Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Here's an Example of Happens When People Don't Pay Attention

First of all, conservative candidates who share a narrow, regressive agenda are elected to a school board.

JeffCo school board: Conservatives land three open seats. (Denver Post, 11/6/2014)


Once in power, they move to implement their narrow, regressive agenda, with unhappy results.

The teachers’ union, whose members forced two high schools to close Friday by calling in sick, has been in continual conflict with the new board; the board, in turn, has drawn praise from Americans for [Koch Brothers] Prosperity-Colorado, a conservative group affiliated with the Koch family foundations. In April, Dustin Zvonek, the group’s director, wrote in an op-ed that the board’s election was an “exciting and hopeful moment for the county and the school district.”

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the 3 conservative members of the school board to back down.

After Uproar, School Board in Colorado Scraps Anti-Protest Curriculum.  (The New York Times, 10/3/2014)

See what happens when a bright light is shone on conservative, narrow, regressive ideas?
After two weeks of student protests and a fierce backlash across Colorado and beyond, the Jefferson County School Board backed away from a proposal to teach students the “benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights,” while avoiding lessons that condoned “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.” But the board did vote 3-to-2 to reorganize its curriculum-review committee to include students, teachers and board-appointed community members.  

"Free enterprise" are conservative code words that should raise a red flag every time you see them.

This story is far from over as the conservatives hold a 3-2 majority on the school board.  Don't imagine that they've given up, folks.

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