Category Archives: Education Reform

Mario’s Kid to NY Teacher’s Unions: Suck It!

Yes, I’m stealing “Mario’s Kid” from the fake Shelly Silver account on Twitter. It cracks me up.

Anyway, Governor Cuomo is announcing his budget for New York tomorrow and apparently he’s using it to push for education reform, specifically the arcane concept of tying teachers pay to job performance. How? By tying “…4 percent state aid increases promised to the districts in last year’s budget — some $800 million — to adoption of the teacher-evaluation system developed by the state Education Department, which has been blocked from city schools by a teachers-union lawsuit.”

Long story short, if the districts don’t comply, they don’t get the money.

I know the teachers union hate anything that requires their members to have to do their jobs well in order to keep them, and the Democrat controlled Assembly hates it because the unions give them lots of money so they hate what they’re told to hate. But whenever I hear “performance pay” come up, I think back to high school Chemistry.
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Jon Huntsman Unveils Education Reform Plan, New Hampshire Too Close to Call

Not that anything else the Jon Huntsman campaign has done up into this point has made sense, but apparently he chose the day before the New Hampshire primaries – a “do or die” primary for him to see if he’s even going to make it out of the state – to unveil a new education reform plan.

Much like his economic and financial reform plans, it’s bold and full of everything conservative would want. It kind of makes you wonder why he wouldn’t have been talking aboot it all last year BEFORE people started voting. He may have gained traction in the polls and New Hampshire might actually be too close to call (I know, you’re shocked my headline was misleading).

Some bulletpoints of note:
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Newt Gingrich Talks Education Reform

I had mentioned in a previous post that one of three reforms that conservatives have been debating, working on, and think about over the past few years is education reform.  Here’s a thirteen minute example of why we should take a second look at Newt, and it leaves me wondering when the other candidates are going to discuss the topic…

John Kasich Wants Angry Parents with their Finger on the Trigger

With the amount of random tweets from angry liberals the last time I wrote aboot Gov. John Kasich, apparently he must be doing something right in Ohio. The question is how many people he can piss off with education reform and something ominously called “The Parent Trigger.”

DUN DUN DUN!

One of the biggest components of reforming the public education system is giving parents, particularly those in failing school districts, more of a say in their children’s schooling. I know that sounds crazy giving parents a choice, but that’s a rant for a different time. It ‘s because the system gives parents so few choices that things like a “parent trigger” are necessary.

So what is this “parent trigger?” Well…
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Why Do Liberals Hate Michelle Rhee So Much?

For all the criticism that conservatives get for being intolerant of “moderates” in the Republican Party, we don’t vilify our own the way left wing extremists seem to vilify Michelle Rhee.

Rhee, a Democrat, has become one of the most vocal supporters of education reform, something teachers unions and the extremist left oppose. They’ve already run her and now former mayor Adrian Fenty, another Democrat, out of Washington DC where they tried reforming the worst public education system in the country (side now, President Obama sat by counting his donations from the unions while this was going on). Now, according to an article in the Daily News, they’re attacking Rhee personally for being a “Cheat, Fraud, and Failure.”

When you can’t beat someone with ideas trying to destroy them personally is the most logical step, and while the DN dismisses each of those charges, here are some of the radical ideas that the far left of the Democratic Party opposes…

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Mitch Daniels Endorses Paul Ryan and Heads to DC, Still Mum on 2012

I was curious to see which of the rumoured 2012 candidates would offer the strongest support of Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity.” Gov. Mitch Daniels, you’re up

The House budget resolution is the first serious proposal produced by either party to deal with the overriding issue of our time. The national debt we are amassing threatens the livelihood and the liberty of every single American, and in particular the life prospects of our young people. Anyone criticizing this plan without offering a specific and equally bold program of his own has failed in the public duty to be honest and clear with Americans about the gravest danger we are facing together.

This was also the same day Daniels booked another trip to Washington D.C., this time to give a policy address on education reform.

Dude, just announce you’re running already so we can get this shit started.