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livinincali.
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April 3, 2014 at 11:03 PM #21033April 3, 2014 at 11:47 PM #772440
CA renter
ParticipantWhen they say money should go “to the classrooms,” exactly what do they think they are advocating for? More of the iPad debacle? Additional changes to the curriculum (VERY expensive, with no proof that there are any benefits at all)?
If they want smaller class sizes, which I think is a good idea, that results in more teachers. Naturally, payroll goes up as a result. Do they want to blame the unions for that, too?
As for the step increases, where pay goes up by a very small amount based on number of years of service, they need that to keep experienced teachers in the classroom. There is no way for teachers to move up unless they leave the classroom, so step increases are used to try to keep experienced teachers where they are needed — in the classroom. The teaching profession already has one of the highest attrition rates around, so they have to do whatever they can to keep people from leaving.
Sorry, but the UT has no credibility, whatsoever, where public service and public funding is concerned. Doug Manchester has been one of the biggest recipients of govt largesse. His agenda is to destroy unions so that there is more money left for him and his cronies.
Here is just one of the latest in a long list of transactions where Doug Manchester has benefited at the expense of taxpayers. And I can assure you that he as taken far more from taxpayer than any teacher, firefighter, or cop ever has.
He’s one of the big movers in the privatization movement — those who are NOT taxpayer advocates, but want to create a society where the govt contracts with private corporations that pay their employees peanuts while the well-connected “owners” skim million (or billions) from these often very obscure deals.
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According to documents posted online by the state, the California School Finance Authority board will meet this morning at 11 to vote on a loan “not to exceed $37 million” to an entity called Partnership with Parents, LLC, controlled by Classical Academy, Inc., and the associated Classical Academy High Schools, Inc.
The cash would be raised by issuing debt in the form of so-called Charter School Revenue Bonds, both taxable and tax exempt, according to an agency staff report accompanying today’s item. Underwriter RBC Capital Markets LLC would sell the bonds, expected to be rated BB+, in a limited public offering, the report says.
The estimated $2.28 million annual payment for the life of the bonds, maturing in 2043, would come from a combination of public funds, including “block grant and categorical block grant apportionments,” and “a pledge of the gross revenues of the Schools.”
According to financial information included in the report, in 2012 the Classical Academy, Inc. and Classical Academy High School, Inc. operation got more than $5 million in state appropriation, $2.75 million “in lieu of property taxes,” along with federal revenue of $181,157, other state revenue of $888,786, and local revenue of $469,118.
April 4, 2014 at 12:02 AM #772441ParticipantAnd “Mr. Anti-Tax” has no problem promoting large military expenditures, especially when it involves the development of military installations and related public “investments.” He also has no problem forcing taxpayers to pay for new stadiums, hotels, and other infrastructure, whether or not the local people want it or can afford to pay for it.
After Mr. Manchester bought the newspaper last November, he brought in Mr. Lynch, a radio executive who, like Mr. Manchester, believed that a new stadium for the Chargers was crucial to the city’s future. In an interview soon after the purchase, Mr. Lynch told Mr. Davis the sports pages should advocate for a new stadium and “call out those who don’t as obstructionists.”
A longtime sports columnist, Tim Sullivan, was skeptical. He noted that the previous stadium deal had not worked out well for the city and wrote that if a new stadium was to be erected, due caution was required.
A week ago Friday, he was brought in to the editor’s office and fired. A huge uproar ensued, with posts on Facebook and Twitter and many calls of protest to the newspaper. Mr. Sullivan has since entered negotiations over his departure and would not discuss the specifics of his firing. But in the days after he was let go, he did comment to a local blog on what he believed was behind his dismissal.
“Mr. Lynch appears to be of a mind to make the stadium happen and bulldoze the opposition or even those who raise questions,” Mr. Sullivan told the Sherman Report, a sports media blog…
…The reporters and others have pointed to the frantic level of promotion for various political candidates as over-the-top and damaging to the paper’s credibility. For instance, The U-T presented a wraparound of a sample ballot for the conservative, pro-development candidates it endorsed on the Sunday before the election and again last Tuesday, the day of the election. On Monday, there was a front-page editorial in support of Carl DeMaio, the candidate for mayor that Mr. Manchester supports.
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Lynch, a former radio station owner with a linebacker’s build at age 65, speaks bluntly. He recently wrote to Scott Peters, a Port of San Diego commissioner and Democratic nominee for Congress, demanding to know his position on a shipping contract to unload bananas that could complicate the publisher’s plans for the downtown waterfront redevelopment. He wanted an exit clause.
“Otherwise this will become a major issue in the campaigns and the UT will be forced to lead a campaign to disband the PORT,” he wrote.
April 4, 2014 at 12:06 AM #772442an
ParticipantCAR, first, Doug Manchester didn’t write that. But even if he did, do you think that would be any different than your opposition?
iPad debacle is as bad as the teachers in the rubber room. The iPad debacle is prime example of why giving more money to public school is not the answer. The answer is very simple, I can say it in one word: “voucher”. It’s not that complicated.
April 4, 2014 at 12:10 AM #772443ParticipantBut let’s get back to the nuts-and-bolts of the issue. The #1 expense in education is teacher compensation. (DUH!!!!)
If you want to reduce class sizes, increase the availability of classes at the secondary level and at junior colleges, etc., then the obvious result is higher teacher compensation because they ONLY way to do that is to increase the number of teachers. That’s where the Prop 30 money has gone, and that’s where voters/taxpayers wanted it to go. Again, DUH!
April 4, 2014 at 12:14 AM #772444Participant[quote=CA renter]But let’s get back to the nuts-and-bolts of the issue. The #1 expense in education is teacher compensation. (DUH!!!!)
If you want to reduce class sizes, increase the availability of classes at the secondary level and at junior colleges, etc., then the obvious result is higher teacher compensation because they ONLY way to do that is to increase the number of teachers. Again, DUH![/quote]
I thought the administrative cost is pretty high up there too?FYI, no one say teachers should get paid less. I think great teachers should get paid a lot more while bad teachers should be fired quickly. It’s really not that complicated. Just look at every other private organization for example. The status quo is… bad teachers will get paid just as much as good teachers. Sometimes, a lot more if the good teachers are young and the bad teachers are old. That’s is as ass backward as it gets.
April 4, 2014 at 12:14 AM #772445paramount
ParticipantPart of the solution is school choice/vouchers.
The article mentions how voters are persuaded to vote for taxes.
In California, think about the % of voters who are welfare queens or directly dependent on the govt – basically Obama voters.
As a group they will always vote for more benefits for themselves, and I believe this group far outnumbers true tax payers.
April 4, 2014 at 12:17 AM #772446ParticipantHere’s the salary table for SD Unified’s teachers. Under no circumstances are teachers overpaid.
http://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/94/salaryschedules/teachers.pdf
April 4, 2014 at 12:22 AM #772447Participant[quote=AN]
I thought the administrative cost is pretty high up there too?FYI, no one say teachers should get paid less. I think great teachers should get paid a lot more while bad teachers should be fired quickly. It’s really not that complicated. Just look at every other private organization for example. The status quo is… bad teachers will get paid just as much as good teachers. Sometimes, a lot more if the good teachers are young and the bad teachers are old. That’s is as ass backward as it gets.[/quote]
Administrative costs can be high, but they’re nowhere near as high as teachers’ salaries because there are so many more teachers than administrators in most districts.
And the notion that there are a bunch of “bad” teachers out there is BS. I’ve worked in four different schools and can easily count on one hand the total number of “bad” teachers I’ve seen. Most of the time, a “bad” teacher is labeled that way because they are willing to stand up to parents and administrators instead of eagerly following the newest trends and fads in education (which, BTW, happen to cost taxpayers a tremendous amount of money).
A teacher who’s spent 20 or 30 years in a classroom absolutely knows more about teaching and education that some yuppie know-it-all mother with ZERO teaching experience or education, or the 23 year-old who’s spent one or two years in the classroom before pursuing administrative positions.
April 4, 2014 at 12:34 AM #772448Participant[quote=CA renter]Here’s the salary table for SD Unified’s teachers. Under no circumstances are teachers overpaid.
http://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/94/salaryschedules/teachers.pdf%5B/quote%5D
Under no circumstances? Really? I can name a few teachers I had who shouldn’t be teaching at all, much less getting paid to teach. Not to mention other people I know and their stories about bad teachers. My cousin who had a teacher who told her she’ll amount to nothing. Now, she’s a Standford grad. My wife had a teacher who gave her a B on a paper and when she came to talk to her about why she got the B, the teacher told her that she doesn’t always get an A. No other reason except that. I had one teacher who basically talked to the board the minute class start till the last minute class ends. No one pays attention in class, yet it was super easy to get an A. I can go on, but you get the idea.Then there are great teachers who inspired us to be great. Those teachers should be paid a lot more than they’re currently being paid.
April 4, 2014 at 12:38 AM #772449Participant[quote=CA renter]And the notion that there are a bunch of “bad” teachers out there is BS. I’ve worked in four different schools and can easily count on one hand the total number of “bad” teachers I’ve seen. Most of the time, a “bad” teacher is labeled that way because they are willing to stand up to parents and administrators instead of eagerly following the newest trends and fads in education (which, BTW, happen to cost taxpayers a tremendous amount of money).
A teacher who’s spent 20 or 30 years in a classroom absolutely knows more about teaching and education that some yuppie know-it-all mother with ZERO teaching experience or education, or the 23 year-old who’s spent one or two years in the classroom before pursuing administrative positions.[/quote]Totally and utterly BS. Some of the teachers I stated are quite old (50+), which means they’re at least 10-20+ years of experience. As a student, you know who are the good and the bad teachers. It’s not that hard. The good teachers are those who inspired. The bad teachers are the ones who don’t care or plain old mean or even worse.
BTW, how many years have you been a teacher?
Also, since you say “Mr. Anti-Tax” have no credibility in tax mater because he pushes privatization, do you think all teachers who are part of a union have no credibility when it comes to teachers union mater?
April 4, 2014 at 12:56 AM #772450Participant[quote=CA renter]If you want to reduce class sizes, increase the availability of classes at the secondary level and at junior colleges, etc., then the obvious result is higher teacher compensation because they ONLY way to do that is to increase the number of teachers. That’s where the Prop 30 money has gone, and that’s where voters/taxpayers wanted it to go. Again, DUH![/quote]Think outside the box for just 1 little second and maybe you’ll have an aha moment. To reduce class size, offer a voucher system. There are many private school have a much smaller class size than public school AND charges the parents less than what public school are spending per student. Also, keep in mind these private school do not have the advantage of scale that public school have when it comes to administrative cost and supply cost.
Currently, SDUSD is spending $9,846 per student. A good (not elite) private school cost about $9-10k. With this cost, the class size range for 10-1 to 20-1 teachers to student ratio. This is from K-12 we’re talking about here. So, yeah, if it’s about class size, offer a $9846 yearly voucher to parents and their kids can have class size between 10-20 per teacher depending on grade. Sounds like an easy win IMHO.
April 4, 2014 at 1:18 AM #772452Participant[quote=AN][quote=CA renter]If you want to reduce class sizes, increase the availability of classes at the secondary level and at junior colleges, etc., then the obvious result is higher teacher compensation because they ONLY way to do that is to increase the number of teachers. That’s where the Prop 30 money has gone, and that’s where voters/taxpayers wanted it to go. Again, DUH![/quote]Think outside the box for just 1 little second and maybe you’ll have an aha moment. To reduce class size, offer a voucher system. There are many private school have a much smaller class size than public school AND charges the parents less than what public school are spending per student. Also, keep in mind these private school do not have the advantage of scale that public school have when it comes to administrative cost and supply cost.
Currently, SDUSD is spending $9,846 per student. A good (not elite) private school cost about $9-10k. With this cost, the class size range for 10-1 to 20-1 teachers to student ratio. This is from K-12 we’re talking about here. So, yeah, if it’s about class size, offer a $9846 yearly voucher to parents and their kids can have class size between 10-20 per teacher depending on grade. Sounds like an easy win IMHO.[/quote]
We’ve already discussed vouchers, charter schools, and school choice issues here:
http://piggington.com/ot_how_one_school_district_got_rid_of_the_greedy_teachers_union
…and here:
http://piggington.com/ot_the_radical_gay_agenda_in_california_public_schools?page=4
…and here:
http://piggington.com/44_annual_salary_increase_for_the_next_four_years_for_chicago_te?page=1
Probably more threads out there, but I’m too tired to search for them all right now.
Basically, we’ll have to agree to disagree. Public schools have the best track record for student outcomes at the lowest cost when taking into consideration the students’ SES and demographic backgrounds. Many studies show this while I have yet to see a study showing that vouchers or private charters perform better than public schools *given the same student populations.*
April 4, 2014 at 1:26 AM #772453Participant[quote=AN][quote=CA renter]And the notion that there are a bunch of “bad” teachers out there is BS. I’ve worked in four different schools and can easily count on one hand the total number of “bad” teachers I’ve seen. Most of the time, a “bad” teacher is labeled that way because they are willing to stand up to parents and administrators instead of eagerly following the newest trends and fads in education (which, BTW, happen to cost taxpayers a tremendous amount of money).
A teacher who’s spent 20 or 30 years in a classroom absolutely knows more about teaching and education that some yuppie know-it-all mother with ZERO teaching experience or education, or the 23 year-old who’s spent one or two years in the classroom before pursuing administrative positions.[/quote]Totally and utterly BS. Some of the teachers I stated are quite old (50+), which means they’re at least 10-20+ years of experience. As a student, you know who are the good and the bad teachers. It’s not that hard. The good teachers are those who inspired. The bad teachers are the ones who don’t care or plain old mean or even worse.
BTW, how many years have you been a teacher?
Also, since you say “Mr. Anti-Tax” have no credibility in tax mater because he pushes privatization, do you think all teachers who are part of a union have no credibility when it comes to teachers union mater?[/quote]
Teachers know far more about education than Doug Manchester does. Additionally, they aren’t trying to fool the masses, like Manchester does, by using the “taxpayer advocate” label while trying to push their agenda. I can assure you that most citizens benefit far more from the teachers’ unions than they do from Doug Manchester’s actions.
April 4, 2014 at 1:27 AM #772454Participant[quote=AN]My cousin who had a teacher who told her she’ll amount to nothing. Now, she’s a Standford grad. My wife had a teacher who gave her a B on a paper and when she came to talk to her about why she got the B, the teacher told her that she doesn’t always get an A. No other reason except that.[/quote]
Your cousin remembers that story, too. Not justifying it (not at all), but many people will point to a situation where someone telling them that they couldn’t do something was what pushed them to perform. Perhaps her teacher telling her this pushed her to do better.
Maybe your wife’s teacher was trying to push your wife even further because that teacher saw that your wife was just lucky, intellectually, and was skating because of her natural intelligence…and wanted her to work harder and reach for more (again, NOT justifying it!).
It wouldn’t be the first time a naysayer pushed someone to go beyond what they would have done without this experience.
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