Tag Archives: education

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: The Pro (school) Choice Governor

Indiana passing a school choice plan considered to be one of the most sweeping in the nation makes me smile for two reasons. One, as a Mitch Daniels supporter and a voter who put school reform at the top of the list, he once again has the record to meet the rhetoric (much like with health care reform).

The other is all the self appointed arbitrators of truuuuuue conservatism who pissed and moaned a few months ago (during the Obama Campaign organized union protests in Wisconsin over public employees having to contribute a little to their benefits) because Mitch Daniels wasn’t angry enough when the Indiana Democrats fled the state. The basic logic was that Gov. Daniels didn’t answer a question the way they wanted him to…therefore he’s not qualified to run for President. Yeah, I know.

Apparently Daniels knew a) what he was doing, and b) what was best for his state (something conservatives are supposed to appreciate). He’s talked aboot education reform before in editorials and his State of the State address, but now there’s actual legislation to help give parents more of a choice where they send their kids to school. Among the details…

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[VIDEO]: The Cartel

If you missed “Waiting for Superman” and am waiting for it to come on your On Demand cable service, I highly recommend checking out “The Cartel.”  You won’t be disappointed…

Michelle Rhee: Education Reform Ingénue

Michelle Rhee is the former chancellor of the Washington DC Public Schools. She was considered by many to be one of the leaders in education reform working with Democratic Mayor Adrian Fenty, before left wing extremists through Fenty under the bus and went with the candidate hand picked by the teachers unions. Rhee was suddenly unemployed.

Rhee for her part is such an extremist; she thinks the President should keep all the top teachers (while removing the bottom ones).

So what next? Was she going to take her talents to South Beach? Personally, I was hoping to see her become superintendent of New Jersey schools. Rhee working with Chris Christie and Cory Booker would have created a triple threat of awesome. Instead, she opted to start her own organization, aptly called “Students First” and is starting to get back in the mix

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Transcript of Mitch Daniels Address on Education Reform

Since education reform, for me, is the most important issue I want any of the Republican presidential candidates to be talking about, I want to make sure I highlight any speech any of the potential candidates gives on the topic. This is from Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels recent State of the State Address

In no realm is our opportunity larger than in the critical task of educating our children. The need for major improvement, and the chance for achieving it, is so enormous tonight that opportunity rises to the level of duty.

Advocates of change in education become accustomed to being misrepresented. If you challenge the fact that forty-two cents of the education dollar are somehow spent outside the classroom, you must not respect school boards. If you wonder why doubling spending didn’t produce any gains in student achievement, you must be criticizing teachers. If your heart breaks at the parade of young lives permanently handicapped by a school experience that leaves them unprepared for the world of work, you must be “anti-public schools.”

So let’s start by affirming once again that our call for major change in our system of education, like that of President Obama, his education secretary and so many others, is rooted in a love for our schools, those who run them and those who teach in them. But it is rooted most deeply in a love for the children whose very lives and futures depend on the quality of the learning they either do or do not acquire while in our schools. Nothing matters more than that. Nothing compares to that.

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