Shame on You, Angie Dorman
The voter's guide came in the mail today, and I flipped right to the section on 4204, the Simple Majority resolution. It's the same arguments that you've heard if you've paid any attention to the issue; the piece that caught my eye was that Angie Dorman, a "nationally recognized teacher, 2006 American Star of Teaching" was one of the people listed preparing the argument against the amendment, along with Sen. Janea Holmquist, Rep. Ed Orcutt, and a cast of others.
I've highlighted Ms. Dorman's writing here before, for an editorial she wrote criticizing the WEA union dues blowup from the spring. She's teaches in Warden, a small district with a high migrant population south of Moses Lake. And apparently, like Bob Morton, she also hates democracy. Let's look at some of the positions Ms. Dorman is signing her name to:
*If these constitutional protections are removed, your property taxes will increase faster. and Property taxes will go up with this measure. Absolutely false. 4204 doesn't raise taxes, it changes election law, and if the people of the community vote to raise their taxes, that's democracy.
*...making housing less affordable for seniors and working families. Absolutely false. Seniors always have the option to file and say that they can't afford their property taxes because they're on a fixed income--thousands do, and are actively encouraged to do so--and school taxes are a minuscule portion of the property tax formula. I also think it's telling that one of the groups signed on against 4204 is the Washington Farm Bureau, along with a pair of commercial foresters--do you think they're really worrying about the working family, or their own vast land holdings?
*Should a small minority be able to raise your taxes? Absolutely not, but the absurd rationalization they give of an election with 100 voters is just laughable. In this day of vote-by-mail, you have the ability to vote against a school levy if you want to. It doesn't matter what time of year it is or what day it's on--mail in your ballot, and your voice will have been heard.
But this isn't about an out-of-control minority that wants to raise your taxes--this is about the minority that opposes any tax increase and likes the power that a 60% supermajority gives them. Under the supermajority a no vote is worth 50% more than a yes vote, and that's undemocratic, period.
*It's time legislators and the governor make funding education #1. I am absolutely embarrassed for them that they would put this line in their screed. Let's go to the scorecard from the Children's Alliance, who publishes a report card on the voting records of our state legislators. In the two star category, about as low as you can go: Holmquist and Orcutt. Both voted against SB5841, which began the phase-in of all-day kindergarten, and they both voted against this year's state budget, which had all the extra money for schools in it.
By the by, do you want to know a district that DOES have full-day K for their kids? Why, that would be Warden, where Ms. Dorman teaches. Makes sense, since they have a highly migrant population. Isn't that nice for them?
She also has her travel paid for by the EFF, advocates for Northwest Professional Educators, and in fact serves on their board of directors.
By all accounts, Ms. Dorman is a sensational teacher. There's no disputing the good that she's done for kids in a tough, tough environment. By standing against the simple majority she's working to deny other kids throughout Washington the same things that she would want for her own students, and that's morally indefensible.
Shame on her.
I've highlighted Ms. Dorman's writing here before, for an editorial she wrote criticizing the WEA union dues blowup from the spring. She's teaches in Warden, a small district with a high migrant population south of Moses Lake. And apparently, like Bob Morton, she also hates democracy. Let's look at some of the positions Ms. Dorman is signing her name to:
*If these constitutional protections are removed, your property taxes will increase faster. and Property taxes will go up with this measure. Absolutely false. 4204 doesn't raise taxes, it changes election law, and if the people of the community vote to raise their taxes, that's democracy.
*...making housing less affordable for seniors and working families. Absolutely false. Seniors always have the option to file and say that they can't afford their property taxes because they're on a fixed income--thousands do, and are actively encouraged to do so--and school taxes are a minuscule portion of the property tax formula. I also think it's telling that one of the groups signed on against 4204 is the Washington Farm Bureau, along with a pair of commercial foresters--do you think they're really worrying about the working family, or their own vast land holdings?
*Should a small minority be able to raise your taxes? Absolutely not, but the absurd rationalization they give of an election with 100 voters is just laughable. In this day of vote-by-mail, you have the ability to vote against a school levy if you want to. It doesn't matter what time of year it is or what day it's on--mail in your ballot, and your voice will have been heard.
But this isn't about an out-of-control minority that wants to raise your taxes--this is about the minority that opposes any tax increase and likes the power that a 60% supermajority gives them. Under the supermajority a no vote is worth 50% more than a yes vote, and that's undemocratic, period.
*It's time legislators and the governor make funding education #1. I am absolutely embarrassed for them that they would put this line in their screed. Let's go to the scorecard from the Children's Alliance, who publishes a report card on the voting records of our state legislators. In the two star category, about as low as you can go: Holmquist and Orcutt. Both voted against SB5841, which began the phase-in of all-day kindergarten, and they both voted against this year's state budget, which had all the extra money for schools in it.
By the by, do you want to know a district that DOES have full-day K for their kids? Why, that would be Warden, where Ms. Dorman teaches. Makes sense, since they have a highly migrant population. Isn't that nice for them?
She also has her travel paid for by the EFF, advocates for Northwest Professional Educators, and in fact serves on their board of directors.
By all accounts, Ms. Dorman is a sensational teacher. There's no disputing the good that she's done for kids in a tough, tough environment. By standing against the simple majority she's working to deny other kids throughout Washington the same things that she would want for her own students, and that's morally indefensible.
Shame on her.
Labels: Simple Majority
posted by Ryan at 3:30 PM
6 Comments:
This simple majority is a long time in coming. Those people who continue to put education on the back burner in our state fight it every time it is brought up in the legislature and general ballot. I agree, shame on Angie Dorman's of the world who want to keep our kids from succeeding!
Without arguing the issue of the simple majority, I can confirm one statement and wish to correct one statement in the initial blog entry about Angie Dorman. It is true that "Dorman is a sensational teacher. There's no disputing the good that she's done for kids in a tough, tough environment." The statement that needs correcting is that which cites Ms. Dorman as a member of the Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) board of directors. The person taking minutes for the Idaho House Education Committee meeting at which I presented mistakenly wrote that into the minutes. During my presentation, I had mentioned that Angie was a former teacher in Idaho who had been awarded the U.S. Department of Education's American Star of Teaching Award for Washington state and that Dr. Bill Proser, founder of the Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy, serves on the NWPE board of directors. I hope that this blog will entertain numerous thoughts and ideas contributing to the free marketplace of ideas in the pluralistic schools in which we teach -- including the chance to correct the record and take positions that counter those of the blogger.
Dear Ryan,
I believe in our democracy above and beyond all things as well as good schools. But I also believe all users of public funds must be vigilante and accountable to the taxpayers who support education with their hard-earned income.
Personally, I don’t think Proposition 4204 will do anything to actually help that situation except make school districts even less accountable to its community.
The vast majority of school bonds get passed by the voters in Washington state. If you oppose a bond issue, you are labeled as someone who “hates democracy” or “doesn’t care about kids.” In my case neither could be farther from the truth.
Examine your district’s budget, or any district’s budget, then look at the pet projects, athletic stipends or superfluous administrative staffs and you will find a lot of fat that could be used in your classroom. A good example is an adjacent district, where I am a voter and which bonds are easily approved. Their administrative overhead and massive spending on sports programs was included in recent bonds and yet, there is no all day/every day Kindergarten. To me, that is appalling.
Warden, a much poorer district, funds all day Kindergarten and a plethora of other programs good for kids like free breakfast for all students. We have had difficulty passing bonds in the past few years, and in specific instance a bond for new gym failed by 2 votes, and less than 800 people voted. That is heartbreaking, but when the same bond issue ran again, it was defeated by an even larger margin. Yet, at the same time our M&O levies do fine. In this instance the voters agreed with the district that all day Kindergarten is a priority, just not a new gym, music room, cafeteria and a few other things. We still get the job done and work in partnership with the community.
Point being, democracy is what we have to put our trust in, and not just when things turn out the way we want them to, but also equally when it doesn’t.
For the record, I am not a member of the NWPE board. I did receive funds to go to DC from EFF after I was assured there were no strings attached. Above and beyond all, I value and guard my constitutional rights and treasure our democracy. For the record, in previous years, I have received travel money from variety of sources, including IEA/NEA specifically paying for travel and expenses for the express purpose being to lobby the legislature. No matter what, it comes back to the fact that I will not advocate for what I don’t believe in and you are free to think many things of me, but let’s clarify that I do not hate democracy.
Ryan Grant
Vice President
Medical Lake Education Association
Dear Ryan,
I am attaching a timely article for inclusion on your blog site which was published today and accurately characterizes your anonymous blog regarding my wife's constitutional right to publically oppose Measure 4204.
Perhaps the title should be: "Shame on Ryan Grant for his cowardly anonymous ad hominid attacks"
David Dorman
------------
Internet Anonymity Is as Destructive as Internet Porn
By Dennis Prager
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Whenever people lament aspects of the Internet, they are most likely to lament the net's ubiquity of pornography. Only God knows, for example, how many kids, searching for some government information, typed in "whitehouse.com" only to be greeted by pornographic images (happily, the website changed hands in 2004). It is almost impossible to completely avoid such imagery even with filtering programs.
But there is something at least as awful -- and arguably more destructive -- that permeates the Internet: the lies, vitriol, obscenities and ad hominem attacks made by anonymous individuals on almost every website that deals with public issues.
Sexual images and prose for the purpose of sexual titillation are not new. But the ability of anyone in society to debase public discourse is new. Until the Internet, in the public's best known venue for self-expression -- letters to the editor published in newspapers and magazines -- people either expressed themselves in a civilized manner or they were not published. And overwhelmingly, even those letters that were not published were written in a respectful manner because the letter-writers had to reveal their real names and their addresses (though only names and cities were published).
Being identifiable breeds responsibility; anonymity breeds irresponsibility.
That is why people -- even generally decent people -- tend to act so much less morally when in a crowd (the crowd renders them anonymous). That is why people tend to act more decently when they walk around with their names printed on a nametag. That is why people act more rudely when in their cars -- they cannot be identified as they could outside of their car. There is no question but that most people would write very different entries on the Internet if their names were printed alongside their submission.
E-mail provides another example. It is the very rare individual who sends a hate-filled, obscenity-laced e-mail that includes his name. As the recipient of such e-mails, I know firsthand how rarely people identify themselves when sending hate-filled mail. It is so rare, in fact, that I usually respond to hate mail that includes the writer's name just to commend him for attaching his name to something so embarrassing.
The Internet practice of giving everyone the ability to express himself anonymously for millions to read has debased public discourse. Cursing, ad hominem attacks and/or the utter absence of logic characterize a large percentage of many websites' "comments" sections. And because people tend to do what society says it is OK to do, many people, especially younger people, are coming to view such primitive forms of self-expression as acceptable.
Some might argue that anonymity enables people to more freely express their thoughts. But this is not true. Anonymity only enables people to more freely express their feelings. Anonymity values feelings over thought, and immediate expression over thoughtful reflection.
There is not one good reason for any website, left or right, or non-political, to allow people to avoid identifying themselves. Anyone interested in serious political discourse, or in merely lowering the hate levels in our country, should welcome the banning of anonymous postings.
It would be interesting to find out how many websites continue to encourage anonymous postings. Presumably, they would pay some financial price by insisting on posters identifying themselves. I don't know why, and I don't know how big a price that would be, but it is hard to imagine that it is higher than the price society pays when hate, anger and irrationality become the normal way of citizens expressing themselves. And even from the websites' own perspectives this policy is probably self-defeating. I doubt I am alone in reading fewer and fewer comments sections because of the low level of so many of the postings. Just as bad money chases away good money, moronic postings chase away intelligent ones. I have come to the point where I even read fewer comments posted about my own columns.
Websites should insist on listing names and cities of those who post comments, just as newspapers and magazines do.
The irresponsible, the angry, the obscene and the dumb have virtually taken over many Internet dialogues. But there is an easy fix, and websites owe it to society to use it. Just ban anonymous postings.
Dennis Prager is a radio show host, contributing columnist for Townhall.com, and author of 4 books including Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual.
Correction: I meant to say ad hominem attack and not ad hominid, my apologies for not proofreading my posting and catching a spell-checker induced error.
Ryan,
This issue is a clear example of the whole purpose of democracy and the respect I have for our system. Sure, I would have liked to have seen my side of this issue win. The important part is, however, to respect the outcome and the process. Congratulations to your side! Have a happy new year, too.
--Angie Dorman
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