Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher

As I said in my previous post, California Educator magazine provides plenty of material for posts here at Right On The Left Coast. I'll let you hear hear from the crazies in their own words.

"If I had my druthers, I would extend the sales tax we have on goods to a sales tax on services. Why tax goods only? That concept is 50 years old, and pertains to a time when the economy was based on goods and not services. Now we're a service economy and we have no way to tax it. We could tax tanning salons, lawyers' fees and a whole set of services. Other states do it. I think we're stuck in conceptual cul-de-sacs in California. I get stimulated when I leave the state and see the innovative things going on in other places."--Stanford Professor Michael Kirst, co-director of the research group Policy Analysis for California Education

Yes, I get stimulated when I see taxes in different states, too. Not.

"We've been persuaded that having private goods is more important than the public good. We used to drive Chevrolets and eat cheddar cheese and have pretty good public schools. Now we drive BMWs, eat Brie and have mediocre public schools. It all has to do with the choices that we make."--education consultant John Mockler

I wonder what kind of car "education consultant John Mockler" drives, and how big his house is, and what he eats, and what kind of schools his kids attended.

Here's more from Mockler:
"Years ago, Californians would see schoolchildren who looked like them. Now, Californians see Latinos, African Americans, Asians and other minorities who don't look like them in public schools. Some Californians don't believe they are 'our' children and think that we shouldn't support them. Our politicians always say that public schools are our first priority. But they spend money in other places."

They why does CTA keep backing these racist Democrats who've run both houses of the state legislature for so long?

And on page 33, there's this gem. It's not really socialist, but it does remind me of the old Socialist Republics of So-and-So:

"CTA President Barbara E. Kerr and her fellow officers...will be serving another two years at CTA's helm. Running without opposition...." You see, the California Teachers Association, an organization that likes to brand itself as a democratic organization voicing the will of California's teachers in support of every downtrodden group there is, doesn't allow its members to vote on the leadership. "[T]hey were reelected by acclamation during the January meeting of CTA's State Council."

Go figure.