Peninsula Schools Hit by State Budget Cuts
The State Legislature's midyear budget cuts will take $3.74 million from schools on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Port Angeles School District Superintendent Jane Pryne said:
"I have never in 33 years of education ever had the budget cut during the current fiscal year. This is the first year I have ever seen anything like this happen."
The Port Angeles School District will lose $1.27 million.
Port Angeles School District Superintendent Jane Pryne said:
"I have never in 33 years of education ever had the budget cut during the current fiscal year. This is the first year I have ever seen anything like this happen."
The Port Angeles School District will lose $1.27 million.
posted by Tom Harper at 3:25 PM
24 Comments:
She oughta start with her own damn salary!!
This is only the beginning.
And, I don't see how finger pointing and name calling is going to help generate more income.
Too many businesses forgot patriotism, and moved for cheap labor. Combined with the billions the government has been spending on wars for the last 9 years, that has generated no economic return, this country has run itself into quite a pickle.
As the recent employment figures show, jobs continue to be lost. This means continued decline in tax revenues. This means continued cuts to public services.
Get used to it.
The America you grew up in, is no more.
Anonymous 9:59 Says: "She oughta start with her own damn salary!!"
This is another in the same, old, tired and misinformed rants about cutting the salaries of any public official who is paid more money than the average grocery clerk at Safeway, but much less than the Manager at that same store, about the same as the average mill worker at Nippon Paper. The fact is, who do you want in charge of these large public instutions? The P.A. School District is the 4th largest "business" on the Olympic Peninsula, with around 450 employees! The "CEO" of every private business that size, anywhere in our State makes much more money than the Superintendent of our schools makes. Her job REQUIRES a PHD, years and years of experience, and has fewer qualified candidates available than jobs needing to be filled across the country, meaning we are darned lucky to be able to attract someone with her qualifications, for the meager salaries we are able to pay. So, get over yourselves, all you misinformed haters! Give our local leaders a little respect, gripe about the decisons they make, if you have better ideas, but to complaign about salary levels that are appropriate (and even a little low) for the qualifications that are needed to do the job, is just plain ignorant!
pretty sure anon 9:59 was talking about the governor, not Dr. Pryne.
Pay attention please
public schools have been failing at education ever since it became a "requirement" to have PH.D.
The problem with advanced degrees is that there is this mistaken concept that it should result in higher lifetime earnings, automatically. In reality, advanced education degrees have little bearing in real life abilities and/or earnings abilities.
A common complaint in BUSINESS is that a PH.D. holder tends to not have as much "common sense" as the average (non-overly-educated) person. Plus, the attitudes are harder to deal with. (Which poster Once Burned has pointed out,nicely.)
The college myth has ruined education in this country. Instead of children being angled into technical schools OR college bound, the big b.s. push (in the 50's and 60's) was "go to college" for everyone. Not all kids are suited to college. Not all families can afford it. (And educational "loans" are now a form of indentured servitude, the loans cannot be discharged EVER, no matter what. Sweet deal for the privatization of them, credit card companies LOVE THEM.)
Historically, prior to the 1940's, children were routed to Technical high schools (to learn trades, and then go into an apprenticeship) or "English" high schools, which would prepare them for a university. It was a good system. But, that was before "self esteem building" and "standardized testing" and other really stupid ideas (promoted by "experts" with PH.D's). Schools have forgotten how to educate. They're full of people with more theory and less experience. They're filled with people who know how to spend money, but not how to EARN it.
From the early 1960's school administration (not teachers, but the administration) has increased 400-500%. Why? Is there that much more paperwork? Since when is paperwork "work"? (As, anyone who has been in a corporation knows..the "busiest" person is usually the deadwood.)
I find your post, Burned, to be a good example of what is wrong with the educational system today
Anon 12:07 says: "I find your post, Burned, to be a good example of what is wrong with the educational system today." I guess he (or she) thinks I am an educator, myself, but no, I am but a humble banker who has worked for many years on local levies and various committees in support of our local school district. I actually think Anon is correct when saying the push to "educate" every student as if they were going to college is a mistake. Anon misses my point, arguing about the constant gripers about "high" salaries being paid to local, public officials, here Dr. Pryne, but earlier gripes about Jeff Robb, Tom Keegan and Kent Myers. We need to pay competitive salaries to get and keep quality leaders in local government positions. Not one is being paid outlandishly, and when compared to similarly sized private company CEO's, our public servants pay is much, much lower (and I see their loan applications to prove it).
Anyone with a PhD needs to be taken out and publicly horsewhipped. And that's just for starters!
"Anyone with a PhD needs to be taken out and publicly horsewhipped. And that's just for starters!"
Isn't that what the Taliban do?
And, before them, those fun guys in Cambodia, with their "Re-education camps for intellectuals".
Yeah, I can see how folks in Port Angeles would support these types of views.
Anon 12:07...
Right on! You oughta run for office...bt then again, you'd just be frustrated trying to change things for the better....
Education, if you want to call it that, today is about "self-actualization" and "self-esteem" hidden under the guise of mandatory test scores and other claptrap. "Educators" spend their time cramming our kids with the answers to the various government mandated tests - "1492" "Gettysburg Address" "League of Nations" - because if the kids pass, they "educators" get to keep their jobs.
But kids have no idea what concepts, what cause and effects lie behind these answers they've learned by rote. The kids are no better educated for passing these government standards tests than before.
Instead of being properly educated, trained for a trade or higher education, they courses in Hinduism, yoga, finger painting and other rubbish. They'll graduate, they'll be stoopid - but, Kumbayah! they'll sure feel good about themselves.
And in the long run, isn't that the most important thing? You betcha!
"Instead of being properly educated, trained for a trade or higher education, they courses in Hinduism, yoga, finger painting and other rubbish. They'll graduate, they'll be stoopid - but, Kumbayah! they'll sure feel good about themselves."
So, the solution to these problems is to cut the salaries and educational requirements for the teachers?
no the "answer" is to pay everyone with a big bonus, lots of cash for no effort, and other happy, fun, self-actualizing things. Everyone wants to be the boss, the executive, the important person. We're teaching our kids how to game the system, cheat, lie, and expect much more than life will ever give them.
That is the state of our education system, and if "show by example" is anything...lets throw in zero tolerance for EVERYTHING, "follow the rules, no matter how stupid" and hear how everyone gripes about not making enough, and NO ONE is proud of what they do, or cares about their jobs.
It is all about MONEY. Me me me me me, money money money money.
So, what people don't make a buttload of cash? What ever happened to working because it was something of value to do? What about TEACHING our children because that is what, as elders, we're supposed to DO???
As for poster "burned"...hey, bankers are lower than snake's bellies in my book. It is bullshit that you have "attract" quality workers. Total bullshit. For every open job there are several HUNDRED applicants. It's a depression, sweetie.
But, real teachers, the ones we need...would love to come and TEACH. Hell, I'd teach! (But, I can't stomach the "educational system" of red tape and power crazed administrators). I know people who love to teach so much, that if we could just LET THEM TEACH, we could pay them in groceries and provide a shelter -- and they wouldn't care about how much an hour.
The almighty quest for $$ is NOT the answer.
"The almighty quest for $$ is NOT the answer."
I agree with you, and I know MANY teachers who complain at every chance about what has been imposed upon them by " No Child Left Behind", etc. Most all teachers I've ever talked to, agree with most everything you state.
So, tell us all how we change this situation.
Education fails because of standardized testing. "No Child Left Behind" is a lovely sentiment, to be sure, but it doesn't work by just having standardized tests and rewarding teachers for the highest percentage of students passing.
Of course the teachers "teach to the test" -- they can lose their jobs if they don't.
However, we've now lost the liberal arts, in other words anything that isn't a yes or no answer to a test. Students don't learn critical thinking, and we can't do without it.
Bring back "teaching" instead of just running kids through the same groove regardless of their individual needs and skills.
I don't know how we change the situation. Maybe the situation will change itself....as the economic crisis deepens. State budget cuts, schools will have to become more creative, maybe lay off a few DOZEN of the support staff. Maybe?
What we need is creativity, but that won't happen until the situation worsens and those in charge are laid off.
I have no doubt we CAN pull ourselves together, and really teach our children the things that really NEED to be taught (reading contracts, understanding laws, learning a skill a trade, learning accounting, mastering how to critically think). But, we aren't going to pull together until the situation becomes DIRE.
I think that people can do the right thing once it's up to them, and they stop waiting for "someone" to do it for them.
Look at the homeschool movement -- there are people who ARE taking a step in the right direction (if you dismiss the people who give it a bad name).
Maybe at the point when no one can afford basic cable -- we'll finally start to DO SOMETHING.
One can hope....
"What we need is creativity, but that won't happen until the situation worsens and those in charge are laid off."
Perhaps, but there are plenty of examples of communities that are moving forward with advances, without having the situation having to become as dire as it is in Port Angeles, and much of the US.
Most of the changes that have been imposed upon teachers have come about as politicians and school administrators respond to issues raised by the general public. These responses and changes usually are well intentioned, but, as we see, don't always result in positive advances.
Yes, you're right, we cannot sit around, expecting someone else to fix things for us. We have the government we elect. We allow the candidates to define the issues, which, recently, has been a lot of hollow rhetoric.
We don't demand that candidates spell out specific things they propose to do, to address issues of concern. We allow them to spout phrases which may sound appealing, but really say little.
We allow them to conduct "debates", which are not debates at all. They are just forums for each to state their pre-prepared canned speeches. We don't require them to actually DEBATE policies and proposals for their actual value and validity.
We allow the candidates and media to turn the election processes into little more than finger pointing, insulting and yelling. Through our continued participation in these contrivances, we validate their corruption of the process.
We CAN demand better of our representatives. We CAN stand up, state our disapproval, and literally WALK OUT of rallies and forums of candidates that resort to hollow rhetoric. We CAN support candidates that propose specifics we can consider, debate and decide upon.
There ARE things we can do, IF we really do care.
"really teach our children the things that really NEED to be taught (reading contracts, understanding laws, learning a skill a trade, learning accounting, mastering how to critically think)."
You forgot "How to pull up your damn pants".
"But, we aren't going to pull together until the situation becomes DIRE."
Uh ... the situation is already DIRE. Europe, Canada, South America, Asia and especially China are already lightyears ahead of us in education standards.
Even high end universities like Harvard and Yale and turning into personal enrichment centers rather than global leaders in higher education.
I was thinking teach them they aren't inner city black kids...and convince them that wiggers are the least employable group, bar none. No one likes a white kid trying to be a black rapster.
"No one likes a white kid trying to be a black rapster."
No kidding! How lame is THAT!
I for one am SICK and TIRED of every frickin time I turn around, a gawddamn "Vote for the Kids" sign pops up. NO MORE MONEY LEECHES, until you start teaching these kids the skills they need to make it in this world! Not all this touchy-feely crap!!!!!!
"Not all this touchy-feely crap!!!!!!"
Yeah, I'm tired of all this kumbayah, need a group hug, patchoulie stuff kids learn in SKOOL!
Stan said...
"I for one am SICK and TIRED of every frickin time I turn around, a gawddamn "Vote for the Kids" sign pops up."
Right on Stan! It doesn't matter that someone else paid taxes for schools when we attended, we should let them all shut down and only let those who can afford private schools become educated.
"let those who can afford private schools become educated."
Sounds good to me. Today's kids can't figure out which end of the pencil to write with anyway.
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