Nice post. It's important to have the integrity that compels us to fight ignorance regardless of the target or the slime-slinger.
I had read that Palin didn't actually cut funding, but re-allocated it. It's important to note that the spending of the $73K is for year 2011. I think that may be the reason this accusation was started.
Education Week: Alaska Legislation Overhaul
Gov. Sarah Palin and state lawmakers have gone ahead with an overhaul of Alaska’s school funding system that supporters predict will provide much-needed financial help to rural schools and those serving students with disabilities.
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A second part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.
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Bill Bjork, the president of the Alaska state affiliate of the National Education Association, said that he was pleased with those changes, but that the plan, and the increase in per-pupil spending, “doesn’t do enough, soon enough,” particularly given the state’s strong oil revenues.
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She didn't demand books be banned. She asked the librarian how she could go about banning them... and she did fire the librarian, but changed her mind after public outcry.
NY Times
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On creation in schools, as far as I can find, she hasn't pushed to teach creationism in schools. But she did express her opinion that it should be. Just not exclusively. She said she thinks creationism should be taught "alongside evolution", which I strongly disagree with. (I wouldn't mind creation taught as a philosophy, but I don't think it should be presented as a viable alternative to evolution in science class. Bet this isn't about what I think.
) Alaska Daily News
The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor's race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms.
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The teaching of creationism, which relies on the biblical account of the creation of life, has been ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court as an unconstitutional injection of religion into public education.
[edit on 12-9-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]
