Koch group, unions battle over Colorado schools race
Source: Politico
It isnt often that the Koch brothers political advocacy group gets involved in a local school board race.
But this fall, Americans for Prosperity is spending big in the wealthy suburbs south of Denver to influence voters in the Douglas County School District, which has gone further than any district in the nation to reshape public education into a competitive, free-market enterprise.
The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall.
Conservatives across the U.S. see Douglas County as a model for transforming public schools everywhere. But with four of seven seats on the board up for grabs in Tuesdays election, reformers find themselves fending off a spirited challenge from a coalition of angry parents and well-funded teachers unions. The race has been nasty and pricey, too; spending from all parties is likely to hit at least $800,000.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-group-unions-battle-over-colorado-schools-race-99252.html?hp=t1
The Koch brothers show once again that no race is too small. You will believe their talking points and elect their handpicked candidates whether you want to or not.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
Esse Quam Videri
(685 posts)Today's latest is that Jeb Bush has donated $1,000 to each of the incumbent bagger candidates. Luckily a lot of repugs I have talked to have had it with this joke of a school board and are voting for the new slate of candidates.
randr
(12,412 posts)across to the western slope into Grand Junction. Local school board races are hotbeds of controversy.
pscot
(21,024 posts)They think they own the Plains.
Heather MC
(8,084 posts)Watch if the win, they are going to recut the disticts so that all the schools are separate races. and funnel all the tax payer to the All white schools.
We have seen this before
I hope Colorado is to smart to fall for this
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)wilt the stilt
(4,528 posts)but I wish cancer on these two people.
judesedit
(4,439 posts)Wake up, country. We surely don't want the likes of the Koch's brainwashing our kids any more than they are already. How old are those greedy bastards, anyway?
Indyfan53
(473 posts)Let's not have a repeat of the recalls earlier this year!
Anybody have a link to support the democrats in the race?
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)they have all of the money and thus the media, voting machines, in-office politicians.
We need to start thinking more aggressively than "pray and GOTV" is we want to stop these sociopaths.