Posted on 05/02/2002 10:15:59 AM PDT by Gophack
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:40:14 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
No, this is an extremist union proposal and the union brass are clearly in the wrong here. Davis may even be telling the truth when he says his opposition to these proposals is due to his principled stand, not a lack of contributions. Of course the teachers don't want to contribute to his campaign because they hate his principled stand. Would Davis sell out his principled stand for $1 million? That question deserves to be watched closely; if he flip-flops and gets the money, we should be prepared to call him out on it.
Testing actually works best in the losing inner city schools, as explained in an earlier FR article which I have no idea how to find again. The affluent schools hate testing because their students already do better than the tests require.
Again, this is net good news for Simon, since many teachers aren't going to see much difference between the two, perhaps not enough to campaign actively and enthusiastically for Davis.
The only thing that would get teachers to back Davis intensely are vouchers. Simon clearly (and rightly) supports vouchers, but previous voucher proposals have flopped at the polls. If it looks like Simon's going to win, the teachers may have to return to generous support of Davis to avoid vouchers. Because they can be well-organized when they need to be, teachers can be decisive in elections.
I think Simon would have a tough time getting a voucher plan passed, but teachers definitely don't want to take that chance; their budgets are at stake.
D
Some questions answer themselves, don't they?
Why are teachers always b!itching about themselves and their work being evaluated? If they hate the process that much they should change jobs.
However, I do think Davis blew it when he denied all the bonus money to any teachers because the budget was underfunded. My sister-in-law who teaches in Lemoore said her fellow teachers were very angry about being stiffed.
Go Simon!
That's the thing with Democrats ... promise, promise, promise and don't follow through. He made the promise for campaign contributions and votes; he broke it. But we have another election!
Go Simon!
That's a good question. I don't know. First, I know that not ALL the teachers are Democrats and support Davis, though they trend liberal. But what are their *key* issues? (other than the obvious -- education).
On education, Davis has done nothing substantive. He promised bonuses for exemplary performance, but didn't deliver because of the budget crisis (though prison guards got a nice 30%+ raise).
What are their other issues? Probably like everyone else ... across the gamut.
I don't know if they will support Simon ... however, I can see them taking a powder on the race.
Is US$1 million enough to compensate for the negative political fallout from centrist voters who resent the power of the teachers' union? He may figure those nice folks are sure Simon votes if he doesn't hold the line against the union, while at the same time the union members themselves have nowhere else to go. If this is what he's thinking, I must agree with him, and in that context, I wouldn't take the $1 million.
Of course he's going to take that US$1 million and teachers' union support if he feels activity at the grass roots is vital to him winning. This means the odds are still pretty good that he'll cave, but I think it's definitely not as cut and dried as you might think.
D
D
I guess that means that we are in pretty close agreement. I was naturally reacting to the point 'Would Davis sell out his principled stand for $1 million?', to which the answer IS obvious. The points you are making simply point out that, on net, he mightn't be getting anything he cares about, i.e. winning, and that would prevent him from selling out for nothing, or for less than nothing.
D
I'll look for it!
What a comparison. I guess you could say that education is not Davis' priority! LOL! This could be a great ad for the Republicans. 'Dollars for criminals, but not for education'
No quid pro quo? Hard to prove THAT one in court. If it ever gets to trial (ha, ha), they would have to have a change of venue ... out of state!
Dump Davis!
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