PFT Survey

== Update==
Mark Rauterkus did not get the endorsement of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers in 2001, nor 2006. 
==Cover Memo==
Mark Rauterkus, candidate for Pittsburgh's city council, district 3<BR>
Elect.Rauterkus.com<BR>
108 South 12th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203-1226 USA
Party registration: Libertarian
Official Election Committee Name: Mark @ Rauterkus.com
Voice: 412 298 3432 -- Email: Mark@Rauterkus.com
To the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers:
Without a doubt, I want to earn your endorsement for the city council seat in the special election on March 14, 2006. Furthermore, it is my strong belief that the PFT should endorse me at this time because I am the best candidate in the race, if not in the state, when it comes to being a sincere, dedicate and devoted advocate for teachers, public schools, families and students.
I've presented at the PPS Board Meetings. I've been engaged in our schools, as a parent and with a larger, regional view. Some of those notes are attached. 
I care more about our kids than anything else, other than the concepts of freedom as put forth by our founding fathers, i.e., with liberty and justice for all. And these two prime concerns of mine, (our children and our freedom), are woven into each other and into my purpose as a councilmember.
This is the time to get your endorsement because this is an open seat race, because I've been so visible with these issues, because I'm such a supporter of all the areas you care about, and because Pittsburgh's ninth member of city council needs to have different values and perspectives if we are ever to thrive again. I value what you do and I will make a great councilmember. And, with your endorsement, I think I'll win the seat. 
This race is very splintered. None of the others have kids in public schools. None of the others wants to lead the Youth Policy and Citiparks committee as chairman. None of the others have tech experiences, yet alone a wife with a PhD that does so much for learning at Pitt and with the health and educational professions. And, I'm a coach who has much to offer given my background and activities from around the nation and region.
With your support, I would make a few moves that would go back directly to your members and impact upon the political landscape of our city. Every city school teacher, with your help, will get a copy of my campaign CD. This CD has music, messages, open-source software, Project Gutenberg etexts and other archived materials from my collection to educate the voters, your members and the citizens. I've got powerful content with the Platform.For-Pgh.or wiki, our concept maps, and a pending book, called PLANKS. This book, PLANKS sums up our plan and vision, and it needs a boost from you to reach a wider audience and then resonate with the daily newspapers. 
I hope your endorsement comes to me, the swim coach candidate. 
==PFT Political Action Questionnaire==
: Instructions: Only respond to questions that are applicable to the position for which you are running. 
===1. Do you support the right of public employees, specifically teachers, to organize and bargain?===
YES.
My dad, sister, uncle, cousins and wife, plus myself for a brief time in the past, have been teachers in Pittsburgh. I am pat of a big teaching family.
:More notes not on the survey. When I was a swim coach at Fox Chapel High School, I was a member of the teachers union bargain body. My wife, while she works with many school district workers, is not a PFT member, but my dad is a retired teacher who worked some 30 years as a PPS teacher. My grandfather, a Ph.D., was a teacher of music and began the Duquesne University School of Music.
=== 2. The PFT believes that public dollars should be spent on public schools. do you oppose vouchers or any other legislative attempt to divert public monies to religious and private schools? ===
YES.
Private schools are great, but they should work only with private funding.
=== 3. Do you support the property tax as part of the continuing combinations of taxes that are essential to support public education?===
YES.
I am a "Geo - Libertarian" -- So, I feel that it is best to tax the land.
=== 4. The PFT supports a balance between local property tax and local wage taxes as the primary local tax source for supporting public education and opposes exemptions for businesses and corporations. Would you oppose legislation that reduces the responsibility of businesses and property owners? ===
YES.
Many times -- and perhaps more than anyone in Allegheny County -- I've said "NO" to TIFs. All TIFs (tax breaks to corporations) should end.
=== 5. The PFT supports the position that democratically elected officials have a responsibility to make decisions regarding taxes. ===
=== 5a. What is your position on local referenda to raise school district taxes? ===
OPPOSE.
I agree with the PFT. School Directors can study and come to know the real issues better than the masses of voters in a popular vote.
=== 5b. What is your position on referenda in general as opposed to maintaining the power of elected legislative bodies to oversee public policy? ===
SUPPORT & MIDDLE. We must do better with democracy.
I agree with the PFT stance, but there are dozens of ways when voter engagement can be better utilized in our democracy. We need more referenda, for example, with authority board member retention votes. 
=== 6. In cases where a School board is democratically elected, the PFT believes that the School District should be autonomous. Do you support the current system of School district autonomy? ===
YES.
I stood against the plan to appoint board members. I am against all types of "overlords." We need self-determination and autonomy, not bailouts from others. We must break the begging mentality.
=== 7. Would you support legislation that would provide alternative placements and/or schools for chronically disruptive students and the necessary funding for such programs?===
YES.
Kids that can't function in a typical school setting must be removed so others can thrive. And we can't shift trouble from school to school in mid-semester. 
=== 8. The PFT opposes the corporate take over of public schools. Would you oppose legislation that allows for profit companies to take over public schools? ===
YES. 
Public schools have to work. I have always been for strong public operations of public duties and against corporate controls where it makes no sense.
=== 9. The PFT opposes Act 46, which eliminates crucial provisions of collective bargaining for teachers and other school employees in Philadelphia. Will you support amendments to restore those collective bargaining provisions? ===
PHILLY QUESTION. 
NA for Pittsburgh.
=== 10. Would you support the funding of legislation that provides adequate computers and computer software for students? ===
YES.
I called for and will organize the Youth Technology Summit (P-G business coverage.) But, software needs to be of the open source code model -- free, cheaper, better, customized, and many long-term benefits. Open source matters. This move sets a new standard for tech literacy that our kids need to compete globally.
I'll put P.C.s (personal computers) into Recreation Centers, again.
==Links==
* Education
* Planks about Education from Mark Rauterkus
* Schools