Posted by Bob Lord This photo from todays' NY Times says it all. Think of what the parents (or Scout leaders) of these impressionable kids are teaching them. Gays are immoral. Gays aren't the same as "us." Gays are something less than we are. We shouldn't associate with gays. Chances are that one or two … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Late calendar notice from Legislative District 9: Legislative District 9 TOWN HALL Saturday, February 9th, 4:30-6:30 p.m La Paloma Urgent Care Community Room, 4001 E. Sunrise Drive (NW corner of Sunrise & Hacienda del Sol Road), Tucson, AZ 85718 State Senator Steve Farley (Democrat) & State Representative Victoria Steele (Democrat) & State … Read more
Posted by Bob Lord No, I'm not kidding. Matthews has a few of his regular guests on, and they're going after Karl Rove. Then, he transitions to a rif on Rick Perry. He plays Perry on Laura Ingraham's show, where he said that when politicians moderate their views in order to win votes, it weakens … Read more
by David Safier
I love the commenters on this blog. I put out a serious question, and readers chime in with more ideas and information than I could possibly come up with myself.
I asked the question, What "educational technology provider" is Al Melvin specifying in his bill, SB1239, to provide online reading instruction to Arizona K-3 ELL students and others who are significantly below grade level in reading? The bill's criteria are so specific, Melvin has to have someone in mind to get up to $30 million in state funds for the contract.
I made a guess, Scientific Learning, and I guessed wrong. Commenter Thucydides wrote, "No, it is Imagine Learning," sounding like he (I'm guessing male) knew what he was talking about. I looked at the company website and thought, Thucydides may have something there. Then Jo Holt, who ran against Al Melvin for the LD-11 Senate seat, wrote, "Sen Melvin repeatedly mentioned Imagine Learning in last Fall's campaign. It seemed to be one of his go-to examples, like Basis School."
Bingo! We have a winner! Imagine Learning. So I looked further into the company's website and found all kinds of nearly identical language to what Melvin used in his recent bill and in the bill he and Huppenthal wrote in 2010 (SB1319). You can see some comparisons I pulled together below the fold.
So what is Imagine Learning? It's a Utah-based company that has an Arizona presence. It's a corporate member of ALEC. It won an Advocate for Innovation in Education award from Parents for Choice in Education in 2012, a group advocating education privatization. It made $12,000 in campaign contributions to Utah conservatives, after which it was awarded a statewide license to distribute its program in Utah — pretty much what Al Melvin wants to do in Arizona. Its request for a contract award in Arizona was turned down by the Dept. of Education in 2010.
The more we can learn about Imagine Learning, the better we'll be able to understand why Melvin sings its praises and, along with Ed Supe Huppenthal, writes bills to give it a multi-million dollar contract with the state. Your thoughts and ideas are welcome.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
GOPropaganda relies on the public having a short-term memory. It also relies on the media villagers having a short-term memory. The focus of news reporting on the current news cycle actually aids the media manipulation of GOPropaganda.
If you are paying attention you will hear Tea-Publicans in every speech, interview, and press release include an obligatory reference that "President Obama came up
with the sequester" which, of course, is exactly the opposite of the truth, as anyone with a long-term memory will recall.
How the sequester came about has gone down the memory hole thanks to a public that has a short-term memory, and media villagers with a short-term memory who only report the current news cycle without going back and including their earlier reporting from last year as a point of reference and an explanation of the timeline of events.
Steve Benen does their job for them in The 2011 ransom note and the GOP's sequester:
Was the policy actually Obama's idea? No. The argument is not only
wrong, it's dependent on the entire political world having a very short
memory.
Since this has become such an important element of the larger fight, let's take a minute to set the record straight.