There are some great propositions coming up on the November 8th ballot. Here are my favorites,
Proposition 73
WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
That’s right my friends, here in the state of California, there are some people who believe that 40 year old adults are too stupid to know what to do with their own money when it comes to social security, yet 14 year old kids should be trusted to make the right decision on whether or not to have an abortion, all without the parents permission. This bill would change that by requiring parental notification before the abortion is performed, and in extreme cases, allowing a judge to stand in the parents place.
Proposition 74
PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS. WAITING PERIOD FOR PERMANENT STATUS. DISMISSAL. INITIATIVE STATUTE.
This bill has two important parts, first, it “[i]ncreases length of time required before a teacher may become a permanent employee from two complete consecutive school years to five complete consecutive school years”, and secondly, it “[m]odifies the process by which school boards can dismiss a permanent teaching employee who receives two consecutive unsatisfactory performance evaluations”.
Contrary to popular opinion, there are good schools that operate in poor areas. These schools operate with overall the same funding, with overall the same racial and poverty make up, and in overall the same areas. Well, what makes them different you say? Why aren’t all public schools like this, you ask? Well, these schools do differ from traditional public schools in a few different yet fundamentally important aspects, but one of the most critical is the ability to hire and fire teachers of their choosing. All of these schools were public schools who chose to become charter schools primary because of the bureaucracy. Once they were released from the bureaucracy and the unions, they had the freedom to institute real change, dramatic change, and in doing so, many minorities that otherwise would have been robbed of a chance at the American dream, now have that opportunity. The schools serve as roll models to other schools in the area, and Arnold is trying to move us more in that direction (For more information on those schools, read this book).
Those of you that were also part of the Los Angeles Unified School District know what I am talking about, we have all seen the teachers that just want the hour to go by, and see teaching more as a pay check than as a calling. Reducing tenure and giving greater power in firing teachers is only a problem for bad teachers, not for good teachers whose primary duty is the education of the students.
Proposition 75
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNION DUES. RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. EMPLOYEE CONSENT REQUIREMENT. INITIATIVE STATUTE
This is a really important one as well, for it shows just how powerful the unions are in California, not only do they force employees to pay union dues, but they want to deny the employee a say in where those union dues go. What if the union member is a die hard Democrat, should she have no say in whether her money goes to a Republican cause? This proposition strikes twice; it limits the all to powerful public employee union, and puts more power in the hands of the employee. For more on this, see Betsy’s Page.
Proposition 76
STATE SPENDING AND SCHOOL FUNDING LIMITS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
There is no better way to describe this, than to quote from Arnold himself, “Proposition 76 will force our government to balance the budget and live within its means. Proposition 76 will prevent state expenditures from growing faster than revenues while also stabilizing education funding. Proposition 76 will fix Sacramento’s broken system of deficits and out-of-control autopilot spending”.
Predictably, there are those who are going to complain about the ‘larger concern’ of a reduced funding for public school education. But those who make that argument have the difficult burden of proof to show that more funding is actually good for education. In fact, evidence shows that more funding for education has very little, to no improvement in education at all (This picture says it all).
Proposition 77
REDISTRICTING. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Currently, district lines are drawn by those in Sacramento, creating a situation where those in power create their own district lines, which in turn results in a district line that guarantees their election victory, and in doing so, removes politicians accountability to the citizens. As Governor Schwarzenegger’s Analysis states, “It used to be that voters picked their politicians - now politicians pick their voters”.
To combat this, proposition 77 will let a panel of retired judges draw new districts, which in turn would have to be approved by the voters. I am not sure this system will work, but compared to the alternative, I am willing to try different solutions, and if it does prove to be a success, I would support the same system to be implemented at the federal level.
So please, California voters, do your part in bringing a thriving economy back to California, and vote yes on the propositions above.
IMHO…..
I’m definitely gonna vote yes on 75 and 73. Gonna pick up “No Excuses” - you seem like a good judge of books. Prop 74 seems mild. It looks like a small step in the right direction. Any introduction of higher standards has to be an improvement on the current situation.
I just have to say that I don’t remember having ANY bad teachers in the LAUSD or in any other school system that I went to - and I sampled two others.
The problem is the socialistic setup which diminishes the potential of the labor force as it violates the sovereignty of the conscience of the public by the government. I’de rather not get into that right now, but I know that this may seem strange to many people. Some other time we should get into the what and why, here.
We could be doing much much better, and it would not require more money, just more competition, just more freedom, and more virtue. This would meen less government, and more maturity than today’s adults offer. What they refuse to learn just astonishes me. They need to revisit America’s Founding Godfathers; it is obvious that many “educators” teach the opposite of William Penn, which was that “Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments… Let men be good, and that government cannot be bad: if it be ill, they will cure it… ” Too many people are teaching the opposite today, especially in what are considered today, “Blue States.” Penn could have schooled many a moonbat out of their political insanity, today. He told Peter The Great, the Czar of Russia, “if thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by Him.”
A little story, related to “bad teachers.”
There was even a school official at this Jr High I was at who scrubbed off this fresh tat I had on my hand that I had gotten over this one weekend by someone who had a homemade machine. I think it was brave of her now, but I never really thought about this little incident before until I tried to recall experiences with bad teachers. I remember that I wasn’t pissed at her as she was scrubbing it off either and I don’t remember feeling anything. I just remember wondering about things as she was doing it. I don’t even know what, right now. She was different in some way, she didn’t care if she wasn’t “PC” or if she might get into legal trouble for what she did. I don’t know her name, she wasn’t even one of my teachers, she was a substitute. I was impressed by her moral backbone, and I noticed the contrast of people of her quality to the rampant adult hippies that we are supposed to consider authoritative guides for life. I don’t think I could put that thought in words at the time, I was pretty stupid, and some would say that I still am, but I’m pretty sure that that’s what I was thinking about when my hand was getting all red and bleeding a little bit.
I never saw a teacher that just watched the hour go by. All of my public school teachers were good teachers. We just have different experiences. Though I don’t like the idea of my Kindergarten teacher crying in the class in front of a bunch of 5 year olds because the union was going on strike against the taxpayers. I just remembered that. The more that we move away from the socialistic system, the more you will see a better environment for excellence. All attempts to negate reality have the avoidable gravitational pull of mediocrity.
Prop 76 looks good, my voters guide got wet, but I’m gonna read more about it before I definitely say yes to this. Right now its probably a yes. I’ve seen this ad that says, paraphrasing, “Arnold borrowed $2 billion from our schools… blah blah blah.. he broke his promise.. whine whine whine… vote no on 76.” They’re not convincing, but I can’t vote for something that I don’t know about. I know that if this passes and its a disaster then there would be a big political backlash and this proposed legislation could be repealed. It wouldn’t be that difficult if it were a disaster. So, again, I’m probably voting yes on this.
I view Prop 77 the same way.
Thanks, Al! I know where to put this.