What's going on, Albuquerque?

Morning Fix - Still Swollen

Ever heard of Sheila's Sweets? Apparently the caramels are beyond. It's here in ABQ, but it's the pride of McCook, Nebraska.
There's something odd in the grammar of this short tale of a trapped cat. But it's interesting nonetheless.
Good thing we've learned our lesson about staying within our budget and using taxpayer dollars to fund non-essentials. Legislators probably got distracted by DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER!
Charter School wrangling ongoing in the State Capital.
More national press for our Guv'ner, this time demonstrating an alliance with "progressive" gun legislation.
Bostonian reviews three New Mexico ski areas at once for Beantown's second best newspaper.
Local employer and cool cable TV Network announces a bunch of new shows.
Lobos Win!

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Comment by Masshole in Fringecrest on February 14, 2013 at 8:28am: It's reggae week on the Fix!

Comment by shotsie on February 14, 2013 at 8:34am: A shoutout to Rep. Mimi Stewart and Sen. Linda Lopez for fighting the good fight against private online schools trying to horn in public education dollars.... (Hanna Skandera is a tool for the privatization of education.)

Also, from my posting about biscochitos, Celina's Biscochitos sells her stuff at Sheila's Sweets, and they are made with lard (very important..). I'll be checking them out this weekend (plus the caramel corn)... Thanks, Steve!

Comment by RunLikeADog on February 14, 2013 at 9:52am: Go Hanna! I'm a tool for allowing multiple pathways for kids to get an education.

Comment by once banned twice shy on February 14, 2013 at 10:20am: Really RLAD? Seriously, you support her funneling money to grifters who care nothing about education, but more about raiding public education money? Great. I have to agree with Shotsie: Hanna is a tool, alright.

Thanks for the hint about a place to get good caramel, Masshole. I love me some caramel.

Comment by RunLikeADog on February 14, 2013 at 12:51pm: OBTS, please provide some shred of proof to you accusation? Are there risks to privatized schooling? Sure, they are the same risks that present themselves in any contractual agreement which can be mitigated through thoughtful execution of the contract. As I have said before, those against the option of offering a privatized school choice are not worried about the failure of the children, but the success of the program.

Comment by shotsie on February 14, 2013 at 1:36pm: RLAD - here's an article from Colorado - http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2011/10/04/25310-analysis-shows-half-...

It takes a while to load.... half the students enrolled drop out within a year, but the online "schools" got to keep the money anyway, and the public schools had to accept the students who wanted to continue their education. (ie, kids who are behind their subject matter adding to the class size). I watched Skandera on Channel 4 this weekend state that she was "data-driven" - but she ignored this very obvious data point that was readily available. She also ignored the advice of the governing board of schools and granted an online school (run by a hack front man for a Jeb Bush run education corporation) to charter status.

So, where's your evidence that online education works? Pony up some real research...

Comment by RunLikeADog on February 14, 2013 at 2:17pm: Shotsie, I'm not the one making the accusations against a program of this scope that has not been implemented in the State yet, so the burden of proof is on the nay Sayers. However, through my consulting services in the tech world, I can tell you that the majority of successful candidates for the full spectrum of jobs in the business and technology industries are coming out of private institutions such as University of Phoenix and such.

I would have to say that if the problems in Colorado did occurs, they were most like due to a poorly written contract, flawed expectations set by the State, and lack of oversight. All things that can be easily remedied.

Why does this threaten you so?

Comment by shotsie on February 14, 2013 at 4:43pm: RLAD:

Okay, I too will give you my anecdotal evidence with for-profit education - I work in the high tech world, and virtually everybody who gets a online degree (CTU is big in online networking instruction) or one from UoP is just getting a piece of paper to show a current/future employer that they have a bachelor's or masters degree - they learn little or nothing that is useful. When I get resumes, I look at the candidates work history and where they got their bachelors - that's it.

As far as public schools go - it's public money, and that money should stay in state, period, under public control. The kids should go to a public school, so they get instruction by experts, and also deal with peers, so they don't turn into feral cats, afraid to deal with the world. And I don't like it when Skandera gives the okay to a school with one NM front man/employee, and the rest goes to some out-of-state corporation, which only cares about the bottom line.