Franklin County Democrats

Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 4, No. 2, January 24, 2012
By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

CHARTER SCHOOLS

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee will meet on January 25 to hear HB 1228 (Tishaura Jones), and the Senate Education Committee will meet later that same day to hear SB 576 (Bill Stouffer). Both bills expand the authority for charter schools to cover the entire state, expand the list of entities allowed to sponsor charter schools, create a statewide chartering commission and make several changes designed to improve the accountability and transparency of charter sponsors and charter schools.

The Association believes that charter schools need to meet the same standards of accountability, transparency and respect for the rights of students, parents and staff as apply to district-operated public schools. Currently, serious remedial action is needed to improve that accountability for sponsors and charter schools, and the state should adopt and implement those reforms and verify that they are working to ensure charter schools meet those standards before considering expansion of charter school territory or sponsorship. Accordingly, the Association opposes both bills and will seek to limit charter school legislation to correcting those deficiencies without concurrent expansion of either charter school geography or sponsorship.

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Most GOP primary voters are aware of Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith. Most know by now of his making millions by profiting from cremating American jobs through his company Bain Capital, but until recently there’s not been much talk about his Mexican roots.

Romney’s father, George Romney, was born there and immigrated to the U.S. In fact, his father is an argument for the DREAM Act, which would provide conditional permanent residency to aliens just like Romney’s father was.

But more interestingly, Romney’s Mexican roots make him eligible for dual nationality. According to Mexican law the children of “paisanos,” those living in the U.S., just need to go to the nearest Mexican consulate and register. Good for Mitt.

For some reason Romney doesn’t talk much about this part of his family tree. Perhaps it is because they fled there in 1884 to escape America’s laws against polygamy. That might make some family-values, Christian conservatives a little uncomfortable. I don’t know.

Rock Center recently did a story on the Romney clan that still live in Mormon settlements down Mexico way. They are no longer polygamists thank goodness but some are feeling a bit disowned by the GOP presidential contender because he never acknowledges their existence. They still think it would be awesome if their Mexican blood relative became the eventual nominee though. It must be an exciting time for them.

And really, isn’t this an exciting time for all of us? Where else in the world but America could a black man named Barack Obama, whose father is from Kenya, become president? And where else could a Mormon, whose father is from Mexico, run against him?

Diversity, tolerance, and multiculturalism is such a beautiful thing. It’s what makes America great. I’m glad to see so many Republican primary voters embracing it with their new presidential frontrunner.