Wow, slap in the face. (New York, Hempstead: for sale, how much, homes)
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pensions were a managable cost of doing business in the USA until greed & outsourcing set in. 401k's suck.
There's more to it than that.
Yes, 401ks can suck, but for most of us, that's what we are going to have and we need to learn how to make the best of it. We can't all climb into a time machine and go back to the times of a pension and gold watch after XX years of service to a company. At my age, I don't even know if there will even be any social security when I retire. The baby boomers should count their blessings.
Most likely, the reason the school board members run unopposed is because most people on Long Island are on the treadmill, working two jobs, to maintain some standard of living. Being involved in local politics takes time. Working 60 hours a week with a family doesn't leave much time. All I can do is push the "no" button every year and hope that the rest of my community are suffering enough to do the same. So far...no such luck.
I hate when the breeders always intone it's "FOR THE CHILDREN". If you want to propogate the species you should pay all the resultant propogation expenses, including education.
If it is so much "for the children", maybe the district's employees should consider giving up some for so that children will have more. Maybe if they didn't have an increase in taxes, the parents wouldn't have to cut out expenses like sports, lessons, camp, etc.
Okay, so the BOE votes for raises for the teachers, but they don't have anything to do with the retirement packages - that is a state thing, right?
BOEs do vote on the retirement packages and have certainly given away the store this time. NYS administers the pensions and enforces the contracts. They align themselves with NYS so they can have the clout behind them. For instance, teachers' unions have insisted that their members' pensions earn at least 8% per annum and if the markets don't make that (and nowadays they don't) the taxpayers have to dig deeper and make up the difference. Do you have any investments guaranteed to pay 8% or more and if it doesn't other people have to give you the money to make up for it? I don't. Other NYS public employee pensions are different, depending on their unions' deals and there are also NYS public employees who are not in unions whose pensions are also different.
My sister is 3rd grade teacher and she calls it a part time job, it's 6 hours a day and you aren't even with the kids the whole day. In fact, MY 3rd grader's schedule for today looks like this:
8:10 - bell rings
8:20 go to special (gym today)
9:05 - Spanish (push-in teacher)
10:00 snack
12-12:50 lunch (teachers don't have lunch duty)
2:40 dismissal
You do the math and see how many hours his teacher is actually with the class.
Your sister sounds like a real charmer...if you're unhappy about the way your child's day is going, speak to the teacher, admin, school board and run..you're paying for it...
As for everyone else..I have a news flash...teachers did not cause the economic downturn, but I can assure you that irresponsibility elsewhere did..did we run out of scapegoats?
Your sister sounds like a real charmer...if you're unhappy about the way your child's day is going, speak to the teacher, admin, school board and run..you're paying for it...
As for everyone else..I have a news flash...teachers did not cause the economic downturn, but I can assure you that irresponsibility elsewhere did..did we run out of scapegoats?
Where is someone insinuating this? Teachers and the public education systems on LI are a big reason why LI is slowly dying and a big reason why recovery is going to be extremely difficult at best. Its been discussed since before I was in HS.
I agree that on LI there is WAY too much beaurocracy...I would not be completely opposed to the merging of some districts/cutting the fat up top to make things more reasonable...
I am new to LI as a resident so I am not sure what's been going on since you are in HS, but I feel, in general, that people are suddenly blaming and wanting to fire/layoff teachers...it just seems weird to me...I am, however, a big believer in "if you're paying for it, speak up if you're unhappy" We are all paying for it, and we can definitely speak up and try and change things...but we don't need to insult the people working with the kids day in and day out, working hard to make them the best they can be...
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