Tagged: education

Posted: December 14, 2012 at 7:19 am

This is Frightening

The Montana Republican Party announced today that it wants to make sweeping changes to education in Montana.

When the party responsible for the “broken, unconstitutional school-funding system had crashed and burned” calls for sweeping changes, be afraid. The changes they’ve pushed for in Montana seem to be more about stoking the roiling paranoia that motivates the right-wing base than anything else.

Montana Republicans have come out vigorously against evolution, public school classrooms, teachers’ bargaining rights, the age of the Earth, student loan programs, and the entire skill of critical thinking.

The last Republican governor in Montana poo-pooed education. The last GOP candidate for Governor backed abolishing the Department of Education altogether. Their candidate for U.S. Senate is listed first among the most anti-science candidates in America.

Montana Republicans even tried formally codifying their disdain for education, attempting to do away with all educational requirements for candidates running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Posted: December 12, 2012 at 8:15 am

If at First You Don’t Succeed

If at first you don’t succeed, claim the rules don’t apply to you.

That’s what the Montana Republican Party tried to do this week. The party which formerly claimed to stand for fiscal responsibility had hoped to force taxpayers to cough up the cash for a recount in the state superintendent race. In spite of the fact that their candidate had lost by too great a margin to qualify for a taxpayer funded recount, they went to court.

Sandy Welch, the GOP candidate, asked a judge to grant her an exception to the rules. She thought fancy out-of-state lawyers could convince a judge that there were special circumstances which would justify making you and me pay for her increasingly futile pursuit her own political ambitions.

Republicans also probably wanted the recount it in the news while they try to pass new laws that restrict voting rights, like same day registration, early voting, mail voting, etc. They were hoping they could use your money to create a climate for passing voter suppression laws in Montana.

Welch had tried to force the recount to be conducted right before the Christmas holiday–much to the dismay of county officials and their employees. The grinch-like demand wasn’t lost on internet pranksters, prompting a brief grinch mini-meme of sorts with pics like this making the rounds.

Thankfully, the GOP failed on both accounts. A judge said they had to live by the same rules as everyone else and must pay for the recount.

But when it came time to put up the money, Welch said she didn’t actually have it–revealing some inconsistencies with her previous statements.

First, Welch had said that the national republican party would pay for the recount, but when it came time to pay the money wasn’t there. The national Republicans refused to comment.

The GOP wouldn’t say how much they had raised, if anything. And instead of accepting the fact that the voters decided against the right-wing education policies the GOP was peddling, they tried to blame the Secretary of State for Welch’s loss.

There were other inconsistencies in Welch’s statements. As the Billings Gazette reported. “Welch said [Citizens United attorney James Bopp] is the lawyer hired by the Republican National Committee to work on the case, but another attorney from his firm, Anita Woudenberg, delivered arguments Friday.”

Perhaps all this talk of national money and famous lawyers was Welch was trying to color her race with some kind of national importance. Whatever the reason, somebody wasn’t telling the truth. Either that or intelligent life is just not found on this particular planet.

Posted: November 2, 2012 at 6:47 am

Montana Doesn’t Need Florida to Tell Us What We Need

GOP candidate for state superintendent is touting an unfortunate endorsement today on the TEA Party conspiracy blog PolyMontana.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush says he ran Florida schools “using some of the same ideas that Sandy is proposing.” With a vote for Welch, says Jeb, Montana can be “just like Florida.”

Problem is, these ideas ran Florida schools into the toilet.

Montana eighth-graders have the highest science and reading scores in the nation, while Florida eighth-graders ranked 30th and 31st. In math, Montana eighth-graders have the second highest scores in the nation. Florida ranks 37th.

Perhaps if Welch can get the TEA Partiers to take down the blog post soon some of the damage can be mitigated.

Posted: October 16, 2012 at 7:07 am

New Denise Juneau Ad Up

Denise Juneau has a new ad up for her campaign for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Here it is:

Posted: October 2, 2012 at 12:01 pm

Here’s How Rick Hill Would Spend Your Tax Dollars

Rick Hill is emphasizing his plan to spend your tax dollars to subsidize private schools as part of his campaign for governor.

Here’s a look at the kind of school you would be paying for if Rick Hill were elected.

Stillwater Christian School is the only private K-12 school in the Flathead valley. The school says it is ”thoroughly committed to the Word of God, upholding Christian principles and ideals.” But a visit to the schools website shows a commitment to academic standards is somewhat lacking.

It’s not surprising that the school is not accredited by the Montana Board of Education. The school instructs students to use a site called “Conservapedia” for research. Stillwater recommends a Conservapedia article on Ernest Hemingway that tells us that the most important facts about Hemingway are that he was an alcoholic who was investigated for suspicion of communist activities by J. Edgar Hoover before committing suicide.

The site is full of doozies. Conservapedia also explains that Einstein’s theory of relativity is:

“a mathematical system that allows no exceptions. It is heavily promoted by liberals who like its encouragement of relativism and its tendency to mislead people in how they view the world.”

Local Tea Partiers are well-connected to Stillwater Christian. Billionaire Ray Thompson, a who bankrolls the national TEA Party movement, is on the board of the private school. As Mother Jones reported:

“Thompson is also active in Montana politics, where he has supported one of the tea party’s most radical candidates, Derek Skees, who’s running for a seat in the Montana house. Skees, who showed up at a Memorial Day parade this summer wearing a jacket emblazoned with a Confederate flag, and has been connected to anti-Semitic and militia activity, is a tea party purist. He has advocated nullifying federal health care laws, refusing federal stimulus money, and shutting down many of the state’s school districts and giving kids vouchers to help cut the budget by letting the private sector fill the gap.”

There are other connections. A relative of TEA Party GOP legislator Mark Blasdel works at the school. And when the school decided to auction off a semi-automatic assault rifle as a school fundraiser, they turned to the NEMO rifle plant. Family members of Rick Hill’s running mate Jon Sonju are NEMO company executives.

Tickets for the assault rifle are $25 each or 5 for $100. If you don’t get a chance to bid on the assault rifle, you can also attend the schools “Stillwater Shootout” fundraising event.

For some reason, the “Stillwater Shootout” is not being held on the school’s campus. We know the TEA Party are big fans of guns in schools. So much so that local TEA Party legislators Jerry O’Neil and Derek Skees sponsored a bill last session to allow guns in public schools. It was one of the infamous “nutjob bills” of the 2011 session.

This private school also gets involved in elections. School leaders sent out an email before the primary urging votes against non-TEA Party candidates, so watch for them to send out something on behalf of Hill soon.

If you want your tax dollars to be spent on bringing up the next generation of uninformed TEA Partiers, Rick Hill is your man.

Posted: September 27, 2012 at 9:48 pm

GOP Candidate Appears in Saucy Devil Costume on Newscast

The devil is in the details, as the old saying goes.

GOP candidate for State School Superintendent Sandy Welch has adopted a creative new strategy to come across as more friendly, hip, and fun.

A new photo depicts the candidate in a what looks like a saucy devil costume, complete with horns and a lacy top. The photo first appeared on the candidates Facebook page (left) and has since made an appearance in the television coverage of a recent education debate.

Here’s the video:

Until now, the Welch campaign has faced an uphill battle in many respects. First, the candidate is relatively unknown, having never held elective office. Second, Welch has come across as a little bit angry and negative in the past after dumping on Montana public school classrooms because she thought it would help her politically.

Those days are over. Image, as they say, is everything.

At this time, it is not clear with the saucy devil is a is a permanent addition to the campaign image or a special Halloween themed release. Kudos to Welch are in order for her creativity and willingness to think outside the box.

Posted: September 25, 2012 at 11:12 pm

Education Debate Recap

Tonight, the candidates for Montana’s chief state school official debated in Helena. The debate, which was broadcast live on the Northern Broadcasting Network, was a clear win for Denise Juneau.

The candidates differed on many issues: notably, using your tax dollars to subsidize private schools. Juneau opposes it, as do most Montanans. Welch supports it.

Juneau ran on her record of Montana’s kids scoring among the top ten states in the nation for reading, math, and science. Welch said she thought some changes to “process” were in order, but didn’t offer specifics.

The candidates also differ vastly in experience. Juneau has a post-secondary degree from Harvard in education and a law degree from U of M, and has worked in education in Montana and as a teacher her entire life.

On the other hand, Welch is a transplant from California who lacks familiarity and experience with local education concerns. When asked what qualifications she had to advocate for education in Montana, Welch cited—I kid you not—her work as a legislative staffer in the infamous Bat Crap secession session of 2011. Not something I would admit in public–even if I were one of the 18-year-old college Republicans who typically fill these positions.

The AP has a recap of the debate online here.

Posted: September 20, 2012 at 12:10 pm

Next Debate Tuesday in Helena

Montana’s superintendent of public instruction Denise Juneau (D) and challenger Sandy Welch (R-TEA) will debate here in Helena on Tuesday Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Gateway Center.

Welch has been aptly called “the Derek Skees of education” (the comparison extends to spelling errors) and has even been compared to Skees by the infamous TEA Partier Tim Ravndal.

To be sure, there is one difference between Skees and Welch. Welch is a transplant from California while Skees hails from Florida. Most recently Ravndal linked the two in a bizarre post about the supposed need to break the collaboration between Montana PBS and public radio stations. Must be a conspiracy in there somewhere. Ravndal is one of Welch’s biggest fans.

Juneau meanwhile has launched an innovative series of reforms to increase Montana’s high school graduation rate that is popular with parents, unions, and the business community alike–no small feat. So this will be a very interesting debate.

Juneau/Welch Debate
6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, September 25
Gateway Center in Helena (map)