Budget cuts... Why do they always go for education first?

sleepymeko · 03-31-2011, 06:29 PM

Shouldn't that be a priority? I do not understand this kind of logic...

cosmicfly · 03-31-2011, 07:02 PM

It's easy to do- historically teachers have been viewed in some circles as lazy, overpaid nonprofessionals. And this time around, the right has effectively scapegoated teachers along with other union members as being responsible for the fiscal crisis and has whipped everyone into a frenzy over it.

The other facet of it is that children don't have a voice.

sleepymeko · 03-31-2011, 07:17 PM

I do not understand it though. "They" always complain about young adults being lazy, but now with the budget cuts, some students won't even be admitted because the universities just do not have the room. Shouldn't education be the priority? How can we as a society grow if we don't send our children to school!

Eilonwy · 03-31-2011, 08:55 PM

Because that's just how they roll in CA. College students are an easy target because they're generally on the cusp of adulthood and have no clout. And professors generally have no clout outside of their fields. Plus for some reason the general public doesn't like investing in human capital, such as college graduates. I think it's pretty dumb to sabotage a unique state resource like the prestigious UC system.

On the other hand, CA is financially in deep shlt right now. Aren't they cutting the budget for other state programs as well?

MimsTX · 04-01-2011, 07:39 AM

TX is cutting massively, in the elementary-high school programs as well. I haven't heard how the budget cuts will affect universities, though I assume it would to some degree... but it's going to cost anywhere from 100-300,000 teachers their jobs within the state.

I'm with you, sleepy.... this should be the absolute LAST result. Education = the future... why would you sabotage it?

SpaghettiHead · 04-01-2011, 08:21 AM

Ugh, this topic makes me so angry. I heard some reporter a few weeks ago touting that "teachers are overpaid and lazy" bulls**t opinion the other day.
Overpaid? What is an average teachers salary again? Something like $45K-50K? Oooh, yea, that's living high on the hog for sure! Why can't we cut some of these over paid hotshot executive salaries? I don't see many teachers taking extravagant vacations, or buying luxury cars, and living in million dollar homes.... And lazy? give me a freaking break. It takes a special kind of lazy to wrangle kids all day long...not to mention deal with parents. And what about the autisitc teachers? I dare some of these aholes to sit in on one of those classes and see how
"easy" it is.
Our children are already so far behind in the education business compared to the young people of other countries. How is America supposed to flourish if we keep cutting education funds?
UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

afrosheenqueen · 04-01-2011, 02:00 PM

It makes me angry that a college basketball coach can be paid millions and folks try to justify it with "well, a good coach is important if you want to prepare an athlete for the NBA." It's posterboard example of gender superiority to me. Teachers prepare many people for life and that's seems to be worth far less. I can't help but suspect the lazy teacher stereotype and the low pay is because a large percentage of women are in the field.

PartyHair · 04-01-2011, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afrosheenqueen

It makes me angry that a college basketball coach can be paid millions and folks try to justify it with "well, a good coach is important if you want to prepare an athlete for the NBA." It's posterboard example of gender superiority to me. Teachers prepare many people for life and that's seems to be worth far less. I can't help but suspect the lazy teacher stereotype and the low pay is because a large percentage of women are in the field.

The fact that big sport coaches are paid such outlandish sums at the collegiate level pisses me off too. God forbid those coaches take a salary cut to help keep a real teacher in a college classroom or in research.

Cali Chik · 04-01-2011, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eilonwy

Because that's just how they roll in CA. College students are an easy target because they're generally on the cusp of adulthood and have no clout. And professors generally have no clout outside of their fields. Plus for some reason the general public doesn't like investing in human capital, such as college graduates. I think it's pretty dumb to sabotage a unique state resource like the prestigious UC system.

On the other hand, CA is financially in deep shlt right now. Aren't they cutting the budget for other state programs as well?

Yeah they just cut cal-learn which helps pregnant and parenting teens get their HS diplomas and also offers college and job readiness Programs so that they can get jobs and not have to be on welfare later.

Sent from my iPhone using CurlTalk

SCG · 04-01-2011, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PartyHair

Quote:

Originally Posted by afrosheenqueen

It makes me angry that a college basketball coach can be paid millions and folks try to justify it with "well, a good coach is important if you want to prepare an athlete for the NBA." It's posterboard example of gender superiority to me. Teachers prepare many people for life and that's seems to be worth far less. I can't help but suspect the lazy teacher stereotype and the low pay is because a large percentage of women are in the field.

The fact that big sport coaches are paid such outlandish sums at the collegiate level pisses me off too. God forbid those coaches take a salary cut to help keep a real teacher in a college classroom or in research.

I agree, PH. I just made the mistake of Googling how much the president and head football coach at my school make... I think I might throw up.

Neither makes seven figures, but it's still more than enough, I'd speculate...

cosmicfly · 04-01-2011, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afrosheenqueen

It makes me angry that a college basketball coach can be paid millions and folks try to justify it with "well, a good coach is important if you want to prepare an athlete for the NBA." It's posterboard example of gender superiority to me. Teachers prepare many people for life and that's seems to be worth far less. I can't help but suspect the lazy teacher stereotype and the low pay is because a large percentage of women are in the field.

I agree with this.

And as for those high salaries... I'm a speech pathologist (which means I hold a master's degree as well as a license and certification that have to be renewed every so often for a pretty hefty fee) and I work with special education preschoolers. My salary is less than 200% of the federal poverty level for a family of four. I get so angry when I hear people complaining about teacher's salaries. They're just not comparable to other professional salaries.

melloweer · 04-01-2011, 09:51 PM

Ohhh don't get me started! This is a serious sore issue for me. We had huge education budget cuts in Indiana. Now the state is trying to act like charter schools are excellent and public schools are horrible...which btw there is LOADS of data disproving that statment. On top of that they capped the property tax here which means the schools lost a massive amount of money which was not replaced through another format. So now the district I live has to ask the taxpayers for a 1% tax increase to be able to not close 2 schools, not lose 75 teachers, not lose busing, not lose specials (art, gym, music, library) as well as a long list of other cuts that will be made. People are pissed over that. It's just horrible. Oh mind you even though this district has lost funds they have made HUGE educational gains and have been awarded recognition throught the Dept of Ed for multiple reason. But someone complained to me the other day that they couldn't afford to pay the 1% tax increses but they live in a 250k home which here is about 3000sqft plus. Makes no sense!

cosmicfly · 04-02-2011, 08:16 AM

Melloweer, here is an article one of my friends (a hs teacher) posted on Facebook about charter schools. He made a comment about our president continuing to gulp down the Kool Aid.

Study Finds High Dropout Rates for Black Males in KIPP Schools

kat180 · 04-02-2011, 12:20 PM

Obviously this doesn't affect me directly - but over here they are also making cuts to education - and a lot of the cuts seem to be hitting the poor sector in general.

It makes me sick when you you hear about how much MPs, bankers, football players etc are paid. Bankers receive millions of pounds bonuses - for what? For ruining our economy in the first place? When their banks are loosing billions of pounds a year? Give me a break.

Jess the Mess · 04-02-2011, 11:35 PM

The cuts that have been made in the last 5 years since my kids started school are disgusting. All arts, most science, etc. Add to that the need to "teach to test" for standardized testing (which I know this thread isn't about) and the other things that go along with No Child Left Behind makes it very hard for teachers and students alike.

kat180 · 04-03-2011, 03:11 AM

News this morning: Government misjudged tuition fees.

They expected universities to go for around the £7,000 mark with only a few charging £9,000 a year in 'exceptional circumstances'. Big surprise - the majority are all now charging the £9,000 for all their undergraduate courses.

Why are they shocked by this??!! Can someone please explain to me how a government an be so bl**dy stupid!?! Of course they are going to charge the maximum, they now NEED to to cover the costs with budget cuts.

Except now of course, if they all do charge that amount, the government will have to make more cuts, because they can't afford to cover the student loans.

Unbelievable. What a mess.

melloweer · 04-03-2011, 08:57 AM

You wanna know what the problem is. Simply this...all these damn people want to make rules and run the education system but none of them have a clue what it's like inside the schools. The ones that are former school teachers are removed long enough that they don't understand today's classroom. It's a shame that all these idiots have control of the education system, we've seen long enough they suck at it. I'd bet you if they walked into a school and tried to teach for 1 day they'd get eaten alive. Give teachers credit where their credit is due. They are the experts of what our children need today. Not these numnut politicians.

wild_sasparilla · 04-03-2011, 07:23 PM

Kat, I can't speak to politics overseas, but I know if I heard the same thing from my government, I would assume they're not shocked in the least and are just trying to make it look like the schools are greedy and they're the problem, not the nice, friendly, accommodating folks running things. There sure are plenty of politicians over here looking to whip people into a frenzy against the members of unions like those for teachers - it's amazing what people will swallow.

kat180 · 04-04-2011, 03:16 AM

^ It doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

They are always trying to stir trouble as far as I can see. And so are the newspapers. But I also believe more and more each day that they are utterly incompetent as well.

Erugh.

We are now a part of three wars. Politicians are far too eager to turn to violence.

curlylaura · 04-04-2011, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kat180

^ It doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

They are always trying to stir trouble as far as I can see. And so are the newspapers. But I also believe more and more each day that they are utterly incompetent as well.

Erugh.

We are now a part of three wars. Politicians are far too eager to turn to violence.

They're all incompetent when it comes to money. I wasn't alive during the 70s strikes and from what I've been told by people who were, we're headed down that path again.

Universities are now a business first, education provider second.