Posted at Green Party Watch by Ronald Hardy. Reposted to IPR by Paulie.
Todd Price is campaigning hard in his race for Superintendent of Public Instruction, a state-wide non-partisan race in Wisconsin. The five candidates in the race face a February 17 Primary to winnow the field to two. Price has interviewed with the powerful teachers’ union WEAC and other groups around the state and has been working the teachers’ conferences and radio.
Madison’s Capital Times says:
DPI candidate Todd Price, a former Madisonian who is running with a lot of enthusiastic support from progressive activists (especially the Greens), started his campaign late. But he is getting up to speed fast.
Price, a college professor, has a great Web site, and the best slogan so far: “Put the Public Back in Public Education: Professor Price for Superintendent of Schools”
……
Presumed frontrunner Tony Evers, who is competing for the same pro-public education votes as Price, should be wary of his young rival. Price is obviously very serious about this race.
Wisconsin Eye interviewed all five candidates and the videos are posted here. Compare Todd Price to “presumed frontrunner” Tony Evers and judge for yourself.
Please consider the following positions of Professor Price and then consider donating a few bucks to his campaign. If Price raises $10,800 in donations of $100 or less, AND makes it through the primary, he qualifies for $98,000 in public matching funds.
Here’s the Price plan: Building Safe Schools. Calling for an end to discriminatory practices and a beginning for respect of all students and teachers. This means moving beyond the mere tolerance of difference, toward honoring different religious beliefs, diverse racial makeup, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientation.
Fixing the School Funding Formula. Costing out per student what it actually takes to fund an excellent education. Analyzing the tax base for funding the school system, reviewing options to improve the school funding formula and proposing an effective solution to make fair and equitable the allocation of resources for every child.
Cleaning up the testing mess. Convening a meeting of assessment and evaluation experts to consider the value of continual reliance and spending on flawed, standardized tests. What can we do differently given what we have always done?
Ensuring truth-in-recruiting. Making sure students get the full story on costs and benefits of enrolling to do military service.
Advancing service learning. Making available the ability to access and recruit students for other types of service, such as working for peace, social justice and ecological sustainability!
Dismantling “No Child Left Behind.” Getting rid of a bad law and working toward true reform Representing K-12 student’s interests as a Regent with the UW Board of Regents. Fighting to bring down student tuition, which has risen out of control of working families.
“It is better to tolerate that rare instance of a parent’s refusing to let his child be educated, than to shock the common feelings by a forcible transportation and education of the infant against the will of his father.” – Jefferson (against compulsory education)
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Jefferson
I think it would be better if parents took their children out of the public schools. There is nothing about taxpayer funded propaganda mills that has anything to do with education.
I think it might be better if they put the “education” back into public education first…
Up here in Wisconsin, I really think the state superintendent race is a great opportunity for both anti-tax Libertarians and Constitutionalists as well as Greens on the Left to make some noise. The combination of this office’s official nonpartisan status with the usually low turnout for spring elections seems to me to provide a good starting point for a credible third party candidate, especially someone like Price with experience in education.