Tag: school choice ballot initiative

13-08 The Mad, Mad Spending – Real School Choice Needed in Oregon

13-08 The Mad, Mad Spending – Real School Choice Needed in Oregon

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Show 13-08 Summary: Two guests this week and both talking about government spending. Donna Kreitzberg talks about redirecting portions of education spending to parents so they can make their own best school choice for their children. Then Senator Dennis Linthicum who says there is no end in sight for the amount of spending Oregon is looking to do in this legislative session. And be sure to stay through the closing where you’ll hear what he told us off air about the real reasons why democrats want to spend the kicker. Un. Believable.

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: February 25th & 26th, 2023 | Guests: Donna Kreitzberg & Dennis Linthicum

This Week – Oregon‘s Insane Spending

It’s not just the amount of spending. It’s what they are spending it on. And it’s insane. Especially given that most economists and major financial institutions are predicting a recession this year. Not to mention continuing inflation and mounting job losses. So why is Oregon inflating its budgets like there are no limits of money?

And for goodness sake. Don’t miss the final closing when we reveal the real reasons democrats don’t want Oregonians to get their kicker refund.

Getting Real School Choice in Oregon

Since it’s not looking positive for school choice legislation in Oregon, Oregonians can still use ballot measures to do what the Oregon education lobby doesn’t want. Give parents the choice to pick the right school for their child.

Why does the education lobby want to keep kids in failing schools? Probably because they know government loves to throw even more money at problems. A failing school? Clearly, what they need is even more money. But, given that our schools already soak up a whopping 40% of our entire state budget, that clearly isn’t working. Especially since Oregon routinely ranks need the bottom but spends more than the national average per student.

So what’s the answer?

As usual, it’s less government. And more free market.

We talk with Donna Kreitzberg who is leading the effort to get school choice in Oregon. Not a pat-on-the-head choice. A real school choice. Where parents decide how to spend the money assigned to their child and will have the option to send their child to the school that best fits their educational needs.

But what about that money? Can parents just buy anything with it? And, if the state gives them the money, doesn’t that mean the state gets to say how it’s spent — not to mention all the woke regulations they’re pushing now in schools?

Nope.

Tune in to find out why.

Find out how you can help to get real school choice in Oregon. Head to Education Freedom for Oregon. Download and sign petitions. Volunteer. And please donate to help make this happen!

The Spending. Oregon’s Endless Spending.

And next we welcome Senator Dennis Linthicum back to discuss what’s happening in Oregon’s legislature. We’ll be having him on on a monthly basis to give us his inside the capitol view and the truth. Like the real reason why the democrats don’t want you to have your kicker refund.

When last we spoke, the 2023 legislative session had just started. And he wasn’t sure if the democrats, who had lost some of their stranglehold on power, would react. Or how they’d treat their republican colleagues.

So this week, we wanted to know more. And to hear about the budget. Oh yes. And what about that kicker refund. You know. The one that, by law, the state is supposed to return to the taxpayers. Why? Because it means they over collected taxes. They charged too much. So they are — again, by law — supposed to return that to the people they overcharged. And this year, that kicker would be, on average, $5,200 per working family. So why are the democrats so eager to spend it before taxpayers can get their grubby hands on what the democrats see as the democrats’ money?

Yeah. Sorry. You’ll have to tune in to hear why. Stay through to the very end.

Previous Parental Rights and School Choice Shows

Did you miss our previous shows on parents rights in education?

  1. Show 13-03: overview of parents rights in education with Suzanne Gallagher, CEO of Parents Rights in Education
  2. Show 13-04: the legal side of parents rights, especially if push comes to lawsuit with Ernie Trakas, senior litigation counsel for the Child & Parental Rights Campaign
  3. Show 13-05: the way out; real school choice with Ed Ludlow of the national school choice organization, EdChoice
  4. Show 13-06: you’ve made the choice, now how to choose a new school with Marc Thielman, former Alsea school superintendent
  5. And Show 13-08 (today’s show): getting school choice in Oregon with Donna Kreitzberg, head of Oregon’s school choice 2024 ballot initiative

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Links mentioned during the show

  • Education Freedom for Oregon – This is Donna’s real school choice website. You can:
    • download and sign petitions (single-signature petition sheets for yourself or 10-line ones to gather signatures from your friends, families, fellow parents at school, or neighbors)
    • Volunteer
    • And please donate to help get school choice on the ballot in Oregon!
  • Freedom Watch Alert: Second dangerous School Choice constitutional amendment petition (OCEAN Network, July 15, 2022)
  • Kotek proposes $13.5 billion for education (Oregon Capital Insider, Feb 6, 2023)
    • “Education accounts for $13.5 billion, more than 40% of her proposed $32.1 billion in spending of the state’s general and lottery funds.”
    • “But most of the money – an historic $9.9 billion – is devoted to the State School Fund, which pays for educating Oregon’s 550,000 K-12 students and for district operating expenses, transportation costs and other needs.”
    • The $9.9 billion marks an overall $600 million increase in K-12 spending for the biennium and would average out to about $9,682 per student in 2023-24 and roughly $10,000 per student in 2024-25, according to preliminary estimates from the Oregon Department of Education. The state is paying $9,468 per student in the current 2022-23 school year.
    • BUT: “Accounting for all education funding, Oregon spends about $12,855 per K-12 student, according to 2020 census data. The national average that year was $13,187, with some states spending more than $20,000.”

Additional School Choice Info and Related

 

13-06 Killing Title IX Protections in the Name of Woke | Plus Part 4: Choosing New Schools

13-06 Killing Title IX Protections in the Name of Woke | Plus Part 4: Choosing New Schools

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Show 13-06 Summary: This week on I Spy we continue our mini-series on parents rights in education. We are looking at what the Biden administration’s abandonment of Title IX means (it used to mean protection and equal access for girls and women) and what real school choice looks like — when parents make the choice to find a better school. What are the options and how to decide? How to even know if it’s the school or the child? And what about funding — should taxpayer dollars really go to private schools? And is it protected from frivolous parents? Are schools accountable top meet competency and proficiency standards? Maybe if the public schools had such standards, parents wouldn’t be looking elsewhere…

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: February 11th & 12th, 2023 | Guests: Kimberly Hermann & Marc Thielman

This Week – So Much for Equality

If there’s one thing elected democrats say, it’s that they want equality. But if there’s one thing they do it’s remove equality. Which is why they are all for racial discrimination in the name of equality. Like affirmative action. Where, in their “logic” it makes sense to discriminate against Whites in favor of other races. Which is a bit like saying a little slavery is okay, as long as it’s done to the right kind of people.

Hint to democrats: discrimination is discrimination.

But maybe this mindset explains why the Biden administration thinks removing protections for girls and women in education is a good thing.

The Biden Administration: Killing Title IX

Title IX was intended to give girls and women an equal footing in education. Prior to Title IX, schools could discriminate against women and, perhaps most famously, not fund women’s sports. But now, the Biden administration’s new “guidance” would remove such protections. How? By doing away with the concept of women and girls. And making anyone who identifies as a woman a woman in their view.

Basically, if there are no women as a distinct entity, there are no women to protect.

To try to make sense of the nonsense, we welcome Kimberly Hermann. She is the chief legal counsel for Southeastern Legal Foundation and they have file da brief in support of states pushing back against the Biden administration’s guidance.

Visit SLFLiberty.org to find out more about the great work Southeastern Legal Foundation is doing to defend your constitutional rights. You can even submit a case they might be interested in.

Kimberly walks us through what Title IX is, what it was intended to do, and why Title IX is so important to defend. You’ll also hear how the courts, including appellate courts, are, in fact, defending the notion that there are two sexes. Which is extremely encouraging.

But can you believe this? Has society gone so far down the woke toilet that we will end up needing the Supreme Court to tell the rest of society what a woman is?

Yikes.

Parents’ Rights Part 4: Choosing a New School

This week, we also continue our mini-series on parents rights in education. Last week, we discussed the Real School Choice movement. So far, five states have already adopted real school choice. (This means parents can choose whichever school they want to send their kids and the education dollars attached to that child.) And there are nearly a dozen more close to adopting real school choice and over two dozen in total that have at least some form of legislation on the table.

This is not only a win for parents, it’s a win for education itself. And it’s thanks to exercising free market principles.

Think about it. Parents (consumers) can choose to spend the education dollars how they want and where they want. Funding students not systems, means that the school systems must become competitive to attract consumers (parents). Better up your game or you lose out.

That is what real school choice is all about. Give parents the power, not bureaucrats.

Find out more about Oregon’s real school choice battle. If parents can’t get it in the legislature, they are prepared to go with a ballot initiative

But if you’re a parent and  you exercise your school choice, how do you choose a school? How do you know it’s the school and not your child? What are the signs you should be looking for? And with the dozen-plus types of other schools out there, how do you find the right one for your child.

We talk with Marc Thielman, the former superintendent at the Alsea School district, to answer those questions and more.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. See the full list of podcast options.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

More Info on Title IX

  • Title IX: 50 years later (American Psychological Association, June 28, 2022)
    • “Changes to Title IX regulations dispensed by the U.S. Department of Education in 2020 removed the mandatory reporting requirement. These Trump-era changes also narrowed the definition of sexual harassment, excluded off-campus assaults from the law’s protections, and made a series of other changes that left some Title IX offices scrambling to update their institution’s procedures”
  • Title IX’s Positive Impact on Education Life BEFORE Title IX (Vector Solutions, No Date)
  • 10 Facts Everyone Should Know About Title IX (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Aug 23, 2017)

More Info on Choosing a School

 

When Government Gets it Wrong, It Turns Abusive

When Government Gets it Wrong, It Turns Abusive

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Show Summary: This week, it’s all about abusive Big Government. Getting around it through ballot initiatives—the fight to get Real School Choice on the ballot in spite of Big Government that doesn’t want to give up its power. Plus the incredibly ugly and un-American targeting of political opposition for destruction. The new documentary, The Truth about January 6th by one of those political prisoners just came out—the silencing of Free Speech that would make the most zealous communist proud.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of June 2021
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: June 18th, 2022 | Guest: Marc Thielman & Scott McEwen

It’s not a Conspiracy: The Government Hates You

When’s the last time you felt you could fully trust government?

And knowing what we know now about government, the abuse of power for political reasons (and the accompanying financial reasons — using government to send billions to their political allies), we can  never fully trust government again until there is a serious come-to-Jesus reckoning.

This week, we talk about two abuses of government: getting around an abusive government that wants to prevent parents from getting a better education for their kids. And an abusive government that seeks to silence any and all dissent.

King George III would be proud.

Real School Choice Ballot Initiative: Round 2

Marc Thielman is leading the charge to get Real School Choice on the ballot in Oregon. Last time, the secretary of state used some mental hurdles to claim it was dealing with two constitutional issues and denied the initiative.

So they split it in two.

Before we talk about the initiatives, Marc looks back at the primary and his run for the republican nomination for Oregon’s governor—and the betrayal of a fellow candidate.

And then we look at the two initiatives, how they differ, and how they will impact kids and parents if they pass. And, of course, we look at how an abusive government will fight to keep control. Yes, that’s right. The government thinks it knows better how to raise your kids and what they need than you do.

Help Real School Choice get past the first hurdle! Sign the initiatives. Head to EducationFreedomforOregon.com

The Ultimate Example of Abusive Government: Political Prisoners

The prisoners taken into custody after the January 6th protests are living proof of what happens when people are presumed guilty and are locked away into oblivion.

We welcome back NY Times bestselling author and attorney, Scott McEwen, to talk about the incredible abuse. By our own government against fellow Americans.

We literally treated al Qaeda terrorists better than the democrats are treating American citizens. Solitary confinement. Months of it. Physically assaulted. And then denied medical treatment. Even denied medication. Denied access to religious leaders. And even denied access to their own lawyers.

The Documentary: The Truth about January 6th

Jake Lang went to the US Capitol Building January 6th to protest an election. Protest. The exact same thing the Left had done the entire summer and fall of 2020. The exact same thing the Left did the day Donald Trump was inaugurated.

Watch The Truth about January 6th documentary narrated by Jake Lang, one of the political prisoners

On January 6th, the day of the “insurrection” four U.S. citizens were killed. At the brutal hands of capitol police who beat defenseless Americans while they were on the ground.

Where’s the outrage?

There isn’t any. Because they disagreed politically with those who stole the election. And in communist countries (which is how the political Left sees themselves—communist revolutionaries), you’re not allowed to speak against the opposition.

Remember: These aren’t people who were there to overthrow the government. They were there to defend the Constitution. And what they saw as the abuse of government to steal an election. This wasn’t an “insurrection.” This was an attempt to stop the political theft of the country.

We talk with Scott about the legal side of things. But also the reality of dealing with an abusive government. And what needs to be done. By those on the inside.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. See the full list of podcast options.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info