Steve Yarbrough, Welfare Queen

Teacher Joe Thomas, at his site called Shut Up and Teach, is following a weasly and despicable Arizonan legislator, Steve Yarbrough, who introduces legislation that lines his own pockets.

One thing I'd like to know is more about Yarbrough's connections with the state's State Policy Network organizations, in Arizona being: Goldwater Institute and the Alliance for School Choice.

For background, I keep pushing Frederick Clarkson's must-read article on these nationally connected conservative state policy networks (SPN) in this important article (pdf). Print it out! Use it as reference! Then you can go here to find your very own conservative thinktank pushing conservative education policy in your state.

These state-level conservative think tanks are designed to help conservative legislators introduce bills congruent to their cause.

While it would be nice to see the role these thinktanks play be followed closely by the press corpse, alas, I think that is asking too much these days.

Friends, it appears that our work must include investigating connections with these thinktanks. No one else is doing this.