tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post2557464349754218456..comments2023-10-24T11:23:31.580-04:00Comments on Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: Teachers Need A Teachable Moment About Their UnionsWilliam A. Jacobsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16433685588536441422noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-53241169849797670832010-05-29T20:50:35.775-04:002010-05-29T20:50:35.775-04:00Has anyone else wondered about the possibility tha...Has anyone else wondered about the possibility that the Obama administration is skimming these monies they are appropriating for one bailout after another? Remember, they only spent half of the first stimulus, and then, despite not spending it, they claimed the money was all gone? No one has demanded a full, transparent accounting of those funds, and we have no idea where that money has gone. They could be skimming off each appropriation and we'd never know about it. It's rather like what Robert Mugabe has done in Zimbabwe, it was exposed he's been diverting the country's money away to private accounts he has in China and elsewhere. This apparently is common practice in countries with corrupt, despotic regimes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-40861686548966018822010-05-29T16:32:28.720-04:002010-05-29T16:32:28.720-04:00Great post and comments.
Related: MaggotatBroad....Great post and comments.<br /><br />Related: MaggotatBroad..., speaking of Chris Christie, everybody remember Rita Wilson, the NJ teacher who complained to him that she deserved 83k a year (and supposedly made nowhere near that amount)? The Wash. Examiner is reporting now that she actually makes... more than 86k a year!<br /><br />A teachable moment is needed, indeed.A.G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04715847289617725350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-32429842146852169712010-05-29T15:08:37.788-04:002010-05-29T15:08:37.788-04:00Bingo. And this doesn't even reach the damage...Bingo. And this doesn't even reach the damage that teachers' unions do to curricula.Moogie Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05665429537064900337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-45801685009227696572010-05-29T14:24:11.609-04:002010-05-29T14:24:11.609-04:00I think Chris Christie may have a viable solution....I think Chris Christie may have a viable solution. Pass a state constitutional amendment limiting property tax increases to 2.5% per year. If the municipalities can't live with that, they have to put the increase in taxes on the ballot and let voters decide if they want more taken out of their hide.<br /><br />His "bottom up" approach smacks of Jeffersonian federalism and it will instill fiscal discipline. The Obama administration's "top down" approach of handing out "Obamamoney" borrowed from China to keep the unions fat, dumb and happy amounts to nothing more than political payoffs to the unions that helped get him elected that is putting us on the road to Greece.<br /><br />Another note about Christie. The teacher's union sent 30,000 union members to the streets of Trenton last week to protest his "radical reform" of education. His radical reform consists of not one dollar of pay cuts, and not one dollar of benefit reductions. His "radical reform" is to freeze pay at current levels and ask teachers to increase the contributions to their Cadillac benefit packages from 0% of their salary to 1.5% of their salary. That's it. No pay cuts, no benefit cuts, simply asking them to contribute a tiny portion of their salary to offset a small portion of the cost of their lavish benefits is what brought them to the streets to protest and make Christie look like the most anti-education governor ever. The sense of entitlement is astounding.<br /><br />Christie delivered a reality based speech, rather than the hopey changey fiction we are used to, at the Manhattan Institute this week laying all this out. This man is a true leader. The speech is on the Manhattan Institute website. If you ahve the time, it's about an hour long, it's well worth viewing.MaggotAtBroad&Wallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04493406951892285654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-44441337755896666362010-05-29T13:02:34.773-04:002010-05-29T13:02:34.773-04:002 weeks ago, the town daily newspaper had an artic...2 weeks ago, the town daily newspaper had an article, also stating, that our wonderful teacher's union had opted out of the "Race to the Top" because they too needed to keep all the tenured dead wood and "boot to the neck" on the taxpayers.<br />Here is a shining example of Milford's finest tenured teachers. My son's 3rd grade teacher was retiring at the end of that school year in June. He had a wonderful year in terms of his report card and teacher's conferences. I was also the room mother, making sure the teacher had all the extra materials she needed, held all the parties and organized the field trips. So you get the gist, I was around her more than other parents.<br />My son was tested the following Oct of the 4th grade for reading level placement and Mrs. New Teacher informed me that he was reading on a second grade level. The f-ing 3rd grade teacher, never bothered to teach reading or math I found out and also from the other mothers. My son liked math, so he just held his own.<br />I had to pay $35.00 an hour for private tutor for 2 years to make sure he not only caught up but was ahead of the game.<br />My DD has her Master's from Regis and can't find a full time teachers position for 4 years here in MA.<br />The unions refuse to evaluate their own or bring in fresh young energetic, up to date educated teachers. It's a 'who's who' that gets the teachers jobs in MA.<br />I hope their pensions are wrapped up with Bernie.Theresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07956024937374267943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-88615900102789341832010-05-29T12:31:24.566-04:002010-05-29T12:31:24.566-04:00The issue that should be emphasized here is not so...The issue that should be emphasized here is not so much whether school districts may be forced to impose some layoffs as revenues (mainly from local property taxes suppmented by varying levels of state aid). Some districts may very well layoff some teachers; a few may layoff a fair number of teachers. But that's not the fault of Congress for declining to vote to bail them out. It's the fault of teachers' unions that uniformly have refused to negotiate new contracts or modify ongoing contracts that would reflect the declining revenues in the midst of a deep and long recession.<br /><br />We don't need to get into pension obligations or fancy health plans. Most school districts have awarded teachers (and other staff) 2 and 3% across-the-board pay increases (or higher in some cases) per year as deficits loomed and the potential for layoffs with it in the absence of increased state or federal aid. And as the ov erwhelming majority of private-sector workers of all kinds have had to go without py increases or bonuses and face life-altering layoffs en masse anyway.<br /><br />Many dstrict school boards abd superintendents (I was a member of my local school board for a decade so I know this stuff) are loathe to push back against union demands because unhappy teachers usually cause a lot olf trouble. It's far easier to go along. Also, many states prescribe mediation and arbitration processes to resolve contract disputes and boards and superintendnts usually pass the buck to these processes.<br /><br />Wherever a school district has announced potential layoffs, the first thing to look at is what raises did staff get since 2007. I'll bet nearly every such district could have avoided any an all layoffs AND program cuts or class size increases simply by halving the recent raises.<br /><br />It's not easy to do -- but that's what these public officials (board members) are elected ot appointed to do and what superintendents are paid alot of money to do.J. E. Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08682657792334163396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522121129844880066.post-19207647153506063342010-05-29T11:00:12.555-04:002010-05-29T11:00:12.555-04:00I appreciate that you are never afraid to gore the...I appreciate that you are never afraid to gore the sacred cows. This post is no exception. We encountered a similar philosophy during our last budget debate in PWC -- one teacher actually testified that her pay "stimulated the economy" and with the layoffs, she wouldn't be able to continue to get her hair and nails done. The disconnect with these people is staggering. It stopped being about "the children" a looong time ago, and now is about teacher security. Like many taxpayers, I'm fed up and have had enough.Stop shouting...https://www.blogger.com/profile/18364109205720825690noreply@blogger.com