State Buget busting my budget!!!

[HHSTigerFan]

Easy solution...

I live in Illinois, use that as an example... they hire 100 people whose sole purpose is to do random checks on all companies that hire people, if they are found with an undocumented worker they are zapped with a $100K fine for each such employee...

For a small business owner, that will mean follow the law or lose your business..

 

[wlfans]

I've been in many schools and its hard to watch when teachers and their assistants just standing around. Everyone needs down time, I get it, but some schools just have too much overhead. Schools with their own psychologists on staff. What gives? Twenty five years ago we didn't have this.
Our nations score level against other nations has a lot to due with inner cities and their below par schools. I really think more time and after school educational help should be directed to these kids. They need the help. Mom or/and dad are working and can't give them much attention to education. Allow inner city kids to stay at school till six and work on their homework and additional studies. These kids are getting further behind. I wouldn't mind if they raised my taxes to direct money to these program IF they worked.
Another thing that bugs me and more than anything are parents who can give you Johnny's batting avg or how many goals he scored, but have no idea how he's doing in school..

 

[HHSTigerFan]

I've been in many schools and its hard to watch when teachers and their assistants just standing around. Everyone needs down time, I get it, but some schools just have too much overhead. Schools with their own psychologists on staff. What gives?

Uh, crappy parents???

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Mom or/and dad are working and can't give them much attention to education.

So a parents inability to raise their child is now my problem?

 

[Telcogirl]

Schools with their own psychologists on staff. What gives? Twenty five years ago we didn't have this.

We also didn't have 'Resource Officers' walking the halls of schools twenty five years ago, either.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Local high school I am in a few times a month spends about $280K a year on 3 police officers and 2 "hall monitors"... is that the sort of overhead we are speaking of?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Dallas ISD has their own POLICE FORCE. They also have metal detectors in all of the middle and high schools. Because it is NECESSARY.

 

[Disfan3]

I'm not sure everyone will find jobs! Here in Colorado most districts are facing the 4th straight year of major cuts. I lost my job last year...two of the gals I work with decided to leave education altogether because they were tired of the constant state of crisis.

I found a job. There was a threat that I'd lose it this spring...instead we're taking major paycuts and paying more for insurance. I already pay over $350 a month! The last time I made what I'll make next year was about 12 years ago.

I wish you the best...but have to agree with your main point: the kids are the ones who are really suffering from all this! The media and legislators play all kinds of games with the numbers. For example, they constantly present the concept that teachers aren't really working, since the teacher:student ratio is 1:17. What they never tell you is that those numbers include all the personnel who are required to meet Special Education requirements. In the building where I currently work there are 12 support staff educators. Those adults are counted in the ratio even though some of them work in near 1:1 situations. We had some classes with nearly 35 kids at one point. Parents and the general public get a very skewed view of education when they get their information from sources other than educators.

When they first passed NCLB there were all sorts of folks running around theorizing that the government was trying to destroy public education. I thought they were nuts. From today's viewpoint, I'm not so sure they were!

People get a very skewed view of special education and the LAW in general. By federal law, students with IEPs have many, many, many supports in place and I don't mean just a special education teacher. I mean vocational teacher, physical therapists, nurses (1:1 nurses at times) speech- language pathologist, associate(s), school psychologists, mobility and orientation specialists, interpreters, sign language interpreters, braille instructors, Educational consultants, I could go on and on and on and on and on.....I could go on forever....all mandated by law...not by schools or by districts but by federal/state law that requires support/services/linkages to community. Of course, parents of all students should probably be educated in this way: if a teacher has a full class and one student has a behavior disability and/or other moderate disability, the teacher does need said support in the classroom or that teacher won't be teaching ABC's and 123's to everyone...he/she will be teaching the one student and monitoring behaviors, etc. all day. I might be a social studies teacher that has a visually impaired student but I am not a trained teacher in that field nor are special education teachers trained to the full extent to work with students with specific disabilities...those students often have a laundry list of itinerants that work with the school in the accessibility issue, not necessarily the academic issue. There are some students that require their own teacher (not even an aide but teacher) all day...one on one...it happens and it is law and it is FAPE. This was not necessarily due to NCLB but due to the years and years and years of legislation handed down in the name of Constitutional rights...including and not limited to IDEA.

I am adding: I support mainstreaming and inclusion in the least restrictive environment. I don't know everything about school finance and school budgets. I just don't think the average American knows much about the supports that are required BY LAW (not schools).


Oh and as far as a school SRO: We did not need SRO's maybe 20 years ago but today, we probably do. Violence, gangs, drugs, prostitution, more drugs and more drugs and more violence...
just more "things" that a person who is not in the field of education might see as "fat" or excess spending...but really has not spent more than probably 5 hours combined in a typical high school during the regular school day (as an adult, not when you were an actual student, of course).

I encourage all parents to spend a good week in the school, not because I think my job is SOOOOOO HORRIBLE or SOOOOO HARD or AWFUL or pays so very little....but because I think most people do have a skewed perception of our system.

It's not the teachers or admins or districts that mandate the major spending...look to the lawmakers. The laws are in place and they need to be funded in order to provide appropriate education for everyone...all, because the general ed student does suffer when the special ed student's needs are not funded and being met (which is actually illegal). Right or wrong. Agree or disagree. This is the law and this is America and it takes A LOT of money to run a public education system built for ALL STUDENTS. EVERY SINGLE ONE. With individual needs.

 

[m&m's mom]

As a fellow Texan I can certainly appreciate the illegal alien issue.
I agree that we can no longer afford to be so generous to our neighbors to the South. Honestly, it would cost so much more money at this point to try to reverse the idealogy of allowing all here and free reign.

 

[Telcogirl]

Oh and as far as a school SRO: We did not need SRO's maybe 20 years ago but today, we probably do. Violence, gangs, drugs, prostitution, more drugs and more drugs and more violence...
just more "things" that a person who is not in the field of education might see as "fat" or excess spending...but really has not spent more than probably 5 hours combined in a typical high school during the regular school day (as an adult, not when you were an actual student, of course).

I certainly was not referring to a SRO as excessive spending. I was more referring to the times we live in today when we have to spend our education dollars on police to have presence in the schools.

"Violence, gangs, drugs, prostitution, more drugs and more drugs and more violence..." this thread has little to do with the actual education budgets and more to do with the society we live in today. And that these types of activities are common place are draining our education budgets. If we have to pay for things like an SRO, in school day care, ESL classes, etc. we are not funneling our money to primary education to actually pay our teachers better and build state of the art schools.

I've spent plenty of time in my son's high school. It is a depressing building with a leaky roof, furniture from the 50's, chunks of walls missing in places.

And we expect our kids to rise and shine and be excited to go to places like this every day? And our teachers, too?

 

[wisconsinmom]

It just makes me nauseous that so many good teachers and cops and firefighters and other vital government employees are losing their livelihoods while so many are breaking the law and draining our resources.

It makes me naseous that good people are losing their jobs while the crooks on Wall Street and the top 1% of wage earners in our country are laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Disfan3]

I certainly was not referring to a SRO as excessive spending. I was more referring to the times we live in today when we have to spend our education dollars on police to have presence in the schools.

"Violence, gangs, drugs, prostitution, more drugs and more drugs and more violence..." this thread has little to do with the actual education budgets and more to do with the society we live in today. And that these types of activities are common place are draining our education budgets. If we have to pay for things like an SRO, in school day care, ESL classes, etc. we are not funneling our money to primary education to actually pay our teachers better and build state of the art schools.

I've spent plenty of time in my son's high school. It is a depressing building with a leaky roof, furniture from the 50's, chunks of walls missing in places.

And we expect our kids to rise and shine and be excited to go to places like this every day? And our teachers, too?

Oh I am sorry...I was not really directing that statement in any way to you, specifically.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

As a fellow Texan I can certainly appreciate the illegal alien issue.
I agree that we can no longer afford to be so generous to our neighbors to the South. Honestly, it would cost so much more money at this point to try to reverse the idealogy of allowing all here and free reign.

I was playing with the calculator today. I know a woman who is here illegally from South America. She works as a housekeeper. Yes, she is lovely and works REALLY HARD. She makes about $750 a week, in cash. No, I am not exaggerating. If she was legal and had to pay taxes on her wages she would need to make about $900 a week to come close to bringing home what she brings home now. That's $22.50 an hour based on a 40 hour work week. She speaks almost no English. Where on earth is she going to get a job that pays $22.50 an hour? And beyond that, why would she even try?

Yes, every single one of her employers (she cleans for multiple families) is breaking the law. But you know, this works out better for them and for her.

I can kind of see why the illegals and the people who employ them aren't in any hurry for the laws to be enforced. The workers get to keep every dime they make. What incentive do they have to change that?

 

[Reddy]

Hmmm I wonder about the class size issue - when I was in 3rd grade I had just over 50 kids in the classroom -- I still passed the State Test so I wonder if class size is more of a the teachers don't want to grade that many papers.
I think with a bigger classroom size I would want study hall open for anyone who wants to come & not just those that are being picked by the teacher(or the ones failling)

I think the teachers who have "retired" & were rehired (with a raise) should be the first ones cut since they are retired

 

[HHSTigerFan]

when I was in 3rd grade I had just over 50 kids in the classroom --

Did you also walk 12 miles each way, in the snow and uphill both ways? Then we should also get rid of bus service, would save a bunch of money then..

 

[torinsmom]

Did you also walk 12 miles each way, in the snow and uphill both ways? Then we should also get rid of bus service, would save a bunch of money then..

Actually, I do think schools should charge for bus service. A lot of money goes to transportation. Maybe $30 per year per student would be a good start. That wouldn't even be enough to pay for maintenance costs, but it would help.

Our district wastes money on silly stuff. Like yesterday and today, it was 70 degrees outside, but the heat was still on! It was 80 in my classroom--so hot we had to open the outside door to get a breeze. Our school can't even control the temperature. It is done from downtown. How the heck do they know how our rooms feel?

 

[SFWife]

We have hundreds of new teachers in my district that can't find jobs. They are subbing until they find something.



Do you know how hard it is to legally immigrate to this country? You need visas for every member of the family(around $10K or so my Sri Lankan friend told me), you need someone here to vouch for you, who can show they can support your whole family in addition to theirs for a year, and the adults in the family need proof they have jobs waiting for them here. That is to get a green card; there is more to get citizenship. Very few people can afford that process. I don't begrudge people for sneaking into our country. The hispanic parents I have had work harder than most of my other parents. They would love to be made legal, so they could get a better job and pay taxes. And they are so supportive of their children's education, much more so than most of my "American " parents.

Shoot, if I had been unfortunate enough to be born poor in Mexico, I would have snuck into the US too. What loving parent wouldn't want more for their kids?

Honestly, I think we should make the illegals who are hard workers legal. Give them a temporary green card, so they can get a better job and pay taxes. If they do well, make them legal. Send the rest AND THE AMERICANS LIVING OFF THE SYSTEM out of our country.

Sorry but cry me a river. It's supposed to be hard. The hard makes those people who do it appreciate it 100x more than someone who takes the low road and sneaks across then demands that we provide everything for them. Why should someone who broke the law be able to get a drivers license, food stamps, rental assistance, free medical care, free education for the kids they have over here, and drive on our roads with no insurance, while paying no income tax? Sure they pay sales tax on products they purchase, but thats a drop in the bucket, considering that there's no taxes on the food they buy, most of the time paid with using our tax dollars. What part of ILLEGAL do people not understand? If you are illegal, and you sneak over here and give birth, you get to go home. Your kids can go with you, or you can find someone else to raise them. your choice. "But you can't punish an innocent child?!" Oh yeah? What does it teach a parent who drops anchor babies? Keep coming on over and we'll take your kids. Deport the parents, and teach them that perpetuating a crime doesn't pay. These illegals do not deserve our tax dollars to support them, nor do they deserve to get in state tuition at our colleges.

Study after study has shown that unemployment would not be impacted. If there were no low wage earners to do these jobs, prices would increase due to paying citizens a livable wage to do them. The economy took a downturn because of the greedy banks and risky mortgages.

I don't buy it. Lets see these studies, done from reputable and apolitical sources. When I was unemployed and desperate, I was mowing lawns, cleaning houses, doing a paper route, etc. There was no job beneath me if it meant the difference between keeping a roof over my head and food on the table for myself and my kids.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Actually, I do think schools should charge for bus service. A lot of money goes to transportation. Maybe $30 per year per student would be a good start. That wouldn't even be enough to pay for maintenance costs, but it would help.

Our district wastes money on silly stuff. Like yesterday and today, it was 70 degrees outside, but the heat was still on! It was 80 in my classroom--so hot we had to open the outside door to get a breeze. Our school can't even control the temperature. It is done from downtown. How the heck do they know how our rooms feel?

I pay taxes already, why would I need to pay $30 for bus service?

I have been around govt bodies my entire adult life, school districts are by FAR the most fiscally well ran out there, from what I have seen they do an outstanding job with the limited resources they have.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

I don't buy it. Lets see these studies, done from reputable and apolitical sources. When I was unemployed and desperate, I was mowing lawns, cleaning houses, doing a paper route, etc. There was no job beneath me if it meant the difference between keeping a roof over my head and food on the table for myself and my kids.

This!! When I was in high school and college there was a lawncare company in town that me and several of my friends worked for, during the summers we worked 60 plus hours a week and he hired 6-7 of us a year..

I ran into the guy that owns the business last fall, I mentioned to him that I noticed he was no longer hiring high school and college kids, rather Mexican's... he flat out told me it was cheaper labor because he paid them cash, no workers comp, no OT..

I am now 43, a teacher and would love to work for him over the summer but he said financially he can't afford it, can't pay me a fair wage when his competition is also using cheap illegal labor.

 

[lastminutemom]

Seventy percent of illegal immigrants with children in Texas are receiving welfare. Read it here:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/04/study_immigrants_with_children.html