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My view: Lawsuit against Utah ed bill is grandstanding
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Howard Stephenson is a tru public servant and should be commendedon his hard work to get the important jobs done well in the legislative process. THis is a good example of that.
This is also a good example of his opponent's tireless efforts to spent the state into the ground to fund their favorite political activists, the education establishment. And a monument to the news media's being clearly aligned with the liberal position on just about every issue.
Thousands of court cases pass with little public fanfare, and this frivolous case should also. But,that would not help advance the liberal agenda, or provide the much desired free publicity for the media's chosen allies, so READ ALL ABOUT IT in the "news" section, as an unpaid reminder to vote for the minority party in November.
The courts should make the "intellectuals" who filed the foolish political lawsuit pay court costs!
Instead of throwing this bomb into our K12 system they should have been reaching across the aisle and thinking of our children instead of themselves.
Second, does anyone seriously doubt the "ick" factor in SB2? Utah Republican legislators, self-absorbed, clueless and vindictive by nature, couldn't stomach the rejection of some of their pet projects through the normal legislative process, so they played Dr. Frankenstein and created this monster as a way to force life into bills that had already been killed. And now, "It's alive!"
Angry peasants from the village near the castle (that's you and me, folks), are upset with this clumsy abomination, and so we take up our pitchforks and torches and file suit to stop the monster and teach the arrogant madmen who made it a lesson in government.
Stephenson has been on a decades long campaign to destroy public education in Utah; He has a major conflict of interest in almost everything he does. He is the Executive Director of the so-called Tax Payers Association. This association represents only big business, and its major goal is to keep their taxes as low as possible. No wonder Utah education is funded at the lowest level of any state.
I believe that the people who filed this lawsuit are correct in every respect. All of Howard's whining will not change the truth - no matter how carefully he tries to obfuscate it.
Over half of the bills in the SB2 had passed 4 votes UNANIMOUSLY days and weeks previous to Feb. 27th. They had been debated and approved of. They were awaiting only the formality of a final vote when permitted on Feb. 27th. However, they mysteriously did not reappear until a late afternoon press conference on Mar. 3rd when they were shoved into the omnibus bill to save Stephenson's pet lobbyist software for preschoolers and more $ for charter schools. The bill was debated the last two days of the session. Why not pass the bills in a time-conscious manner on the 27th--pure politics to bypass the process when you lose.
Then when you're called on it, write grandstanding opinion pieces hypocritically accusing your opponents of grandstanding and trying to avoid the process.
QUICK POLITICAL SCIENCE LESSON:
Compromise is at the heart of any piece of legislation. Without it, it would be impossible to get anything done. If you can't accept this fact, then you should probably avoid politics.
P.S. I think Draper Republican meant to type "Draper Democrat Pretending to be a Republican to Try and Scare His Current Legislators" because Senator Stephenson and Representative Hughes are two of the best Republicans we have in this state.
Teachers have to have one of any 5 degrees to get the degree. Unfortunately only 2 of the 5 degrees are available at Utah universities.
They made it sound like all science teachers were going to get raises when in reality about 5% will.
it was a way to make themselves (legislators) look good to the public without having to put the money into education.
I was recently at a conference for Utah science teachers. The state office science specialist was there and we asked her about it. She explained the details. One teacher from the group got up and asked, "how many science teachers here would qualify for this money?"
Answer:
Not a SINGLE one.
Why can't you accept the fact that there are people in your own party who disagree with Senator Stephenson and Representative Hughes? Why call this person a "Draper Democrat"? So when we disagree we say that they are something else? This omnibus bill was not "compromise". It was shoved through at the end of the session in a fashion that forced people to have to accept Senator Stephenson's bills in order to get previously agreed to legislation passed. I hope the Senator finds himself voted out of office. He, Speaker Curtis and Mr. Bramble. Gone.
But I agree with this constitutional challenge. The public does need to understand what is going on and omnibus bills the last three days of the session, with no committee hearings, just keep the public in the dark.
Half of teachers quit within 5 years. Fewer quit if mentored by more proficient teachers. SB-2 pushes away scarce Utah m/s-minor teachers toward nearby states, and ambushes rural Utah's multi-subject teachers. Brilliant.
Our kids had "Doc" for secondary-calculus (my calculus came in college; later we all had yet-tougher math). "Doc", a math-encyclopedic engineer, didn't major in math; SB-2 forbids bonuses to non-m/s-majors like him: Zero.
SB-2's lopsided authors modestly trumpet myriad self-credentials, lacking math. Math-classmates (if any) of SB-2 sponsors: report math skills, if any, of SB-2 authors and apologists? Their "world-class math" hypocrisy likely masks little math?
Until 1996, Utah school funding efforts excelled, then fell. Utah schools' fractions of income-tax declined because colleges got more income-tax, but less sales-tax (shifted to roads). Radicals favor slashing property-taxes (state revenue's third leg), inflating regressive sales-tax instead. 2-3 recent years' "extra money" still leaves Utah ed. way short.
Utah's Constitution mandates single-subject bills, fitting one short title-line. SB-2 fails.
As for the underlying issue (which is noticeably lacking in most of your posts), the Utah Constitution appears to prohibit lumping different subjects into the same bill, and thus prohibits omnibus bills, but when all of the bills are on the same subject (EDUCATION), then lumping them all together doesn't defeat the "single subject" requirement, because the subject is Education.
First, the term is so broad that it is effectively the same as asserting all bills have a single subject, "Utah government."
Even if I could conclude that a program providing pre-schoolers home computers is the same subject as how textbooks are evaluated for use in public schools, which is the same subject as extra pay for science and math teachers, that position fails the second constitutional requirement, that the subject be clearly expressed in the title. The title of the bill was "Minimum School Program Amendments." The MSP is defined in statute to be K-12 public schools. Clearly, a lobbyist-inspired program of giving software to pre-schoolers for use at home is not accurately reflected by the title. Other subjects included in SB2 were also not accurately represented by the bill's title.
I think they're testing the waters on this legislative technique for future "creative" compromises. Making our legislative process clear and transparent with fair procedures for debate and open politicking will help control the oligarchic tendencies of our ruling elitists.
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Do these guys really believe the tripe they write?
Giving software to 3 years olds is the most ridiculous thing I have heard of.
People wouldn't have a big problem with this bill if it didn't contain parts that were already voted down. That is where the big mistake was made.
The lawsuit is definitely not "anti-democratic". It is democracy at its best.
Who votes for these guys anyway?
No wonder education is Utah is in a rapid decline. With friends like these two, who needs enemies?