Intercepts
A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions.

Utah’s lieutenant governor hasn’t posted the latest disclosures online yet, but the state media outlets are already reporting the totals spent on Referendum 1, which would create the nation’s first statewide school voucher program.

The National Education Association contribution is $3 million, just as EIA reported exclusively back on August 20. There are additional in-kind contributions, tens of thousands from NEA state affiliates, and help from NEA’s front group, Communities for Quality Education. There is still a week before the election.

The only shocker so far is that Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne and his family have nearly matched NEA’s money on the pro-voucher side. They have contributed $2.7 million, according to published reports.

EIA will have full details in next Monday’s communiqué.

The NEA, with a budget this year of $326 million, pleads poverty:

“We are not afraid of being called names by individuals and organizations that have infinitely more money than we will ever have.” – NEA Secretary-Treasurer Lily Eskelsen.

Today is the campaign finance filing deadline for Utah’s November 6 voucher election. Watch this space for details.

Click here to read:

1) Is Reg Weaver Stalling for Obama?
2) “Dumber Than Dirt” and the Phenomenon of “The Guy”
3) Ohio Union “Framed” Teacher Misconduct Series?
4) Invisible Hand Meets Heavy Hand of Food Police
5) Yet Another Blast from the Past
6) Last Week’s Intercepts
7) Quotes of the Week

Having learned that school district consolidation may not actually save money after all, some Maine citizens started a petition drive to repeal the law. The Maine School Boards Association has already endorsed the campaign.

The petition needs 55,087 signatures to be considered by the legislature. If lawmakers do not repeal the law, the question will go before Maine voters in November 2008.

The Nation eviscerates Al Shanker and Richard Kahlenberg’s Tough Liberal from the left flank.

UPDATE: For the AFTies who wonder if I slept through the Cold War, I have two words… between missions.

The school district in Lebanon, Oregon, can boast of its own anonymous blogger. Writing in Lebanon for Truth and Reconciliation, this person is of a type you can find lambasting school districts, businesses, the New York Times, Michael Moore, President Bush, or any one of a million other targets across our great nation. Why is he/she anonymous? Could be a lot of reasons, or none. Who cares?

Kim Fandiño, president of the Lebanon Education Association, that’s who.

The LTR blog has been particularly critical of Ms. Fandiño and other employees of the district, to the point where, she claims, there is a valid civil case for libel.

“The district attorney told me the appropriate action would to be to ask the school board to subpoena Google for the records to show who the blogger is,” Fandiño said.

Good luck with that. You may find it is more trouble than it is worth.

I don’t know who the LTR blogger is. I don’t know if he libeled anyone. I don’t believe in anonymous blogging, but I think the first anonymous blogger might have been some guy named “Publius.” I would suggest, however, that Ms. Fandiño’s outrage be taken with a very large grain of salt.

My own run-in with her occurred after publishing a blog item on February 7, 2006, about her public records complaint (I incorrectly identified the state as Pennsylvania). In the story, I spelled her name phonetically.

Sixteen months later, Ms. Fandiño posted a reply in the comments section of that blog entry accusing me of a “racial slur” and a public smear. This led to my explanation, her apology, and a strange back-and-forth between her and an anonymous commenter who I believe is actually the LTR blogger.

The disagreement between Ms. Fandiño and me was assuaged with more dialogue and more information, not with a threat of lawsuits and retribution. Perhaps the same approach could work in Lebanon.

I have my theory as to why NEA’s national endorsement for the Democratic presidential nomination is taking so long, but I thought the purpose of it was to avoid separate regional endorsements by state affiliates.

Anyway, the North Carolina Association of Educators endorsed John Edwards on Monday. Fat lot of good it will do him.