that subject with Welner. He said there is no intention on anyone's part to make the project political, and I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. He also said it's difficult to find expert reviewers on the right, and I don't … [Read more...]
Hardly a Surprise: CEA Officials Caught in a Lie
The Denver Post reports today that State Representative Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs) has filed a lobbyist-ethics complaint against the Colorado Education Association for spreading misinformation about the Governor's property-tax measure before the legislature: He cited an e-mail Mason sent to eight CEA members and a CEA website posting as including the misleading statements. According to Lambert, Mason and the CEA are saying the proposal, which was added Monday to the annual funding bill for schools, would "take pressure off future cuts to K-12" and "is NOT a tax increase." Of course, both statements are untrue. Amendment 23 protects K-12 from any potential future cuts - even before Amendment 23, K-12 rarely received a funding cut. … [Read more...]
Don’t Stop the Presses: House Ed Dems Vote for Tax Increase
Colorado's liberal, out-of-touch House Education Committee has just voted to approve the governor's amendment to the School Finance Act that would raise taxes for most property owners in the state. The vote passed on an 8-5 party line vote, with all Democrats lining up to raid taxpayer pockets. By listening to much of the testimony, you would think that school revenues in Colorado are running dry. Nothing could be further from the truth. And whenever other possibilities for raising funds for education have been introduced, the Democrats resist - unable to dream of doing anything but hiking property taxes. The dirty little not-so-secret? The property tax increase advertised for the "children" is being used so the state government can … [Read more...]
Colorado Schools Keep Raising Funds from Property Taxes
My report for the Independence Institute on Governor Ritter's tax-raising proposal to fund new education programs is officially released today. Here is the summary: On March 12, 2007, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter proposed the “Colorado Children’s Amendment,†a plan to spend $84 million to expand preschool and kindergarten programs. To free state money to fund the programs, he proposed a mill levy rate “freeze†that would shift some of the school funding burden to local sources. On April 10, the governor revised the plan—offering tax relief to property owners in 33 school districts while creating higher property tax bills in 104 districts. The annual revenue estimate for the plan’s new version is $55 million. State … [Read more...]
Va Tech Massacre: Heroism, Compassion Amid a Great Evil
In case you haven't seen this, there is at least one especially poignant tale of heroism to be told among yesterday's incident of great evil, terror, and tragedy at Virginia Tech University: As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 76-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech College that left 33 dead and over two dozen wounded. Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio. Several … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- …
- 49
- Next Page »