VOTING FOR RADICALS

Your vote matters, and your failure to vote matters. Only forty nine percent of eligible voters voted in the last school board election. Fifty one percent of the votes sat it out and let the radicals take our schools once again. I'm now going to tell you what that means in our schools.

Last night I was at a board meeting that had five radicals that rammed through having "domestic partners" on the school district health plan. What does this mean to you? Well, right now you're paying about a thousand dollars a month for each couple that is insured under the district health plan, which is way over what private companies charge. You are paying this much because the district wants to be self insured so they can do things like wellness plans and actions like accepting domestic partners with no fiscal note and no thought of cost.

These five radicals (one was patched in on the phone so they could get their majority) voted for domestic partners WITHOUT the recommendation of the HEALTH COMMITTEE, WITHOUT the recommendation of the SUPERINTENDENT, WITHOUT the support of the UNION, WITHOUT  a fiscal note determining what this would cost, WITHOUT a legal document determining the definition of what a domestic partner will be determined to be , AND WITHOUT ALLOWING THE FULL BOARD AND THE PUBLIC TO HEAR WHY THE HEALTH COMMITTEE ,WHO HAD RESEARCHED IT FULLY, DID NOT RECOMMEND THIS ACTION. Three trustees just didn't show up. The vote was held at five o'clock and the only notice to the public was BURIED in a news story written the day before the vote. Essentially there was no notice, the vote was held while people were still at work, and once again, like in the sex standards debate, was held in the summer when the radicals think people might be on vacation and not paying attention. This is what happens when you vote for radicals. They believe their ends justify their means and they do not govern with care and common sense.

This vote hurts a lot of people. Let's start with the tax payers. Our state legislature has not recognized domestic partners so there is no legal standing here. The school board is the lowest level of governance and they have taken it upon themselves to recognize domestic partners. There will be no legal  documents determining what partnership is allowed to be paid for under the district plan. One board member mentioned that "maybe" you could determine it by a shared bank account! SERIOUSLY-  all I have to do is deposit a few bucks in a bank account and the district is on the hook for who knows what serious illnesses and long term care? This puts the district plan, and the taxpayers who pay for it, at great risk of increased liabilities. What happens when these costs go up as they inevitably will? Retirees who live on a fixed income and have to pay in full for this terrible plan will be forced to pay more. They already pay about a thousand dollars a month on the premium plan (which they also pay for, for the employees in their taxes) and almost eight hundred dollars for the standard plan which is major medical (does not cover dental,tests,doctor visits etc.).

The school board is there for the students but I do not think they voted for the best interests of the students in this case.. What happens when the health care costs go up? Someone has to pay. First the school board will inevitably go to the taxpayers saying they need more money, can't pay for kids (no mention of their irresponsible behavior). The people who don't pay attention will just think the costs for the students have gone up. The taxpayers will pay for awhile but then that will come to an end. Taxpayers have bills and obligations in their lives too, I'd like to let the radicals on the school board in on  this little secret. So what then? Teachers will not get raises, teachers will have to contribute more for their health care, and teachers may get laid off because the district can't continue meeting the payroll and the cost of benefits.

But lets talk about what is REALLY important, really important to you and to me. Let me put my  heart on my sleeve here, THIS IS GOING TO HURT THE MOST INNOCENT AMONG US, THE CHILDREN.This is not an ad or a political slogan, this is real life. Less teachers means crowded classrooms. Closed schools mean kids can't go to their neighborhood school. But much more than that, what kind of environment are we encouraging and building in our schools? One young lady who testified (NOT a student but had been the founder of the LGBT club on campus, NO STUDENTS TESTIFIED), said teachers talk to students about these things and the district needed to model
FAIRNESS. SERIOUSLY? Teachers are telling students what their living arrangements are? This is what pedophiles do, they tell young children about their private lives and intimacy. DO YOU WANT TEACHERS TALKING TO YOUR YOUNG STUDENTS AND TELLING THEM WHAT THEIR PRIVATE LIVING ARRANGEMENTS ARE? One woman who testified for domestic partners said this was "progressive". I have news for her, this is her values and her opinion, but her opinion has no more weight than anyone else's. This may be how she wants the future to look but it's not how many other people want the future to look. I'd like a future where children are taught modesty, respect and sexual restraint rather than being taught there is no morality, anything goes, and they can just make up their mind when they are ready. We've seen where that philosophy has gotten us- unwed pregnancies and huge dropout rates.

VOTE  in the next school board election . FIND responsible people to run. STOP this travesty before kids get hurt.