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I have had enough of this. My school tax has doubled since 2004. My house continues to lose value year after year. These leeches have sucked every dollar of disposable income out of.our pockets. Why do we stand for this? Abolish the teachers union. Cut all admin salaries by 50%. Cut all teacher salaries 30%. Don't like it? Good bye. We have teachers and admin tripping over themselves to land one of these jobs. The schools have not improved one iota since 1990 yet we pay triple the cost for it. For what??? We need to draw a line in the sand here and now. The schools are good reason is not reason enough to overpay for it. They would be good anyway without the ten thousand $tax bill.
A little secret the schools don't want you to know........it's our kids that make the schools great.....not the other way around.
I totally agree with you, but that'll NEVER happen. I always said that the school system here on LI should be restructured according to a business pyramid model for each county---I don't think it's necessary for there to be superintendents for EVERY SD commanding half a million dollar salaries. I don't think there's a need for them, honestly.... I live in East Rockaway. We have 2 elementary schools and 1 high school...total enrollment has to be less than 1000 kids. Why does our Superintendent have to be making almost $500K + benefits & perks for a 1 square mile town with low school enrollment??
IMO, I think it makes sense for there to be one governing school board for each county and have a handful of superintendents overlook multiple districts within that county. I think it'll save taxpayers a lot of money that way.
Getting back to your post, Teacher's unions are wayyy too strong. I guess the way to start is to have everyone in town continuously vote down the annual school budget, but that'll never happen. The schools districts use scare tactics on the parents and make them think that if the budget doesn't pass they'll cut all extracurricular activities, trips, after school programs etc. that the kids will suffer...Parents buy into this hook line and sinker. It surprises me though, b/c I don't understand how parents are okay with this and can still financially afford to have their taxes go up each year? Taxes are through the roof as is!
If you notice, all of these threats (cutting trips, after school programs, etc) are the first ones made, but the schools never look at the teachers salaries or annual raises as one of the first areas to cut if the budget didn't pass.
If you notice, all of these threats (cutting trips, after school programs, etc) are the first ones made, but the schools never look at the teachers salaries or annual raises as one of the first areas to cut if the budget didn't pass.
I agree with just about everything you said, but to be fair this isnt completely true. Many teachers have been laid off (or "excessed") as they call it due to budget cuts the last few years. I believe newsday just ran an article saying they expected to cut another 750 teacher jobs Island wide this year. The sad thing is most of the teachers that are cut are the lowest paid and youngest of the bunch (due to union seniority rules). Plus I know there have been a few districts that froze raises (or lowered them) as well.
I have had enough of this. My library tax has doubled since 2004. My house continues to lose value year after year. These leeches have sucked every dollar of disposable income out of.our pockets. Why do we stand for this? Abolish the librarians union. Cut all admin salaries by 50%. Cut all librarian salaries 30%. Don't like it? Good bye. We have librarians and admin tripping over themselves to land one of these jobs. The libraries have not improved one iota since 1990 yet we pay triple the cost for it. For what??? We need to draw a line in the sand here and now. The libraries are good reason is not reason enough to overpay for it. They would be good anyway without the ten thousand $tax bill.
A little secret the libraries don't want you to know........it's the books that make the libraries great.....not the other way around.
LIteabagger is one of the reasons that it's so hard to affect change...hyperbole like that which this person spills is enough to make someone on the fence on this issue say "if this nut is on that side, I'm on the other."
Yeah, fire everybody. Brilliant policy. I'm sure it will go over well when you run for the School Board.
I have had enough of this. My Police tax has doubled since 2004. My house continues to lose value year after year. These leeches have sucked every dollar of disposable income out of.our pockets. Why do we stand for this? Abolish the PBA. Cut all Police admin salaries by 50%. Cut all Police Officer salaries 30%. Don't like it? Good bye. We have wanna-be Police tripping over themselves to land one of these jobs. The Police Dept. have not improved one iota since 1990 yet we pay triple the cost for it. For what??? We need to draw a line in the sand here and now. The the Police Dept is good reason is not reason enough to overpay for it. They would be good anyway without the ten thousand $tax bill.
A little secret the Police don't want you to know........it's the tax payers that make the Police Dept great.....not the other way around.
LMAO! Just had to do one myself Like DMan said firing everyone and closing everything isnt even close to a realistic solution.
Its not so much salaries that are causing taxes to go up as it is pension and benefit payments. As the state made significant cuts in funding to local districts in the 2011-2012 budget, you are seeing schools trying to make up the difference in order to make the required pension payments(required by the NYS constitution). What needs to be done(and is, to a certain extent with Tier 6) is a massive modification of retirement benefits for NYS workers to be more equivalent to the private sector. This currently is only happening for new workers and would require a renegotiation with the unions that any sane union leader would refuse. Therefore, the only alternative is for legislation to be passed at a state level allowing all union contracts be reopened and modified unilaterally by the state government. You can cut salaries all you want(although you’d have to be insane to live on LI with a salary of $30k) but the benefits are the driving cause of these tax increases. I don’t believe district consolidation would make that significant a cut into the cost of education on LI.
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 22 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,091,524 times
Reputation: 15538
Quote:
Originally Posted by peconic117
I agree with just about everything you said, but to be fair this isnt completely true. Many teachers have been laid off (or "excessed") as they call it due to budget cuts the last few years. I believe newsday just ran an article saying they expected to cut another 750 teacher jobs Island wide this year. The sad thing is most of the teachers that are cut are the lowest paid and youngest of the bunch (due to union seniority rules). Plus I know there have been a few districts that froze raises (or lowered them) as well.
So if personnel are laid off due to decreasing enrollments union seniority rules will dictate that the last in are released first? Teachers that may have been evaluated as less than effective or are in areas that are no longer needed are retained because of seniority? What a crock of ...... A really great motivator that the unions don't mention when trying to establish themselves in new areas....
I agree with just about everything you said, but to be fair this isnt completely true. Many teachers have been laid off (or "excessed") as they call it due to budget cuts the last few years. I believe newsday just ran an article saying they expected to cut another 750 teacher jobs Island wide this year. The sad thing is most of the teachers that are cut are the lowest paid and youngest of the bunch (due to union seniority rules). Plus I know there have been a few districts that froze raises (or lowered them) as well.
You're right, believe me, I have a bunch of friends who have already lost their jobs, including my fiance...But I think teacher lay offs could be prevented if those at the very top took a pay cut to save the jobs of their fellow co-workers at the bottom. They always cut the young ones from the bottom b/c they're not tenured and they're easily disposable. Honestly, the cuts should really start at the top.
I have had enough of this. My library tax has doubled since 2004. My house continues to lose value year after year. These leeches have sucked every dollar of disposable income out of.our pockets. Why do we stand for this? Abolish the librarians union. Cut all admin salaries by 50%. Cut all librarian salaries 30%. Don't like it? Good bye. We have librarians and admin tripping over themselves to land one of these jobs. The libraries have not improved one iota since 1990 yet we pay triple the cost for it. For what??? We need to draw a line in the sand here and now. The libraries are good reason is not reason enough to overpay for it. They would be good anyway without the ten thousand $tax bill.
A little secret the libraries don't want you to know........it's the books that make the libraries great.....not the other way around.
how many % of the taxes we pay are for schools, compared to how many % of the taxes we pay are for books, or firemen, or police, or infrastructure, or frogs, or kale?
how many % of the taxes we pay are for schools, compared to how many % of the taxes we pay are for books, or firemen, or police, or infrastructure, or frogs, or kale?
I'd like to see a pie chart of this
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A really great motivator that the unions don't mention when trying to establish themselves in new areas....
