A bid for Ohio votes

[razors edge]

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061030/OPINION02/61029048

Coming as it did just two weeks before Ohioans go to the polls, the announcement of a forthcoming federal grant of $1 million or so to Toledo Public Schools for teacher bonuses can’t be viewed as anything but a pre-election ploy.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings glibly denied that the timing of the announcement, which also included funds for Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati teachers, had anything to do with the Nov. 7 election.

Nonsense.

If there is one thing well understood by the Republican majority that controls Congress, the White House, and the entire federal bureaucracy, it’s political timing. And, despite a spring timetable for application for the grants, it wouldn’t take clairvoyance by congressional leaders to plan last year for a program to hand out money just before crucial mid-term elections in a key state like Ohio.

Can you say vote buying?

[saltpoint]

1. From what I'm hearing on DU and other blogs, a handful of

GOP dog biscuits tossed to Toledo teachers isn't going to close the gap between Strickland and Blackwell or between Brown and DeWine.

Don't know the local scene around Toledo, but statewide, it doesn't seem to me that it's going to have much impact.

[razors edge]

2. You be right on that

just a shame the teachers gotta wait till their desperate to get some kind of pay for the job.

Sick in a way, they think that the teachers don't see through this shit.

[saltpoint]

3. Very good point on teacher pay.

Many times I remember the good teachers I had in school. They were some very exceptional people.