Some Rural Lawmakers Defy Power Erosion

RITZVILLE, Wash. — State Senator Mark Schoesler might seem a marginalized man at first glance. In this ever bluer state, he is deep red Republican. In his dusty hometown here in rural eastern Washington, the population is in perpetual decline and Main Street resists revival. Although it has been nearly 20 years since Mr. Schoesler became a state lawmaker, fewer and fewer of his colleagues in Olympia, the capital, have a clue about what he does for a living.

City of Edmonds Website Report of the Renaming of the Library
The library was her passion, so it’s only fitting that the Edmonds Library now officially bears the name of the late Edmonds City Councilmember Peggy Pritchard Olson.
Friends, relatives and dignitaries gathered Tuesday for the official ribbon cutting to announce the new library name: Edmonds Sno-Isle Library Peggy Pritchard Olson Building.

Deputy Snohomish County Executive Gary Haakenson, who served as Edmonds mayor during Olson’s time on the council, recalled that his first few exchanges with Olson “were all about the library.”

“Years later, she managed to convince me and the entire city council to talk about the latest book we had read and report about it during a televised city council meeting,” Haakenson recalled.

Olson was a member of the Friends of the Edmonds Library, and if you stopped by the Friends annual book sale each October, “she was always there, moving around filling books in, sorting, bagging…always saying hello to the patrons,” Haakenson said. “She was in her element, working with friends, working with books all for the betterment of this library.”

In an interview before Olson died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s Disease in late 2009, she said she wanted “to be remembered as someone who made a difference,” Haakenson noted. “She did indeed make a difference, and she will be remembered.”

http://myedmondsnews.com/2011/06/edmonds-library-renamed-in-honor-of-its-dearest-friend-peggy-pritchard-olson/

For Release: 8AM Friday, 10 June 2011

The Mainstream Republicans of Washington Endorse Rob McKenna for Governor

The Board of the Mainstream Republicans of Washington voted unanimously to endorse Attorney General Rob McKenna one day after the popular leader announced his campaign for Governor.  The organization pledged to raise $500,000 to promote moderate Republicans.

(Tacoma-WA) The Mainstream Republicans of Washington last night voted unanimously to endorse Attorney General Rob McKenna’s campaign for Governor.  Mainstream Co-Chairman and former Congressman Sid Morrison called the very early decision “unprecedented” and explained, “Rob McKenna truly represents the values of Washington State and is one of the most intelligent and genuine leaders I have ever met.  We have never made so early an endorsement before, but no one has deserved it more. His election will be our organization’s most important goal for 2012. ”

Longtime Secretary of State, and Mainstream Board member, Sam Reed praised the decision, “”The voters of Washington State have always rewarded moderate, capable, forward-looking public servants who conduct themselves with civility and work well ‘across the aisle.’  We will elect Rob McKenna Governor, and he will provide the dynamic leadership our state needs for the 21st century.”

Mainstream Co-Chair and former King County Councilwoman Louise Miller made another major announcement, “No state has suffered more from the failures of one party rule than Washington.  To help repair our broken state government, Mainstream will raise $500,000 to support Rob McKenna and other reform minded Republican candidates.”  The goal of $500,000 is $200,000 more than Mainstream has spent in any previous election year.

Mainstream Executive Director Alex Hays explained the organization’s views, “Mainstream promotes Washington State’s unique type of Republican: centrist, socially moderate, pro-environment and fiscally conservative.  For years we’ve called ourselves Dan Evans Republicans, starting today we can call ourselves Rob McKenna Republicans.”

END

They’re not hanging an “under new management” sign on Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, but they could.

At Jefferson and dozens of other Los Angeles schools, faculty-led committees have been given the authority to make big decisions about how to run the school.

This experiment was set in motion last February when the LA school board voted to adopt plans submitted by educator-led teams at 29 schools in low-income, high-minority areas of the city.

The board had put 36 schools out to bid, inviting proposals from charter school operators and other organizations. The smart money was on charter operators to snag most of them. But United Teachers Los Angeles (a joint affiliate of NEA and the American Federation of Teachers) helped educators at the schools team up with parents and administrators to write their own proposals. And the school board accepted 29 of them.

Jefferson’s plan includes splitting into five autonomous mini-schools sharing one campus. Each school will make its own decisions about school culture and how to spend its money. Mini-school councils will choose their principals and when there are openings for new faculty, they’ll select them.

The really hard part starts now. As educators roll up their sleeves and start making the changes, here’s a look at two Jefferson High School leaders and some of their students:

Social studies teacher Nicolle Fefferman

Nicolle Fefferman, the UTLA chapter chair, moved all the way from Connecticut to teach at this high school. She grew up in LA, but was in her first year teaching in New Haven when she read in a newspaper about a student riot at Jefferson. She decided right then to come home. “I wanted to be a part of fixing the problems of our schools in low-income communities of color,” she says. “I figured I’d get in, work hard, and join up with like-minded people to make positive changes.”

So she did.

And when UTLA offered assistance to Jefferson teachers if they wanted to write their own proposal for the school, Fefferman grabbed it. “We knew we’d have to scrape together the time and scramble to teach and still have our families. We’d have to move, move, move and come up with something good, good, good!”

Fefferman led a team of about 25—15 teachers and 10 administrators and parents—in developing the proposal. They read, visited other schools, they put in nights and weekends, and wrote a plan focused on strengthening bonds between teachers and students.

When the school board announced its surprise decision, Fefferman was excited, proud—and exhausted. “I’m so tired!” she said. “But now we have to start the work. We can’t just talk any more. This is it!”

And all the while, she kept teaching. One day last spring, she divided her students into groups to write radio scripts about being caught in a natural disaster. Three freshmen girls came up with this plot line: They and their friends are having a party to celebrate one girl’s wonderful news. Suddenly a tornado sweeps down on their house, uproots a tree, and kills them all.

Tornadoes are rare in Southern California, but the great news they were celebrating before the storm struck was based on reality: One of their classmates had gotten pregnant.

“Babies are valued, and it’s accepted that girls will get pregnant young,” explained Fefferman later. That’s one of the challenges she faces in helping her students succeed in school and the job market.

But Fefferman’s not interested in making excuses for Jefferson’s low test scores and high drop-out rate. “Our school is a failing school. What we’re doing isn’t working. That’s unacceptable,” she says to a colleague over lunch.

Last May, UTLA organized a weekend workshop for leaders at the 29 schools to help get each school ready for launch.

Fefferman didn’t go. She spent her Saturday morning helping one of her star students, a senior girl she’d known since ninth grade, go to college. The girl had been admitted to UCLA and Berkeley but isn’t eligible for government scholarships or loans because she’s undocumented. So Fefferman drove her to the airport for a quick trip to Berkeley (paid for with Fefferman’s husband’s frequent flyer miles) to interview for a private organization scholarship.

It worked: The girl got the scholarship, and several more that she scrounged on her own. This fall, as Fefferman helps Jefferson turn a fresh page, her student will start a new life as a Berkeley freshman.

Art teacher Luis Garcia

Art teacher Luis Garcia is a graduate of Jefferson High, and he was not a big fan of the school when he was there. “One thing I felt was missing was teacher support,” he says. “I’m not saying none of them cared—half of them did, and that half kept me going.”

One teacher who cared about Garcia was his science teacher and volleyball coach. “He wasn’t from our culture. He was Middle Eastern. But he tried to learn our language. He got to know us. And he inspired me to come back,” says Garcia.

“I recall Mahatma Gandhi’s quote, ‘Be the change you want to see.’ I want to be that change at Jefferson High School.”

Here’s his approach: “I need to learn from my students first, before they can learn from me. If I don’t know what they’re going through, how am I going to get through to them?”

Garcia, who teaches art, is close to many of his students. Hernan Cortez is a senior he has worked with for three years. “He completely changed my mentality,” says Cortez. “At first, I just wanted a career that would make me wealthy, but being in his class helped me see that helping others can really pay off.” Cortez is headed for college to study civil engineering, and then come back to help his community.

Garcia has high hopes for the new Jefferson High School. “There will be a more personal relationship not only with students, but also parents, because we won’t be under the control of a bureaucratic system,” he says. “It will be up to the school and the home. I believe that will change the culture.”

Sept. 09–Washington state’s Republican Party has joined Fox News in being outraged over Secretary of State Sam Reed’s handling — or, as they contend, mishandling — of military and overseas ballots.

It is their outrage that’s outrageous.

Reed, a Republican, has long been a champion for voters. He and his staff have worked hard to make sure as many people as possible have their votes counted.

Yet, the GOP and Fox are all over Reed because his office applied for — and received — a waiver exempting Washington from a new federal law requiring military and overseas ballots to be mailed 45 days before the Nov. 2 election. The critics are trying to paint Reed as someone who wants to disenfranchise troops overseas.

The Republican State Committee approved Saturday a resolution saying: “Failure to comply with this federal law will almost certainly result in disenfranchising the votes of our brave men and women serving in the military, who risk their lives protecting the voting rights of all Americans.”

Republicans and conservatives are sensitive to this issue, and perhaps for good reason. Democrats and liberals aren’t thrilled when military ballots decide a close election as soldiers tend to be young, male and conservative.

But that has zero to do with why Reed’s office asked for the waiver.

If these folks would take the time to look at the facts, it would be clear to them that Reed and his staff are advocates for military voters.

The Defense Department granted the waiver to Washington because it is clear steps are taken to make sure overseas troops receive every opportunity to vote.

Washington wanted the waiver because there simply isn’t much time between the Aug. 17 primary and the Sept. 18 deadline to mail the military ballots. If a primary race is close it might take weeks to determine a winner, which will delay the printing of the ballot.

Still, many of the 39 county auditors’ offices will get the ballot mailed by the deadline. The waiver is simply a precaution in case some of the larger counties fall a day or two short of compliance.

Having those ballots sent out a few days late is not a big problem because Washington requires its ballots be postmarked by election day. Ballots with the proper postmarked don’t have to be received until Nov. 23.

So, even if an auditor’s office in Washington state didn’t get ballots out until Oct. 3 — the last permissible day under the waiver — military voters would have a 51-day window to get their ballot in.

We believe we have one of the strongest programs in the country for overseas and military voters, and that we provide opportunities above and beyond most states,” state Elections Director Nick Handy said.

In the 2008 election 99 percent of overseas voters who voted had their ballot counted.

This attack on Reed and his election department is political nonsense.

During the conference, members heard from NEA Pres. Dennis Van Roekel, who emphasized the importance of bipartisanship on education issues and reaffirmed NEA’s commitment to the NEA RLC, which is a joint effort of NEA and the Republican National Committee. Several Republican elected officials spoke at the conference, including Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX & Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee), and Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA).  Reichert was a particular hit at the conference.

“Federal government is not the national school board,” said Cong. Biggert.  She went on to say, “We need to do more with holding parents accountable.” Cong. Sam Graves, whose wife is a special ed teacher, said, “Special ed kids should be exempt from standardized tests amd their IEPs should be the focus of their assessment.”

Members listened to briefings on federal education policy, taxes, & the economy.  They participated in a grassroots lobbying and leadership seminar, and they visited the hill to speak with members of Congress about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA and also know as No Child Left Behind).  Nye and Mortland visited Justin Prosser in Cong. Doc Hastings office and David Bahar, in Cong. Jay Inslee’s office.  Nye spoke to Cong. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, and Mortland talked to Lindsay Manson in Cong. Reichert’s office.

After their visits on the hill, members were hosted at the Ronald Reagan Center, where they received updates on congressional elections across the country.  While there, they were introduced to senatorial candidate Dino Rossi from Washington state, who was attending a meeting there.

Other WEA Republican members who have attended this conference are Ana Harlos (NEA Leg Comm), Dennis Weber (newly elected president of the Longview Education Association & Longview City Councilman), and Kathy Axtell (Chinook Uniserv President and recipient of the 2009 NEA ESP of the Year award.)

Much of this Renaissance is explained in her newest book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System:  How Testing and Choice are undermining Education.”  In this book she raises some interesting concerns:

• The “extent to which it is appropriate for a mega-rich foundation to take charge of reforming public schools, even though it is accountable to no one and elected by no one.”
• The fact that the “federal government is prohibited by law from imposing any curriculum on states or school districts.”
• The fact that this reform means different things to different parties, eg. “Democrats saw an opportunity to reinvent government” and “Republicans (saw) a chance to diminish the power of teachers’ unions…” (Remember she worked for Pres. George H. W. Bush)
• Revealing the sources of her concerns: “I concluded that curriculum and instruction were far more important than choice and accountability”
• “…choice would let thousands of flowers bloom but would not strengthen American education.”
• “… focus on the essentials of education..” 1) schools with strong coherent explicit curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts and science; 2) plenty of opportunity for children to engage in activities and projects that make learning lively; 3) ensuring that students have the knowledge they need to understand political debates, scientific phenomena, and the world they live in; 4) be sure they are prepared for the responsibilities of democratic citizenship in a complex society.
• “We must take care that our teachers are well educated, and not just well trained.
• “We must be sure that schools have the authority to maintain both standards of learning and standards of behavior.”

WEA Republican Educators Caucus invites your comments and responses to Dr. Ravitch’s concerns.