tacitus
05-17-2005, 03:50 PM
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td>True or false: Union backs school choice (http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_2729359)
<!--subtitle--> <!--top author info--> <table align="center" border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="articleByline"> <!-- overline--> By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Columnist (dharsanyi@denverpost.com) </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="articleBody" align="center" border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="3" align="center">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="articleBody" align="left"> Ron Brady, president of the Colorado Education Association, didn't care for a column I wrote praising public-school choice.
I wasn't offended.
Maybe a little bit honored, actually.
Being accused of having a "narrow view" on education by a group that opposes virtually any choice for parents and works overtime to strand academically at-risk children in failing schools doesn't sting one bit.
What was most fascinating about Brady's letter of complaint, however, was his boast that Colorado "has a long history of school choice."
...
Jim Griffin, executive director of the Colorado League of Charter Schools, can't recall a single instance in which the CEA has testified in support of or even publicly backed pro-charter- school legislation.
"I know that's the case," explains Griffin, "but it's obscured by the fact that the CEA is very cagey. You won't find a whole lot in the record with the CEA opposing these bills. They do a lot of work behind the scenes."
Cagey, yes. But there is plenty of evidence to support Griffin's contention.
As early as 1989, the CEA lobbied against allowing parents interdistrict choices. In 1993, the charter school law Brady boasts about was fought tooth and nail by then-CEA president Dan Morris, who feared "elite enclaves of students" would emerge. (Only when the 1993 bill was certain to pass did the CEA withdraw its opposition.)
The CEA, it seems, is more comfortable with enclaves of failing students or elite enclaves in rich neighborhoods than they are with putting a single union membership
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="3">http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/std/clear.gif</td></tr></tbody> </table>
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I normally don't read the paper, but this guy caught my attention with his article on illegals in Denver.
<!--subtitle--> <!--top author info--> <table align="center" border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="articleByline"> <!-- overline--> By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Columnist (dharsanyi@denverpost.com) </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="articleBody" align="center" border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="3" align="center">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="articleBody" align="left"> Ron Brady, president of the Colorado Education Association, didn't care for a column I wrote praising public-school choice.
I wasn't offended.
Maybe a little bit honored, actually.
Being accused of having a "narrow view" on education by a group that opposes virtually any choice for parents and works overtime to strand academically at-risk children in failing schools doesn't sting one bit.
What was most fascinating about Brady's letter of complaint, however, was his boast that Colorado "has a long history of school choice."
...
Jim Griffin, executive director of the Colorado League of Charter Schools, can't recall a single instance in which the CEA has testified in support of or even publicly backed pro-charter- school legislation.
"I know that's the case," explains Griffin, "but it's obscured by the fact that the CEA is very cagey. You won't find a whole lot in the record with the CEA opposing these bills. They do a lot of work behind the scenes."
Cagey, yes. But there is plenty of evidence to support Griffin's contention.
As early as 1989, the CEA lobbied against allowing parents interdistrict choices. In 1993, the charter school law Brady boasts about was fought tooth and nail by then-CEA president Dan Morris, who feared "elite enclaves of students" would emerge. (Only when the 1993 bill was certain to pass did the CEA withdraw its opposition.)
The CEA, it seems, is more comfortable with enclaves of failing students or elite enclaves in rich neighborhoods than they are with putting a single union membership
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="3">http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/std/clear.gif</td></tr></tbody> </table>
</td></tr></tbody> </table>
I normally don't read the paper, but this guy caught my attention with his article on illegals in Denver.