Jan Resseger always writes widely and deeply about education, especially in Ohio, where she lives.
For 25 years, Ohio has spent billions of dollars on charters and vouchers while ignoring the needs of the states’s vast majority of schools and students. Legislators want more of the failed strategies. Ohio is akin to a carnival show where the card sharp distracts the crowd with tricks while ignoring the state constitution’s requirement of an equitably and adequately system of public schools. No matter how many times the public is fooled by empty promises, they come back for more and fall for the scam.
She begins:
For a quarter of a century, Ohio has pursued the accountability-based “education reform” strategy that was formalized in the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act.
Ohio holds schools accountable for raising students’ scores on high-stakes standardized tests by imposing sanctions on schools and school districts unable quickly to raise scores. Ohio identifies so-called “failing” public schools, ranks them on school district report cards, and locates privatized charter schools and voucher qualification within the boundaries of low-scoring districts. Additionally, the state takes over so-called failing school districts and imposes Academic Distress Commissions as overseers. Ohio’s students are held back in third grade if their reading scores are too low, and high school seniors must pass exit exams to graduate.

After more than two decades of this sort of school policy, student achievement hasn’t increased and test score gaps have not closed. Ohio is a state with eight big cities—Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo, Youngstown, Akron, and Canton; lots of smaller cities and towns; Appalachian rural areas and Indiana-like rural areas; and myriad income-stratified suburbs. Just as they do across the United States, aggregate standardized test scores correlate most closely with family and neighborhood income, not with the characteristics of the public schools. In the fall of 2019, the Plain Dealer’s data wonk, Rich Exner, created a series of bar graphs to demonstrate the almost perfect correlation of school districts’ letter grades on the state school district report card with family income.
But while Ohio has punished so-called “failing” schools, it hasn’t done much to help the public schools in Ohio’s poorest communities. In profound testimony before the Ohio State Board of Education in early April, Policy Matters Ohio’s Wendy Patton described several decades of fiscal realities for Ohio’s 610 school districts, conditions that have accompanied the decades of punitive accountability: “(T)he state provided slightly more than half of the funding for Ohio schools, on average, in 1987, but since then local dollars have paid for the greater part of funding… Gov. Ted Strickland narrowed the gap over his 4 year term…. But Gov. John Kasich promptly reversed that effort with a $1.8 billion cut to school funding imposed over the two-year budget of 2012-13. School funding has lagged ever since. By 2020, the state share of school funding had fallen to its lowest point since 1985.
Why do the legislators and public in Ohio continue to fund failure? Is their goal to raise up a generation of citizen-leaders or just to keep taxes low?
As long as the people of Ohio continue to vote for those that believe in the “reverse social contract” of privatization, conservatives will continue to undermine public education. Unfortunately, many red states are inventing a variety of schemes that essentially defund public education. Whether the goal is ideological or any other belief, the impact is the same. They will continue to take the public school funding unless the public stops them by voting complicit representatives out.
or, so long as voters continue to blindly vote for those who believe in the reverse social contract of privatization/schemes — so many people vote in only one direction while having zero idea of what is happening behind the curtain
Once again, we are confused if we think they are failing.
The fact they’ve survived this long tells us they are succeeding in their goals. The only question is — WTH Are Their Goals?
Once we start answering that question, we’ll begin to clear the fog …
The goal of the white “have’s” is to grind the working class and poor into deeper poverty.
One of the means is lower taxes for the wealthy. (Ohio business owners can file income up to $200,000 and pay no state taxes.) A second means is a conservative judicial system. Privatized education is a third. A fourth is no unions. And, a fifth is the “religious liberty” campaign that garners votes for the GOP. The campaign is popular in central states like Ohio where it is code for conservative, Republican control.
A rhetorical question- in the central states, was government education policy better when the two major religions were jockeying, each to protect its own turf or, has the situation been made worse by the conservative segments of the two religions collaborating to enact policy? An overwhelming majority of voucher money in Ohio goes to religious schools.The religious schools are exempted from (1) the accountability demanded of public schools (2) the democratic process of local governance and (3) civil rights law.
An illustration from the migrant /refugee crisis this week- network news interviewed a Guatemalan father of 10 whose older malnourished children made the long walk to the border. The reporter described Biden’s two-pronged plan to address the crisis, mitigate climate change and stop corruption. Not surprising- the total omission of birth control as part of a solution and its omission from press inquiry, which provides example of the power of religion on U.S. public policy and media reporting.
The “white ‘have’s’”?
The richest 1% in the the U.S…. political influencers e.g. national and regional Chamber of Commerces, Business Roundtables… corporate boards of directors,…decision makers at the most well funded PACs… Wall Street power brokers… ALEC legislators…political donors who can phone politicians and have them answer…men like Bill Gates whose names are synonymous with government education and health policy – Federal Reserve Governors… -most are a very pale hue on the spectrum of human color. A person might suspect racial discrimination plays a role. A person may look at professional sports team owners as example and think their policies aren’t race-blind say like the recent ABC report related to player brain injury and differential compensation.
The have nots i.e. the 99% which includes whites and people of color may want to borrow the slogan that symbolizes the fight against big money in European /African football, “created by the poor stolen by the rich”.
Just stop race-baiting.
Our assumptions may differ. Various threads of evidence indicate to me that some prominent white libertarian businessmen and women have racist agendas like Jesse Helms did. Those among them who do not have racist goals appear to be content ignoring the economic impact of racism on individuals and the nation.
I recall that a couple of years ago, some radio hosts ascribed a value to not talking about race seeming to suggest that ignoring the subject would make racism cease. I thought the approach failed as a remedy and was self serving as a convenience to them.
Sorry, Linda, for many years I looked the other way when people used racial and ethnic labels as a throwaway pejorative adjective. No more.
It fails as an exact parallel but, the Good Samaritan laws reflect a point on a spectrum of responsibility. MLK cited the integral role that moderate whites play in change
Recently, during the discussion about Wash. D.C. statehood, Sen Tom Cotton (R-Ark) contrasted the right of Wyoming vs. D.C. to be a state.
Cotton said, “…Wyoming is a well rounded working state.”
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) responded, “I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word, ‘white’ “.
D.C.’s statehood is viewed as an uphill battle in the Senate.
Heart-rending, is it not, Linda? To desperately grasp at faux outrage to stand up for the oppressed rich white man. All the while ignoring both the arguments made by Jan and you–factual and true all. A true profile in diversionary cowardice.
Yes, Greg, rich white people can go to hell, amirite?
Flerp
Given that Betsy DeVos, Erik Prince, John Bolton etc. are confident that God will reward them in the “afterlife” as a result of their deathbed contrition and limited charity, I prefer that those who make life hell on earth for others find themselves in a losing battle against conscience-led people.
FLERP!, learn a little history. Try to get out of your self-pity of “I’m a white man trying to do the right thing, why are people treating me so badly?” Travel through North Carolina (more importantly, listen to the Rev. William Barber), travel through South Carolina and listen to the people who vote for Blanche Graham and the token Tim Scott, travel through Georgia and listen to the people who believe the elections there were stolen, travel through north and central Florida and listen to the people who believe the shootings in Chicago are because blacks hate each other and feel threatened by it, travel through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and listen to the people who believe black nationalism is what’s holding them back, travel through Texas and listen to people who will tell you there are good nigras and bad ones, and travel to Kansas who buy the Koch brothers narrative of big government that oppresses them. And if, after all those travels and you still sit on you perch as a privileged NY lawyer worried about rich white folks, please, by all means, go to hell.
Great news, Greg, looks like your earlier comment made it through!
I doubt that my earlier comment will make it out of moderation since it was accurate, so I’ll try it this way: Owners of slaves whose “property” was “confiscated” was compensated, or, shall we call them reparations (?), were compensated by federal funds (taxpayer dollars) of $300 per “emancipated slave.” Depending on what calculations one will accept, that translates into approximately $10,000 in today’s dollars. Not only that, but land values–which have historically been undervalued–and transfer of wealth through familial heredity, like makes that number much, much higher. But for argument’s sake, let’s keep it at $10k.
And while we do that, let’s compare that to the generational inability to transfer wealth in virtually all African American families–more importantly, the loss of opportunity cost (by lack of compensation either by wages or interest and the inability through federal and state laws to transfer the full value to subsequent generations and the accumulated value and interest that goes with it). Also, let’s add the inability because of federal policy or ignoring of federal and state policies–which has been verified and documented and higher property and sales tax rates to which they have been subjected over decades and almost two centuries.
If you still think the majority of white wealth of the haves is unjustly persecuted…then you are an i….. and our opinion is completely r…… and f….. u..
That’s a shame about your earlier comment.
Must be tragic to drag the cross of white privilege. And without the requisite hood.
Zing!
Greg-
I appreciate your summary about why reparations should occur.
If I understood the beliefs of individuals who refute the evidence of white privilege, I would be better positioned to call them out. Thanks for using your understanding to make the points.
Linda,
Wouldn’t it be interesting if FLERP! gave a straight answer to the question “does white privilege exist?”
I suspect FLERP!’s answer would be yes. It’s hard to imagine anyone watching the videos we have seen without understanding that all white people benefit from some privilege.
I don’t think FLERP! is disputing the evidence of white privilege.
I think FLERP! is just changing the subject so he can challenge on semantics, instead. And then not have to have a debate on whether white privilege does or does not exist, because trying to argue that white privilege doesn’t exist is significantly harder unless you are simply willing to embrace the Trump supporter false reality where lies are truth and facts are lies. And FLERP! doesn’t do that as far as I have seen. He just changes the subject instead.
Because racism exists and the US has long been a majority white nation, I acknowledge there are advantages that have inured to my benefit due to the fact that I am generally considered “white.” I cannot quantify those advantages.
I have other relative advantages: I was not born into poverty, much less extreme poverty. I was born in the United States and not in, say, Uganda or Pakistan or any other number of places. I am tall, which I am told is considered desireable (on the other hand, I suffer from back pain, which I think is related to my height). I am, or was, athletic. I am not hideous. I am above average intelligence. I have healthy children. I grew up in a two parent household.
However, my parents were working class and I had little benefit of social connections. I suffered abuse as a child. Although I am not hideous, I am not beautiful. Probably worst, I am losing my vision. I also suffer from extreme depression. These are some of my disadvantages.
On balance, I think I have been lucky.
^Also, I don’t know which people who comment here are white or not white, but I don’t assume any of you (FLERP!, Linda, GregB) are white, although you may be. White people can be cognizant of white privilege or oblivious to it. Or they can think they are cognizant while being obvious to much of it. So can people of other races. But I think most people who aren’t white understand that there are biases that people who aren’t white experience in this country, whether they are Black or Asian or Latinx etc.
Flerp
Your comment makes us reflect.
I recall a group discussion from years ago about what responsibility we have to help others. One person proffered the plea, “Today, I will just share my umbrella”.
The expectation that the energy to move forward with hope, will happen when we acknowledge our gifts, healthy kids,.. doesn’t
necessarily result if a mental process returns us, instead, to thoughts of deficits unfairly imposed on us.
I remember your “LOL” reply to an assessment I made about the strength of your ego. The statement remains accurate.
FLERP!,
Thank you for your thoughtful and enlightening reply. You get a lot of positive feedback from some people for your snark, but I appreciate it when you balance snark with a thoughtful response to the discussion at hand.
I do think your reply speaks to my point about how white people can believe they are cognizant of white privilege while not realizing how oblivious they are when they minimize it.
In your post, you talked about other forms of privilege. And it’s true. There have been studies that people who are tall or people who are extremely attractive often benefit over people who are quite short or ugly.
But how often do you hear people denying that attractive or tall people benefit in general from positive perceptions of them? “The success of Mike Bloomberg proves that tall privilege does not exist and no one must ever mention because tall people have no advantage and that’s that, shut up and don’t talk about it” . People acknowledge that tall people have an advantage because they do. It doesn’t mean that shorter people cannot still succeed or that tall people can’t fail.
Do people deny the privilege of being born rich or the disadvantages of being born in a very poor family? They do not.
But they do deny white privilege or try to minimize it.
There is a double standard when it comes to acknowledging the privilege that white folks have over people who aren’t white, and especially African Americans. And that disadvantage is experienced by non-white people whether they are tall or rich or have 2 parents or have lived an unblemished life doing nothing but good.
Furthermore, that disadvantaged is life-threatening, as we have seen. Sure, parents worry about their very short kid or their extremely overweight kid or their academically struggling kid or their vision-impaired kid. That worry is something experienced by parents of all races and religions and ethnicities and a working class, poverty-stricken or very wealthy parent might have the same worries.
But white parents don’t worry that they or their children’s encounters with police might lead to great physical harm or even death.
All parents worry when their kid gets his license and goes driving in their car. But not all parents worry that their kid might be driving a car that seems “too nice” to a policeman or might look “too dangerous” to a policeman and if their kid doesn’t behave in whatever way convinces that policeman that he is not dangerous their kid might not come home again.
White parents worry that their kid doesn’t exceed the speed limit and get hurt in an accident. Black parents worry about that too, but they also worry that the policeman who gives their kid a speeding ticket might decide he doesn’t like the looks of the kid and put him into a painful position that their kid must be able to withstand without moving a single muscle that might cause the policeman to kill him for “resisting”. And get away with it!
There is a difference between being worried that your kid might be attacked by bullies and being worried that your kid might be attacked by people with authority who have significant power to harm them.
I disagree “white parents don’t worry that they or their children’s encounters with police might lead to great physical harm or even death.” That’s a gross over-generalization.
Everybody is differently situated. Everyone has advantages and disadvantages. Everyone should be considered as an individual. That’s my basic way of seeing things.
FLERP! says:
“Everyone should be considered as an individual. That’s my basic way of seeing things.”
So what? It’s my way of seeing things, too. Are you suggesting that just because we think that should be the reality, it IS the reality??
I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I have no bias at all. We all have biases. When the justice system works to justify and normalize those biases instead of working to end those biases, there is something very wrong.
Are you really now denying the reality that African American parents have no more need to fear their teens’ encounters with police than white parents do?
If so, you support my point. Somehow it’s okay to imply that, when you’d never deny that a good looking person or tall person had no advantages at all over anyone else because “I see people as individuals so that means they have no advantages in life”.
Imagine telling the parents of a kid who is abnormally short or abnormally obese that they don’t have to worry about how other people treat their kid because you see their kid as an individual. Talk about entitlement.
“Are you really now denying the reality that African American parents have no more need to fear their teens’ encounters with police than white parents do?”
I would say it depends on the parents, the children, and a hundred other factors. If one insists on considering only one variable (“race”) and lumping everyone regardless of their circumstances into buckets of “black” and “white,” then there are different cases to be made based on data. But I try to avoid broad pronouncements about how things are for “white people” and “black people.”
As a side note, I know you like asking questions, but feel free to provide some of your own personal details into comments now and then. I post anonymously but I think I put more of myself on this blog than most others.
FLERP!,
Really disappointed in you. “I know you like asking questions…”??!!
I don’t ask personal questions about your background, where you live, etc.!
FLERP! says: “…feel free to provide some of your own personal details into comments now and then.”
I don’t recall ever challenging anyone – especially you – to provide more personal details about their lives! I ask questions about your opinions on topics!
As I mentioned, I have no idea what race you are and don’t care — I don’t even know what gender you are. Your last post that you are: “generally considered ‘white’” was news to me, whatever that means.
I have certainly revealed personal details in past posts, but just when I think that might help readers understand why I feel the way I do. I could list all the personal details about me that I’ve included over the years, starting with the fact that I’m a parent in the NYC public school system! But why should I bother?
I find your direct challenge to provide more personal details to be very odd.
I confess I am surprised at your response “If one insists on considering only one variable (“race”) and lumping everyone regardless of their circumstances into buckets of “black” and “white”…
Are you setting up some straw man argument? No one here is “considering only one variable” but it is disingenuous of you to try to shut down any discussion of racism because by definition, that “lumps everyone regardless of their circumstances into buckets…”
Asian-Americans are experiencing a significant increase in bias attacks due to some of the hateful rhetoric by some Republican political leaders looking for a scapegoat for COVID.
Are we allowed to discuss that or does it “lump everyone regardless of circumstances into buckets” because some white people feel put upon, too and not all Asian-Americans have the exact same experience?
What is allowed to be discussed? Nothing? You treat everyone as individuals, so that means the discussion of the various biases and attacks people feel because of their race may not be discussed?
I think we’ve taken this far enough.
I don’t know why I ever expect you to defend your positions when you can just FLERP!-splain them and then say “enough”.
Sorry, it just goes on so long and spins wider and wider and there is never any resolution and at some point I feel it’s time to get out of the witness chair.
“witness chair”??
I thought we were having a discussion about white privilege and I replied to Linda because I thought she was under a misapprehension that you did not believe white privilege existed at all. Perhaps I was wrong and Linda was right.
I have no idea where you get the idea that anyone is trying to “quantify those advantages” or asking you to “quantify those advantages”.
I’m happy to have a discussion where we stipulate that the advantages cannot be “quantified”. But I won’t stipulate that there is no point in having a discussion about white privilege because the advantages can’t be quantified.
Sometimes you are snarky and sometimes you just seem to want to post provocative things. I have no problem with that. But I am absolutely mystified as to why you post provocative or snarky comments and then profess to be shocked that anyone would be provoked into replying.
I acknowledge that sometimes I use too many questions in my replies (albeit none of them are about eliciting personal information from you as you seemed to imply).
But I don’t understand why you even write provocative posts if you don’t want to discuss the issues you bring up. Because it’s fun? Oops, I asked a question again. Mea culpa.
The goal of the Koch-bros-type rich is an autocratic government, the nobles and lords from which our founders fled. Indeed, their goal is to “grind the-working class and poor into deeper poverty.”
It isn’t just privatization of public education, which was their starting point, it is every move Republicans are making in state legislatures, suppress the vote of threatening brown and black population, for example.
President Biden wants money spent on research and development, as a part of his Infrastructure Bill, to stay ahead of the autocracies, against which we have fought and sacrificed valuable lives in numerous wars,
Our Democracy. is disappearing under our very noses, filled with the stink of serfdom.
We have a very limited time to reverse this seditious flow: the first two years of the Biden administration. We cannot count on maintaining control of the House and Senate next election.
If privatization doesn’t stop, isn’t halted, we’ll be an autocracy in 20 years. Democracy will have been something people died for.
Autocracy is Here
Autocracy is here
So simply have a beer
The country is divided
Decidedly lopsided
The billionaires have won
They’ll take it all and run
And we’ll be left to wonder
Why WE allowed the plunder
Autocarsy
They’ll get away to space
Escape the human race
And drive around on Mars
With sporty Tesla cars
what is that line about: no matter where you go, there you are. No escaping idiocy
Escape (The Tesla collision song)
(With apologies to Rupert Holmes, Piña colada song)
If you like Tesla collision
Getting lost in the space
If you like science fiction
Want to leave earthly place
If you like makin’ buck$ in boatloads
From the dudes on the Cape*
I’m the one that you’ve looked for
Come with me and escape
*The folks at Cape Canaveral (NASA) who just awarded Elon Musk’s company SpaceX billions for a moon rocket.
“Escape of the Billionaires”
If only they’d escape
On rocket from the Cape
To spare us their disease
And leave the Earth in peace
Too many commentators fail to comprehend it only plays into the narrative of the corpulent reformers to describe them as “failing”. That is because it lets go unchallenged the tacit assumption they are trying to improve public education and simply need more time to get better at it. Educators and maybe Americans in general tend to be very sympathetic toward people who are trying to do good and are simply not up to par yet. So reformers keep getting an “E” for Effort. Given that much benefit of the doubt and they will keep doing what they’re really about till we have no universal free public education at all.
As far as “failing” (all the way to the bank) goes, the fact they’ve survived this long tells us they are succeeding in their goals. The only question is — What The Hecuba Are Their Goals?
Once we start answering that question, we’ll begin to clear the fog …
The Midas Touch
The goal is gold
On which they’re bent
Although we’re told
“They’ve good intent”
For “failure” seen
Through Midas eye
Is just a scheme
To make us buy
Brilliantly said, Jon
There is proof positive that there has been no serious effort to improve so-called educational outcomes. Ironic that a data driven movement has willfully ignored the data that matters. Which two demographics lie at the heart of failing test scores?
1) IEP and 504 students
2) The chronically absent (missing 10%+ of seat time)
I was in a meeting with a state ed rep “discussing” our 35% failure / dropout rate (at the time). I pointed out that 25% of our students were classified and that far too many were forced to pass 5 Regents exams. He just shrugged. Fortunately my district did more than shrug. We tackled the problem head on and made significant gains.
Public school educated students became American workers who made gains in GDP while overcoming the 2% GDP drag of Wall Street.
Academic gains are commendable but, if the rewards associated with improved worker productivity don’t increase the quality of life for the 99%, the focus of effort should be changed. One change is to correct the growing inequality of income.
It is time that people set the agenda not the richest 1% who eat the bread for which others toil. Lincoln warned about people like the Walton heirs.
It’s because Ohio lawmakers are completely captured by a lobby, and that lobby is the ed reform lobby.
There’s no real debate on any of the long list of demands the ed reform lobby submits every year – they’re all rubber stamped. No discussion, no debate, no alternative views permitted or heard.
It’s been years since any of our state lawmakers put any work into public schools. Every single legislative session is wholly consumed by one of three things- expanding and increasing funding to charters, expanding and increasing funding for vouchers, and testing and measuring public school students. They perform no other productive work of any kind.
It’s comical what an absolute echo chamber it is. Ohio once held a “debate” about public schools where 14 of the 15 witnesses were either employed by Students First or promoting Students First. Public school employees, families or supporters are not permitted to appear.
Here’s a typical analysis of Ohio public education policy by the charter/voucher lobby:
https://fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/commentary/good-bad-and-ugly-house-budget
What you might notice if you are NOT a member of the ed reform echo chamber but instead a public school family or supporter is how 90% of it has absolutely nothing to do with public schools, but is instead focused on expanding charters and vouchers.
They simply do not serve the 90% of children and families who attend public schools. They contribute nothing of value to our schools.
The state university system has also languished under ed reform governance. It’s lower quality and more expensive than it was when I went to college, which was 30 years ago.
Overall, ed reform has been a disaster for this state. We’re in worse shape then we were when this “movement” parachuted in and captured our state legislature.
But I don’t see any hope until there’s some kind of break in the stranglehold the echo chamber has on this state- lawmakers don’t even hear alternative views, let alone act on them.
“The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Jessie Balmert reports the same kind of lukewarm, cautious response from Huffman: “The fate of that new school funding formula, which would be phased in over six years, is murky. Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, has said he doesn’t like the price tag, and the GOP-controlled Senate is working on its own way to pay for schools.”
Allow me to translate this for you. What this means is the lawmakers who are captured by the ed reform lobby are ONCE AGAIN not going to accomplish anything for public schools.
There’s a reason for that- the ed reform lobby does not support public schools. They have other priorities- charters and vouchers.
Session after session is like this. They get nothing done for public schools yet they manage to meet every single demand by the charter and voucher lobby.
“Ohio legislator…appointed by his cousin…” (WnewsJ.com) The “legislator” is Sen. Stephen Huffman who was in the news last summer for his racist comments at a congressional hearing which led to his firing by his employer, a hospital. The “cousin” is the head of the Ohio Senate, Matt Huffman. “Cleveland Catholic Diocese and the State Senator Matt Huffman rally support for expanding tuition vouchers”. (Cleveland.com 1-11-2019)
The Politico article, “Why is Trump Going to War Here” (4-23-2021), is about a bellwether U.S. congressional seat in the Cleveland area. The incumbent Republican is a grad of Stanford and Cleveland’s private St. Ignatius (a football powerhouse). Trump supports his primary opponent from the wealthy suburb of Shaker Heights, who has a record. The candidate’s been spending a lot of time raising money at Mar-a-Largo.
It’s a typical by-product of wealth inequality in Ohio – Two GOP who hail from wealthy circumstances attracting big donors and attracting voters from down and out communities. The latter strut around voicing bullying rhetoric to cover their feeling of powerlessness in an economy that increasing strips them of financial security.
In Montana news. This email arrived today from our union leader, Amanda Curtis:
HB 279 has passed out of Senate Finance and will be voted on in the full Senate this week. Montanans hate it, but that might not stop this legislature from imposing their will on us.
I wonder, if it passes, if we’ll be able to follow the money from wealthy donor to school.
Montanans Overwhelmingly Opposed to HB 279
(MONTANA) – Hundreds of Montana educators have signed a letter to Governor Greg Gianforte “imploring” him to cease his support of House Bill 279, which will “defund our public education system.” The letter, which can be read in its entirety here, continues, “Montana teachers want to focus on teaching and learning without worrying about our programs being cut, local property taxes skyrocketing, or our special needs students losing educational opportunities.”
According to legislative records, Montanans have spoken out overwhelmingly in opposition to House Bill 279, which increases the tax credit an individual or corporation can receive for donating to for-profit and private schools from $125 to $200,000. A ridiculous 1,333% increase. This massive tax giveaway will starve essential public services and public education in Montana.
To make matters worse, HB 279 eliminates any oversight and accountability to ensure all students receive a quality education.
“House Bill 279 is not how we do business in Montana,” said MFPE President Amanda Curtis. ”Montana’s tax system is meant to benefit all Montanans through investments in infrastructure, health services, and education. However, House Bill 279 allows wealthy individuals and corporations to skip out on their tax liability in order to fund their own personal pet projects. For example, if HB 279 passes, the Governor could fund scholarships to his own private school, the Petra Academy, and not put a dime towards maintaining Montana’s roads and schools. This is the very definition of plutocracy and does not reflect Montana values. ”
related link (MT bill):
https://www.mfpe.org/dont-defund-public-education/?emci=272fb28a-4c8e-eb11-85aa-00155d43c992&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&ceid=
Website- Montana Catholic Conference,
Public Policy page,
“2021 Legislative Session Advocacy, Testimony in Support of HB279- Expansion of Tax Credit Scholarship Program”
Montanans who are serious about defeating the bill could find mainstream protestant leaders to advocate with testimony for public schools in order to counter the messaging of the dioceses.
Montanans could marshal public school- supporting protestants, Catholics and those who believe in separation of church and state to convince legislators that there is a voting bloc who will elect those state legislators willing to fight for common goods, not for religious authoritarians and their partners, well-funded libertarians/profiteers.
The alternative is to flail about unable to find traction for an argument while ignoring the opposition that is in plain sight, which in effect, duplicates the blinders that the rest of the nation wears.
Thank you for the information and ideas, Linda. Things are happening so fast here with our all-Red legislature and newly-Red governor, that we can’t keep up. We are fighting on so many fronts–education, unions, the environment, guns, etc. This legislature is absolutely goofy–even attacking indigenous voting rights, making it easier to kill wolves and bears, etc. Starting soon, anyone can carry a gun on Montana’s college and university campuses. What are those professors going to do? It’s just so overwhelming right now. I appreciate your ideas, Linda, and also welcome ideas from anyone who has been through this. I didn’t know the diocese stance.
In Minnesota, Bishop Hebda cited his authority (Minnesota Catholic Conference) for prohibiting priests from voting in the 2020 Democratic
primary.
The leader of the word’s largest lay organization, the Knights of Columbus, was formerly a legislative aide to Jesse Helms.
A Catholic organization gave an award to Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society for getting conservative jurists appointed. Leo was influential in Kavanaugh and Barrett’s appointments.
It is unwise to ignore a politically active, conservative religious powerhouse. It’s evident to me that not all of the influencers in billionaire-funded education think tanks are motivated by money. Some have religious objectives.