Act now to support a parent's right to opt-out their kids from the CSAP!

by: Andrea Merida

Mon Feb 06, 2012 at 18:12:29 PM MST

Why is this important?  Plainly and simply, the stakes have become too high regarding the CSAP/TCAP, and consequently, school leaders and districts have adopted a punitive attitude toward families and students who choose to opt out.  

Follow the money - DPS school board race

by: Angela Engel

Tue Oct 18, 2011 at 17:46:41 PM MST

This election year, Denver voters will have an opportunity to demonstrate the power of citizen engagement and the importance of direct control of our neighborhood schools. National interests are investing heavily in Denver's school board race. The players are many, the politics ugly, and the possibilities well...promising.

The Players

Stand for Children established a Colorado Chapter in 2010 in order to push legislation that tied teacher evaluations to test scores. Their investors include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and New Profit Inc. - a "national venture philanthropy fund." Democrats for Education Reform, DFER, are a newer organization that promotes charter schools, alternative certification training, and performance pay, and in addition promote mayoral control. ACE originated in Colorado in 2000. ACE members made significant campaign contributions to the Douglas County School Board responsible for directing private dollars away from some of the most high-performing public schools in the state. Several other funders have also joined the ranks, and the one thing they all have in common are trustees and board members with corporate connections and with very deep pockets.

The Politics (below the fold)

Gov. Tim "Dry Toast" Pawlenty To Show Off His Math Deficiency Today

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Tue Jun 07, 2011 at 06:28:45 AM MST

GOP presidential hopeful Gov. Tim Pawlenty is going to show off the fact that he and his economic team can't do simple math today. In Chicago we are going to be treated to another salvo of "flatter, fairer" tax thinking. In what will be his first major economic speech of his run for president the candidate most likely to be mistaken for plain yoghurt is going to try to make a splash.

Gov. Timmeh is reportedly going to propose massive tax cuts for everyone. He wants to slash the corporate tax rate by 20 percentage points, from 35% to 15%. He wants to end the estate tax (the WaPo article actually called it the death tax, so really objective there) as well as tax on interest income, dividends and capital gains all together.

That giant whooshing sound you hear is the money flying out of the Treasury. All of this is done under the guise of  "job creation". Leaving aside the fact that this is a doubling down of the Bush ideas about job creation and the fact that with policies like these we had a net loss of jobs over 8 years of the Bush administration, it is still mystifying to me how taking the one source of solid demand out of the economy (government spending) creates more jobs.

I know, I know, the magical thinking gene that Republican economists have is not expressing the protein I need to believe in this BS. The good news is that it also keeps me from believing in the Tooth Fairy, Big Foot or Homeopathic therapies.

He is not going to stop there though, not our Timmeh, no! He is going to propose that the there be only two (count 'em, two!) take brackets. 10% on the first 50,000 earned, then 25% on the rest. Basically Gov. Tim wants to give the top earners, a 28% tax break on top of the other breaks they've had. Now even a confused and math impaired Republican knows that you can't take the much revenue out of the government and not have an instant debt crisis.  

Attend an evening with Diane Ravitch, champion of public schools

by: DefenseDenver

Mon Jan 31, 2011 at 22:59:10 PM MST

In her latest book, distinguished education scholar and former proponent of the federal No Child Left Behind Act Diane Ravitch raises concerns over testing mania and school choice. In the process, she is reframing the national debate over the best ways to improve our nation's public schools.

From 1991 to 1993, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. She was responsible for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. As Assistant Secretary, she led the federal effort to promote the creation of voluntary state and national academic standards.

Republican Anarchy: sterioid-induced attacks on our friends, neighbors, family members on the way

by: Zappatero

Sat Jan 01, 2011 at 15:23:06 PM MST

The next set of blame must also be laid at the feet of Bush/Cheney as well as Tom Ridge and Karl Rove, who implemented TSA protocols for political reasons, who've kept the pay scale down, and who surely intimidated and influenced management from Day 1 to always keep TSA wanting for resources and as a target of anti-worker sentiment.

Republican Congressmen and Senators like Jim DeMint also played that game.

If anyone thinks the procedural mixups and hindrances to our travel are all due to TSA workers, and only those workers, they could only be an incoming Republican Committee Chairman who loves privatization, hates your friends and neighbors and family members, and who wants to privatize yet another key public safety function of government:

"If you look at [the TSA's] performance, have they ever stopped a terrorist? Anyone can get through," Mica said in an interview. "We've been very lucky, very fortunate. TSA should focus on its mission: setting up the protocol, adapting to the changing threats and gathering intelligence."

On Social Security Investment, Or, What About Chile?

by: fake consultant

Wed Nov 03, 2010 at 09:04:19 AM MST

We're going to start with some reasonably simple stuff today, just to get your feet wet; by the time we get a few stories down the road there will be some complicated economic analysis to work through-but let's begin today by looking a bit south.

Those who support privatizing Social Security in this country often point to Chile as an example we could follow, and that seems like a good place to get the conversation going...so set your personal WayBack Machine to Santiago, May, 1981, and let's see what we can learn.