Butch Otter & Education Reform

In April, Otter signed into law 3 anti-education bills.

2 of the bills ended tenure for new teachers, instituted merit pay and removed discussions of workload and class size from contract negotiations for the 12,000 teachers represented by the Idaho Education Association.

The 3rd bill forces districts to equip high schools with mobile computing devices and potentially shifts funds from teacher pay to technology.

Read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/09/idaho-education-reform_n_847048.html

Progressive World

LGBT acceptance is growing in the E.U. and here in America. Here are some snippets:

In Hawaii:

HB 546, was passed by the House at the beginning of March and would prohibit discrimination "on the basis of gender identity and expression as a public-policy matter and specifically with regard to employment."

In California:

A bill that would mean California school history lessons would also include the historical contributions made by LGBTs passed a Senate panel reading this week.

Introduced in December by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the legislation would have history textbooks include information about LGBT-identifying figures and how they have contributed to important historical events. 

Also, Maryland, Connecticut, NY,  Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Rhode Island all have bills in the house protecting LGBT rights.

In the E.U:

Members of the European Parliament voted this week on measures to modernize the way asylum claims are handled, with an emphasis on how asylum claims made on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity are overseen.

 Measures include providing expert advice to asylum officials on sexual orientation and gender identity; protecting claimants' privacy; guaranteeing that physical examinations fully respect human dignity and integrity, for instance in cases involving minors or transgender people; and ensuring that applications by LGBT asylum-seekers are not 'fast-tracked' for removal to their country of origin.

Crazy MT Bills

There are ALOT out there.

1. Legalize hunting with hand-thrown spear (Senate Bill 112)

2. Create fully-armed militia in every town (House Bill 278)

3. Allow legislators to carry weapons in the Capitol (Senate Bill 279)

4. Create an 11 person panel with authority to nullify all federal laws (House Bill 382)

5 Allow guns in schools (House Bill 558)

6. Eliminate educational requirements for persons seeking job of State Superintendent of Schools (HB 154)

7. Lift nuclear ban for purpose of building a nuclear reactor in the Flathead Valley (House Bill 326)

8. Withdraw the United States of America from the United Nations (Senate Joint Resolution 2)

9. Eliminate all state incentives for developing wind power (House Bill 244)

10. Omit Barak Obama’s name from the 2012, ballot because his father was born outside of America (House Bill 205)(this guy was on CNN this week)

11. Compulsory marriage counseling for people seeking a divorce (House Bill 438)

12. Give sheriffs authority over the federal government in terror investigations (Senate Bill 114)

13. Legalize hunting with silencers (House Bill 174)

14. Lift the prohibition on carrying concealed weapons in bars, churches and banks (House Bill 384)

15. Eliminate law that requires landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors (House Bill 354)

16. Require the federal government to prove in court that the National Parks were lawfully aquired. (House Bill 506)

17. Officially designate the “Code of the West” as the “Code of Montana”
(Senate Bill 216)

18. Declare that global warming is good. (House Bill 549)