Butler forms education committee
Thursday, April 28, 2005 1:53 PM PDT
Larry Meyer Argus Observer
SALEM
Oregon State Rep. Tom Butler, R-Ontario, put together a committee of lawmakers and educators Tuesday to work toward a funding formula for K-12 education.
Butler said the panel, which was to begin meeting Tuesday, would continue its discussion over the next week.
In a telephone interview Tuesday morning, Butler, who chairs the Oregon House Revenue Committee, said the panel's focus would be on House Bill 3460, of which he is a co-sponsor. He said the bill, if approved, would provide 50 percent of the personal income taxes to the state school fund beginning with the 2007-2009 biennium.
"It changes the whole debate (on school funding)," Butler said. "Personal income tax has the best elasticity - the best propensity for growth."
His working group will include House and Senate lawmakers and representatives of school boards and administrator organizations, plus a representative from Oregon Education Association, the major teacher labor organization. Helping facilitate the discussion is a member of League of Oregon Cities.
The bill provides for annual 4 percent growth in the school appropriation, or 8 percent for the biennium and directs the Legislature to distribute any amount more than the 8 percent growth to the Successful Schools Fund and the Kindergarten through Grade 12 Stabilization Account. The Successful Schools Funds would provide money through grants to school districts to improve student achievement in low-performing schools and for innovated projects, according to a summary explanation of the bill.
Turning to labor issues, Butler said, he was supportive of a bill passed by the House giving farm workers the right to organize.
"I feel pretty strongly about this," Butler said. "Farmworkers have the right to organize," he said, but it is not always known.
"They have not gotten out in mass to organize," he said.
The bill is also designed to protect Oregon against secondary and third level boycotts, he said, which have been against Oregon products. The bill is sponsored by the Oregon Farm Bureau. "I'm surprised organize labor is saying they are opposed," Butler said.
Cody W. Ables wrote on May 16, 2008 11:04 PM:
Here is something that we should all read. This is a letter from an angry woman in New Jersey regarding the War in Iraq and all of the war’s negative publicity. Pay attention.
'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?
Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .
I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.
Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!
If you don't agree, then by all means quit reading. Should you choose to do so, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:
'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan
I have another quote that I would like to add
'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by.. Ronald Reagan
One last thought for the day:
In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
Important for us all!!!!
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!’
I hope you take this woman’s viewpoint into consideration. It closely parallels my own. As I begin my journey in becoming a soldier of the greatest country in the world, hearing this woman’s words sets my heart at ease. It is warming to know that there are people in this great country who still care about those men and women who have no choice.
Cody W. Ables
U.S. Air Force Academy 2012
"