Shades of Blue: Should I Vote for the Democrat or the Republican?
Article in the Nogales International
August, 2006
Lance Hoopes
In our two-party political system, that’s the basic question, isn’t it? I could list a hundred or more reasons why I believe everyone should vote for a Democrat in the next and all subsequent elections. In this brief column, though, I’d like to focus on just one issue where the two parties have vastly different philosophies and beliefs: education. If you want your children or grandchildren to have the best possible education throughout the United States and especially in Arizona, then it is absolutely imperative that you elect Democrats to the Arizona state House of Representatives, Senate and Governor’s office. The same applies to all national offices as well. Here’s why:
As a former Arizona teacher for 20 years and a school administrator for 10, I know that our state has always been in the bottom five states in school funding and has most often been dead last. In all that time we have had a legislature dominated by the Republican party whose overarching effort has been to under-fund schools to the point where they become ineffective, allowing parents in the upper income brackets to receive vouchers for private schools. The Republican Party is the party of big business and the wealthy. They appear willing to do whatever is necessary to secure benefits for themselves at the expense of those lower on the income scale.
Vote for Democratic Party candidates if you care about education in Arizona and the United States. We believe that every child deserves the best possible public education. Public schools require teachers to be certified; many private schools do not.
We believe that your tax money should go to fund things that are important in your life, and education is one area that is desperately in need of funding. Adequately funding education would help solve such problems as: out of date or too few textbooks, large class sizes, experienced teachers moving to other states to support their families, outdated or obsolete classroom equipment, and the need for parent-teacher organizations to fund classroom supplies for teachers.
Please join me and act now to elect politicians who will fight for the rights of our children and provide a fully funded public school system. Our children are our future! Vote for the Democrat of your choice in the next election and let’s turn our state blue in 2006.
