We all know that the teacher's uinions are hotbeds of liberalism, communism, socialism and mental disorders. But with the Oregon Trail district strike going on I thought that I would investigate their counterpart: The School Boards.
They are supposed to be for local control. They are our David to the unions Goliath. Unfortunately, this is not biblical times and David is having a dirty, unholy relationship with Goliath. They are both on the side of liberlism.
Observe:
In 2004 the Oregon School Board Association participated in a "Celebrating Educational Opportunities for Hispanic Students" conference. (Sponsored by that traitorous bank: Wells Fargo)
...the conference aims to assist school districts in developing their own programs to support educational opportunities for Hispanic/Latino students as well as the entire student population.
Educating Hispanic/Latino kids is the goal, everyone else is just an afterthought. Where's Judge James with that "equal protection clause" she's so fond of?
They have articles titled:
Spending Cuts Hurt State’s Economy
The thesis is that less spending on schools is less money for teachers, administrators and unions. I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion when the folks doing the research were:
To get a better idea of how K-12 spending actually affects Oregon’s economy, the Oregon School Boards Association, the Oregon Education Association, and the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators turned to ECONorthwest, a regional firm specializing in economic analysis.
This is literaly what they list as "facts to consider" when talking about spending cuts:
1) Oregon’s schools have a combined workforce of more than 56,000 employees, making K-12 education a very large employer indeed: larger than any local government or private employer, larger than the State of Oregon or Oregon’s combined federal agencies.
2) Schools generate a payroll of $3.3 billion per year. K-12 schools spend $922 million a year on supplies and materials and $281 million on capital outlays.
3) About 107,000 jobs and $3.93 billion in personal income are directly or indirectly related to school spending. Put another way, every 10 jobs in K-12 education support nine other jobs, many in the service, finance, real estate and construction sectors.
4) Approximately $174 million in personal income taxes, $101 million in corporate property taxes, and $52 million in other business taxes are a direct or indirect result of public school spending in Oregon.
I am literally laughing out loud right now. According to their logic, government should be providing all the jobs. And hey, those government workers pay taxes! So then they can pay the salaries of other government workers! It's like the circle of life. Except they aren't paying more than their salary in taxes so it doesn't really pencil out. As Lars said today: Someone needs to pull the cart.
As for actually solving some of the money problems (problem adj. mismangement of funds) they touch on the main issue, but don't have the guts to really lay it on the line.
Health Care: The Perfect Storm
While they do have some interesting info. (Schools are more generous than the private sector?!?!) They don't seem to take a hard line on actually clamping down and making teachers live in the real world.
And we all know, because we all listen to Lars Larson, who had a school board member on his show, that they are aiding the striking teachers by not opening the schools with substitute teachers in the Oregon Trail district. Thanks guys.
4 comments:
Employing the same logic of K-12 teachers also paying taxes, I would think with 56,000 employees statewide and a payroll of $3.3 billion they could create a closed-loop economy and tax themselves-to-pay-themselves, leaving us poor private economy folks well enough alone so we can charter and home-school our children. Tail-chasing keeps my neighbors dog busy most of the time and he is one happy puppy.
Very good Allen, you've figured it out. The teachers' sole purpose in life is to take away your money and line their own pockets. Good job! Gold star for you today!
No no Don, that's the Unions goal, and they want YOUR money too!
When a system exists using people to work with people, would you not expect that their #1 cost would be...people? As a teacher, I believe that I am paid fair wages and benefits, and I don't expect a raise every year. As a member of a bargaining unit (not by choice) I am not paid more or less for the quantity or quality of my work, and I can't ask for a raise from my boss. The option that is followed is to negotiate salary changes three or four years at a time, guessing based on the information available what is appropriate. It does seem silly to create a closed loop by paying taxes that eventually support your own salary, but what would your response be if we took a pay cut and an exemption at the same time? I'm thinking that would push the public fairness button pretty hard! Thank you for your comments, and please pardon those of us who deal with the unions as a necessary evil to pursue our chosen profession. You wouldn't be able to blog if no one had taught you to read!
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