Thursday, September 20, 2018
Tags: comics , cartoons , politics , Anita Hill , Christine Blasey Ford , Image
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Tags: comics , politics , cartoons , Me Too , So What , GOP , movement , protest , Image
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
True to its roots, the University of Arizona's Freedom Center, whose funders include the Kochs and members of the Koch network, prefers to avoid publicity whenever possible. It succeeded admirably when it managed to sneak the high school course, Phil 101: Ethics, Economy, and Entrepreneurship, into the TUSD curriculum. The school board had no idea the course was being taught at four of its district's high schools.
The course remained well below the TUSD board's radar throughout its first year, 2016-17, and into the second. That's when I got a tip about its existence and did some digging. In October I wrote about the course and its connections to the Freedom Center. Others in the media followed suit. The Freedom Center folks were not happy.
At a December meeting, the TUSD board decided to cancel the course at the end of the school year, though the members left the door open for putting it back into the curriculum at a later date. In July, the board took up the topic once again but tabled a vote on whether to reinstate the course. One reason was, the textbook, which was written by the same people who created the course, had not been properly authorized by the board.
Skip forward to the present. The district planned to have a 60 day public review of the textbook, which is standard operating procedure prior to authorization. The review was set to begin September 4, but the book's authors said they wouldn't allow the district to put a digital copy online, even though that's what most publishers do these days. That meant anyone wanting to take a look at the book had to go to a district office and sit there reading a hard copy.
TUSD responded by postponing the review until it can form a committee to evaluate the textbook.
Tags: Phil 101: Ethics , Economy , and Entrepreneurship , Image
Monday, September 17, 2018
Arizona became an early adopter in the privatization/"education reform" movement almost a quarter century ago when it opened its first charter schools.
From the beginning, the Republicans pushing charter schools had two overlapping goals: open as many charters as possible, and regulate them as little as possible. They're fine using taxpayer money to fund the schools, but their mantra has always been, "Keep your government hands off my charters!" They've kept rules and regulations as few and as toothless as possible.
As a result Arizona has the highest number of charter schools per capita in the country, though other states are catching up. We also have some of the worst examples of unchecked profiteering and what can only be described as legal corruption in the charter school sector you're going to find anywhere.
I'll get to the most recent example of profiteering and corruption involving State Representative Eddie Farnsworth (R, LD-12) in a minute, but first let me make one thing absolutely clear. Republicans have had plenty of opportunities to increase transparency and tighten financial rules on charter schools. The media has written articles about problems for years. Democratic legislators have proposed legislation to put a check on some of charter school operators' worst practices. Republicans have purposely ignored the media warnings and shot down Democratic legislation at every turn. If they retain their control over the legislature and the governor's office, nothing is going to change. You can bet money on it. However, if Democrats increase their power November 6, there's a good chance we'll see increased transparency and tighter regulation, which will, ironically, improve the quality of the charter schools Republicans hold so dear.
Now, to Rep. Farnsworth, who has figured out a way to turn charter schools into a multimillion dollar goldmine.
Tags: Charter schools. Eddie Farnsworth. Benjamin Franklin Charter Schools. Elections , Image
Tags: comics , cartoons , politics , Beto , Creepo , politicians , Image
Friday, September 14, 2018
Tags: comics , cartoons , politics , storm , death toll , Maria , Image
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Tags: comics , cartoons , politics , crowd , plaid shirt guy , supporters , speech , Image
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
The Associated Students of the University of Arizona is UA's student government. The organization puts on Family Weekend, Spring Fling, oversees SafeRide, Zona Zoo and clubs like Students for Sustainability. But a small number of students know about this extensive involvement, and even fewer students participate in the elections.
"Last year we had somewhere between five and six thousand votes cast," said Natalynn Masters, president of ASUA.
The total student enrollment at UA was 44,831 as of 2017. While many of those students may be online students or attend a campus other than the main one here in Tucson, voting for ASUA elections is entirely online, and most of the information students receive regarding the elections and candidates is via email.
So is this a problem of complete apathy on part of the students, or are ASUA and the school themselves not doing enough to raise awareness of student government and its dealings?
I talked to three students, two of whom knew what ASUA is, but none of them have ever voted for their student representatives.
ASUA is taking steps to change these types of student interests and awareness.
"We just, for the first time, got approved to send out monthly newsletters to students' emails," said Masters.
She also said they have plans to put aside money for promos, like giveaways for students, and put on "Jimmy Kimmel-type skits" on the mall to raise student awareness of ASUA.
Campaigning generally starts in late February and the entire election process lasts eight weeks.
Tags: UA , ASUA , Students , University of Arizona , Student government , Natalynn Masters , Image
