September 05, 2003
State of the State
As I was reading tonight, James got me thinking......
Well, actually, I've been thinking about this for some time now.
I don't care about a candidate's past. What I'm more concerned about is how someone is going to treat the citizens of this state.
As I said in comments over at Shots and Giggles:
If he (Arnold) can bring some normalcy and funding back to our schools....I don't care if he's currently smoking a joint from between the tits of one women while snorting a line off the naked back of another.
I just want someone who will treat this state and the citizens with a little bit of respect and dignity. Especially the children.
With all of our damn money, why the hell are we always broke? Why are our children having to struggle with too few teachers, not enough books, and having to sell more of that stupid ass giftwrap all in the pursuit of education?
My son's school is currently facing severe budget problems. This is what the newsletter (from last week) said:
I wish the news was better, but the massive cuts in public education have taken their toll..... Custodial services at Elementary School X have been cut in half, we've lost all of our non-special education aides, and Ms. G's library hours have been reduced by 40%. Cuts took Ms. D out of our computer lab so at this time, our lab is unstaffed. PIP (a school-based family/student counseling program) has also been slashed completely from the school. The district cut Ms. Z's postion out last June due to enrollment issues and we lost our reading specialist, Ms. B, who is now teaching first grade. Our counselor is back at school with funding for two days per week from State and Federal Grants. Enrollment jumped a bit two days before school started and we were able to hire Ms. W to open up a new second grade class.....
The kicker is, Ms. W's position, just two weeks old, is already being cut. Kids are going to be moved into new classes and the district is looking at creating many combined classes. 2nd-3rd grade, 4th-5th grade, and then, there's the increasingly UNPOPULAR K-1st grade class in which my son was placed two weeks ago.
My son's school is smack dab in the middle of SUV and Purebred Dog Paradise. Our district is a wealthy one. Where's the money going? Certainly not to the teachers. Our teachers make diddlysquat.
We have fundraisers....horrible fundraisers all year long. Just to be able to give the kids things that our taxes should already cover.
I say it doesn't matter to me what a gubernatorial candidate's done in his or her past as long as they are intent on giving our kids the education they deserve. Davis was supposed to be big on education. Apparently the only education he was interested in providing Californians was how to screw the citizens nine ways to Sunday and make them think they're getting the best deal ever.
Gimme Arnold or anyone else who is willing to do the job the right way.
C'mon, people....we have the resources - why not put them to proper use and quit taking money away from the children? Davis (and anyone else who's asshole enough to go along with him), quit making us look like Oregon's redheaded stepchild.
Posted by DaGoddess at September 5, 2003 02:26 AMYou might want to take a look at what the school adminstration and overhead is doing to your budget. Take a look at programs that don't make sense. Example, why does a 3rd grade student need computer lab when they can't even spell. Our total education system is broken. Another example, What is the principal's real job? The easiest job in the school is the highest paying. Don't believe me? Think about it.
Posted by: James at September 5, 2003 07:14 AMOkay, I must frist state that I did not vote for Gray Davis and I have no idea why or how anyone could pull this state out of this mess.
Second, as a PTA mommy and member of many school district committees, I have known all too much about the budget cuts since last December. Why would anyone in their right mind cut the funding for our funtures? Are kids will one day be running this land we call home and do we all really want a bunch of dummies in office? The only reason that my autistic son still has the same services that he did last year is beacuse the special education program is federally mandated. Back in May there was talk that our district didn't even have the funds to buy the state required books for our schools. In other words, the state is increasing the standards in which our children must be at but, at the same time cutting the funds in which they need to buy the new materials to get to those standars.
Personally I don't give a damn about after school activies being paid for out of the buget, give the kids an education!!! If kids do not have anythig to do after school then that is their parents responsibility to get them into the boys and girls club or child care.
I also volunteer in my childrens classrooms because for one I like to see what is happening day in and day out. For two, I do it because I want the teacher to be able to focus on what she is really there to do, teaching the children! I think that if more parents were willing to at least be informed of their child's school, we could all get somewhere for the sake of our kids.
Okay, now I am down off the soap box.
From what I've heard from insiders, a huge portion of the California schools' money is going into administrative expenses and the retirement funds. But when cuts are made, the cuts are always at the classroom level, not at the top where the fat is. It's totally outrageous and unfair to the children and families.
BTW - the preview post function didn't work for me, there was no way to edit or post the comment. Had to start over. Unless I missed something.
Posted by: suzi at September 5, 2003 01:18 PMHi hun. Just here to cry.... Someone hacked us, and is in the server fukn things up as I type, cant stop them because they have changed the password on me. :-( All that dammed work 4 nuttin. Glad to see you are still havin fun. *waves*
Posted by: The Blog Hunter at September 5, 2003 01:32 PMheh, you said you were thinkin about me . . . heh ;)
Posted by: James at September 5, 2003 11:43 PMAmen sister.
While I can't stand his accent, I like Ah-nold's plan of auditing the books. Check out the expense accounts, fat salaries and other perks in the Califlowah government.
If a gubernatorial candidate said, "I'm not taking a salary and instead it will be given to the 3 neediest schools in the state" I'd be damn tempted to vote for the fucker. Even if it was Angelyne or Mary Carey.
Let's face it, none of the folks running need a salary as far as I can tell.
Posted by: Moxie at September 6, 2003 06:11 AMAmen sister.
While I can't stand his accent, I like Ah-nold's plan of auditing the books. Check out the expense accounts, fat salaries and other perks in the Califlowah government.
If a gubernatorial candidate said, "I'm not taking a salary and instead it will be given to the 3 neediest schools in the state" I'd be damn tempted to vote for the fucker. Even if it was Angelyne or Mary Carey.
Let's face it, none of the folks running need a salary as far as I can tell.
Posted by: Moxie at September 6, 2003 06:11 AMThe government knows what pisses people off. As soon as they start to run out of money, they cut those things first (schools, fire, polie, and libraries). See Nevada. They passes a budget and left the school funding for last. And what do you know, there wasn't any money left over for the schools. So of course the only solution is to raise taxes, and damn the 2/3rds requirement.
Posted by: Byna at September 7, 2003 07:46 PMThe government knows what pisses people off. As soon as they start to run out of money, they cut those things first (schools, fire, polie, and libraries). See Nevada. They passes a budget and left the school funding for last. And what do you know, there wasn't any money left over for the schools. So of course the only solution is to raise taxes, and damn the 2/3rds requirement.
Posted by: Byna at September 7, 2003 07:46 PMA lot of the money currently being spent is wasted. Public schools spend more than $7,000 per pupil, whereas parochial schools manage it on closer to $4,000.
A lot of school districts are large, unwieldy, and verging on corrupt. (For example, LAUSD.)
The hoops we make people go through to get "credentialed" to teach in public schools don't seem to have jack to do with any kind of an ability to educate kids.
The teachers unions consistently use their muscle to prevent any kind of accountability for teachers, and--let's face it--many teachers suck. Either in terms of knowledge of their subjects, or ability to communicate that knowledge to kids. Or both.
FWIW, I live in an "affluent" community that has been supplementing conventional funding for its public schools since the days of Prop 13. Why am I okay with that?--because it seems appropriate that those who have kids in the public school system should kick in "extra" rather than public education being funded substantially by single/childless people (and elderly people on fixed incomes whose property taxes should NOT rise as their home values go up, thank you).
And if Arnold can get California's books balanced and the economy back on track, he will have earned the governor's salary. It will only be a "stipend" for him, of course--but we should keep in mind that his time is worth much more than he'll be getting from us.
As far as education is concerned:
* break up the larger school districts;
* reduce the ratio of non-teachers to teachers;
* hire teachers based on ability, rather than "credentials";
* acquire the ability to get rid of teachers who aren't doing a good job--just like we would in private industry;
* allow parents to have fundraisers, and kick extra in when they see the need;
* find a way to create incentives for the best teachers to spend some time in the inner cities, where their talents are needed and may actually change lives. (NOT the new, inexperienced teachers, so they can "pay their dues" or some such bullshit. The older ones who know what they're doing should be lured into the poorer neighborhoods for "tours of duty.")
A lot of the money currently being spent is wasted. Public schools spend more than $7,000 per pupil, whereas parochial schools manage it on closer to $4,000.
A lot of school districts are large, unwieldy, and verging on corrupt. (For example, LAUSD.)
The hoops we make people go through to get "credentialed" to teach in public schools don't seem to have jack to do with any kind of an ability to educate kids.
The teachers unions consistently use their muscle to prevent any kind of accountability for teachers, and--let's face it--many teachers suck. Either in terms of knowledge of their subjects, or ability to communicate that knowledge to kids. Or both.
FWIW, I live in an "affluent" community that has been supplementing conventional funding for its public schools since the days of Prop 13. Why am I okay with that?--because it seems appropriate that those who have kids in the public school system should kick in "extra" rather than public education being funded substantially by single/childless people (and elderly people on fixed incomes whose property taxes should NOT rise as their home values go up, thank you).
And if Arnold can get California's books balanced and the economy back on track, he will have earned the governor's salary. It will only be a "stipend" for him, of course--but we should keep in mind that his time is worth much more than he'll be getting from us.
As far as education is concerned:
* break up the larger school districts;
* reduce the ratio of non-teachers to teachers;
* hire teachers based on ability, rather than "credentials";
* acquire the ability to get rid of teachers who aren't doing a good job--just like we would in private industry;
* allow parents to have fundraisers, and kick extra in when they see the need;
* find a way to create incentives for the best teachers to spend some time in the inner cities, where their talents are needed and may actually change lives. (NOT the new, inexperienced teachers, so they can "pay their dues" or some such bullshit. The older ones who know what they're doing should be lured into the poorer neighborhoods for "tours of duty.")