Not to nit-pick here...but we have resource officers at the schools to....they make a good clip of $$....we didn't have police at school when I was there what is so dangerous now? and are they needed? (they are a tax too)
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
@bumble, of the cuts I have heard about so far, some are teachers, some are aides. Since it's not mandated by NYS, there will be no art or library programs at Bradt or Pinewood. Those positions are being either moved or cut depending on seniority (LIFO).
@bumble, of the cuts I have heard about so far, some are teachers, some are aides. Since it's not mandated by NYS, there will be no art or library programs at Bradt or Pinewood. Those positions are being either moved or cut depending on seniority (LIFO).
although I am a HUGE READER and grew up in the library or anyplace reading, everything I could get my hands on...libraries no longer need to exist as such....they can be combined with computer class or called media class.....this is where we have moved to....the schools can save alot and we can be very creative in this.....and EVERY class is affected by media in this day in age....let's look ahead 10-15 years and even out to 20......I bet there are companies(Dell/apple/microsoft/GE/chip plant etc) that would love to get involved....of course we live in nys and the regulations are ridiculous as are the pushes by the unions to do "only this only that blah blah blah"....only if they are union friendly etc etc......TIME TO EVOLVE FOLKS.....the locks are almost busted on the chests of knowledge that have been held captive in Davey Jone's locker.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
@senders, I agree that technology can be very helpful in terms of library/media resources, but you have the benefit of knowing how to use the internet and search engines to find research materials. There are a lot of children in our schools whose parents can't afford, don't know how to use, or just plain don't care about having a computer and internet in the home. It's not the kids' faults. A good librarian (who is really a media/research technician) can help these students learn how to use the technology, so it's not just a matter of plunking a few computers down in a room to replace a librarian.
Also, I disagree that unions are pushing to keep "regulations" that ignore technology in favor of keeping a teacher in a position. My wife and several family members are teachers and they all beg for increased technology in the classroom only to be thwarted by budget cuts or just plain lack of funds in the first place.
@bumble, of the cuts I have heard about so far, some are teachers, some are aides. Since it's not mandated by NYS, there will be no art or library programs at Bradt or Pinewood. Those positions are being either moved or cut depending on seniority (LIFO).
But they will still have 'art class' and a 'library' to go to, right? Just no extra programs?
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
@bumble, I'll try to find out. As far as I know, there will not be art teachers in Bradt or Pinewood, so if there is 'art class' time set aside for students it will probably be run by their normal teacher (not that art teachers are abnormal )
Why can't across the board pay cuts and freezes be implemented to prevent layoffs? Isn't there any other creative ways to reduces spending, besides going right to cutting jobs? Of course not, they need to hold the parent's and children hostage as leverage. They care about the kid’s soooooooo much. Everybody in the private sector lost their retirement during this last recession, but god forbid these public sector employees lose a penny of what they were "guaranteed".
A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier. ~ H.L. Mencken Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. ~ H. L. Mencken The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. ~H. L. Mencken
@Cicero, pay freezes are an option, but the school district is required to warn teachers about layoffs by March 1 of the previous school year. It's possible that some of the teachers who have gotten notices already could still be employed next school year if pay freezes are accepted or if other funds are found somehow.
Besides that, why do you have such vitriol for teachers? It's not like they're driving around in BMWs and living in mansions. You act as if all of our fiscal problems are due to the teachers' unions and teacher pay. How much less should they be paid for your life to get better? What experience do you have in determining what the living wage and benefits should be for teachers? Do you have any idea how much it costs in tuition for a teacher to earn both a Bachelors degree AND a Masters degree (which are both required to teach in NYS). I know teachers in their mid-30s who are still paying off school loans. It's too bad our schools don't teach empathy.
And if you're so concerned about private sector retirement being lost, you can blame those billionaires you love so much since they created the recession. Not to mention that many state pension funds lost millions of dollars as well and this is part of the reason why teachers are now being asked to commit more to their retirement systems. Of course, they don't tell you that on Fox News.
Besides that, why do you have such vitriol for teachers? It's not like they're driving around in BMWs and living in mansions. You act as if all of our fiscal problems are due to the teachers' unions and teacher pay. How much less should they be paid for your life to get better? What experience do you have in determining what the living wage and benefits should be for teachers? Do you have any idea how much it costs in tuition for a teacher to earn both a Bachelors degree AND a Masters degree (which are both required to teach in NYS). I know teachers in their mid-30s who are still paying off school loans. It's too bad our schools don't teach empathy.
This isn't about how much they get paid. If America was #1 in Math and Science I say double their salaries. The problem I have is the way the system is set up. When a teacher is guaranteed their job, pension and wages regardless of results, I have a problem. You keep on using the billionaire argument. Do you know what the difference is between the billionaire and my public school teacher? I have a choice whether to buy the billionaires product or not. If I own a home, I MUST pay school taxes by LAW regardless how sh!tty of a service they provide.
Get rid of tenure, and I say pay the great teacher as much as a great doctor, and take away a bad teachers license to teach, just like taking away a bad doctors license to practice medicine. Not everybody is equal. Just like you said in an earlier post, teachers are dealing with kids with different talent and mental abilities. Well,,,teacher are also of different talents and mental abilities, it doesn't mean you pay them all the same based on time served. It's a disservice to the children of America.
A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier. ~ H.L. Mencken Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. ~ H. L. Mencken The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. ~H. L. Mencken
@Cicero, I agree with you that some teachers are bad, and some are good. I wish we could pay the good teachers more and I wish we could weed out the bad teachers. Unfortunately, I think politics has a lot to do with how the union set everything up, and the good teachers need protection just as much as the bad ones. While we talk about cutting budgets for schools, we also talk about having some kind of review board that will determine whether or not a teacher deserves to keep his job. Who makes up this board? Who pays this board? The only way that's going to work and be cost-effective is for the state/country to use standardized testing to measure performance. And that is exactly why our students are not performing well anymore -- because teachers must teach for the test, not for actual knowledge. If a teacher's job is kept based on those test scores, then a teacher's main duty is to make sure his students pass that test. Out the window goes creative problem solving, social interaction, and subjective fields like art and music.
Our economy is moving from manufacturing-based to service-based. Learning for a test is antiquated and teaches students only binary problem solving, which is ok if they working in low-tech manufacturing/line assembly job. But in service-based economy, our students need to learn more about creativity, graphic design, marketing, and other jobs that rely more on social skills and creative thinking.
Wow according to your way of thinking we're going to get rid of electricians, plumbers, military, telecommunications tech, carpenters, fireman, police, truck drivers and so many more jobs that aren't creative or in need of social skills. There's a need for all types of education because everyone isn't cut out to be a white collared worker but instead wish to be a blue collared worker. In school the students should learn the basics, like a college prep course, and keep the specialized training for college where it belongs. If the teacher can't get a certain percentage of students to pass a test set up by a board made up of educators, they should be put on warning and if after a period of time the individual does not improve they should be dismissed, like in the real world.
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