What a concept, a Democrat from the “Democratic wing of the Democratic Party!”  Thank you David Englin, for speaking the truth about this piece-o’-crap budget.

Budgets are moral documents that express our values as a Commonwealth and determine whom we lift up and whom we leave out. While the final version of the budget is less bad than the initial House version, I still cannot justify supporting a budget that balances the books on the backs of children and the poor and that includes a fiscally irresponsible shell game with the state pension trust fund.

Thanks to strong, unified, vocal opposition from House Democrats, the final budget is less bad than the budget House Republicans passed Feb. 25. For example, the final budget rejected the Republican plan to take money away from poor students and give it to students who are not poor, and it rejected the Republican plan to redirect federal Medicaid enhancement money from health care for the neediest Virginians to non-health care programs.

However, these concessions do not make up for the fact that the final budget cuts billions of dollars from public education, health care for the poor, public safety, and aid to localities, with no serious attempt to mitigate these cuts with revenue and no serious attempt to give localities the power to mitigate these cuts in their own. Even worse, the final budget still includes a risky, $800-million scheme to divert state contributions from the state pension trust fund, which will put Virginia’s triple-A bond rating at risk and threaten our ability to meet our pension obligations to teachers, fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and state and local employees.

And how about bringing back the estate tax, repeal of which Tim Kaine foolishly signed into law?  Why should we slash services for the neediest Virginians while the top few hundred families (out of millions of residents) get a huge tax break? It’s wrong on every level – economic, political, moral – for Democrats to go along with this, so why are they going along with it?  I call bull****.

UPDATE: And thank you Scott Surovell!

My grandfather always taught me that you either pay less for things now or you pay more for them later. I do not believe these budget “cuts” are cuts. They are simply reductions in funding on going responsibilities that are now being pushed onto the poor, the uneducated, to middle class families and local government who now have to make the tough decisions.

Educating our children, caring for the poor, and keeping our public safe are a core responsibilities of state government. This Budget does not do that. It balances our budgets on the backs of the poor, the sick, the disabled, college students and their families, and the criminal justice system.

And we haven’t done a single thing to resolve this state’s transportation crisis.

Exactly!

UPDATE #2: See the Washington Post and WTVR for more on the state budget passage. The vote in the Senate was 34-6, and in the House 73-23. According to Anita Kumar and Rosalind Helderman, “The breakthrough on the budget came when Senate negotiators agreed to eliminate 60 percent of fees that they had proposed to preserve some programs.”  The result of which, of course, was to harm more vulnerable Virginians. Heckuva job.

This past Thursday, former Assistant Secretary of Education, Diane Ravitch, laid into “charter schools” and “No Child Left Behind” on the Diane Rehm Show. This is a timely and topical subject here in Virginia, as Bob McDonnell’s education agenda relies heavily on the “charter school” concept. In contrast to McDonnell and his ideological approach to education (and everything else, for that matter), Ravitch is essentially nonpartisan – a Ph.D. historian of education and research professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education who served under both President George HW Bush and President Bill Clinton.

Earlier this month, Ravitch came out with a new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, which is being described in glowing terms by reviewers. For instance, Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post writes, “Her credibility with conservatives is exactly why it would be particularly instructive for everyone–whether you have kids in school or not–to read [Ravitch’s book].” I’m looking forward to reading the book, but in the meantime, I listened to Ravitch on the Diane Rehm Show.  I also read this article by Ravitch, “The Big Idea — it’s bad education policy.”  A few key points regarding charter schools and why they’re a really bad idea.

*”Charter schools are no panacea. The nation now has about 5,000 of them, and they vary in quality. Some are excellent, some terrible; most are in between. Most studies have found that charters, on average, are no better than public schools.”

*”On the federal tests, known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, from 2003 to 2009, charters have never outperformed public schools. Nor have black and Latino students in charter schools performed better than their counterparts in public schools.”

*”[C]harter schools have many advantages over public schools...Studies of charters in Boston, New York City and Washington have found that charters, as compared to public schools, have smaller percentages of the students who are generally hardest to educate — those with disabilities and English-language learners. Because the public schools must educate everyone, they end up with disproportionate numbers of the students the charters don’t want.”

*”So we’re left with the knowledge that a dramatic expansion in the number of privately managed schools is not likely to raise student achievement. Meanwhile, public schools will become schools of last resort for the unmotivated, the hardest to teach and those who didn’t win a seat in a charter school. If our goal is to destroy public education in America, this is precisely the right path.”

*”We don’t want schools to compete and try to put the other schools out of business…that’s wrong.”

*”What is, I think, going to be the undoing of the charter sector is the outrageous salaries that some of the charter operators are paying themselves…the rainmakers, the people who make the deals with the politicians…some of them are paying themselves $400,000 a year, $500,000 a year out of public funds…we had one charter school in New York City, where the woman who was running it got a golden parachute of a gift of $700,000… I mean, this is something that in the public sector people would find shocking.”

*”We’re in the process of not only privatizing our schools but deprofessionalizing what should be an honored and esteemed profession.”

*”What’s sad about this…the charter schools started in 1988 with the idea that they would become R&D laboratories to help public schools. Instead, they have been taken over by private entrepreneurs with the idea that this is a great money stream, you can go to the bank with this commitment of the government funds, and then in many places they’re trying to put public schools out of business.”

In sum, reading and listening to Diane Ravitch, it’s obvious why Republicans like Bob McDonnell would be gung-ho on charter schools. The question is, why would anyone else?

UPDATE: Arlington County School Board member Libby Garvey weighs in.

I heard part of the Diane Rehm show and will definitely get the book. Having been a school board member for the past 14 years while NCLB has gone into effect, this is a breath of fresh air. Yes, she may be late, but I think that gives her more credibility to the many people who simply think professional educators don’t know education and aren’t qualified to criticize the privatization movement. It’s been terribly frustrating that the people who are on the front lines of this battle are assumed to be unqualified to comment or assumed to not want the best for our children. And the stakes could not be higher. Our nation’s future depends on the quality of its public education.

I received emails yesterday from both the House and Senate Democratic caucuses, summarizing what they believe to be their successes during the (about-to-conclude) General Assembly session.  Here are the highlights, with my comments in italics.

Senate

*”Senate negotiators are fighting for their version of the budget which protects jobs and services in K-12 education, higher education, public safety, and the healthcare safety net.”

That’s great, but from what I’ve seen so far this morning, there’s not a heckuva lot to celebrate on this front. Unless, of course, you believe that “unprecedented cuts to state spending and core services once thought sacrosanct” and “governmental austerity born of the hardest times since the Great Depression” to be a good thing. I don’t. Nor do I consider the General Assembly’s unwillingness to raise revenues from the wealthiest Virginians, first and foremost by reinstating the Estate Tax, while slashing funding for programs to the most vulnerable Virginians, to be a badge of honor.

*”The Senate Democrats introduced many bills that passed both chambers of the legislature and await Governor McDonnell’s signature, though many worthy bills were defeated by an uncooperative House of Delegates”

If you’re a “glass half full” kind of person, you focus on the first clause in this sentence. If you’re a “glass half empty” type, you focus on the last clause.  Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle, but probably leaning towards the “many worthy bills were defeated” view of things.  On the other hand, the Senate killed many bad bills from the House, such as the infamous “Mark of the Beast” bill and a repeal of Virginia’s one-gun-a-month law.  So, overall, it could have been better but it certainly could have been worse.

*”The Senate defeated numerous bad bills from the House of Delegates including efforts to repeal Virginia’s crime-reducing ‘one hand gun per month’ law, a frivolous bill to prevent forced implantation of microchips, a bill that would have allowed unregulated ‘super guns’, and one that authorized deadly force, instead of proportional force, against any person who sets foot on your property.”

On all these fronts, thank goodness that Democrats control the State Senate to offer a “check and balance” against the right-wing Republican controlled House and governor’s mansion.

*”The Senate Democrats also fought for the best interest of Virginians in several debates. At the beginning of the session, the Senate Democrats told Governor McDonnell they would not approve his Secretary of Commerce and Trade appointee because he served as a paid board member of private corporations, presenting a conflict of interest. Senate Democrats also convinced Governor McDonnell to present his budget recommendations as all other Governors do. The Governor decided that $4.2 billion in budget cuts had to be made and after weeks of pressure he eventually presented his plan to make those cuts. Finally, Senate Democrats raised serious concerns over Governor McDonnell’s proposed charter school arrangement which would have taken power from local school boards and put it in the hands of a group of political appointees. This arrangement would have violated the Virginia Constitution and Senate Democrats worked constructively with the McDonnell administration and education stakeholders to negotiate a constitutional arrangement that satisfied all parties.”

Good work, particularly on the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, although Robert Sledd still ended up with a powerful position advising Bob McDonnell on commerce and trade issues.  And on the charter schools, I’m not sure if all the “serious concerns” I heard raised were really addressed. Still, at least they raised them I guess…

House of Delegates

*”Democrats successfully fought for and passed measures dealing with ethics reform (HB 655, Armstrong, D-Henry; HB 330, Plum, D-Fairfax; HB 814 and HB 816, Abbott, D-Newport News), employment opportunities for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (HB 1099, Sickles, D-Fairfax), expansion of eligibility for certain health care plans (HB 315 and HB 317, McClellan, D-Richmond), education (HB 1172, Phillips, D-Dickenson), and health care coverage for members of the Virginia National Guard (HB 1233, P. Miller, D-Norfolk).”

What amazes me more than anything is that Democrats were able to accomplish anything at all, given the fact that they are badly outnumbered in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.

*”Democrats in the House of Delegates successfully defeated measures that would have restricted citizens’ right to vote, including HB 498 (Lingamfelter, R-Prince William) and SB 302 (Martin, R-Chesterfield). These bills would have placed strict limitations on the types of information needed in order to register and vote. Democrats’ convincing floor speeches led to the defeat of these regressive bills.”

Ditto.

*”Additionally, House Democrats’ united opposition brought attention to and weakened the Crown, Cork and Seal bill, which would have exempted a single company from liability for asbestos-related diseases. While the measure passed with a slim margin in the House of Delegates, it was killed in the Senate. This bill, carried by Delegate Terry Kilgore (R-Scott), was an initiative of the Speaker of the House, Delegate Bill Howell (R-Stafford). Speaker Howell pushed this initiative due to his involvement in the conservative group, the American Legislative Exchange Council, for which the Speaker served as chair last year. ALEC is interested in this legislation because Crown Cork is also a member of the organization and a significant contributor to its members’ political action committees.”

This bill was a disgrace, and Bill Howell should pay the political price if there’s any justice in the world. Thank you to House Democrats for fighting this, and thanks to Senate Democrats for driving a stake through its rotten heart.

*”Several measures were introduced by members of the House Democratic Caucus to create a Bipartisan or Nonpartisan Redistricting Commission including: HB 179 (Morrissey – D, Henrico), HB 323 (Plum – D, Fairfax), HB 638 (Armstrong D – Henry), HB 835 (Carr – D, Richmond), and HJ 113 (Barlow – D, Isle of Wight). These measures were defeated in a pre-dawn subcommittee with a vote split along party lines.”

Voters should remember this one next November, that’s all I have to say right now.

*”Additionally, Democrats in the House of Delegates fought to protect Virginians from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation through several procedures including introduction of bills and amendments, and motions on the floor. Every attempt to protect Virginia’s citizens was defeated by Republican members of the House of Delegates.”

This pretty much sums it up: Democrats fighting against discrimination, Republicans fighting to keep it going. How can anyone be FOR discrimination? Ask House Republicans.

Summary

All in all, this was a rough session, but Democrats can point to a few victories, mostly small. Still, the bottom line is that it’s tough when you’re outnumbered 61-39 in the House of Delegates, when you don’t control the governor’s mansion, when your tiny edge in the State Senate is made even more difficult by the presence of several conservative Democrats, and when the economy’s a mess. Better luck next year?  Or, more likely, after the 2011 elections if and when Democrats (hopefully) make major gains in the House of Delegates? As for 2010, as the saying goes, it was real and it was fun, but it wasn’t real fun.

Former Gov. (and former Attorney General) Gerald Baliles refutes Ken Cuccinelli’s legal reasoning on whether Virginia colleges and universities can protect gay students, professors, etc. from discrimination.

The Attorney General’s opinion, in my judgment, erroneously attempts to place colleges and universities into the same category as “local governments,” and therefore, subject to the Dillon Rule’s requirement of operating only within specific enumerated grants of power from the General Assembly.

For years – decades, even –public colleges and universities have operated pursuant to their “own charters.” In the Educational Institutions title of the Virginia Code, the specific statutes creating the Commonwealth’s public colleges and universities, and amended over the years, including recent restructuring legislation, grant very broad powers to presidents and boards of visitors to “make all needful rules and regulations” concerning their operations and to “generally direct the affairs of their institutions.” Thus, unless the General Assembly affirmatively revokes such powers, Virginia’s public colleges and universities may continue to engage in adopting rules and regulations necessary to their operations, including standards of conduct.

In short, we have an Attorney General who, aside from being a raging homophobe, is also ignorant of Virginia law. Great combination, huh?

h/t: Rosalind Helderman at the Virginia Politics Blog

UPDATE #1: The Alexandria City Council weighs in.

UPDATE #2: Cuccinelli makes a couple of claims that are almost certainly not true. First, Cooch that nobody disagrees with his legal reasoning. On this point, see Baliles’ opinion above. Second, Cooch repeatedly claims that his office was just answering a question, and that there’s no political motivation or anything else in this. The problem is, at least as far as I know, Cooch’s office hasn’t provided any evidence that it received a request on this subject.  If so, I’d love to hear who made that “request,” but barring any evidence, my assumption is that Cooch undertook all this on his own initiative.