Disspelling the Myth of Gun Control Laws

Blogger Brian Dey talks about the disconnect between tough gun laws and low crime rates through the lens of the Chicago Police Department.

Racine Unified Candidate Offers Alternative Redistricting Plan

Brian Dey wants residents to take a serious look at his proposal and then express their opinions during public comments at Thursday's Board of Education meeting. He has updated his plan from an earlier version.

Brian Dey wants Racine Unified community members to consider and provide feedback on his alternative redistricting plan before they express themselves at the Board of Education meeting on Thursday. He emailed a copy of his plan to all current board members, some members of district administration and to various media outlets, including Patch. And he is especially interested in how his fellow residents compare his plan to the district plan presented at Goodland Elementary and at Wind Point Elementary last month. A candidate for the school board, Dey crafted and distributed a plan earlier this year, but came to believe it was too ambitious. He revamped his idea a bit and broke it into two phases to go into effect over the course of two …

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jt

7:13 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012

i actually agree with brian on this issue. neighborhood schools should be the norm if you want parents to get more involved. the whole bussing issue is costly and has proven itself a failure for many years.   more ›

Teachers' Union Official: We Were Communicating, Not Campaigning

Brian Dey, who is running for a seat on the Racine Unified School Board, said he's disappointed that teachers passed out postcards endorsing three incumbents on school property while school was in session.

UPDATE: Jack Bernfeld, executive director for the REA-REAA, said palm cards  were distributed to their union members prior to the work day starting on Monday. Students weren't in school on Monday because it was a staff development day. The cards reminded people to vote and listed the three incumbents names, which the REA Political Action Committee endorses. "We weren’t doing this during work time and we communicate with our members in a variety of ways," he said. "I’m not aware of anything happening on Friday. I’m not sure if individuals were doing it, or if there was something else going on, but we were not as an organizations in the schools on Friday." Bernfeld said they did the same thing in 2005 when they endorsed Dey. ORIGINAL STORY: …

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Brian Dey

7:47 am on Monday, February 27, 2012

Update: I have sought the opinion of the GAB and I am currently in talks with the district's attorney. Teacher's campaigning during work hours is similar to Walker's aides campaigning during work hours, especially since this campaigning was done on behalf of incumbent school board members.   more ›

Speak Up Caledonia

You Can’t Fix Stupid

Blogger, Brian Dey, says he's still critical of the Racine Unified School District.

Famous phrase from comedian Ron White and how it applies to the movement for Caledonia to start its own school district. With all the problems facing Racine Unified School District, the past week put an exclamation point to the Ron White one-liner, “You can’t fix stupid!”  I have been an outspoken critic of Unified since 2001, first as the state educational liaison for Citizens for a Sound Economy, a national organization started by former Senate Majority Leader Dick Armey, as founder of Just Cause Wisconsin, as an RUSD Board of Education member, and as leader of the movement to start a new school district in Caledonia.  All well and good, but the real reason I became involved is that I have been a parent of four children in Unified since …

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Brian Dey

5:25 pm on Monday, June 13, 2011

Right now, only the state budget, the City of Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay have a larger budget than RUSD.   more ›

Speak Up Caledonia

An Open Letter to Dr. Shaw and the RUSD Board of Education

This is Part 1 in a series of open letters to our leaders to encourage debate on how we, the public, can regain trust at the local, state and national levels.

Dear RUSD Leaders: The biggest problem you face is not whether or not you need new facilities or more revenue.  The biggest issue before you is summed up in one question; “How do you regain public trust?”  The answer isn’t simple, but without trust, any plans or ideas to better educate our children will fail.  The colossal failure of the referendum questions was a message from your employers that the status quo is unacceptable and the time is now to right the ship. In Caledonia, a vast majority has been unhappy for some time, and has even launched attempts to leave the district and start our own school district.  Others have decided, individually, to send their children to other districts or private schools.  Approximately half of our …

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Speak Up Caledonia

Elections are Tuesday: My Endorsements

Brian Dey lays out his argument for his voting choices.

These endorsements are solely my own and do not reflect the views of Caledonia Patch or AOL. This election cycle is not your typical spring election.  No matter what your views are, it has never been more important to vote in a spring election.  Locally, we will be voting for a new County Executive, a new Trustee, School Board candidates, three referendum questions and a Supreme Court Judge.  All of these positions could determine how your taxes are affected.  I will never pretend to have all the answers, nor will I ever tell anyone who to vote for.  I present these as who I will be voting for and my reasoning for doing so. County Executive:  Jim Ladwig has been an exceptional steward of the taxpayer’s dollar as the county’s Register of …

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Speak Up Caledonia

Is This Really What Democracy Looks Like?

Brian Dey says, democracy does not ensure happiness, it ensures the pursuit of happiness.

“Government isn’t the solution to our problems, government is the problem.” – Ronald Reagan If you reversed the meaning of Ronald Reagan’s famous quote to read, “Government is the solution to our problems, government isn’t the problem”, you would probably think you were reading a communist manifesto.  The strange reality is this is exactly how the left believes.   The evidence is all around us and has been for a long time. Since the inauguration of President Barrack Hussein Obama, government has done things unthinkable of our founding fathers.  From nationalizing health care to bailing out private business, this administration actually believes that government has all the answers.  They believe that the private citizen is incapable of …

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Speak Up Caledonia

Dems On the Run

Check the Union Label

As the union imposed exile of 14 Wisconsin State Senators enters its fourth week, it’s time to ask the most fundamental question: what compromise are they seeking and what is their solution to the Doyle driven budget mess?  Maybe that is a better question to ask Richard Trumpka, or the Democratic National Committee. Recently the Journal Sentinel obtained emails from Governor Scott Walker to the Democrat Senators, as recently as today, offered a compromise allowing unions collective bargaining on wages with no limits.  That is a major reversal from the original proposal, and was the main theme of the boots on the ground (public employees) at the rallies in Madison.  So what is this really about?  It must be about the give-backs on pension …

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Speak Up Caledonia

State Senators Motivation for Fleeing Revealed in Secret Emails

Are they just staying away so the unions can get their contracts signed?

The real motivation for the 14 Democratic State Senators may just have been revealed by secret emails between Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller and the Democratic Mayor of Madison, Dave Cieslewicz on February 15, 2011, just days before the Wisconsin Emergency Budget Repair bill was scheduled for a vote. Investigative Reporter, Bryan Polcyn, of FOX 6 News, revealed emails from Cieslewica, who asked if Miller could talk to Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette to see if the bill could be delayed by going to the senate floor for a vote so that union contracts could be done prior to passage.  LaFollette was reluctant to delay the bill for more than a day or two in his response.  A staffer for Miller then wanted to know if there were other …

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Brian Dey

8:02 am on Sunday, March 6, 2011

Again Jay, I ask, then where do you propose to take the money from? If 80% comes from employee cost, where in the remaining 20% would you cut the budget? Let us put one falacy to rest, this is not ALL on the backs of the union. These cuts go from the municipal street sweeper to the Governor himself. You mention how some of these items were negotiated and the unions pushed hard for what they …   more ›