It would seem that when you read the performance data, the private schools edge out to pummel the public schools. Maybe the people with the "I don't want my kids to be smarter and you can't make me" attitude should ask why do public schools fail at educating our kids?
In 2009, out-of-state special interests swamped the Douglas County Board of Education elections. Their surprise victory after spending tremendous amounts of money on robocalls and attack ads resulted in Douglas County instituting a religious school voucher program earlier this year. Douglas County’s religious school vouchers are on hold after a judge ruled that the program could violate constitutional separation between church and state. Despite the expensive court battle and nationwide controversy that erupted from Douglas County’s religious school vouchers, far-right enemies of public education now have a "culture war" rallying cry.
Unbelievably, some in Jefferson County want us to be next.
Two candidates for the Jefferson County Board of Education, Preston Branaugh and Jim Powers, are being promoted by the very same right-wing interests who supported Douglas County’s religious school voucher candidates two years ago. A Denver Post story from earlier this month reveals the similarities between the takeover of the Douglas County school board and what’s happening right now in Jefferson County. [1] Don’t think it can’t happen here: what Branaugh and Powers are saying now is the same thing the Douglas County candidates were saying in 2009.
The stakes are very high, and the extremists are hoping you aren’t paying attention. Please make sure you get your ballot back to the Jefferson County Clerk by next Tuesday night at 7PM! Click here for more information on ballot drop-off sites and Voter Service Centers. If you are a registered voter but did not receive a ballot in the mail this year, please call the Jefferson County Elections Division at 303-271-8111 to make arrangements to vote.
Don’t let Preston Branaugh or Jim Powers turn our school district into a costly legal fiasco and public embarrassment. Please turn your ballots in! If you've already voted, please forward this message to your friends and neighbors in Jefferson County, and make sure they know what's at stake.
Make sure you vote against this attempt to take taxpayers dollars to promote religious education.
How about voting to actually require accountability in schools by adding in choice and competition. Amazing someone like you LJ, who wants choice everywhere else in life, will not allow the same thing in schools. Nobody is forcing religious education. Allowing parents to choose where their kids go to school with the funds already allocated for those kids is the way it should be. The only way we are going to improve schools is to force competition, so the good ones fail, and the excellent ones succeed.
Too bad future generations aren't here to see all the great things we are spending their $$ on!!
The teachers union won, expect to see scores continue to decline. Next goal of the teacher's union, take away standardized tests so we can't judge them
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
