Post by jgaffney on May 16, 2011 19:05:07 GMT -5
School reform in California is one of those issues that everyone talks about but no one does anything about. Well, almost no one. Matier & Ross, writing in the SF Chronicle, explain how things really work in Sacramento:
Teacher's pets: A bill to allow school districts to use performance rather than seniority as a criterion for laying off teachers died an interesting death in committee this past week.
The bill by state Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County), needed six votes to go forward. It got three - Huff's and those of fellow Republicans Sam Blakeslee and Sharon Runner.
Democrats Juan Vargas and Elaine Alquist voted "no" - with fellow Democrats Alan Lowenthal, Loni Hancock, Carol Liu, Joe Simitian and Curren Price taking a duck and not voting at all.
California Teachers Association members packed the hearing room to voice their opposition. Not that they had to - a check of campaign records by the nonpartisan watchdog group MapLight.org shows that, collectively, Democrats on the committee received $176,200 from the two largest teachers unions since 2004.
Republicans got zippo.
This is how Democrats can talk about school reform but, when the time is ripe to take action, they silently kill the bill. Nice, very nice.
Teacher's pets: A bill to allow school districts to use performance rather than seniority as a criterion for laying off teachers died an interesting death in committee this past week.
The bill by state Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County), needed six votes to go forward. It got three - Huff's and those of fellow Republicans Sam Blakeslee and Sharon Runner.
Democrats Juan Vargas and Elaine Alquist voted "no" - with fellow Democrats Alan Lowenthal, Loni Hancock, Carol Liu, Joe Simitian and Curren Price taking a duck and not voting at all.
California Teachers Association members packed the hearing room to voice their opposition. Not that they had to - a check of campaign records by the nonpartisan watchdog group MapLight.org shows that, collectively, Democrats on the committee received $176,200 from the two largest teachers unions since 2004.
Republicans got zippo.
This is how Democrats can talk about school reform but, when the time is ripe to take action, they silently kill the bill. Nice, very nice.