My love/hate relationship with public schooling
by David SafierI have to hand it to Matthew Ladner of the Goldwater Institute. He keeps on stepping into the lion's den here at BfA. Every time I say something he disagrees with (which is pretty much every time I put keyboard to blog), he's tearing into me in the comments section. And of course, … Read more
Dems to release 2010 budget proposal 10:30am Monday
by David Safier Democratic legislators are going to release their 2010 budget proposal to the press Monday at 10:30. It will be available simultaneously to the public at www.strongerarizona.com (I just visited the site, and it's not up. I assume they'll have it ready in time for the unveiling.) Rep. Steve Farley says it's a serious alternative … Read more
T’ain’t funny
by David Safier During a gathering today at Pima County Democratic Headquarters, a number of elected officials spoke. Rep. Dave Bradley was bemoaning the current budget cuts that hurt the weakest among us, whom he vowed to protect when he was first elected. He began his talk with these words: "I'm from the government, and … Read more
A question
by David Safier Someone told me today that my posts sometimes are a hodgepodge of fonts and spacings, but that AZ Blue Meanie's posts look fine. I don't see the problems on my computer. Is anyone else having this problem? I use a Mac and compose on Safari, and it may be that other browsers … Read more
Depth more important than breadth in HS science
by David Safier Let me begin with the caveat that studies are never conclusive. That being said, I find this one very thought provoking. A recent study of high school science instruction concludes that students benefit from studying fewer topics in depth rather than lots of topics more generally. (The article is in Education Week, … Read more
Is Al Melvin trying to “confuse his liberal constituents”?
by David Safier I was one of many people who was floored when Al Melvin was given the absolute lowest rating in the Senate by the very conservative Pachyderm Coalition. The Pachyderms went so far as to call him a RINO (Republican In Name Only), which is the vilest epithet you can throw around in … Read more
Carolyn Allen sounds like she gets it
by David Safier I don't know much about State Sen. Carolyn Allen, except that she's a Scottsdale Republican from the same district as John Kavanagh. With that in mind, you should read her very human op ed about our need to maintain Arizona's safety net in spite of our budget problems. It's another signal of … Read more
