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Wingard Report: Legislative Update 4/3/07

1) Thank you to everyone who signed the petition against SB 621–the bill to kill Charter Schools. Charter parents, students and teachers filled the hearing room [1]and an overflow room and apparently intimidated the Chair, Sen. Vicki Walker (D-Eugene). Sen. Walker may be a maverick on some issues, but she’s a teacher’s union drone on this issue.

The bill came up for a Work Session this week and the OEA retreated on every objectionable aspect of the bill except they still wanted to increase the teacher licensure requirement from 50% to 75%. When we objected to this attack on Charter School flexibility, Sen. Walker seemed perplexed at why we weren’t willing to compromise with the OEA. (HINT: She revealed that her son is getting his teaching license.)

Maybe because it’s like negotiating with Hannibal Lecter? She seemed not to see that charter schools weren’t gaining anything. Isn’t a negotiation suppose to be a two-way street?

2) House Bill 3010, which I wrote, to give 1,000 low-income students the chance to choose their own school will get a hearing on Thursday, April 5, 2007. The House Subcommittee on Education Innovation hearing starts at 1:00 PM and can be watched live here.

3) The 16-year battle to kill Vera Katz’s failed education reform legislation (CIM/CAM), may finally be won. [2]

4) Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point) does a good job explaining how Democrats plan to spend $15.8+ billion dollars [3]over the next two years–a 9% annual increase in Oregon State government spending.

5) Meanwhile, the largest tax increase on the poor in Oregon State history [4]seems to have broad appeal among Democrats. Go figure.

6) And while pro-abortion forces in Oregon may be able to legitimately claim to represent the majority view in Oregon, it takes a special kind of contempt to move a bill like this through the Legislature. (read lines 3-14 [5])

The Machine Rolls On…

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