Tuesday February 19, 2013 is Wisconsin Primary Day! There are only a couple races on the ballot, but these races are very important!
1. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court:
There are three candidates Vince Megna, incumbent Pat Roggensack(not a conservative), and Marquette law professor Ed Fallone!
The clear choice for me and hopefully for you, is Ed Fallone!
I am not alone in this from Monologues of Dissent:
Here’s what I like about him: even though he’s a professor of constitutional, corporate, and criminal law (translation: he’s a genius), he continues to do amazing work to equalize access to justice that proves he’s rooted to and invested in the community. He insists that the Court needs to hold itself accountable, and to the highest standard, and work together to be an effective body – something we all know they aren’t doing right now, as their bickering and partisanship has disrupted the number of cases they hear, and even their ability to conduct disciplinary hearings when one of their own (Justice David McChokey Prosser) assaulted a fellow Supreme Court Justice in the presence of witnesses (including his esteemed colleague, Patience Roggensack, who recused herself from the disciplinary hearing to avoid testifying against him).
Tuesday’s primary begins an election process in which Roggensack will be held to account. She’s spending a lot of money from out-of-state donors — especially wealthy critics of public education who hope the court will back so-called “school choice” proposals — in order to win re-election. Her opponents, Marquette University professor Ed Fallone and consumer lawyer Vince Megna, while less well funded, are mounting spirited campaigns.
Megna says of the court: “Nothing will change if Justice Roggensack is re-elected.”
Fallone makes a somewhat different case, arguing that Roggensack is part of a deeper dysfunction — that the real problem is an abandonment of the court’s historic commitment to independent and nonpartisan judicial review. The Capital Times has endorsed Fallone because he has focused on healing the court by renewing its commitment to respect the Constitution and the rule of law and avoiding the sort of blatant judicial activism that was on display when Roggensack and her allies rejected open meetings rules in order to advance Gov. Walker’s agenda. Fallone is also an enthusiastic proponent of getting big money out of judicial elections, with campaign finance reforms such as the Impartial Justice Act.
The other race on your ballot is for Madison Metropolitan School Board Seat #5. The three candidates are Ananda Mirilli, TJ Mertz and Sarah Manski.
With The Governor getting set to announce his war on education and his giveaway to the private voucher system that convicted felon Scott “Scooter” Jensen has been working so hard on.
Our children need as much help as they can get! We need to make sure and elect people that will NOT be swayed or tempted by the private school money flowing through our state now. Scott Walker’s voucher plan is wrong and everyone in education knows it! Well everyone but Michael Brickman that is!
The person who is most ready to handle this responsibility from day one and who who truly understands that, <em>Public money is for public schools, is TJ Mertz.
Please join me in supporting TJ on your ballot!
Bonus Race….if you live in Racine PLEASE vote for Randy Bryce for School Board, the children of your district will thank you!
Scott Jensen is NOT a convicted felon. Your larger point is: vote for the teachers union toadies. Heaven forbid that the tax-coerced public school monopoly should have competition.
Yes he was a convicted felon. http://www.nbc15.com/news/headlines/2814276.html
Larger point is vote for the rule of law and our children’s future!
Also there is competition ….called open enrollment, its open through April.
Dave do you do any research?
You referenced Scott Jensen as “convicted felon Scott (Scooter) Jensen.” On top of that mistake (if that is what it was) you now add dishonesty. Jensen’s felony conviction was overturned over 2 years ago, which means (by law) the convictions never happened. I wrote “heaven forbid” public schools should have competition as a sardonic description of the typical Madison “progressive” attitude. Yes, open enrollment exists. As I’ve written elsewhere, over 1,000 Madison school district students are taking advantage of it. Which means their tax-support goes with them — to another public school. Would you join me in working to expand that program, Jeff? No? Even so, in order to take advantage of open enrollment, the student has to travel out of town. How about an in-town alternative? How about letting the people decide — not the Green Party or Progressive Dane or MTI or the Dane County Democratic Party — but each parent? And yes, another alternative exists: private schools. Over 4,000 students in the Madison district take advantage of that choice. But first their parents have to pay the public school district. Old Daddy Warbucks could only dream of a business model that sweet!
Jensen was convicted, unfortunately for the people of WI he never served his well deserved time in prison since he was able to delay until he found a right wing judge willing to compromise his values and let scooter off. As i pointed out in the story, despite the fact that he spent tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money he was still found guilty and became a convicted felon.
I would love to join with you to increase school choice. In Monona Grove I think we get the most kids who leave from Madison. Would like to expand that. Will you join with me to get us an extra 20 million dollars to build a new school so we can fit them? what if we promise to keep all jobs in WI(i know that goes against Walker policy)? Just think if the state were to give us $20 million to build a new school of all of the jobs we could create, and unlike the WEDC money you could see right where it was everyday!
Anyone can feel free to send their kids to any private school they want. I hear Madison Edgewood is top notch, just dont use taxpayer money to do it! Public money for public education. Its that simple of a concept. As long as whoever takes the money is accountable to a locally elected school board thats fine, but once they are not accountable to a locally elected school board then they should stop asking for education money.
The current republican party has taken local control and choice away from everyone in the state so dont whine to me about it…talk to your buddies at the Capitol!
Cliff’s Notes for the slow learner: You wrote in the present tense about Scott Jensen being a convicted felon, not in the past tense. That is dishonest. If MG can attract enough Madison students, their state dollars will follow them to MG and you can build your school. The locally elected school board runs the public schools but now you want them to run the private schools, too? How about if the school chosen by the parent is accountable to the customer? Why are you afraid of school choice? Afraid parents won’t choose the tax-coerced monopoly? That is the ultimate LOCAL CONTROL.
Now, Jesse Jackson Jr. — THERE is a convicted felon.
Happy to see JJ Jr going to prison, Was very happy to see Chuck Chvala going to prison, and would have been equally as happy to see Scooter spend some well deserved time in prison.
He is a convicted felon, the same way someone would address Scott Mccallum as governor.
The money follows the students but nowhere neatr enough to educate them correctly much less build buildings.
I just want the ability to have accountability. if you take a nickel of public money then you have to have the transparency of a local school board. The customer is We The People. Education is part of the commons.
Like I said there IS choice, if you dont want to do open enrollment, you can CHOOSE to help out in the classroom, Volunteer to help with fundraisers etc…help the school get more funding so that they can offer many more learning options to the kids! Need more choices let me know….when was the last time you spent a day in a local school?
Simpson: see me after school. Your dishonesty on the convicted felon issue taints everything you say. By your logic, once convicted, the lethal injection should proceed regardless of exculpatory evidence that exonerates him. A higher court ruled that Scott Jensen did not commit a felony. As for judge shopping, the state supreme court ruled, unanimously, that the retrial should be held in Waukesha County so the man could be judged by a jury of his peers. That you need to make your point by falsely denigrating others is telling. Your guilt by association libels all the little minority children in Milwaukee taking advantage of school choice as “criminal.” As for your “choice,” it’s very much like Henry Ford’s Model T: any color as long as it is black (i.e. the public schools). Understand this, Simpson: the end goal, the purpose, the prize is NOT public schools. It is educated children. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
NO the end prize is privatized schools so you can profit off of them. I know it and everyone else knows it. Do you think anyone really believes that you or scott Jensen or brian schimming care if the kids on Allied drive get an education or not??? we all know the answer.
There is a reason that scott jensen gets paid $400,000/ yr to lobby for privatization, there is a reason the devos and the walton family spend millions of dollars lobbying in WI to privatize schools, there is a reason every ex legislator that can, has registered as a lobbyists for school choice. It is not because they “care too much” its because they want in on the looting.
We know your motives Dave, its plain for the world to see which is why there is such strong push back!
You elevate paranoia into an art form, Simpson. Jeff, you don’t have any answers, only hobgoblins haunting your imagination. Do I care if the kids on Allied Drive get an education? YER GODDAMN RIGHT I DO (if I may channel Ms. Tammy Baldwin). But they aren’t now, are they, Jeff? Or is Kaleem Caire of the Madison Urban League a liar? If those children were getting a good education, they could escape poverty and contribute to the community and lead satisfying, happy lives instead of being generational victims dependent on the good graces of liberal handout programs. BTW: In your list of villains, you forgot that rapist and pillager Bill Gates, who is spending billions of his fortune on school choice because he wants to assure functionally illiterate customers for his high-tech products. Finally, you don’t know anyone’s motives, Jeff. But if you want to play that game, I must caution you that I can give as good as I get.
Sorry Dave, Nice try. Please do not sit there and support the perpetual dismanteling of Public education and then tell me how much you “care”. It is as disingenuous as it is when Scott Walker tells us he wants thousands to be without healthcare because he “cares too much”.
You do not care a thing about the kids on allied drive or on University or even in Middleton. If you want to close the ‘Achievement Gap’ the first hing you do not do is cut $1.6 Billion from education. But you know that.
Motives are not hard to figure out….Scott Jensen has spent his whole career fattening his own wallet on taxpayer money so why would he stop now? It has been so successful for him.
Arent you one who has a sweet cushy state pension that wants to deny it to others??? Could it be because you have outworked every other state employee or could it be just greed? Maybe you can answer that one…..
When is the last time you or Scott jensen actually stepped foot in a public school.
Alright, Jeff, you asked for it. I’ll go to motives, since your pretend to divine motives. You are a good liberal who is more interested in shilling for organized labor to protect its stranglehold on “public education.” Governor Walker had nothing — 0 — to do with the appalling achievement gap among Madison’s minority race children. When a gifted young black man named Kaleem Caire proposed a charter school (a public school, btw) specifically designed to address that gap, the teachers union shot it down, with Jeff Simpson’s blessings. Only reason: it would be non-union so the proposed Madison Prep could go above and beyond the collective bargaining agreement and have the flexibility to operate without being tied down by hundreds of pages of union work rules. And what is Jeff Simpson’s proposal? … still waiting. Meanwhile, the Dane County Democrat(ic) Party goes nuclear on school board president James Howard for supporting Madison Prep. Now, you dishonest thug, point to where I have attempted to “dismantle” the public schools? I am merely advocating there by some competition for the statist monopoly. And no fair saying you can choose Apple’s iMacs as long as you first pay Microsoft. I support the most local of controls — the dinner table. You would deny those parents that choice so that your monopoly will endure. And you call ME selfish!
Dave thanks for the mention. http://www.ibmadison.com/Blogger/Bring-It/February-2013/Blaska-debates-an-opponent-of-parental-school-choice/ The aptly named Knotheads love you…ill take my chances with the rest. To answer your questions….
My motives are simple….i want our kids to have the absolute best education possible because i know that is what will get our state and our country moving again. I understand that education is an investment not an expense which is why I invest so muc htime into making sure that happens locally… and I dont even charge $400,000 to do so!
Scott walker is not to blame for creating the achievement gap for sure, centures if inherent racism is, but he sure is to blame for the increasing achievement gap thanks to his education budget and cutting valuable and needed resources.
Madison prep was NOT specifically designed to close the achievement gap for the kids in the city only the select few who would have made it into his school(and then its questionable). In the meantime he would have pulled out valuable resources from Madison schools thus increasing it for the kids who didnt get in his school.
By not supporting James Howard for supporting Madison Prep is that your definition of “going nuclear” Who should the ysupport? anyone that dave blaska tells them too? or does not being a lockstep party like yours you dont understand how endorsements work?
The Governors budgets and record cuts in public education that you so adamantly support, all in the name of breaking the union, is where you support dismantling public education. Any chance to kill the union is number one on your agenda regardless of the victims it leaves in its path. The victims that you and your ilk have left are the kids in our public education system Whatever it takes to win elections and make a good buck while doing it….
I get it!
As for choice, every parent has a choice. You can choose to opt out of Madison and go to any surrounding community you want. You can choose where you live(and many do) by the school district you want to raise your kids in. You can also choose to go to your local school and get involved and make it better.
Life is full of choices Dave……Some people make them for the betterment of society and some people make them based on who is king their pockets..
By the way I need to correct a flat out false statement. you posted –
.” Jeff is an appointed member of the Monona Grove School Board, a
defender of teachers unions, an opponent of parental school choice, and a
reliable messenger for ever-higher school spending. (Last spring
Simpson testified during MG school budget hearings in favor of a $13
million hike in MG school district property taxes.)”
1. I was appointed I am now running. My name is actually on the ballot in April. I am not taking money from anyone or else id ask for a campaign donation:)
2. I am unabashedly a defender of teachers, always have been always will be.
3. I am a defender of school choice, am opposed to unaccountable to the taxpayer schools.
4. We havent had higher spending in schools since before I had kids so wouldnt know about that.
5. I absolutely did not testify in favor of $13 million dollar hike in school district property taxes….i wish we had 13 million to spend in our schools. Whoever gave you that info(and im pretty sure I know who it was) was misinformed .
In other words, guilty as charged, Mr. Lockstep union man.
I stand with the teachers, educators and children who want and need a public education and against, convicted felons, lobbyisyts and paid shrills of the De Vos, Walton and Bradley families!
Unfortunately, you also stand against Kaleem Caire, Derrell Connor, Amanda Mirilli, and the hundreds of good law-abiding neighbors and citizens who want a public education for the minority community of Madison, fewer than half of whom graduate. But if these folks are “paid shills,” what does that make you? How much is (or will) the teachers union paying your campaign?
I see you lump ANanda Mirilli with the everyone else, is it because you have sat down and talked to her or is it because you missed this story, http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/pat_schneider/ananda-mirilli-i-was-falsely-depicted-as-pro-voucher/article_3db8bf4a-8140-11e2-972f-001a4bcf887a.html
It seems people like you have misrepresented her position, thus causing her votes.
Yes as long as Derell Connor and Kaleem Caire are going to unjustly bash the Madison teachers, who are doing a great job, just to advance their privatization agenda then i will stand against them!
I want a public education for all kids, which involves actually giving us resources so we can educate our kids!
The dishonesty just keeps on a-coming, don’t it, Jeff.
Name one instance where Kaleem Caire OR Darrell Connor have “bashed” teachers. Give me the quote, give me the link, or shut up. As for Ms. Mirilli, I’m not sure “people like me” even knew who she was before the primary. You also need to explain how Connor or Caire are promoting a “privatization agenda.” They are proponents of a charter school, a public school. I can assure you, Mr. Paranoia, haven’t seen any of those folks at our Republican festivities or Tea Parties.
So the voters of M-G can make an informed decision, how much more “resources” would you tax for? Still promoting the $1.3 million tax hike or has your bill gone up?