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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>A friend on a city council in southern Idaho called me late last night to share how . . . dysfunctional the GOP is in his particular county (he’s a GOP precinct committee person, although with the results of the State convention, that may change), and in the course of the conversation, he also brought up the article below and read me the last two paragraphs:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='color:black'>Ali Hinshaw, president of the Sawtooth Middle School Parent-Teacher Association, said she has a solution.<br><br>"We need to get some new people in the Legislature, because right now education is not a priority," Hinshaw said. "They're just a bunch of farmers. And until our kids are more important than cattle, nothing is going to change."</span><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>It’s sad how people, even the president of the PTA, can be so totally oblivious to the obvious -- that the Idaho legislature as a whole (excluding, of course the current Latah County contingent) cares more about livestock and agriculture than about children and education – until their own personal ox has been gored.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I found myself wondering if Ms. Hinshaw understands that if Idaho teabaggers like Gresham Bouma are elected, the future for public education will be infinitely more grim.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Food for thought.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Saundra Lund<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Moscow, ID<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>~ Edmund Burke<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2010 through life plus 70 years, Saundra Lund. Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the author.*****<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Ron Force<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, July 23, 2010 8:53 AM<br><b>To:</b> vision2020@moscow.com<br><b>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] Meridian School Bus Controversy<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:black'>Many parents blame the changes on the Legislature.<br><br>In slashing $128 million from the state's public education budget for 2010-11, lawmakers ordered a 10 percent cut in how much each district is reimbursed for the previous year's busing costs. For Meridian, with more than 35,000 students, that meant $1 million in lost transportation money, plus another $369,744 in lost funding because its per-mile cost last year of $3.68, and per-rider cost of $881 were above the state average of $3.47 and $835.<br><br>District finance director Alex Simpson said each year the state gives a district 85 percent of what it paid for transportation the previous year. So the latest 10 percent cut ordered by lawmakers means Meridian's transportation funding from the state will be 25 percent below what it cost to operate its bus system last year.<br><br>Brad Jensen, director of transportation for the Idaho State Department of Education, said he has been receiving "all kinds of calls" from parents since districts announced major cuts would result in changes.<br>Meridian has had to cut their school bus services and parents are upset. An excerpt from the story in the <i>Statesman:<br><br></i>"A child walking a mile-and-a-half is a long way," Jensen said. "As a parent, I would be concerned, too. But we can't bankrupt the transportation budget. The money is just not in the checkbook."<br><br>Things could get worse. Lawmakers have told districts that continuing high unemployment and stagnant sales tax revenues could mean mid-year holdbacks of up to 5.5 percent.<br><br>Ali Hinshaw, president of the Sawtooth Middle School Parent-Teacher Association, said she has a solution.<br><br>"We need to get some new people in the Legislature, because right now education is not a priority," Hinshaw said. "They're just a bunch of farmers. And until our kids are more important than cattle, nothing is going to change."<br><br>Read more: <a href="http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/22/1275799/meridian-bus-plansspark-ire.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0uWHemxXr" target="_blank">http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/22/1275799/meridian-bus-plansspark-ire.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0uWHemxXr</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>