Stephan:   Here is another story of the Theocratic Right's deleterious effect on social wellness through the medium of its creature the Republican Party. This movement's contempt for facts in general and science in particular quite naturally leads to a contempt for education. Education makes children question the absurdities of fundamentalism. As a result education beyond certain basics is not desirable particularly for girls.  It is another form of social self-mutilation. And let me be very clear here. I think the basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and such need to be taught by people trained to teach, who have also demonstrated competence in their subject area. But by the same token I think there are also subjects which do not require a college degree and where experience and competence may be much more important than a college diploma. My step-son for instance does not have a college degree but went through the English cabinet-making apprentice program and is a master furniture maker. Any student interested in woodworking would be very lucky to have him as a teacher. When one cuts through the polemics and bloviation it becomes clear this bill is really about making it easier for profit making charter schools to hire less competent and cheaper teachers, and to let religious schools get away with not teaching things like basic science in a factual way.