Why the Rapid Deterioration?
New Mexico’s budget situation has gone theatrical while a key question remains unasked. Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Richardson, not content to fiddle while Santa Fe burns, left town again. Richardson was in Connecticut chatting up General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeffry Immelt as the pro-tax coalition held a rally. The theater came courtesy of the American Federation of Teachers – New Mexico, one of the two big teacher’s unions in the state, and source of major campaign contributions for Richardson. Around 1,000 people, including “many teachers,” said my Albuquerque Journal, met Thursday, October 8, on the Capitol steps in Santa Fe to pitch not cutting K-12 education. AFT is one of the major groups in the 33-member pro-tax Better Choices New Mexico Coalition. For parents the events had an interesting calculus: My kid’s teacher took the day off to go to Santa Fe on a lovely fall day. My kid’s teacher taking the day off meant my kid had a substitute that day, which meant a wasted day for my ki
