There were a couple of interesting articles in the paper this morning. One concerned a lawsuit mounted by some educational organizations and teachers here in Montana against a law signed by our governor regarding charter schools. The other article concerned the budget deal that Speaker McCarthy negotiated with the White House regarding the debt ceiling that some Republicans are vowing to fight, possibly leading up to another threat of a government shutdown – more ‘hostage politics’, if you will.
Let’s start in Montana. The bill signed by Governor Gianforte was flagged by legislative legal analysts early on as conflicting with the Montana state constitution. However, the current legislature and Governor Gianforte have developed a habit of passing this and other bills anyway which results in the State having to spend millions of dollars in legal fees trying to defend these bills in court, almost always to have them overturned! In addition to the waste of legal fees to defend this bill, the legislative fiscal analysts conclude that this bill will cost the state of Montana about $500,000 annually. This is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars trying to push a minority view into law – so much for the Republicans oft-stated desire for fiscal responsibility.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Majority Leader Sue Vinson, “would allow “community choice schools “to operate independently from local school districts, with exemptions from certification requirements and other standards. The schools would be validated under a new commission beneath the Office of Public Instruction.
Vinton said the intent of her legislation was to empower parents and encourage students to achieve their full education potential, as well as to offer educators professional opportunities. Charter schools would have access to state and local funding, Vinton said, though she emphasized that philanthropy would play a major role in school budgets.”
I particularly like the phrase, “exemptions from certification requirements and other standards.” Let me translate all this Orwellian doublespeak. A small group of right-wing, religious, and wealthy Montanans, want the state to fund their charter schools where they can push their religious, often non-scientific, and very often bigoted beliefs down the throats of their kids. (I think this is called indoctrination!). This is no different than the Islamic religious schools – madrasas!
Notwithstanding the fact that it is against the Montana constitution to funnel state tax dollars to these institutions, there is no need! The high schools here in Bozeman offer a great education. Students are routinely accepted into top schools around the nation. They have a nationally ranked debate team. Their athletic teams have received numerous awards, championships, and other accolades. I went to Custer County High School in little old Miles City, Montana and got accepted into the University of Chicago and many of my classmates got accepted into other top universities.
If the state is really concerned about the state of education in the state, they need to stop wasting money on pushing these private agendas that benefit very few, and focus the tax dollars on improving the education across the state for ALL Montana students.
Which brings me to the other article I read concerning the budget deal negotiated by Speaker McCarthy. Some of the hardline Republicans are threatening to force deeper cuts than McCarthy agreed to which could lead to another threat of a government shutdown. Did anyone really think McCarthy would be able to keep these renegades in line?
It seems lately that the Republican party has become one whose primary weapon is ‘legislative terrorism.’ If you recall, when the Republicans were in control of the House and the Senate after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, they tried repeatedly to dismantle it. For years they talked about getting rid of it and replacing it with their own program – BUT THEY COULD NEVER PUT TOGETHER A WORKABLE ALTERNATIVE!
This budget fiasco is exactly the same thing. They refuse to put a budget on the table detailing the specific cuts they wish to make but instead speak in generalities so no one can see exactly what they want to enact and how it will affect them. This is on purpose. If they were to outline exactly the cuts they want to make, those decisions would be, in general, very unpopular.
Just like the charter education bill in Montana, it is a 100 percent probability that whatever cuts the Republicans want to make at the national level, they will ultimately benefit a small minority of people (and corporations) at the expense of the population as a whole.
The Republicans, by and large, have become more like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz spewing flowery words and blowing smoke, than the ‘party of Lincoln.’ Unfortunately, I’m not sure we can count on Glinda, the good witch, to save our asses!
