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Im' officially confused... I need to be enlightened.
We all know taxes on LI are ridiculous.. particularly the school spending.. we need to consolidate..etc.
But. I keep hearing on the boards that a lot of this has to do with the unions..
And here is where I get confused.
I went to North Babylon UFSD... UFSD = Union Free School District. Says so right on the side of their buses..LOL...
So.. when exactly DID the union infiltrate SD on LI?
Do other parts of the country have Uninos for teachers in their SD?
If not, how did htey prevent them from coming in and ..well doing what's been done to our cost of schooling here on LI?
If they DO have Unions.. why does it take us 3x's the capital to educate our children as it does the rest of the country (and the rest of the country gets some damned good education for a lot less than we spend_)?
How can we phase out these unions that people say are causing our SD so much money that we're so overtaxed?
Are administrators also part of this Union?
HOpe someone can explain because all I know is that my tax bill is ridiculous!!
I only have three points to make
1)I agree ---Taxes are ridiculous on LI
2)If you pay teachers less they will not be able to afford living here or choose to live cheaper somewhere else. If a teacher can make a comparable salary in NC where it is cheaper to live then they will move there (like everyone else!)
3) The quality of education is much better than most of the rest of the country. Now someone might say in some districts it is not but then those are the districts with cheaper taxes.
The Union Free School District is a misnomar. I don't remember the reason for the addition of Union Free, but it has nothing to do with being free of teacher unions.
As far as consolidation goes, one large district would be able to negotiate a better contract with the only one teachers union. Just look at New York City: the cost of living in NYC is more, but teachers are paid less there.
The best solution would be to consolidate the districts, eliminate the school property tax and replace it with a graduated school income tax.
The Union Free School District is a misnomar. I don't remember the reason for the addition of Union Free, but it has nothing to do with being free of teacher unions.
As far as consolidation goes, one large district would be able to negotiate a better contract with the only one teachers union. Just look at New York City: the cost of living in NYC is more, but teachers are paid less there.
The best solution would be to consolidate the districts, eliminate the school property tax and replace it with a graduated school income tax.
Better yet, let Albany work. Follow Kemp Hannon's plan of making all new teachers State Employees to let Albany do one contract for everyone, put a hard cap tied to the COLA in social security for the school districts, mainatain local control of your school and try to get all new employees into a cash balance plan a generous match instead of a traditional pension plan.
Just look at New York City: the cost of living in NYC is more, but teachers are paid less there.
Not sure anyone would be happy if we recreated the NYC school system on Long Island. Just look at this forum--a large number of posts are searching for a good school district (my posts included). NYC has a retention problem because of their low salaries. I realize teachers get little respect but this is a highly educated group( bachelors, Masters and continuing education) who deserve to be paid well. I would hope we as parents realize the importance of their jobs. Does anyone want a discount education for their children?
As for the State taking over I am not sure they are so fiscally responsible either!
As I search for a house I am willing to pay more but I truly believe it is worth it. Now if you pay alot in taxes and your schools stink then you need to get involved.
I should add I am not a teacher either--just a parent who realizes the need of a good education.
The fair solution to Long Island's school situation is to:
1. Consolidate Nassau's school districts into one county wide district; same goes for Suffolk. The benefits of consolidation have already been explained on the other thread.
2. eliminate the school property tax and replace it with a school income tax that is graduated. This would help seniors and young couples the most. Yeah. The wealthy would have to pay more.
3. allow for vouchers so parents can choose to stay in the public system or opt to send their children to private, Catholic school or a yeshiva.
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