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05/22/2013 12:13:20 pm I agree, Mervel, but part of the problem with education in NYS is the entire process of delivery and funding of such a crucial endeavor is overly complicated. It's as absurd and confusing as the federal tax code. Like the tax code in Washington, we need a complete rewrite that's simple and transparent and doesn't require a small army of administrators to understand and deliver. 05/22/2013 11:37:50 am Its hard when dealing with the public. But I really think the districts have to be clearer about school financing. The days of saying we know what is best for your children trust us, thus we need far more in taxes; are over.
The reality is for some of these districts 25% is not even going to be enough, the largest portion of district budgets that I am familiar with comes from State Aid. Local property taxes... 05/22/2013 11:16:52 am deciding not to educate your children isnt a very good answer. 05/22/2013 10:44:18 am This happens in rural places all over the US, check out how far ranch kids are from their schools in Wyoming or Western South Dakota for example. 05/22/2013 10:42:33 am Public education certainly is a right in NYS, but there is no qualification for how the state must meet that right. I think districts can close and consolidate schools, I also think districts can disband, but this is a different issue from a right to public education. For example if you choose to live in Wanakeena, arguably in my mind one of the best places to live in the North Country, you can't demand your... 05/22/2013 10:24:50 am I wonder when Emperor Andrew is going to do anything about un- and under-funded mandates suffocating districts, since he promised that would be twinned with the tax cap.
How about if the mandated part of a district’s spending rises more than 2% or whatever the district’s tax cap is, then the state should pay the difference? Maybe that would make the powers that be in Albany think a little more carefully about... 05/22/2013 10:22:24 am A 25% property tax increase was never going to pass in this climate, regardless of the details. 05/22/2013 10:12:26 am I don't favor doing away with public education but when I am accused of it I feel like I should mount an argument for it, theoretical though it may be, because that accusation is intended to stifle any discussion of change in a particular direction, i.e., cutting spending. Casting a certain position as moral or immoral is the height of presumption and should also be answered. How moral is it to tax some... 05/22/2013 8:53:01 am Paul -
Actually, schools can't throw in the towel. Districts can, yes. But public education is a legal right in New York state.
If one district goes dark, the kids have to be absorbed into neighboring districts and offered an education.
Original Larry -
I think the idea of not educating our children is both impractical and immoral. Fortunately, the vast, overwhelming majority of Americans... 05/22/2013 8:47:55 am Everyone wants to go on about school buses, sports programs, cafeterias, etc., but the largest expenditure and the one nobody wants to talk about is the total cost of professional staff. It's a huge issue and it needs to be addressed if there's to be any substantive improvement in the current situation. Stop with all the excuses, particularly the one that puts teachers in a worse situation than welfare... 05/22/2013 7:53:52 am Ya. Teachers are rich. Especially here in the North Country. LOOK at the mandates and qualifications to obtain and maintain that precious NYS certification for the job. LOOK at how much it costs to obtain those qualifications. Go to a site like PayScale or SalaryExplorer and enter the data - You might need to find a trusting teacher friend to help you. Don't forget that master's degree, multiple... 05/21/2013 9:56:39 pm In the news today there are more stories about the heroism of teachers, this time in Oklahoma. They cared for and comforted children in the face of a tornado even as they worried about the safety of their own children. 05/21/2013 9:53:10 pm Vermont schools outside Burlington and a few other well-to-do towns suck. Vermont is also losing young people, and in some districts haven't been able to buy new textbooks for years and years. It is not heaven, no matter how much the typical Burlingtonian will tell you so. 05/21/2013 8:41:12 pm I have no problem paying a classroom teacher 50-60k or more. However, of the 48 people on the payroll of newcomb how many are classroom teachers? So you have 83 students K-12, about 7 kids per grade. Each grade needs a teacher for certain, you come up with 12 teachers one per grade. So who are the other 36 employees? 05/21/2013 6:09:28 pm In Newcomb, 21 made $50K or more for an average of $71K. 48 people were on the payroll of a school district with 83 students. Total payroll: $2.1M Total budget: $5.09M
Do the math.
Sources:
http://seethroughny.net/payrolls/schools/
http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x326075211/School-superintendents-talk-job-duties-salaries 05/21/2013 5:45:08 pm In the Lake Placid schools, 69 people made $50K or more in 2012 for an average of about $63K. Not sure if that qualifies as "big bucks" but it doesn't suck. These are not teachers with 40 years experience. 05/21/2013 5:22:35 pm Its not really about the time. Teaching is physically and mentally exhausting, it really is, if you are good and giving it your all. I don't begrudge classroom teachers what they currently make, I don't think that is the problem. If you want to look at salaries pull out every single person working in a school that is not a primary classroom teacher and examine what they are making and add that to the... 05/21/2013 5:12:13 pm I must have touched a nerve there! The comment comes from long personal experience. I never yet met a teacher who wouldn't gladly tell you how hard they work. In any case, I said it was a relatively short work day. You want to make excuses and mince words, go right ahead. By the way, there are precious few teachers with 40 years experience, most have long since maxed out those sweet pensions and retired. ... 05/21/2013 4:54:25 pm Working from 7:30 to 3 or 3:30 is not what I would call a short work day even if they were not doing other stuff? Tonight I will be at a concert that I assume the teachers don't get paid extra for. I don't know where that comment came from but it seems like kind of a cheap shot. 05/21/2013 4:12:26 pm Larry, that "short workday" isn't so short when you have papers and tests to grade, lesson plans to write and classes to prepare for. I've known teachers who took it easy, but I've also known those who routinely burnt the midnight oil.
And entry-level salaries often aren't all that good-- it's the teachers who've been working forty years who are earning the big bucks,... |
