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pashdown	Hello all.
pashdown	I imagine I'll have a very small group tonight due to the lack of notice.
pashdown	Gary it seems you're it
gthornock	This looks like a small group, all right.  I do have one question that's somewhat related to the media attention that Utah has been getting lately.  What are your ideas on the right balance between federal, state and local involvement in setting educational priorities and requirements?
pashdown	I think federal should hand out the money and craft guidelines, but not requirements.
pashdown	I think state involvement in curriculum should be avoided.
pashdown	Parents should decide where they want to send their children and educators should be responsible for the curriculum.
pashdown	If parents don't like the curriculum being taught in the school, then I don't think they should send their children there.  They should find a school that they can be happy with.
pashdown	I'm only in favor of tuition tax credits if the entire public school system is fully funded.
pashdown	I think there needs to be more specialization in public schools rather than one size fits all. The current system is extremely stressed trying to handle ESL for refugees and address the needs of native residents.
gthornock	Doesn't federal funding inherently lead to a risk that there will be strings attached?  I'm thinking back to the original Title IX money that was given to universities, and the mandates that were imposed after the fact for any school that had ever received any of that money.
pashdown	That is the struggle.  I know that "limited government" is a bit of a cliche, but I think that I would seek that goal more so than otherwise.
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gthornock	I certainly agree with the idea of specialization in the schools, though.  One size doesn't fit all, and trying to make it fit leads to much of the stresses on the current system.
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pashdown	A couple of teachers have told me that public schools today are not only educational systems, but complete social structures where many kids get their only meal and adults learn English.
pashdown	It is naive to believe that the traditional K-12 system can help everyone.
kerri	How did your Montana trip go?
pashdown	The road trip or the Democratic Rural Caucus trip?
kerri	The Democratic Rural Caucus
pashdown	The highlight of the trip was having dinner with a family of Democrats from Bountiful.  They had some very good perspective on Utah.  The "sessions" they had were of limited usefulness, because it was about the entire Western region and I think Utah is a completely different animal from that.
pashdown	I did have a nice talk with Governor Schweitzer and I also briefly met Governor Dean.
kerri	I think in the last chat session you mentioned you were planning some-upcoming fundraisers? What's happening with that?
pashdown	I have selected a campaign manager, so that is a major hurdle cleared.  Tomorrow we're going to be planning some early fund raising.
kerri	Who have you selected?
pashdown	Initially it will be concentrating on the list of repeat donors.
pashdown	Her name is Carla Wiessi and she lives in Layton.
pashdown	She has run some campaigns in Weber County.  I feel she shares my vision for this campaign and also has the creativity to work outside the normal Utah Democratic style.
pashdown	I should say "Utah Democrat" rather than "Democratic".
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pashdown	Any other questions?
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pashdown	Hello and welcome.
Web783	Hello; thanks for being online tonight
pashdown	You're welcome.  Do you have a question?
Web783	I was wondering what you think about Social Security; is it an issue that you have taken stance on yet?
Web410	Pete, can you give me your position Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and its lack of adequate funding by the federal government?
pashdown	Ok, first the Social Security question.
pashdown	I do not support privatization of Social Security.  I do support the President's other idea of reducing benefits on wealthy receivers, although I'm not sure how they'll measure that.
pashdown	I also support the idea of adjustments for inflation.
pashdown	On IDEA, I think that lack of funding for social programs requires reprioritizing Americans first in our budget.
pashdown	I would much rather see our own citizens taken care of before foreign aid and foreign interventions.
Web783	How do you feel about the constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning?
Web783	Hatch sponsors the current amendment, but do you think that it is either necessary or helpful?
pashdown	Usually I side with the supreme court on their judgements.  However, the issue of private property that was decided today was utterly dismaying to me.
Web410	The State of Utah is general out of compliance with IDEA when it places a child in a private facility and the local school district expects the parents to pickup the differential in cost. How do you expect to gain compiance?
pashdown	IE: I support the Supreme Court's assessment that flag burning is a form of speech.
pashdown	Let me ask you about IDEA.
pashdown	Is the child being put into protective services?
pashdown	Or is it based on disability?
Web410	The child is Asperger Syndrome (high functioing autism)?
pashdown	Ok, I think this fits into what I was saying earlier about specialization in our schools.
pashdown	I think "one size fits all" doesn't work in the public school system anymore.
pashdown	Although from a Federal standpoint, I want to see loosening of control without loss of funds.
pashdown	So if a child requires a specialized school, then I don't think the parents should be expected to pay extra due to fate.
pashdown	I think it is of utmost importance that *all* schools are fully funded.
Web410	The child is covered by an IEP (Individual Education Plan) that allows the student to deviate from some of the normal cirriculum. for instance, he has weak fine motor skills and requires extra time on tests to write down his answers.Other parents of the parents support group to which I belong have less high functioning children. The state of Utah is encouraging them to attend a specialized autism school and is partiallyt willing to fund the tuition with the
pashdown	Ok, I think this fits into what I was saying earlier about specialization in our schools.
pashdown	I think "one size fits all" doesn't work in the public school system anymore.
pashdown	Although from a Federal standpoint, I want to see loosening of control without loss of funds.
pashdown	So if a child requires a specialized school, then I don't think the parents should be expected to pay extra due to fate.
pashdown	I think it is of utmost importance that *all* schools are fully funded.
Web410	The child is covered by an IEP (Individual Education Plan) that allows the student to deviate from some of the normal cirriculum. for instance, he has weak fine motor skills and requires extra time on tests to write down his answers.Other parents of the parents support group to which I belong have less high functioning children. The state of Utah is encouraging them to attend a specialized autism school and is partiallyt willing to fund the tuition with the
pashdown	Education should be a right and not a privilege.  If a child requires special attention, they should be able to receive it.  I realize though that this requires a massive reprioritization of spending.  Yet I believe that it is possible.
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pashdown	Finding solutions for problems is like making exact recipes for dishes.  The chef may not have recipes for every dish, but I think I'm a better chef.
pashdown	My goal right now is to convince Utah of that.
Web410	One of the things that many parents of developmentally disabled children fear is that their child will never be able to find employment following graduation from high school and college. The unemployment rate among the developmentally disabled is currently about 80%. Most employers believe that the only thing that the developmentally disable can do is flip burgers. Ask yourself how often do you see the developmentally disabled employed outside of when you g
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pashdown	Yet, I know that much of autism is treatable with the right education.  I would like to see more funding for autism research, as the rise over the past 50 years is very concerning to me.  I can't say whether it is simply diagnostic, but my hunch is that its environmental.
pashdown	I also think that technology jobs are something that the disabled can be trained in.  Many of my employees telecommute on a regular basis.  If I had a disabled employee, I could see them telecommuting all the time and not having any issue with it.
Web410	In addition the developmentally disabled are usually forced to live on minimum wage. Despite their desire to live independently we are forcing them into group homes which may not work for the particular disability.
pashdown	What do you think is the solution for that?
Web410	Did you employ any disabled individuals in your business?
pashdown	No, but I've never had any apply if I recall correctly.
pashdown	However, as an example, I've had employees that were home bound because of medical reasons, and they were still able, and desired to work via telecommuting.
pashdown	90% of our tech support and sales jobs can be done from home thanks to broadband and "voice over IP".
Web410	Many disabled individuals have specialized skills. Some attempt to pass for "normal" and you might have employed them without knowing that they were disabled. Temple Grandin, Pd.D. is a specialist in the management of animals even though she  suffer from Asperger Syndrome. Se has invented many devices for the control of animals in slaughter houses. What we need is a means to encourage the developmentally disable with higher functioning skills to stay in sch
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Web410	Many Asperger Syndrome individuals and autism individuals are computer geeks. Most function in very logical manners and a strong in math and science. They have problems with inferential knowledge and communication.
pashdown	Probably so.
pashdown	Encouraging any kid to stay in school hinges on whether they feel fulfilled or not.
pashdown	Growing up in Utah, I think I had a great public school experience.
pashdown	I credit my teachers and parents more than I credit the federal government.
Web410	In order for you to win, you need to expand your base, to find the disenfranchised and encourage them to particpate in the electoral process. Utah is changing. You probably attended an all white school. With the differential between the Hispanic and the white polution growth soon we will all need to speak Sapnish.
pashdown	I do need all the support I can find on this.
Web410	Remember Utah is 50th in the nation in per capita educational spending and proud of it.
pashdown	I believe Governor Huntsman has got his heart in the right place on education.  I hope he can pull it off.
pashdown	I have an early morning tomorrow so I'm going to close the chat for tonight.  Thanks for participating and thanks for the good questions and information.
pashdown	I'll be running in the Arts Festival 5K on Saturday morning.  If anyone sees me, be sure to say hello.
gthornock	Thanks for your comments.

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