This past month the St. Mary's Association of Student Councils passed a resolution asking for 50% of the budget given to education. Currently the level is 40%. Both Charles and Calvert counties give 50%+ to their schools. Are all of you aware that our county is behind in terms of education spending?
Commissioners give us 50%!!
- Thread starter smcdem
- Start date
Not sure what that means - are they looking for 50% of the TOTAL budget or just 50% of the educational budget?
You know, of course, that more money doesn't equal better education, right? Or do I have to find the DC school statistics for you?
You know, of course, that more money doesn't equal better education, right? Or do I have to find the DC school statistics for you?
K
Kain99
Guest
Gee, I'm almost certain that Ryken taught you how to count smcdem.
The population in St. Mary's County dictates the percentage of funds allocated.
I'm sure you already knew that.
P.S . If they pay Mr. Science Man more money, he won't be a better teacher.
The population in St. Mary's County dictates the percentage of funds allocated.
I'm sure you already knew that.
P.S . If they pay Mr. Science Man more money, he won't be a better teacher.
SmallTown
Football season!
You're right, you can't throw money at a problem and expect results. However, you can attract brighter educators with more money. If someone is very good and has people interested in him, he can take X dollar from school system MoJo, or take X + Y dollars from school system HoJo. Hmm. Doing the same work, but getting paid more somwhere else. No brainer.
And if the money is going towards facilities. Fixing up buildings, adding computers, adding teachers with specific expertise, etc, then yes, adding more money can help the problem.
Of course, if the budget increases and all you get is admin pay raises, then there is a problem.
And if the money is going towards facilities. Fixing up buildings, adding computers, adding teachers with specific expertise, etc, then yes, adding more money can help the problem.
Of course, if the budget increases and all you get is admin pay raises, then there is a problem.
I think that education spending needs to be increased during the next couple of years in order to ensure that local schools can meet the standards that the No Child Left Behind Act establishes. While these new standards were instituted, the federal government (read: Bush's tax cuts for the rich) could not afford to provide the added funding that was needed to help local school districts comply with the new standards. Thus we currently have a federally unfunded mandate that our local schools must reach in the next decade. And if the results from the recent high school assessments (HSA) are any indication of how our students will perform, then frankly our little rural schools are screwed. Montgomery county schools just completely outperformed our students.
I have an even greater problem with the way that the teachers here in St. Mary's County are treated. The new plan that the county is forcing down the throats of these underappreciated men and women is just deplorable. Salary increases are due to jump 2% while the teachers would be required to pay a larger amount of their paycheck for thei health insurance plan. Thus, under this plan, in 2003 teachers will have an overall lower buying power with their salaries than they did in 1998 due to inflation and the lack of a substantial pay raise to match rising costs of living. No wonder many of the teachers here do not feel compelled to stay here in our local schools for extended periods of time. Teacher turnover here in St. Mary's County is just ridiculous compared to other jurisdictions.
A final thing that I would like to discuss in my post is the issue of the state government providing funding to private schools for textbooks. This program is essentially the most detrimental thing that the state government pursued concerning education here in the great state of Maryland. The last time that I checked, the funding for private schools come from tuition. The entire point of private schools is to be free of government support and funding. They are completely self-sufficient. But for some inane reason, state legislators and Governor Glendenning felt that private school deserved support for the purchase of textbooks. This is occuring while my daughter attends a public high school that cannot provide enough English textbooks for their students and economics textbooks are from 1989. She must pay a fee for two required classes for graduation...yet that is a public education. I am sorry but the parents of private school children chose to send them to a school that required tuition because of the lack of government support. The educational realm that requires government support is not the private school system (which only educates a small fraction of the general population) but the public school system.
I have an even greater problem with the way that the teachers here in St. Mary's County are treated. The new plan that the county is forcing down the throats of these underappreciated men and women is just deplorable. Salary increases are due to jump 2% while the teachers would be required to pay a larger amount of their paycheck for thei health insurance plan. Thus, under this plan, in 2003 teachers will have an overall lower buying power with their salaries than they did in 1998 due to inflation and the lack of a substantial pay raise to match rising costs of living. No wonder many of the teachers here do not feel compelled to stay here in our local schools for extended periods of time. Teacher turnover here in St. Mary's County is just ridiculous compared to other jurisdictions.
A final thing that I would like to discuss in my post is the issue of the state government providing funding to private schools for textbooks. This program is essentially the most detrimental thing that the state government pursued concerning education here in the great state of Maryland. The last time that I checked, the funding for private schools come from tuition. The entire point of private schools is to be free of government support and funding. They are completely self-sufficient. But for some inane reason, state legislators and Governor Glendenning felt that private school deserved support for the purchase of textbooks. This is occuring while my daughter attends a public high school that cannot provide enough English textbooks for their students and economics textbooks are from 1989. She must pay a fee for two required classes for graduation...yet that is a public education. I am sorry but the parents of private school children chose to send them to a school that required tuition because of the lack of government support. The educational realm that requires government support is not the private school system (which only educates a small fraction of the general population) but the public school system.
That Private School Text Book Loan was so horrible. One example is one of my friends at LHS has a textbook from the 1970s while mine a brand new book published last yr that the government payed for. That is just wrong. I am oppose to any public aid to private education. I am not only the only one in the private school world who thinks this too.
Tonio
Asperger's Poster Child
I still say the best way to save money is by eliminating the jobs of the central office administrators, who can then fill teaching vacancies. Year after year, the schools have cut back on textbook spending while creating new administrative jobs.
I think it's ridiculous to say the schools should get X percentage of the county budget. Each county has different spending needs. Also, St. Mary's gets some federal aid because of the presence of Pax River NAS.
I think it's ridiculous to say the schools should get X percentage of the county budget. Each county has different spending needs. Also, St. Mary's gets some federal aid because of the presence of Pax River NAS.
Frank
Chairman of the Board
I'm not even convinced that more money for teachers will attract better educators. I know a teacher who quit her job last fall, not because it wasn't enough money, but because of all the crap she had to put up with, with disorderly, violent students. She had a kid THROW a chair at her, and when she shouted back at the kid - SHE got reprimanded by the school board. She typically had to deal, daily, with kids who would not remain seated, would not remain in class, who were verbally abusive and were sometimes violent. And this was in a school in Montgomery County, in a nice suburb. There's just NO support or means to deal with kids who are out of control.
Actually the County provided 52% of its budget this year to the schools. I have a hard time providing more money have the School Board built their little palace in Leonardtown. They could have used that money for books, etc. They didn't need to be in a new building. Nor do any of ther staff need to be driving top of the line new SUVs either. I know of state and county employees who are driving cars so bad if you or I drove them and had an accident we would be ticketed out the you know what for the condition of the vehicle.
As for the health plan nonsense. Get real. If you want the primo plan pay for it. That is what everyone does - private and many government employees as well. What makes teachers the exception to every rule? Yes they do an important job, but no more so than a cop, fireman, and many other public employees.
If they want to strike - let'em. Then we can fire their little whiney butts just like Ronnie did to the Air Traffic Controllers.
As for the health plan nonsense. Get real. If you want the primo plan pay for it. That is what everyone does - private and many government employees as well. What makes teachers the exception to every rule? Yes they do an important job, but no more so than a cop, fireman, and many other public employees.
If they want to strike - let'em. Then we can fire their little whiney butts just like Ronnie did to the Air Traffic Controllers.
I find it interesting that corporate CEOs get paid beaucoup $$, while teachers get...what? $30K a year or something? If the Commies want to get my support, they should try to get a law passed that anyone making over $500K a year has to kick in to the teacher's paycheck fund. I think it's a disgrace.
Another thing is that when they scrounge more money for "education", typically that doesn't mean teachers get paid more. It usually means there's more money to waste on stupid programs that our kids don't need anyway.
Another thing is that when they scrounge more money for "education", typically that doesn't mean teachers get paid more. It usually means there's more money to waste on stupid programs that our kids don't need anyway.
Delilah903
New Member
Lets Just Do Away With Private Schools!!
Okay smcdem, let's just do away with all private schools!
Now that we have done that, let's take all of the private school students and dump them into the public elementary, middle and high schools. Their parents have already....through their taxes....paid for the right to a public school education. So what do you think this will do...double or triple enrollment? By the way there is no more money coming in from the state or anywhere to cover the additional students because there parents taxes should be covering the cost.
Now those resources such as....books, teachers, classrooms, etc. have to be shared and even more thinly spread. I think people who blast private school education are idiots!
Okay smcdem, let's just do away with all private schools!
Now that we have done that, let's take all of the private school students and dump them into the public elementary, middle and high schools. Their parents have already....through their taxes....paid for the right to a public school education. So what do you think this will do...double or triple enrollment? By the way there is no more money coming in from the state or anywhere to cover the additional students because there parents taxes should be covering the cost.
Now those resources such as....books, teachers, classrooms, etc. have to be shared and even more thinly spread. I think people who blast private school education are idiots!
Last edited:
H
Heretic
Guest
A textbook from the 70's isn't necessarly a bad thing. In college (ive only been out a couple years) a couple of my textbooks were written in the 70's and are still considered the best text book on that topic ever written.
Things like english and math have been the same for hundreds of years.
Now if the textbook was first issued to a student in the 70's that is a problem, actually I would imagine that it would be falling apart.
I really don't even see textbooks as all that important, I rarely opened mine except when the teacher gave an assignment of problems to do from the book.
Things like english and math have been the same for hundreds of years.
Now if the textbook was first issued to a student in the 70's that is a problem, actually I would imagine that it would be falling apart.
I really don't even see textbooks as all that important, I rarely opened mine except when the teacher gave an assignment of problems to do from the book.
B
Bruzilla
Guest
You're right Frank! Every teacher that I've known who have left the public teaching arena cite lack of student discipline and lack of support from administrations as their number one reason for leaving. It isn't the money, and more money isn't going to fix this problem.
Vrai, your comments about CEOs are off the mark. How many millionaire CEOs are there compared to how many teachers? There are probably 5,000 teachers for every very wealthy CEO... that's why teachers can't make as much. Teachers are just like cops and the military. When you have a lot of people you can't afford to pay them all what they are worth. They may do a $70,000 a year job, but if the bucks/body only works out to $30,000, then that's what you get paid. People in these professions know that going in and have an option to quit if they decide they don't like it.
Vrai, your comments about CEOs are off the mark. How many millionaire CEOs are there compared to how many teachers? There are probably 5,000 teachers for every very wealthy CEO... that's why teachers can't make as much. Teachers are just like cops and the military. When you have a lot of people you can't afford to pay them all what they are worth. They may do a $70,000 a year job, but if the bucks/body only works out to $30,000, then that's what you get paid. People in these professions know that going in and have an option to quit if they decide they don't like it.
Yeah, that's what concerns me. I know you're right but you still have to wonder about a country where people who produce absolutely nothing make enormous sums of money and teachers, military, cops, firemen, etc. - the people we REALLY need - make squat.
B
Bruzilla
Guest
Nothing to wonder about. It's simple math. The more people there are in a job, the less all of them can get paid unless you drastically increase tax revenues. That's why most government jobs don't pay squat, and this is why I bailed out of the Navy after 10 years and went to work for the fat cats in the private sector. I nearly tripled my Navy salary by leaving, but more importantly I was treated as a real person rather than as lowly enlisted scum, which was even better than the pay increase.
It's amazing how much better life is as "Mr. Bruzilla" than "AW2 Bruzilla." 
I would take issue with your contention that CEOs produce nothing. Yeah... there are a few buttheads out there at Disney, MCI, ENRON, etc., but there are also a lot more of them that manage their companies quite well and generate hundreds of billions of dollars each year, which pay indirectly or directly for those teachers, soldiers, and cops that we need. If these businesses were failing, the average Joe and Jane on the tax roles would be paying for these services themselves and if that happened I think you would think that $33,000 for teachers is just peachy.
It's amazing how much better life is as "Mr. Bruzilla" than "AW2 Bruzilla." I would take issue with your contention that CEOs produce nothing. Yeah... there are a few buttheads out there at Disney, MCI, ENRON, etc., but there are also a lot more of them that manage their companies quite well and generate hundreds of billions of dollars each year, which pay indirectly or directly for those teachers, soldiers, and cops that we need. If these businesses were failing, the average Joe and Jane on the tax roles would be paying for these services themselves and if that happened I think you would think that $33,000 for teachers is just peachy.
H
Heretic
Guest
If you divide a teachers yearly salary by the 9 months they work per year they do fairly well on an hourly basis.