Thursday, November 14, 2013

Worst. Endorsement. Ever!



By Jeff Simpson

The rightward local newspaper - Marshfield News Herald -endorsed  Republican Bob Kulp in the special election to fill Scott Suder's very dirty little shoes.  


Kulp’s flaw is that, somewhat surprisingly, much of his discussion felt a bit removed from the real-world impact of the policies. A strong supporter of broad expansion of school vouchers — which he renamed, a bit heavyhandedly, “opportunity scholarships” — he seemed to have little knowledge of the program’s actual record in Milwaukee, where it has existed for decades with middling results.

Few candidates can be experts in every policy area. But it illustrates a potential risk for Kulp: the temptation to substitute the easy answers of political ideology for real-world experience, pragmatic problem-solving and a willingness to critically re-examine his own preferences based on the evidence.
Shorter version:  Bob Kulp doesn't understand the issues and we hope he doesn't join the hyperpartisan republicans in Madison, although he probably will.  Hey we tried.  

The reality is ACT10 and voucher expansion has real world consequences in Marshfield and the 69th Assembly district.   Do you really want to continue to be a minor league system for teachers?  Is it ok with you that the grass IS greener in other districts?   Is mediocrity ok for your kids?  Do you really want to vote for someone who is "removed from the real-world impact of the policies", because our children are NOT removed.   

The true choice is Ken Slezak for the 69th!  







6 comments:

  1. Sadly, many in our GOP controlled government don't even understand the content of the bills they rubber stamp at the behest of Vos and Fitz. Weve seen" shoot em up" Kleefisch go to empty desks and press the voting button. They don't need to understand the issues they vote as ALEC tells them do and as their donors demand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I attended as small town school in Wisconsin in which the conservative School Board nickle-and-dimed everything. Most teachers were fresh out of college, signed two year contracts and left. Many left after one year or resigned in mid-term because they couldn't stand the bullshit they had to put up with. As a result we often had English teachers or even substitute teachers filling in for science or math teachers who had resigned. It wasn't unusual to ask a math or science question and have the inexperienced teacher respond that they would ask a friend in another school district and get back to you with the answer. As a result, math and science instruction was a joke and I found out just what a bad joke it was when I transferred to a larger school district which believed in retaining experience teachers and discovered that I was at least a year behind all the other students in Algebra, Geometry, Biology and Chemistry. I never really caught up. This is what many parents of students can look forward to for their children. How this will help economic development is beyond me. It's just one more reason for people to move their families to Minnesota and "Escape From Wisconsin". Then businesses can bitch even louder about a skills gap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gareth,

      Thanks for the story, that is kind of the point I have been trying to get across. there is alot of money in that area, and i am sure the Dr's and nurses at the Marchfield clinic have no interest in giving their kids a mediocre education.

      This seat should be winnable, lets hope they do.

      Delete
  3. this is an eye opener

    http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/11/14/13691/citizens-united-ruling-helped-unions-win-state-elections

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now Gareth, we all know that your story just doesn't happen anywhere in Wisconsin. Never has, never will. Why just read the comments following the opinion today by two of Scott Walker's biggest supporters in Madison: Chris Rickert and the Wisconsin State Journal. Following the article that PRAISES Act 10 as a vehicle that will lead to FAR better quality schools in Wisconsin because taxpayers can firmly keep teachers right under their thumbs now, there are at least 25 comments ripping the low quality veteran, experienced teachers in Wisconsin and PRAISING the brand new 1st and 2nd year teachers as the finest quality teachers in districts across Wisconsin.

    Of course this is the same Wisconsin State Journal that has refused to report the story that enrollment in schools of education at colleges across Wisconsin is 20-35% of what it was pre-Act 10. Already this year, school districts across Wisconsin are having trouble recruiting & retaining math, science, technical education, special education, foreign language teachers at the high school level. As a veteran teacher in the twilight of my career, I have mentored over 50 new hires throughout my career. Now I work to mentor these young teachers to realize that they have no future in post-Act 10 Wisconsin. It was sure nice to see 12 young teachers leave our high school for other jobs last year.

    There are hundreds of veteran teachers just like me who are working everyday across Wisconsin to counsel the best and brightest young teaching talent to realize that they have NO future as a teacher in Wisconsin. The reservoir of HATRED towards teachers in Wisconsin is too wide and deep to change in their lifetimes.
    I am reminded of the words that one young teacher, a 30 something math teacher who left last year to get a $10,000 raise to teach in a Twin Cities suburb said on the last day of school in June 2013, "Life is too short to waste teaching in Wisconsin". She was an awesome young teacher, highly competent, taught Advanced Placement Calculus. A lot of Minnesota kids are going to get a great education in her classroom. Her replacement is a first year teacher who tries really hard but the toll of 12 hour days, 60-70 hour weeks for $40,000 per year in a dead end job has got her looking for a new career already. Such is the state of teaching in Walker's Wisconsin.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good comment, Anonymous at 11:45pm. I'll tie it back to the lame Marshfield' paper's endorsement, and say that intentional ignoring of reality is what an editorial board does when their corporate bosses have ordered them to back the GOP candidate, but the people writing the editorial know better.

    And after seeing the trash passed by Robin Vos's Assembly yesterday, it's more critical than ever to get Slezak and Coppola in office, because these thugs must be stopped NOW

    ReplyDelete