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Paul Brandon

Paul Brandon's picture
Mankato, MN
Commenter for
5 years 18 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 08/23/10 at 09:22 am in response to Still fact-checking: Emmer misspoke on Minneapolis dropout rate

And the next step would be to compare these numbers with other demographically similar school districts over the same period.
I suspect that we'd look a lot better than Denver, for instance.

Posted on 08/23/10 at 09:38 am in response to No one test can measure student ability or teacher effectiveness

Actually, NCLB has MANY categories of Federal ('Title') aid in it, so virtually every school district can come under it unless it chooses not to accept Federal aid for special populations of any sort.

Posted on 08/22/10 at 09:42 pm in response to GOP candidate Tom's Emmer first TV ad -- warm and fuzzy -- emphasizes jobs ... of his kids

Well, at least fuzzy.

Posted on 08/24/10 at 09:55 am in response to Still fact checking: Would Dayton's tax-the-rich proposal double the top rate?

A slight aside:
One of the anti Dayton ads mentions 'the Democratic Mayor of Washington D.C.' as criticizing Dayton as a Senator.
I assume that that was Marion Barry.
So, was that before or after Barry's cocaine conviction? Appears the abusers stick together ;-).

Posted on 08/20/10 at 09:18 am in response to Still fact checking: Would Dayton's tax-the-rich proposal double the top rate?

The real point is not rates, but actual payments. Because of various loopholes, the 'rich' may have a higher marginal rate but still pay less in terms of actual proportion of income.
Same thing with corporate taxes -- the marginal rates are high, but the actual payments by corporations are much lower. There were years when GM actually received tax rebates!

Posted on 08/20/10 at 10:06 am in response to Investors target Target over Emmer donations

While I don't like the whole idea of corporate contributions to politicians, it has just become constitutional.
What I fail to see is what's unusual about Target in this case.
A business made a (modest as such things go) contribution to a 'pro-business' Republican who has espoused (allusion intended) the GOP party line on the definition of marriage.
So what's new? Emmer is no more homophobic that most Republicans; probably less than many.
The cuts in public services...

Posted on 08/22/10 at 02:09 pm in response to Belated factcheck: Yes, on a properly adjusted basis, education funding did decline during the Pawlenty years

In fact, private schools not only do not educate special needs children, they send them to the public schools for that service.
They can also expel any student who is hard to teach and let the public schools worry about them.
Education is cheap when you cherry pick your students.

Posted on 08/19/10 at 06:59 pm in response to Belated factcheck: Yes, on a properly adjusted basis, education funding did decline during the Pawlenty years

Mohammed--
You'd also have to look at demographics.
What are the special needs populations, school lunch aid eligible populations, etc., in Hennepin and Ramsey counties (funding goes to school districts, not municipalities) compared to the suburban ring?

Posted on 08/19/10 at 06:55 pm in response to Belated factcheck: Yes, on a properly adjusted basis, education funding did decline during the Pawlenty years

I know that in higher education the Minnesota State University system has been described as going from state supported to state assisted to state located.
When I started out at MSU,M 40+ years ago, the state paid about two thirds of a student's tuition. When I retired two years ago it was down to about one quarter. The difference was made up primarily in tuition, although there has been some attempt to bring in outside funding.

Posted on 08/19/10 at 11:19 am in response to Belated factcheck: Yes, on a properly adjusted basis, education funding did decline during the Pawlenty years

The 'shift' is a real problem.
School districts can't simply delay paying their bills for six months.
Those lucky enough to have cash reserves will lose interest payments; those who have to borrow to stay solvent will incur interest costs. The State does not pay back interest -- basically it's giving itself an interest-free loan from school districts.
And no, school districts cannot simply cut costs at the last minute -- many of their costs are fixed (buildings must be lit...