Unallotment

As Obama's head thug Rahm Emmanuel would say "don't let a crisis go to waste."
The DFL in Minnesota is screaming about Pawlenty and his balancing the budget through unallotment, after they dropped and punted the ball because in 4 plus months they could not get a budget together and they knew it. So they try to slam one through and "oh no" Pawlenty slams them. Anyone of them including, DFLer David Bly 25B, will not, emphatically not, take any responsibility for this mess we are in and continues to blame all our budget woes on anyone and anything they can.
We had a 6 Billion dollar surplus not to many years ago and it seems to have evaporated. Why? Democrats love their "special interests" and funding them with taxpayer dollars. The heck with essential services and making sure our tax dollars go to them. Lets build ice arenas, dog parks, bike trails, fund the Xcel Centers debt!!
And the biggie is Education. Any type of education, even if it does not work!!
Or is marginal at best! Just throw momey at it !! Threaten doom and gloom if we do not get what we want!!
I found this tonight @ True North and found it most enlightening!

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) (Current: $51,850,000, Governor: $44,745,000, EdWatch: $0) - EdWatch reports that ECFE, "according to the Legislative Auditor, shows no evidence of developmental gains for children and only some increase in parental feelings of effectiveness."

Head Start (Current: $40,200,000, Governor: $40,200,000, EdWatch: $0) - This program is widely assumed to be effective, but EdWatch claims that "More than 600 studies show the lack of effectiveness of this program, there are several studies showing emotional harm to participants, and Minnesota already received $189.5 million in federal funds over the last two federal fiscal years for this."

International Baccalaureate (IB) - EdWatch would cut $2.7 million for IB tests and programs. It has long maintained that Advanced Placement (AP) programs are "locally controlled, prepare students better for college, comport with MN academic standards, and are far less expensive." In fact, some school districts have passed in adding IB course in favor of AP for these same reasons.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment and Intervention Program (Current: $573,000, Governor: $574,000, EdWatch: $0) - According to EdWatch, this assessment "uses very vague and subjective criteria based on very vague, subjective, and politically correct outcomes, The Early Childhood Indicators of Progress. This ridiculous assessment gives fuel to the Nanny State falsely claiming that 50% of Minnesota children are not ready for kindergarten."

The EdWatch recommendations include a total of eight education items and eight health and human services items that are education-related. Governor Pawlenty and Education Commissioner Alice Seagren should seriously consider these proposed cuts as they work through unalottment.