Looking forward to Zooming with Loyal Readers today at 10! If you are not yet registered, send an email to info@wabsa.com.  This morning we’re going to hear from a couple of friends who are keeping track of proposed legislation.  My guests will be Kristin McGuire from TCASE, and Mark Terry from TEPSA.  Both Kristin and Mark advocate for their respective organizations, but also for all teachers and students in our public schools.  So I look forward to their perspectives on what is sure to be an important and interesting session. 

We’ll also hear from my law partner, Haley Turner, with a preview of this years’ Walsh Gallegos HR Symposium. 

On the subject of public policy, let me recommend Diane Ravitch’s new book: Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools.  This simple comparison from the opening chapter caught my attention with regard to the folly of privatization:

When people are not satisfied with the police, we do not use public funds to hire private security guards for them.  When people do not like their community pool, we do not give them public funds to build their own private pool. When people do not like the local public school, they may transfer to another public school, or they may decide to send their child to a private or religious school, which is their right, but not the responsibility of the public. 

As a product of 13-years’ of Catholic schooling, I also appreciated her next statement:

I admire Catholic schools, which have a long history of providing good education to poor and middle-income students, but I do not believe it is in their interest or the public interest for such schools to be funded by the government. 

DAWG BONE: MAYBE YOUR SCHOOL COULD FORM A BOOK STUDY….