The Idaho Constitution allows for 30-35 legislative districts, while HJR4 fixes it to just 35. Currently, this issue is being conflated with a push for one senator per county in Idaho; these are separate issues. The short version is HJR4 is an attempt to create a 10 legislative district Ada County and the Legislature is […]
Trump’s executive order will directly affect Boise State University in a punitive manner. Former Boise State President Bob Kustra’s stated goal was to transform Boise State into a “metropolitan research university of distinction” shortly after his 2003 arrival. Transforming Boise State came at the cost of having undergraduate students as their primary customer; this meant […]
A friend of mine, that passed away years ago, believed there were 4 or 5 “P’s” when it came to politics. Four definite “P’s” were power, prestige, profit, and program; I believe these are self-explanatory. My friend’s fifth optional “P” involved a female body part. (I have purposefully left out this fifth “P” word.) I […]
Too often, the Idaho State Board of Education gets it wrong. The Idaho Statesman was recently debating whether the Board should be split to create a separate board of higher education. The Board has a history of trusting university officials blindly; this creates problems with distinguishing the responsibilities necessary to protect minors versus protecting constitutional […]
The Idaho Second Amendment Alliance did ask some interesting and important questions recently of Raul Labrador and Tommy Ahlquist. Lt. Governor Brad Little had a family emergency and could not make the event. Interesting enough is that Raul and Tommy agreed upon all the questions asked them. In other words, there was really no difference […]
A few elections ago, I asked a friend to ask for the salaries of Boise State University people. The hard copy information exists in their library and is available upon request at the front desk. My friend got the run-around and finally when she was presented the information, the University wanted to charge her hundreds […]
The North Carolina Governor, Governor Pat McCrory, is correct. “This is not just North Carolina,” said McCrory, arguing that every university that accepts federal funding is now in the same situation as those in his state. Billions of dollars have been put in jeopardy here. Technically, the Obama Administration’s actions actually affects grade schools through […]
Let’s look at where the federal standards are supposed to be according to the courts first. This should give a basic understanding what is and isn’t allowed. Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion; this is a common fallacy perpetrated in many school systems. This comes from the purposeful misinterpretation of […]
On February 24, 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503).” This effects both high schools and colleges. The Court ruled that the First Amendment applied to […]
Earlier in December, some Yale students signed a petition to repeal the 1st Amendment. It made some embarrassing national buzz. It is ironic since the right to petition is part of the 1st Amendment. In reality, the 1st Amendment is under attack in multiple ways in almost all our public schools and colleges. It is […]
Approximately ten years ago when the Idaho Charter School Commission was formed, a commission member was also an active foundation member of K12, Inc. If that member had resigned from K12, Inc., there would not have been a “conflict of interest.”
Boise State University has a long history of problems with free speech, especially when religious-based content is involved. On September 8, 2015, Boise State University officials sent out a statement regarding the Arbiter, the student newspaper, not accepting an advertisement promoting the “Origin Summit” event.