Where is the war on teachers taking us?

As the zero-tax absolutist, and anti-referendum zealots (who are willing to outright lie about property tax Armageddon) continue to control the levers of government, it is worth considering what outcome we hope to achieve by underfunding and running public education into the ground in America. What lurks around the corner for a country that has declared the classroom teacher a menace to society? Here is a glimpse of that future. This is from Huffington Post, but it could be from wherever a teacher is talking about their life choices.

Who did not see this coming?

Remember those warnings about how instead of welcoming President Obama’s adoption of Chained CPI, Republicans would continue to deny him a budget deal and attack him for proposing to cut Social Security? Well Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) — who also happens to be chairman of the House GOP’s re-election committee — just showed how it’s done, saying Obama’s budget “lays out a shocking attack on seniors.”

Wednesday Open Thread [4.10.13]

So this is a thing -- opting out of the high-stakes standardized tests that are destabilizing teaching and politics. I knew that there were parents working at ending it in some places, but did not know that opting out was it's own movement. This is from Philly:
Anglin is one of the first, small batch of Philadelphia parents to join a national "opt-out" movement - a grass-roots rebellion against the outsized role that standardized tests like the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) play in the day-to-day classroom experience, in the closure of urban schools rated as "failing," and in stressing out both students and their teachers, whose careers may soon ride on the results.

John Sigler: Lawbreaker? Probably…Creep? Certainly

What if we told you that Delaware's (and one of the nation's) most prominent advocates for 'law abiding citizens' may well be both a lawbreaker and an inhumane killer? And what if I told you that this upstanding citizen is the head of the Delaware Republican Party? Ladies and gentlemen, Delaware's Mr. NRA #1, John Sigler....

Gun nuts rejoice over news of stabbing spree because they think it proves their point, or something

Comment author - NoLiberty! This campus needs to put signs up "Knife Free Zone" to prevent this from happening again! or maybe... "Assault/Murder Free Zone"? If we are not crystal clear with our laws and signage, people will still accidentally kill others thinking its OK to do so.
So far "14 hurt" have been reported. No deaths, so far. Maybe some of these unfortunate victims will die, but right now a "Knife Free Zone" might be premature.

From the “If at first you don’t succeed” files

Colorado-based Frontier Airlines is resurrecting commercial airline service in Delaware. Frontier plans to begin Airbus 320 service from New Castle Airport on July 1, offering three flights a week to Chicago-Midway and Houston. Service to Orlando and Denver begins the following day with two weekly flights to Orlando and four flights a week to Denver, Frontier’s main hub.

Monday Open Thread [4.8.13]

Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died. It is interesting that I feel the same way about her as I did about Ronald Reagan: I liked her personally even though I did not always agree with her policies (indeed I mostly disagreed with them). That is probably why both were successful leaders of their countries. God speed Baroness Thatcher. Back to American politics.... "Running for president is like sex. No one ever did it once and forgot about it." -- James Carville, quoted by Maureen Dowd.

QOTD — A Modest Proposal on Legislator Pay

I saw this proposal on Facebook the other night and -- frankly -- this makes sense to me. If we are focused like a laser beam on compensating teachers for effectiveness (and for effectiveness over factors they can't always control), why not compensate legislators the same way? What do you think?