September 10 Open Thread

by: Open Thread

Fri Sep 10, 2010 at 18:06:28 PM PDT

Links:

* Well, Arnold hasn't lost his sense of humor. He made fun of Sarah Palin as he was flying over Anchorage. He tweeted this photo to the right and said "Over Anchorage, AK. Looking everywhere but can't see Russia from here. Will keep you updated as search continues."

* John Myers looks back at the first 8 years of Jerry Brown, Governor, and does a little fact-checking of recent ads.

* The ACLU of Southern California is suing school districts across the state for the fees they are charging as unconstituional. Under the California constitution, students haver the right to a free education.

* The supporters of Prop 23, decided that they are going to lose on the issues. Well, that is basically the only possibility given their attacks on the 89-year old George Shultz, a co-chair for the No on 23 campaign.

* Robert was KALW's Your Call Radio this week to talk about the California election. You can listen to the MP3 here.

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September 10 Open Thread | 3 comments

On school fees (0.00 / 0)

I agree that every child is entitled to a free public education. My own personal pet peeve is schools sending home lists of obligatory supplies beyond what can be considered personal items. Some schools seem to be very strict, others are much better about ensuring that kids are provided with binders, backpacks, etc, if they don't bring one. No W-2 forms required.

I can't agree that children are entitled to play team sports for free. Again, if you're going to have a team, I prefer the NPR/Suggested Donation approach - but the reality is that to play competitive sports costs more than just to run a PE program, and it's not a requirement of the public school experience. If families cannot raise enough to cover the costs of all the students who want to participate, schools need to think hard about whether those sports actively contribute to the academic experience for the student population. (In some cases yes, in some no.)

And I think the letter of the law is satisfied by the AP situation, too, unfortunate as it is. Taking the class is free, it's taking the national exam that costs. It seems horrible to make that budget cut, but there have been a lot of horrible cuts made in the past year. I can't say this even makes my top 10 list.

The ACLU is missing the forest for the trees here, because the reality is that it's far worse that schools are cutting their reading support programs than that they're asking AP students to pay the ETS fee. (Hopefully, people are working out scholarships and hardship arrangements.)

Fry, don't be a hero! It's not covered by our health plan!

by: elfling @ Sat Sep 11, 2010 at 05:52:29 AM UTC

If the Republican California Chamber of Commerce (0.00 / 0)

If the Republican California Chamber of Commerce wants to align themselves with the likes of Carly, Nutmeg and the Republican Party(Far Right contaminated), I say Mute all the commercials until He's off the air, As the Chamber should be Neutral and stay out of Politics, Or be forced off the air/cable/satellite by an initiative. As the guy(zuckerberg?) on TV from the California Chamber of Commerce is anti AB32 and from what I've read this troll is also anti HSR too.

by: SuperJoker @ Sun Sep 12, 2010 at 14:36:02 PM UTC

Hey Robert (0.00 / 0)

One commercial against Jerry Brown says He ran the budget $7 Billion in Deficit and the other says He did a $7 Billion tax hike, Sounds like two incompatible lies to Me. Of course neither is true.

by: SuperJoker @ Mon Sep 13, 2010 at 16:43:43 PM UTC