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No...I meant what I wrote. There are benefits to paying high taxes even when you don't have kids in school. One of these benefits is that you get to keep undesirable people out of your neighborhood because they can't afford those taxes.
It depends on the area.
In some areas what happens is the homes are bought by slumlords and then chopped up into illegal boarding houses so they can get MAXIMUM amount of rent from MAXIMUM amount of tenants. The property taxes don't affect them as badly that way, but THEY affect the neighborhood badly.
In some areas what happens is the homes are bought by slumlords and then chopped up into illegal boarding houses so they can get MAXIMUM amount of rent from MAXIMUM amount of tenants. The property taxes don't affect them as badly that way, but THEY affect the neighborhood badly.
I agree that does happen and is illegal. It is up to the town/village/whatever to enforce housing codes and not allow for these things to happen. It happens in my own town and it definitely brings the town down greatly. Very annoying to say the least.
Let's think logically. What should the school districts do? Parents want their kids to have the greatest education in the world, all after school activities, and yet, they don't want to pay for it. If you think how much it costs to educate the "average" student, it is about $12,000 a year in most districts. Most parents have 1-2 kids and pay about $10,000 in taxes, getting much more than they are valued at.
If the school wants to keep providing these services, people must pay for them. The reality is that the main purpose of school is to educate students. It is not to have sports and other after school programs. Parents can pay for private services in these cases. I think that the most important aspect of "school" is the teacher and the classes/curriculum. After that, then comes the art/music. Lastly, after school curriculum/activities. Again, this is just my opinion.
I don't know what district you live in but its around $17K per student on average. What do you think changed over the years so that parents now have to choose to eliminate programs to balance the budget?
Don't forget...your high taxes keep "undesirables," out of your area. At the same time, your high taxes keep kids off of the streets and in activities after school which then lowers crime in your area. There are many "unseen," benefits that you do get from the school system even if you do not have any kids that may not seem obvious at first.
Your right of course I am going to actively campaign to have the teachers COLA in my district increased to keep those barbarians outside the village line
02-23-2011, 05:29 PM
grant516
n/a posts
The POINT of schools is to educate the citizens of tomorrow so you have doctors, engineers, professors, thespians, economists, authors, astronauts etc...
Whether or not you have children in the district, you will eventually benefit from the fact there are educated people in society.
I cannot fathom -why- school boards generally agree to certain cuts, and not to others- but the main purpose of the budget going through is that teachers can instruct the amount of time they are required to by state law each year. It's sad to see teachers laid off no matter how much they cost.
That is however the concession for those who are continuing to get raises. It does, appear a bit twisted, as the whole of a union- though these are the times we live in.
Anything that is extra-curricular is above and beyond what state mandated education calls for.
I don't know what district you live in but its around $17K per student on average. What do you think changed over the years so that parents now have to choose to eliminate programs to balance the budget?
There are a few major changes/issues that have happened over the years. The first being the issue of teachers being given great contracts when no one wanted to be a teacher and now the government actually having to fulfill their agreements but not having the money to do so.
The second major issue is that the state/federal government continually put mandates on the schools. When you realize how large Special Education has grown, it is actually very scary. Special education students cost the districts 3-4 times (at a minimum) the amount of regular students and more and more students are becoming classified.
These are two simplistic reasons, but the list could go on for a while.
There are a few major changes/issues that have happened over the years. The first being the issue of teachers being given great contracts when no one wanted to be a teacher and now the government actually having to fulfill their agreements but not having the money to do so.
The second major issue is that the state/federal government continually put mandates on the schools. When you realize how large Special Education has grown, it is actually very scary. Special education students cost the districts 3-4 times (at a minimum) the amount of regular students and more and more students are becoming classified.
These are two simplistic reasons, but the list could go on for a while.
Special ed has been in place for over 20 years and most definitely increased the budget but if teacher salaries and benefits were kept in control we would not have an issue. Increased pension costs, health care increases and constant salary increases have taken their toll and put us at a point where we need to either reduce benefits, layoffs or remove programs, I know what my choice would be.
No...I meant what I wrote. There are benefits to paying high taxes even when you don't have kids in school. One of these benefits is that you get to keep undesirable people out of your neighborhood because they can't afford those taxes.
Yes pay higher taxes to keep the "undesirables" out. What a ridiculous idea, and it doesn't work in most towns. Take Sayville for example, with a huge population of Section 8, the "undesirables" are able to afford this town. Now, the kids that grew up there. They all have to live in Patchogue. We're not talking Sands Point here, it's a blue collar south shore town, and their own children can't afford to buy houses in the area because of the taxes.
The funniest part is that the Section 8 rental office used to be across the street from West Sayville Firehouse (with all the windows blacked out), where Levy just had his "State of the County" address.
And Sayville pays approximately $25,000 per student in their district.
No...I meant what I wrote. There are benefits to paying high taxes even when you don't have kids in school. One of these benefits is that you get to keep undesirable people out of your neighborhood because they can't afford those taxes.
Oh by undesirable you mean like drug dealers and prostitutes.. or even illegal immigrants, or chachi from happy days... He is very undesirable... Or are you speaking of maybe a family with a single income... We dont want those bastards here!!!!! Especially Chachi
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