2008-12-16 Roundup

Obama nominates yet another Harvard grad as well as Hyde Park neighbor and basketball partner Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education. Duncan has done such a fabulous job running the Chicago Public Schools that the Obama's had their own children enrolled there---oh wait, no. The girls were enrolled in the University of Chicago Lab School instead, Duncan's alma mater. I'm tremendously thankful his nominee wasn't Bill Ayers who is on the faculty of the University of Illinois, though I've no doubt his opinions will matter.

This from Education Matters.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Arne Duncan will be named Secretary of Education. This appointment most likely means Obama and Duncan will make the NEA very happy while the taxpayers and children will suffer the consequences.

From Joanne Jacobs:

Arne Duncan, CEO of Chicago schools, will be Obama’s secretary of Education. Duncan was no miracle man in Chicago, as Eduwonkette has pointed out. And he’s not as radical as D.C.’s Michelle Rhee. But he’s faced the biggest problems in education in Chicago — and he’s a personal friend of Barack Obama.

This Week in Education has a pretty good rundown of other comments.
And this Chicago Tribune two page piece has a more generous view of Duncan's term in Chicago.
No comment from the Chicago Teacher's Union yet.

Regarding bailing out the Big 3 (as measured by debt) Nathan Moore writes:

"The UAW (et al) are surprisingly uppity, considering they are a primary cog in an industry that should have ceased its existence years ago.

The only thing surprising about union uppity-ness is that union workers don't see the downside of their actions. You'd think that eventually they'd realize they were killing the golden goose.

Open Government from the REPUBLICAN majority: Ben Cunningham has the links to the interviews the REPUBLICAN Caucus did with the constitutional officer candidates yesterday. Also the applications. Let's make this the first in a long line of improvements from the way the Democrat controlled Tennessee legislature ran Tennessee. At left Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) offers the "Bowl of Transparency" to Presumptive Speaker Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) from which the names of the candidates was randomly drawn to determine the order of the interviews.

I saw a bit of it yesterday live streamed. Presumptive Speaker Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) made a point of letting folks watching know that the REPUBLICANS welcome citizen input and you're welcome to send them email, faxes, and call them on the phone with your comments. They did say that comments that are anonymous will not be considered. If you're going to say something---include your name, address and phone number.

2008-12-16 TN legislation filed

And the bills keep coming. Just bookmark this page and keep hitting refresh:

*HB0010 by *Maggart, *Lynn.

Election Laws - As introduced, requires identification and proof of citizenship for voter registration; requires a voter to present qualified photographic identification before voting; voters without proper identification shall be allowed to cast provisional ballots. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 2 and Title 2, Chapter 7.

Again, thumbs up to ensuring only citizens vote.

*HB0011 by *Kelsey.

Law Enforcement - As introduced, provides that there is no residency requirement to be a police officer in a law enforcement agency employing more than 2,000 officers and any violation results in the agency's loss of revenue derived from forfeitures, confiscations and seizures. - Amends TCA Title 38, Chapter 8, Part 1.

The language is pretty specific. Wonder which agency is this? I'm a big fan of people who are paid by a government entity live in the boundaries of the government entity. If you work for Metro Nashville you should live in Metro Nashville. I consider it incentive to do the very best job you can.

*HB0012 by *Kelsey.

Constitutional Amendments - As introduced, provides that the publication requirement mandated by Article XI, Section 3, is satisfied if the proposed constitutional amendment is timely posted on the official Web site of the secretary of state or on the official Web site of the general assembly. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 2.

This could save taxpayers a chunk of change in advertising fees. The Internet is certainly more available than some 'paper of record' that's probably part of a currently dying industry. The whole idea is to inform as many people as possible. Now days, that's more like the Internet.

*HB0013 by *Floyd.

Bail, Bail Bonds - As introduced, when determining the amount of bail, creates a presumption that any defendant not lawfully present in the United States is a risk of flight. - Amends TCA Title 40.

*HB0014 by *Floyd.

Tobacco, Tobacco Products - As introduced, prohibits smoking in certain motor vehicles whenever any minor is present in the vehicle. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17.

From the text of the bill: "Motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle licensed for on-road usage, other than a motorcycle, motor scooter or motorized bicycle, regardless of whether the self-propelled vehicle is publicly or privately owned, leased or rented; whether the vehicle is operated for public, private, or commercial purposes; or whether the windows or doors of the vehicle are in an opened or closed position.

Too nannystate for my taste.

Last Barney Cam is up

We've enjoyed the annual Barney Cam Christmas video put out by the White House every year. Watching this one is a bit bittersweet knowing it's the last one. Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/, right hand side and pick your favorite media player to view it.

Not waiting until January

State legislators are already beginning to file legislation for the upcoming 106th General Assembly. Big thumbs up on HJR0003 (no income tax) and HB0009/SB0003 (picture ID for voters). Looks like Rep. G. A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) is still on his parental rights soapbox. You may remember he was the one who managed to offend nearly every woman in the state by suggesting all babies be tested for paternity. I like lower taxes on food...but Hardaway is sponsoring it?

I certainly hope that this group of legislators realizes that the number of bills has gotten completely out of hand---4,280 last session. Filing a bill doesn't make you a good legislator. Remember quality trumps quantity. You'll have enough to do just balancing the budget mess Gov. Bredesen and Speaker Naifeh gave us.

*HB0001 by *Cobb J, *McCormick, *Dean. (SB0001 by *Watson.)

Highways, Roads and Bridges - As introduced, enlarges optional projects as pilot programs permissible under Tennessee Tollway Act to include: (1) presently permissible single highway project and single major bridge project, (2) two highway projects or (3) two major bridge projects. - Amends TCA Section 54-3-113.

*HB0002 by *Hardaway.

Child Custody and Support - As introduced, enacts the "Equal and Fair Parenting Act" to create a rebuttable presumption that equally shared parenting time is the custody arrangement in the best interest of a child. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 6, Part 1.

HB0003 by *Cobb J. (SB0002 by *Yager.)

Rhea County - Subject to local approval, repeals the ban on partisan elections for county executive and county legislative body of Rhea County. - repeal Chapter 322 of the Private Acts of 1978.

*HB0004 by *Bass, *Turner M.

Handgun Permits - As introduced, provides that person exempt from classroom and firing range training requirement by reason of prior military experience is also exempt from payment of $115 application and processing fee. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

*HB0005 by *Hardaway.

Child Custody and Support - As introduced, requires that a court in making a decree or order for child support set a presumptive date for the termination of the current child support obligation. - Amends TCA Section 36-5-101.

*HB0006 by *Hardaway.

Lottery, Scholarships and Programs - As introduced, creates the Tennessee Education Lottery financial assistance grant for certain students who are financially needy. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 4, Part 9.

*HB0007 by *Hardaway.

Taxes, Sales - As introduced, reduces sales and use tax on food and food ingredients from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent. - Amends amend TCA Title 67, Chapter 6.

*HB0008 by *Hardaway.

Banks and Financial Institutions - As introduced, limits fee that high-cost home loan lenders may charge for third or subsequent pay-off statement provided to borrow in 12-month period to $10.00. - Amends TCA Title 45 and Title 62, Chapter 13.

*HB0009 by *Weaver. (SB0003 by *Beavers.)

Election Laws - As introduced, requires a voter to present qualified photographic identification before voting; voters without proper identification shall be allowed to cast provisional ballots. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 7.

Joint Resolutions:

*HJR0003 by *Kelsey, *McDaniel, *Casada, *Lynn, *Maggart, *Matheny, *Johnson P, *Shipley, *Halford, *Rich, *Swafford, *McCormick, *Niceley, *Harrison, *Brooks K, *Cobb J, *McManus, *Bell, *Hill, *Lundberg, *Haynes, *Lollar, *Evans, *Dennis, *Brooks H, *Hensley, *Weaver, *Sargent, *Ford , *Dean, *Williams, *Coley, *Watson, *Floyd, *Montgomery, *Carr, *Eldridge, *Johnson C, *Harwell, *Faulkner.

Constitutional Amendments - Proposes an amendment to clarify the constitutional language that currently prohibits the levying of a tax on any class of income, other than income derived from stocks and bonds, and to prohibit any tax levied on or measured by employer payrolls. -

Cookies!!!!

I told you we were baking cookies. 22 quarts worth. Well, not counting the broken ones and the ones we kept for ourselves. We replicated the packaging idea from the month's Real Simple Magazine.

Kieflies (use powdered sugar instead of flour to roll dough)
Spritz (Wilton Cookie Press is a must have)
Rasberry Pinwheels Getting the log rolls uniformly shaped is tougher than we thought.

2008-12-15 Roundup

Nail in the NOW coffin: Women outearn men at top business jobs.

A Carnegie Mellon University study has concluded that women executives out-earn their male counterparts.

The study, which examined 16,000 executives over 14 years, found that women at the top of the business world bring in a bit more than men and are promoted at the same rate, countering the popular notion that women earn less than men for the same work. (snip)

The largest empirical analysis of the top echelons of publicly traded companies determined that women earned about $100,000 more per year than men of the same age, educational background and experience.Via Post Gazette

Mayor Deans calls for obeying Open Records Laws: Well, that's not the headline in the Tennessean but it should have been. Ben Cunningham points out that the new 'rules' Dean set for open records request are minimal and he could, and should, go much further if he really wants to do the job right. Since Dean is also acting as Superintendent of Schools I'll add to Ben's list "ditto for MNPS". Prosperity Project has more. One of Ben's suggestions is:

- Assign staff to review each department's records and determine if important records can be digitized for easy online access by citizens.

For me, getting the full MNPS BOE agenda packet online didn't happen until I talked with the Board Secretary and we realized that the photocopier she was already using to copy the agenda to create the Board's hard copies (being delivered by courier, btw) could also create pdf documents. I suspect there are very few documents that couldn't be digitized. The question will be how to get the system into the habit of doing so. This is where the clerical staff can be our friends.

I'll add to the list that I'd like to see proposed budget documents released in Excel format also so that others can move the numbers around during the discussion of where the money should go.

Did the mayor bring an interpreter or was that Crafton? Rex also comments on the recent celebration of the Japanese emperor's birthday where Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Councilman Eric Crafton met. Rex found it ironic considering they are on opposite sides of the English as Official Language charter amendment. Rex should have mentioned that of the two gentlemen only Crafton could express best wishes of the day to their Japanese hosts in fluent Japanese.

Goose/Gander: Can someone explain to me how the Faith Leaders for All of Us (Really? ALL of us?) can use The Bible to influence public policy but Two Rivers Baptist or Cornerstone Church can't? What's the difference? Oh, that's right...they're not LEFT-wing fundys.

And one more on left-wing fundys unable to MoveOn: Someone torched Gov. Sarah Palin's church over the weekend. Let's hope they were unaware that the church was occupied at the time or else let's call this attempted murder and lock 'em away for their lives. Donations can be mailed to: Wasilla Bible Church, 1651 W. Nicola Avenue, Wasilla Alaska 99654

2008-12-13 Roundup

I've got 83 Firefox Windows of interesting stuff I need to clear out. So here goes. No, I didn't count the windows. Firefox has an add-in for nearly everything.

I'll start with a huge THANK YOU to Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker (R). While I'd rather taxpayers not bailout or subsidize or loan money to any private entity and take a risk of losing my tax money what he did manage to do was highlight the absolute fact that the UAW isn't one bit concerned about saving the auto industry. It's only concerned about saving their own benefits. Why their membership continues to believe that they can kill a company and still stay on the payroll is beyond me. It's an alternative planet than Planet Reality where workers who've been fired still receive FULL compensation four (4) years after being fired. Fox Business has the video of Sen. Corker explaining why the bailout failed. Those three words were 'a date certain'.

You want a clue about how many chains are on that UAW anchor to free enterprise? Check out this 22 lb, 2,215 page Year 2007 agreement with Ford. Will workman's comp cover you if you throw your back out putting it on the table to read?

The UAW is so upset that they didn't get what they wanted that they've nearly initiated another 'War of Northern Aggression'.

Festering animosity between the United Auto Workers and Southern senators who torpedoed the auto industry bailout bill erupted into full-fledged name calling Friday as union officials accused the lawmakers of trying to break the union on behalf of foreign automakers. AP via Yahoo News

Unfortunately for them, the south of 2008 isn't the south of 1860.

Educational transition: The Obama's are sending their girls to the very exclusive Sidwell Friends school in the DC area. Ben Cunningham points out that the PTA meetings could be very interesting considering the number of well placed DC insiders with children also attending. I'm wondering if Sunshine Laws might be violated with a group like this. But I won't worry too much about that considering the ever vigilent national press is also very well represented in this parent group. Here's the full Washington Post article.

Further the Obama's will be homeless for their first couple of weeks in DC. Apparently, historic protocol for the incoming presidential family is to stay across the street from the White House at Blair House beginning 5 days before the inauguration. However, the Obama's want to get the girls settled in time for the new school term. They're trying to avoid, I assume, the mobility issues that so many DC students (and students in Nashville) experience when they're homeless. What is curious to me is why they just don't cut out the middle move and ask George and Laura Bush to move out of the White House immediately to accommodate the girl's schooling schedule. MSN.com

Clarksville is planning ahead...but based on what? From the Cheatham County School Board Watchdog:

"Commissioner Wood and McCannless stated at previous board workshops that due to huge residential developments in Pleasant View there needed to be a NEW high school built. (Interesting enough is that all these new families would only have HS students - don't you think?)"

They also have an on-line poll going on now. If you're in Cheatham County you might want to stop by their blog.

iTunes U: Dr. Tim Webb of the Tennessee Department of Education introduces folks to their Electronic Learning Center.

According to their press release:

"Students currently can access curriculum-based lessons in language arts, and study skills, with math to be added this month. Educators can view training sessions on Tennessee’s new academic standards, School-wide Positive Behavior, reading and other teaching resources. Additional podcasts will be developed and added on an ongoing basis."

Pity they've linked these podcasts to iTunes instead of just linking to the video files and letting folks pick their own media player. There is one that's an 8 minute primer about Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) which parents might appreciate but it took a couple of attempts for it download. And the production is basically a PowerPoint presentation with audio. I would have expected better. Maybe the others are.

Certified ≠ effective: There are several pieces that crossed my browser this week about teacher quality and effectiveness.

"...between 2003 and 2007 students in states with a real alternative pathway to teaching gained more on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (a federal standardized test) than did students in other states. (snip)

The study undermines the arguments from colleges of education and teachers unions, which say that traditional certification, which they control, is the only process that can produce quality teachers. The findings hold up even after controlling for race, ethnicity, free-lunch eligibility, class size and per-pupil state spending. (snip)
President-elect Barack Obama has expressed guarded support for education reforms like merit pay and charter schools. Yet he chose Linda Darling-Hammond to head the education policy team for his transition. Ms. Darling-Hammond, a professor at Stanford, is a union favorite and vocal supporter of traditional certification. She's also been a fierce critic of Teach for America and other successful alternative certification programs.
Via the Wall Street Journal (Hat Tip: Rep. Stacey Campfield)

More from the study authors at the Hoover Institute.

Unfriendly Feds: Ben Cunningham points out how unfriendly the Federal government is toward 'undocumented students'. Seems the State of California will give an illegal immigrant in-state tuition but not legal citizen from, oh, say, Nevada. The Federal Appeals Court has said that has to stop. Documented students are looking for tuition refunds.

Speaking of unfriendly. Councilman Eric Crafton has had a lot of irrational and over the top heat directed his way for initiating a charter amendment in Nashville which would require our city's official business to be done in English. Some have suggested that he should be removed from office. However, they may want to rethink that when he's also sponsoring a change to the Metro Water fees which have prevented some of the very local restaurants that these same Goo Goos insist are essential to the vitality of their neighborhoods (and their community organizing efforts--they gotta meet somewhere). Seems the fees are so huge it's a financial strain on even seasoned restaurateurs and are preventing the next new round hot spots from opening. I don't want citizens footing the bill for these risky endeavors but we don't need to make it impossible to even attempt the effort either. Next hearing on the bill is this Tuesday evening.

Rude Guests: One more comment on this charter amendment. How is it that a Honduran immigrant comes here to escape her own bad government and then demands the right to derail our electoral system? CM Crafton has this absolutely right:

She alleges this would be hard for her to communicate, yet she knows enough about our constitution that she knows what unconstitutional is. She knows enough she can hire an attorney and file a complaint.” via City Paper

I'm of the mind she was actually a recruited pawn however, it's galling that any non-citizen should have any standing to keep legal citizens from voting on any issue. If she truly wants to reform any political system---she and her recruiters should start with the Honduran one. This isn't a battle about English, this is a battle against our republican form of government by folks who would rather we submit to rules and regs by unelected officials rather than the vote of the people.

BlagObama: Does anyone seriously believe that Illinois Governor Blagojevich didn't ask his outgoing Senator Barack Obama if he had an opinion on who should replace him? No. Most of us would consider it a dereliction of duty if Blagojevich didn't ask or Obama didn't suggest. The sin isn't in the asking or suggesting. It's in offering it to the highest bidder.

Tennessee makes another Pork Report. This time Sen. Tom Coburn reveals it (page 22) not the TCPR. Apparently, there's an airplane shaped gas station in Knoxville---

It is an airplane that cannot fly and a gas station that has not pumped gas for nearly half a century, but the Powell Airplane Filling Station has just landed a $9,000 federal grant.(95) It is an old airplane‐shaped building that once served as a gas station, liquor store and used car lot, though is now an eyesore on the side of a busy highway. A few local residents have rallied around the old filling station in hopes of turning the tiny airplane into leased office space. Tom Milligan, who has been instrumental in the effort, said, “I was coming up through here one day and I seen they had two bulldozers on the front and I thought they was fixin' to wreck the place. [I] knew we were going to have to have quite a lot of money to fix it.”(96) Rock Bernard, another local resident, added, “If you ask 100 people in Knoxville, I bet 80 will know where it's at.”(97)

I think the $9,000 would have been better spent on grammar lessons. Apparently, Matthew Lesko is right---you can get government money for just about anything. Better yet, gents, use your own money.

Last minute Christmas Shopping at Terry Frank's place. If you truly want to shop local and green check out her one of a kind 'Tennessee Treasures' gift ideas. My favorite is this 'Flip Your Lid'.






I'm down to just 67 tabs and there are cookies to be baked. More later.

MNPS BOE---just say no

If I haven't made my POV clear here it is again.

MNPS BOE doesn't need to hire a director at this time.

We need to leave Chris Henson in place through the summer when we know where we stand with the state. THEN we should begin a director search when everyone knows just what the job is going to require.

• We don't need to hire someone just to have someone in the job.
  
• We don't need to have this BOE hire someone when, depending on the scores in August, they may be tossed out of office by the state.
  
• We don't need to have a new person come in and try and make changes that the state may very well not allow in August when the scores are known.

This whole effort is a colossal waste of time, effort and cash we cannot afford to waste on a dog and pony show. Just suck it up, apologize to the candidates for wasting their time and let's look at this again when we have a better pool of candidates because we have a better job description.

BTW: Maybe someone can clean up the Director's Cabinet page and actually create an Interim Director page to link to when bloggers and others refer to Chris Henson. The current page refers to Garcia as Director, still has Ben Wright and Woody McMillan on it and still doesn't have Melissa Bryant's photo. I'm sure she's not really concerned about it but if you're going to mention her there---

BTW II: I know the BOE voted to provide Henson a few more dollars each month but if they're going to take my advice and leave him in the position for another year, they need to up that yet again for the next year. There is no way we can fully compensate anyone for putting up with all this nonsense but let's at least try.

But what about the Christmas card?

WSMV reports that Gov. Bredesen will only spend $500-$1,000 on a smaller invitation only Christmas Party at the capitol this year. His administration failed to reign in their spending so there's no cash, it's unseemly to party hardy when folks are being laid off left and right (and the party bunker isn't done yet anyway).

Forget all that, what we really want to know is which National Geographic cover did he replicate for this year's official Christmas card?

Mixed Holiday Message

Do the callers have to be bilingual?

The Nashville Peace & Justice Center is hosting a phone bank against the Metro Charter Amendment requiring English to be the official language of Metro Nashville. No real surprise there. If it's left leaning--NPJC is usually involved. According to the announcement they sent out they'll be calling people every Monday and Thursday night until January 22.

Fellow tenants at their 4732 West Longdale Drive leftist mail drop facility include:

ACORN: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
No-Spray Nashville
Interfaith Alliance of Middle Tennessee (apparently they've recently moved)
United Nations Association Nashville

Back in 2003 syndicated radio talk show host Phil Valentine found the Communist Party and Democratic Socialists of America as fellow tenants in the NPJC's former office space.

Below is the NPJC's list of member organizations from their website. Oddly, their 990 for 2007 lists income from 29 member organizations but they currently only list 22.

1. Americans United for Separation of Church and State
2. BURNT: Bring Urban Recycling to Nashville Today
3. Common Cause
4. Cumberland Greens
5. Earth Matters
6. Emma Center ("The center is dedicated to the memory of Emma Goldman, 20th century feminist and anarchist..." and the contact is Chris Lugo)
7. First Unitarian Universalist Church: Social Concerns & Actions Committee
8. Friends Meeting (Quaker)
9. Greater Nashville Unitarian Universalist Church
10. Interfaith Alliance
11. MidEast Peace Coalition Middle TN Presbyterian Peace with Justice Committee
12. Nashville Homeless Power Project
13. Peace Roots Alliance (at The Farm in Summertown, TN)
14. National Organization for Women (NOW) (No local listing. Here's the national gang.)
15. Progreso Community Center
16. Radio Free Nashville
17. Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK)
18. Tennessee Equality Project (TEP)
19. Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) (a subsidiary of LaRaza)
20. Veterans for Peace
21. United Nations Association
22. War Resisters League

The chart here is from the NPJC's 2007 990 and shows their officers and directors then. They include Ginny Welsch, Karl Meyer, Elizabeth Barger, Gigi Gaskins, Keith Caldwell and Tamara Lossel. Line 93a says they got $4,425 in rent from their partners in social reform. Line 93b says they collected all of $410 for the sale of English language study books.

The NPJC 990 also lists over $16,000 in program expenses for "Hispanic Program-Progreso Community Center: See attached" but there is no attachment to explain the expenses.

Seems only fair that if they're going to throw associations around as a reason to discredit the effort and not to vote for English as the official language for Metro we ought to be able to point out theirs.

UPDATE: Red Hat Rob provides more details of Chris Lugo's Emma Goldman. Apparently, anarchist is an understatement. Terrorism goes back a long way folks. Rob's writes...

By tieing themselves to Emma Goldman, [Nashville Peace & Justice Center] are throwing in their lot with the founders of political terrorism and assasination.

UPDATE II: I've been accused of deliberately posting the home addresses of the NPJC officers. It wasn't my intention at all to put them in harms way and in an abundance of caution I've obliterated their street addresses. I would never want anyone to replicate David Lowe's threats against Councilman Eric Crafton.

Metro teacher arrested in animal abuse case

From WSMV where you can view the video.

Elizabeth Sadler is a teacher at Hattie Cotton Elementary School, where she was arrested. She was an interim teacher until September, when she was hired full-time as a kindergarten teacher. She is now on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation [for aggravated animal cruelty].

Pictured are David and Elizabeth Sadler. Since MNPS is going to keep paying her pending a conviction I suggest they find some appropriate non-classroom work for her to be doing in the meantime. The MNPS budget is too tight to get zero return on her salary and benefits.

Cheating on the tests

Red Hat Rob reveals that the Tennessee Department of Education hasn't been honest about reporting the ACT scores for its students.

"...the Tennessee Department of Education takes advantage of the higher ACT scores by Non-Public School students by falsely reporting the average score forALL Tennessee students’ as if it were the average score for Public School Students."

What got Rob started down this statistical labyrinth?

"I was hoping to discover the average ACT score for Tennessee homeschool students so that I could compare it to the average ACT score for Tennessee public school students. Sadly, the ACT Corp. doesn’t report the homeschool scores separately for individual states.The irony and outrage here is that the state Department of Education has the audacity to reject the high school diplomas issued by homeschools and church-related schools while at the same time using the higher ACT scores from those students to boost their own average."

Head over to Rob's blog to see what the real ACT scores are for Tennessee public school students.

Thursday 12/05/08

MNPS Budget:

MNPS BOE member Gracie Porter (District 5-East Nashville) “I certainly am not a proponent of having classroom teachers cut from the budget.” (via City Paper)

She's walking a tight rope here, as are several BOE members. Porter is careful here to mention classroom teachers but she's well aware of the fact she got about 75% of her campaign money in 2004 from the unions that will be insisting not one job be cut. It's time to repay that war chest.

The Tennessean is suggesting that "One option on the table includes allowing all employees to take pay cuts so that no layoffs are necessary." Obviously, they didn't run that by Metro Nashville Education Association President Eric Huth. Wonder if the MNPS BOE would consider walking in solidarity with the staff and take a cut themselves? Actually, they could start by brown bagging it instead of eating catered meals at district expense.

And those of you combing through the budget and financial commitments should not overlook the obligations regarding health and retirement that contracts with those unions have committed us to. It's not just GM/Ford/Chrysler that have been hampered by those.

New Director of Schools:

The Board interviews the three candidates this weekend in the Board Conference Room. The first interview starts Saturday from 9 to 11, the second from 11:15 to 1:15 and the third one on Sunday from 4 to 6.

I'll repeat what I said a year ago, let's leave Chris Henson as Superintendent--if he'll agree to it. THIS is not the time to bring in someone new when our situation is so tenuous with the State of Tennessee and the whole applecart could be tossed over in just nine months. I see no sense in taking a chance on an understandably limited pool of applicants in a rush to get someone in the job.

If qualified candidates were scared off by the pitiful open records laws in this state then let me suggest we just go whole hog and bring back elected superintendents. The answer is not to pull this huge decision back into the shadows but to bring it fully into the light.

Nashville Board of Education members also have been advised by [consultant] Attea to avoid commenting on individual candidates. So school board members were hesitant to speak in much detail as to their perceptions of the quality of the applicant pool. (via City Paper)

This annoys me and is typical of the way the MNPS Board operates. It provides convenient cover and short circuits real discussion between the public and their elected representatives at a time when their input should be considered. I think voters and parents need to know what our BOE members think about these applicants and their qualifications.

And we don't need to be taking advice from this fellow:

"I've never heard of these people, and it is my job to know everybody," said James Guthrie, chairman of Vanderbilt's department of educational leadership. "Maybe one will just come in and dazzle us — we need to be dazzled now." (via Tennessean)

I'll repeat myself. We need a hard worker who will put the actual education of the children first. If they're good at helping the community understand what that entails and how their need for flash and dazzle is a distraction to the core mission---so much the better.

Not smart at all

We don't have cable TV in the Brooks home. We spend our money on DSL service instead which is far more useful to our family. So with the change from analog TV to digital coming we purchased the Magnavox TB100MW9 converter box for the TV in the living room. We've two other TV's in the house but one is a 20 year old 19" and there is a third 10" one in the kitchen I got from Goodwill last year for $10. We're waiting before deciding what, if anything, to do about them.

The connection of the converter box went very quickly and the television reception is remarkably better. However--

Our BIGGEST complaint about this Magnavox TB100MW9 converter is the remote. I'll confess that I didn't even consider the remote when purchasing the unit. The remote wasn't pictured on the box (now I know why) and I didn't open the box before purchase to examine the remote. It never occurred to me that it'd be any different from the remotes we've gone through over the years. The fact is, the buttons are itty-bitty. I'm not kidding here. The majority of the button are 1/4" x 1/8th" inch. I guess the generous size of the on/off button (the red one) of 5/8th" x 3/8th" was supposed to make up for the rest. I've photographed the Magnavox TB100 remote along side the universal remote we regularly use. It's obvious that the Phillips remote, on the right, is made for real world hands and fingers. The Maganvox one---well, who did the consumer testing on this and decided that these were big enough? They couldn't have been more wrong. The big ones in the middle of the Magnavox remote are NOT for the usual channel up and down or selection---no, no, those big buttons are for navigating through the electronic program guide. Something that is handy for those "WHAT are you watching?" moments but we don't use it often enough to justify those being the biggest buttons on the entire remote.

And that's not all--while very small the buttons are also VERY hard to engage. You have to press HARD and directly in the center of each of the button in order to get them to respond and actually change the channel or volume. I'm watching TV folks. If I wanted a hand workout I'd come back here and spend time at the keyboard blogging.

Further, who decided that you can't exclude some channels from your usual line-up? Great we've got all these new channels with this conversion to digital (NPT2 with the Documentary Channel has been interesting) but we don't need 5 channel 50's and we don't appreciate the Spanish language soap operas on Telemundo. OK, it has occasionally been fun to watch something like "Zorro" in Spanish but usually we don't need that channel at all. Why can't we ignore it?

And the final complaint is that we're now back to using two remotes. One to cycle through the channels via the converter box and the other to raise and lower the volume. Apparently, it's possible to create a $20 remote that will operate nearly every electronic device in your home (TV, VCR, DVD, CD player, Cable, Satellite) EXCEPT for your digital TV converter box. Some serious lack of planning here folks.

The Magnavox slogan is "Smart. Very smart." No, not this time...not at all.

Works for me

Red Hat Rob points out that the new Republican controlled Tennessee legislature doesn't have to wait until 2011 and another election cycle to redistrict the state:

The state constitution requires that districts be re-drawn after each Federal Census, but the constitution specifically reserves to the legislature the right to re-district at any time: (snip)

Incidentally, the current district scheme appears to violate the state constitution which prohibits a multi-county house district if it is carved out of parts of 2 counties. Wherever possible, house districts are supposed to respect county boundaries - a very reasonable prescription intended to check the temptation to gerrymander.

Republicans might want to strike while the iron is hot. The Democrats left a huge mess to clean up. It's going to take as many Republicans as possible to get things in order and set a better course. The Democrats are going to whine and moan about everything next session anyway...might as well pile it on and get as much done as possible as quickly as possible.

Bedfellows

Ken Marrero has a great post about working together where you can. Ken notes, regarding the variety of issues and support on the right:

We agree on more than we disagree. There are some very real differences and these will need to be worked out. But using exclusion as a tool in this working out is precisely the wrong approach.

When I read it last week it put me in mind of the homeschooling community. While there are folks out there who mistakenly assume we're all right wing fundys the truth is our community is much more diverse, and getting more diverse all the time. Our community agrees on a narrow edge of issues regarding our freedoms. Nicky Hardenbergh likened that sliver of agreement to the sharp edge of a knife. As long as we stay on that knife edge we're united, strong and effective. But the truth is if we move on to parental rights, immunizations, UN Conventions or even education policy generally, you'll find homeschoolers all over the map. As Ken makes clear none of us needs to stubbornly refuse to work with the other because 'they' don't support 'us' on all of 'our' issues.

It's important to always keep in mind the truth that politics does make strange bedfellows. We all need to remember not to hog the blankets while we share the bed.

145 chances

Almost un--be--liev--able. After 146 criminal charges and just 5 days after his latest conviction he obtains a gun, attempts to rob a convenience store and gets himself killed by an off duty security guard who obviously doesn't work for Wackenhut. Here's the MNPD press release. Emphasis added.

November 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Detectives are classifying this morning’s shooting death of armed robbery suspect Jamie L. Sullivan as justifiable homicide.

Sullivan, 37, entered the Mapco market, 2101 Murfreesboro Pike, at 1:45 a.m. wearing a mask and carrying a pistol. Also in the market was uniformed security guard Eric Gordon, 22, who had stopped in to buy gasoline. According to Gordon, Sullivan pointed his pistol at Gordon’s head and threatened to kill him if he (Gordon) didn’t surrender his holstered gun. As Sullivan moved to take Gordon’s gun, a struggle ensued. Gordon drew his nine millimeter pistol and shot Sullivan one time in the face. Sullivan died at the scene. Detectives subsequently discovered that Sullivan’s gun was a BB pistol that closely resembled a real firearm.

Sullivan had been charged by Metro police with 146 offenses over the past 19 years (between June 1989 and this month). His last arrest was November 20 for trespassing, which resulted in a conviction and a 30-day sentence on November 25.

Sullivan’s photograph is being withheld at present so as not to jeopardize potential photo lineups as South Precinct detectives investigate whether he was involved in other crimes.

Gordon is a security guard for ASPI Services.

Who was the judge who didn't send him directly to jail upon his conviction? Sullivan would likely be alive now and two citizens wouldn't be two more victims.

Idiots!

File this with the statements from folks who think outlawing guns will actually work. This from the chairman of the corporation that owns the hotel in Mumbai, India that was attacked this past week.

However, [Ratan] Tata said the attackers did not enter through the entrance that has a metal detector. Instead, they came in a back entrance, he said.

"They knew what they were doing, and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements are in the front," he said.

"They planned everything," he said of the attackers. "I believe the first thing they did, they shot a sniffer dog and his handler. They went through the kitchen."

Melanie Phillips is exactly right on in calling this another specific attack on civilization. These Islamic Terrorist picked that location and the people that would be there. We need to quit being surprised that they're using non-conventional tactics. It's completely foolish to expect people at war to use the front door and politely wait to be scanned for metal. Apparently, our local middle schools have better intrusion protection than this luxury hotel in an area that has a history of violence between factions. How dare they come in the back way?

Spreading the wealth

I love contrasting the Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation settlements while teaching. There were important differences. The Heritage Foundation's Insider reminds us during this season of remembering the first Thanksgiving that spreading the wealth didn't work then and won't work now:

William Bradford, governor of Plymouth, wrote in his journal that the experience taught him: “the vanity of that conceit of Plato’s and other ancients applauded by men of later times; that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.”

Further the authors at the Insider write:

But after a three-year experiment, it was clear the system was failing miserably. Everyone was equal, but the Pilgrims took little comfort in the fact they were starving to death equally.

In this season of bailing out businesess that ought to be allowed to sink or swim on their own we have a congress that is hell bent on ensuring that we all 'starve to death equally' during the time set aside for feasting. Enjoy that turkey and trimmings. It might be much harder to come by next year.

Show us the paper

It's a great question Joe The Farmer asks:

The question not being asked by the holders of power, who dismiss this as a rightwing conspiracy, is what's the downside of disclosing?

Really--what is the downside of disclosing? The longer Obama withholds his "Certificate of Live Birth" from the public the more concerned I get. Obama may be a man with a global view of citizenship but the Constitution he's about to swear he'll preserve, protect and defend still requires our presidents to be 'natural born' citizens. At some point we've got to decide how we're going to enforce that Constitutional provision or else it, and the rest of the document, is worthless.

If that wasn't bad

My state representative opines on the new Republican controlled Tennessee legislature:

"I think our friends across the aisle have some bad things in store for the people of Tennessee," said Old Hickory Rep. Mike Turner, who was elected [Democrat] caucus chairman.

• Like 600 billion 800 million dollars in illegal over the Copeland Cap spending?
  
• Like a 17 million dollar party bunker?
  
• Like Crutchfield, Ford, Ford, Bowers, Dixon, Briley & Cooper?
  
• Like stealing elections from fellow party member Kurita and making a mockery of the election process?
  
• Like propping up a Lt. Governor who pontificates to the point that, to paraphrase O. Ford, hasn't been hitting on nothing with most of us for some time?
  
• Like allowing junior high treatment of 'friends across the aisle' in committee meetings?
  
• Like using the Calendar and Rules Committee to kill legislation that did manage to get through the stacked against it committee system?
  
• Like refusing to require recorded votes in every committee to ensure cover for election time?
  
• Like creating a literal back room for deal making during recent renovations?
• Like ignoring a huge ethics issue with the Speaker and his lobbyist wife
• Like expending money for golf courses and college quads over classroom funding for K-12?
• Like letting Memphis legislators drive education policy for the whole state?
  

I'm sure others can quickly add to the list of abuses by the Democratically controlled legislature that were and have been bad for Tennesseans for some time. If the above weren't bad for Tennesseans---just what is?

How smart are they?

Great take on the Obama's hypocritical choice of Sidwell Friends for their daughters at Jay Greene's site. Turns out, according to education experts, Sidwell Friends is in horrible shape and is no place to send a child. Jay sums up a great post with:

Or maybe we should be worried. After all, the Obamas did pick this shockingly substandard school, even though they had the opportunity to go with the nation’s most lavishly funded and heavily unionized schools in the D.C. public system, so how smart can they be?

Equity of rights

Great quote in the December 2008 edition of the School Reform News:

"Americans insist on equality of opportunity in housing, employment, and public accommodations, yet we trample upon this right where it hurts us most--the raising and nurturing of our children," said Rabbi Israel Teitelbaum cofounder of Parents for Free Choice in Education...

In the meantime another family that can afford choice gets a free pass to use it:

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle “have every right” to send their children to public or private school, and no one should “criticize” their decision, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said in an interview with CNSNews.com on Monday at the National Press Club.

Got that? NO ONE should criticize their decision. But it's OK to hamper the efforts of poor families in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Washington DC and Nashville, TN to use vouchers and charters in order to raise and nurture their children as they determine is best for them.

No hope or change here.

UPDATE: They Obama's have chosen Sidwell Friends (again replicating the Clinton administration).

They will also be joining the grandchildren of Vice President Elect Joe Biden. In fact, Malia had told her parents she wanted to attend Sidwell because of her friendship with one of the grandchildren, according to sources familiar with the decision.

In selecting Sidwell, the Obamas have chosen a rigorous school where many of Washington's most prominent and moneyed families have sent their children. Vice President Gore moved his son, Albert Gore III, to Sidwell from St. Albans in the 1990s, and Washington Post Co. chairman Donald Graham sent his children there as well.

Ben Cunningham has the tuition numbers.

RIP: Marshall Fritz

A strong voice for children and their parents is gone. Marshall Fritz has passed according to his Separation of Church and State site.

He wisely advised that "Sunday School, Monday School—Neither is the Business of Government." He wrote, "some people think that the American "public school system" is broken so they try to fix it. The truth is that public schooling is not broken. Rather, it is succeeding in its main objective—strengthening government by undermining parents..." via Lisa Snell at Hawaii Reporter

Hat tip: Why Homeschool

On the same day

On the same day that homeschooling blogs are abuzz about the latest offensive and ignorant comments from Joy Behar of "The View" in which she called homeschoolers 'demented' we also get this report from the Hoover Institute. Here are some snips:

While home schooling may have particular appeal to celebrities, over the last decade families of all kinds have embraced the practice for widely varying reasons: no longer is home schooling exclusive to Christian fundamentalism and the countercultural Left. Along with growing acceptance of home schooling nationally has come increasing diversification of who home schools and of what home schooling actually means.
(snip)
By the 21st century, state laws were well established and uncontested, though nearly every year state legislators or judges, especially in the most permissive states, seek to increase regulations on home-schooling families in the name of accountability. Such initiatives nearly always fail due to the astonishing grass-roots organization and political mobilization of home schoolers.
(snip)
Home schooling is blending with other education movements to lead the way toward a 21st-century education matrix that is far more dynamic and adaptive than the schooling patterns of the past.

Again, as our new Tennessee Legislature starts working on their plans for education I want to encourage them to read this Hoover Institue article and craft and fund a public education system that isn't anchored to the old way of delivering education and embraces the new, more efficient and more customizable ways. The goal is not full employment of teachers, brick layers or bus drivers. The goal is to educate children. The how must fit the child.


Hat Tip Hoover Institute essay: Ben Cunningham

No room for failure

From CitizenNetMom:

The big problem for us is not the advanced students, though. It’s those who struggle to pass Algebra 1, and who will have loads of trouble with everything beyond that. There’s no room for failure, as repeating a class would require taking two math classes in the same year. (snip)

The bottom line is, today’s high school students have many fewer options than their parents did, and next year’s freshmen will have still fewer options than their older siblings did. There is no room for experimentation — they’re essentially picking a "major" for high school. Unlike college, there is no room for changing majors.

At 14, a student must choose a path for the rest of her life.

She has a lot more to say about the new tougher requirements I will encourage parents and legislators to read through it. I'll remind people that we've had Democrats in control of the House Education Committee for a good long time and that committee, which was Memphis heavy, was responsible for these standards. I can't explain why they thought this was a good idea when they clearly knew that too many of their students couldn't reliably maintain a B average to qualify for lottery scholarships.

Taxpayers, voters and parents should look toward the new Republican controlled Tennessee legislature and encourage them to seriously consider rolling back some of this. These new standards may look good on paper and in theory however, they will not improve the graduation rates. They will only increase the dropout rate as more and more students who didn't get Algebra I, partly because their basic arithmetic or reading skills were insufficient, get frustrated and leave.

It seems a good time to review just what our society can afford to provide in the way of education. It has got to be clear to nearly everyone that the sky is not the limit. Let's set some reasonable benchmarks and once they've mastered those skills let's free up students to move on with their lives outside of taxpayer supported government schooling in the workplace or further education or training.

Mapping Middle School

Based on the EffectiveSchooling.org chart MNPS Middle schools are looking pretty good.

Green with a dot = Exceptional
Green = Exceeds Standards
Yellow = Meets Standards

The Democrat Bus

AC Kleinheider at the Nashville Post asks:

Has (Republican Lt. Gov. Ron) Ramsey just thrown Rosalind Kurita under the bus?

Rosalind Kurita's problems are not the Republican Party's problem. It's the problem of the Democrat Party solely.

They were the ones that didn't groom anyone to take over the Lt. Gov. job before it became obvious Wilder was becoming incompetent. Anyone with sense, like Kurita, realized he was unfit to continue in the office and that wasn't good for the Democrat Party or, more importantly, the State of Tennessee. She did the right thing and she was rewarded for her brave move with the Speaker Pro Tempore job for two years.

Democrats were the ones who stole the election from Kurita as payback for not supporting Wilder.

Democrats owned and drove the bus that drove over Kurita.

It's their party and they can cry if they want to but don't come begging to Republicans for sympathy.

Judging the Judges

One of the most frustrating parts of being an informed voter is the lack of information regarding judges. Never having appeared in a courtroom, other than to be sworn in as a BOE member, I haven't had much opportunity to observe judges in action, so when it came time to vote for or retain judges, it's been a tough call. It's very difficult to find legitimate information on which to base a vote.

NewsChannel5's Phil Williams does voters another solid with his recent reports on local judges.

Yesterday it was Judge Gale Robinson. Yes, he is of the Nashville Robinson Funeral Home family which includes among others Muriel and Robb Robinson. The Memphis Ford family (John, Ophelia and the rest) and Nashville's own Robinson political family have found it very convenient to operate funeral parlors and have a second (or is that first) career in politics. Throw in a Garrett or two and ya gotta wonder: what is it about politics and funeral operators? I guess it's the ability to set your own hours.



The money quote:

"My first priority has always and will continue to be always my judicial duties," Robinson said, walking off.

Clearly this is not the case else the Judge wouldn't be moonlighting during the day while mere citizens, who don't dare raise a stink out of fear of retribution, are left to wait for the judge to grant them an audience.



Today it's Judge Gloria Dumas of the Environmental Court.








Her response after admitting that she has a tardiness problem:

"Am I saying that's my big old flaw? Yeah," she added. "If you're looking for perfect, you need to throw me out because I am not perfect."

No. We're not looking for perfect. We are looking for someone who'll actually do the job. If we're already paying her and another attorney to do her work--someone is expendable. Let's remember this come election time.




What I can't figure out is why the rest of the judges enable this activity and don't have a 'come to Jesus' meeting with these who aren't pulling their weight. What's in it for them that they would continue to cover for them?

Fully expected

The City Paper headline tells us: MNPS denies all three charter school applications. That was fully expected. Coulda written that headline months ago.

This is another reason to be thankful they'll be a Republican House and Senate in Tennessee. We can rewrite these charter school laws so that the school boards, which consider these public schools competitors, don't have the authority to approve or deny these applications in such a routine manner. Alan Coverstone (District 9) has the right idea. Let's approve them with provisions. Especially ones with track records of success like Smithson-Craighead and KIPP that want to expand. Typical protectionism. If you can't or won't improve your own job performance, make sure there are no other choices.

And here's the incredible truth that makes one wonder why, when one considers the lack in their own system, the MNPS BOE should have any say in judging a charter school's fitness:

Both Smithson-Craighead and KIPP Academy have met all benchmarks set by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, despite serving populations of students considered by many to be high-risk. All of Smithson-Craighead’s students, and 94.3 percent of KIPP Academy’s, are considered economically disadvantaged by state Report Card data. LEAD just completed its first year of operation, so no Report Card data is available.

Good start

The Tennessee Republican Caucus has issued a statement (with the 50 signatures of its members) demonstrating their

"...unified commitment to vote for a Republican for Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. We also commit to vote for a Republican Speaker Pro Tempore."

I'm waiting to also see a version of this letter for the constitutional officers and every committee chair in the House and Senate. Then I'll feel a bit more comfortable about whether they really understand what our votes meant.

Tennessee voters asked for change by electing Republicans to lead, and Tennessee voters are ready for common sense to make a comeback in government.

Common sense says we voted a Republican majority we want Republicans, not RINOS, not Democrats who voted with us now and again and figure they're owed any sort of bone, but Republicans who are real conservatives running the legislature and those constitutional offices.

Do not mess this first step up! We cannot show Tennesseans how superior conservatism is if we act all hands-across-the aisle and lose that hand to get the job done. Let the Democrats squeal and complain. I'll start listening to their complaints about how unfair it is in about 140 years.

Repesentative Naifeh meet Speaker Mumpower

Last legislative session: Lt. Gov. Ramsey, Representative Wilder
2009: Speaker Mumpower, Representative Naifeh
Man that looks good. That's some serious progress.

I'm glad to read from WPLN:

State Republican Party by-laws were recently revised to require caucus members to vote along party lines on certain issues. State party chairwoman Robin Smith says the rule will be in effect when the General Assembly votes for Secretary of State, Treasury and Comptroller.

“Not asking for every member to stand in line and cast a straight party ballot every single time, but if you’re going to run on the Republican ticket, enjoy the benefits of the Republican Party, there’s a few votes procedurally and leadership-wise, that are expected to benefit the caucus.” (emphasis added)

I certainly hope those Republican by-laws extend to the Speakership of the House. It's been tremendously frustrating to see Republican's make accommodations for their Democrat colleagues and essentially give away the power necessary to accomplish what mere voters sent them to the legislature to accomplish. We don't need to 'reach across the aisle' and give away the farm. Sorry. What we need, especially now, is Republicans that will vote like real conservatives and not RINOS. We have a perfect opportunity to demonstrate why we don't need the Democrats to return to power. That means being fiscally conservative as well as socially. That means being willing to be accountable and honest. We can finger point at how Wilder and Naifeh enabled the Fords, Crutchfields, and Briley's of their party but Tennessee cannot afford to have a Republican version of the same misuse of power. Don't enable anyone's bad behavior.

According to the Tennessean's Gail Kerr this morning long time House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh isn't ready to leave his comfortable position: "Naifeh is already working to try to pull together a bipartisan collection of votes to stay put."

If any Republican makes a deal with Naifeh he should be given former Senator Mike Williams old office in the parking garage and his bills should get the "Campfield" treatment.

It's only just begun

Is this the mantra for a new administration in Washington?

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" WTHR TV

This time he earned it. Will those who expect government entitlements be shouting the same thing in the not too distant future based on promises made during the campaign?

It's only just begun. I think The Onion makes it clear what's ahead for the newbie.

Good news for Tennessee

I'm sighing big with relief this morning that the Republicans have control of both the Tennessee House and Senate. Thank you to all of you who worked so hard to create this change of guard. This is even better than just defeating one or two troublesome legislators. This is a fundamental shift in how the House will be doing business. As a result of yesterday's election we'll have Republican control of the committee system that has stymied ethics reform and freedoms. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I am so thankful Naifeh isn't in control of the House. I'm so thankful that the Odem/Naifeh fight over the speakership is a moot point. So thankful I won't have to work hard to get legislation through the House TEA leaning Education Committees only to have it die in the Democrat controlled Calendar and Rules Committee which is the House trump card when all else fails.

The difference between the success here in Tennessee for the Republicans and those across the nation is that Republicans here have clearly demonstrated their difference from the Democrats. Party Chair Robin Smith has taken a LOT of heat about how she's run that organization but the proof most certainly is in the pudding. Look at what her leadership has brought us. Thank you, Robin. Thank you to every Republican who put themselves out there as a candidate. Thank you to every phone, poll, sign, financial volunteer. Thank you to every voter.

I'm already looking forward to a Christmas that doesn't have the dread of a January opening of the legislature and the shenanigans that might ensue. Yes, I'm breathing easier today.