Parents, PTA, READ, etc -- you are all sheep. Why do you exhibit only Pavlovian reactions to school budgets without considering the consequence?
You use your considerable organizations to pressure taxpayers to pay more, but not for education. Of the approved 2010 budget, 81.12% went to salaries & benefits, NOT to education.
High School: 1 Principal, 4 Assistant Principals, 4 Deans. Really?
What is the school doing with the $59,800 taken in Tiger Hollow gate receipts? This could have been a German class.
Students from 7-12 grades could supply their own netbook to plug into the schools' formidable IT system & save several hundred thousand dollars annually. How many teachers would that represent?
And none of this would cost taxpayers one extra penny.
Believe it or not, I stand with you on educational values. So you tell me, what's wrong with the current picture:
1. Middle school German will be eliminated (Mandarin was already cut)
2. Again, no literacy teacher will be hired
3. Art classes will again be reduced
4. Eight teachers will be cut next year
Clearly, labor is costing your children some education.
The political pressure applied by you parents, PTAs and READ is misplaced. Like a laser beam, you should be focused on labor costs which can be contained. Excellent teachers should be paid more. Bad teachers should find another job.
I believe in the right to negotiate but I believe it is time to change our approach to labor negotiations in order to benefit our children's education.
We are not beholden to the unions. This attitude has been exhibited in the past but times change, the truth emerges and our negotiating principles must change too.
We CAN re-open contracts. I ask you: what do you think is going to happen next year when teacher payroll goes up 3.0%?
Mark my words, education will suffer.
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