Posted on 10/22/2006 4:58:21 PM PDT by Nextrush
THE GOVERNOR GAMBIT
This November, as dozens of state governors ask for your vote, ask yourself this: Do they deserve it? In states like Wisconsin, Maine and Michigan, NEA members see their governors finding money for programs and salaries, protecting jobs from privatization, and making sure students get what they need. (Can your colleagues in California say the same? We think not.) Yes, governors do make a big difference. And so do you, when you say yea or nay..............
OREGON GOV. TED KULONGOSKI
Two Words: Old friend.
1)Money, Money, Money. Too-short school years and too-big class sizes aren't a distant memory, are they, Oregon? When Kulongoski took office in 2003, he inherited a "really difficult" economy, recalls Gary Sackley, a Salem counselor and state PAC chair. Thsese days, state funding for education still "is not where we think it should be," Sackley says. But Kulongoski recently won a 6.6 percent increase in education funding over the next two years, according to his office. Next time, he promises 10 percent.
2)Benefits. Kulongoski's opponent, attorney Ron Saxton, has derisively called the state retirement system a "gold-plated" benefit for teachers. But abandoning the defined-benefit pension for a 401(k)-type of plan could be disastrous.
3)I Do, Too. Think of the relationship between Kulongoski and Oregon educators as a marriage. It began with a lot of energy. In 1973, as a private attorney representing the Oregon Education Association, Kulongoski wrote the state's collective bargaining laws. But over time, the two partners may have taken each other for granted. "It wasn't like we were serving divorce papers. We just had a brief separation," Sackley says. And the governor got the message. "He has been a good friend of education...It's nice to see things back on track."
The Last Words:
"We're together again!" Sackley says..................
(Excerpt) Read more at nea.org ...
Good article, nextrush....good to see you out and about....
Its taken from the printed edition of "NEA Today" for October 2006. You can get to the magazine online but this article would be a members only thing because the National Education Association doesn't want to give away their political bias that easily.
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