Yet Another Example of Republicans Voting Badly

(Annie Black) – The Assembly passed a teachers’ union-inspired/anti-charter school bill (AB109) today.

I voted against it (naturally).  But sadly, five Republicans voted with every Democrat for it, including three in caucus leadership positions…

• Assemblywoman Jill Tolles (GOP Caucus Co-assistant Leader)
• Assemblyman Tom Roberts (GOP Caucus Co-assistant Leader)
• Assemblywoman Lisa Krasner (GOP Caucus Assistant Whip)
• Assemblywoman Melissa Hardy
• Assemblywoman Alexis Hansen

Here’s my prepared statement in opposition (you can click here to watch it on video)…

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to Assembly Bill 109.  As originally introduced, the bill was horrible.  As amended, it is merely terrible.

The purpose of this bill is to help the teachers’ unions, not help our kids.  It seeks to hamstring public charter schools by restricting who they may hire as classroom teachers. 

Such bureaucratic interference in school management is one of the reasons our traditional public schools perform so badly and why so many parents choose the innovative charter school option in the first place.

And “choose” is the important word here. 

No one is forcing parents to put their kids in charter schools.  Parents who choose charter schools for their children are fully aware that their operation is very different from our traditional, union-run public schools.  And the inconvenient truth is, there’s a waiting list to get into a number of them.

Instead of trying to force charter schools to operate more like so many of our failing traditional public schools, we should be trying to force our failing traditional public schools to operate more like charter schools.

And make no mistake.  Simply pumping more money into our failing traditional public schools is not the answer.  If a car has a blown engine, giving it an expensive new paint job isn’t going to fix the problem.

Charter schools work.  And when something works, don’t fix it.  I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill and instead focus on REAL institutional changes to our traditional public schools rather than simply throwing more good money after bad.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’m at a loss to explain why any Republican would vote to make it harder for charter schools to hire teachers, especially in the midst of the ongoing teacher shortage.

Or why Minority Leader Titus insists on keeping such liberal Republicans in leadership positions.

But the link for contact information is included at the bottom of this AnnieGram in case any of you in Annie’s Army (including my “orphans”!) want to reach out to them directly.

SIGN NEW PETITION SUPORTING VOTER ID LAWS!

The Democrats are trying to ruin our democracy by removing ALL Voter ID Laws!  As Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote today…

“Democrats want to eviscerate commonsense voter ID provisions that have broad support with their H.R. 1 power grab.  They led a massive disinformation campaign about Georgia’s election law.”

We CANNOT let them do this!

Sign your name on this new online petition to show that you SUPPORT Voter ID Laws!

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FROM ANNIE-GRAM MAILBAG

• “Dear Annie! I LOVE YOU!!! I know I’m not alone in my feelings, either! Go get ’em, girl!  I wish you’d run to replace Catherine Cortez-Masto in 2022 in the national Senate seat position.  ..   I’d personally campaign for that to happen!!!” – Michelle Murlin
• “You’re being blackballed, treated horrible for an elected official. Shame on them SOBs.” – Jim Petell

QUOTES OF THE DAY

• “Stop growing government.” – Lauren Boebert (R-CO)
• “It’s totally crazy to mask-police people who are fully vaccinated. Once you’re vaccinated and two weeks out, go live your life and be free.” – Ben Shapiro
• “Biden Administration: ‘There is no crisis at the border.’ Reality test: Border Patrol Apprehensions are higher so far this year than in the previous 3 years combined. Unaccompanied minors are crossing at 3 times the rate of last year. Is there a Biden effect?” – Stephen Moore, Committee to Unleash Prosperity
• “Fauci just admitted to @SteveScalise that Biden’s border facilities do not meet CDC guidelines for social distancing and masking. Where’s all the outrage from Democrats? They sure seem silent about migrant children now that their guy is in the White House.” – Madison Cawthorn (R-NC)
• “You have to look long and hard in history to find a Republican that voted for a Jim Crow law. In my state, when they passed Jim Crow laws at the turn of the last century, these despicable laws were passed entirely by Democrats. Every Republican voted no.” – Rand Paul

Annie Black is the Nevada State Assemblywoman representing District 19.  You can get more information and subscribe to her AnnieGram newsletter by visiting www.AnnieBlack.net