Critical Questions Democrats Must Ask About School Choice
By Jeff BryantCampaign for America's Future
Left-leaning people everywhere recently got a hoot when the Texas Republican Party declared its opposition to the teaching of "Higher Order Thinking Skills," including "critical thinking skills," in public schools. Although a party spokesperson later back-peddled from that statement -- saying that including "critical thinking skills" in their declaration was a "mistake" -- there's little doubt that what these Republicans object to most is any sort of education that would challenge "fixed beliefs" and "authority."
Frankly, I don't see what Republicans are so rried about. Because when it comes to the subject of education, there's very little evidence that critical thinking is widespread these days, especially among the people who Republicans are supposed to worry about most -- Democrats.
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The GOP Orphans Its Referendum
By Peter SchragSo the Republicans have formally thrown in the towel on their referendum to block use of the new state Senate maps drawn last year by the presumably non-partisan Citizens Redistricting Commission.
The main point of the referendum, the Republicans said, was to block use of the maps in this year’s election cycle. When the state Supreme Court ordered the maps to be used, their campaign people said, there was no point in pursuing it. The measure, Proposition 40, will however remain on the ballot. It’s just that there’ll be no GOP campaign.
But that may not end the confusion since, given the peculiarities of the California referendum process, a “no” vote is in fact a “yes” vote. Any voter wanting to reject the referendum in November, increase the Democrats’ chances of gaining real control in the Senate, or punish the GOP for attacking a process that it had once supported will have to be wily enough to vote ”yes.”
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