Pennsylvania residents, take note: HB 1307, allegedly designed to help public schools through their "fiscal crisis," would give the state more control over local public school districts -- the state would be able to cancel labor contracts, turn public schools into charter schools, and allow the State Board of Education to take over any district in the state. Trouble is, the "fiscal crisis" didn't just happen -- Gov. Corbett exacerbated it, if he didn't create it, with his draconian budget cuts. And you can see, just as well as I, how "turning public schools into charter schools" can become a patronage trough. And, ah, Philadelphia public schools have been under state control since 2001, and that hasn't worked out for Philly's kids. It's almost like that's the idea. You have to wonder, also, if Gov. Corbett simply wants to accomplish what Gov. Walker's accomplished (i.e., crippling public-sector unions), just by more devious means. Keystone Progress helps you tell Gov. Corbett and your state Reps and Senators to oppose HB 1307.
Meanwhile, the House-passed defense authorization bill also prevents our military from developing any biofuel technology if it's more expensive than existing technology. If that sounds inoffensive, consider that remaining dependent on oil from other countries isn't exactly the smartest defense posture. Consider, also, that biofuel technologies might be more expensive only because they're new and thus too few folks use them, and if the military uses these new technologies, other folks will use them, too, and that will bring the price down for everyone. It's not just me, right, who remembers a time when conservatives always used to tell us to take the long view? Where are those conservatives now? One thing's for damn sure: they're certainly not in Congress. CREDO helps you tell the Republican leadership to drop its plan to hamstring the military from using better fuels. They're Republicans, of course, so they don't care what you think -- until they've got all of us shouting in their ear, that is.
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