DPS Proposed Budget

[English]

I'll be the first to admit it. Colleges and universities waste a lot of money. But just like in K-12, instructors will take the brunt of the pain. Administrators, capital projects, platinum-plated sports programs, etc. will not. That's because just like K-12 reforms aren't really about children, higher ed reform isn't really about learning or knowledge. Follow the money!

Shared sacrifice is understandable, but this isn't like the 1930s. There IS no sharing going on. DPS teachers took concessions. We're likely going to have to take concessions, too. But people making $30-60K plus benefits are not what's wrong with this country. Outsourcing and bleeding out the corporate sector certainly hasn't worked many miracles there, so I can't see it doing much for the public sector.

Here's what I think will happen as a result of these policies. I think our struggling schools will worsen, and I believe some of that will start to infect many "safe" suburbs. I believe that we will return to a nation where neither home ownership nor a college education are within reach for the vast majority of people. In short, I predict a return to the socioeconomic structures that existed in the late 19th and early 20th century. There will be much more volatile markets [[they had a "Panic" every other year back then), the ranks of the underclass will swell, and crime rates will start to spike.

Worst of all, our national infrastructure will continue to crumble. I'll never forget talking with a late friend of mine who was a researcher at U-M during an educational policy session right after the MN bridge collapse. "Maybe we'll get another public works project," he said. "Most of our roads, bridges, plants, etc. were built during or before the 1960s. Nearly a half century later, there's a lot to take care of."

Well, that will NEVER happen in the current political climate. We will continue to patch up what our ancestors built here and there, and pretend it's OK until that patchwork crumbles.

The current adult generations are running this country into the ground and that's all there is to it. It can't be excused. We're squandering the nation that our grandparents built after WWII simply because we don't give a whit for their ideals. It's wicked.

[kraig]

Has anyone noticed that the headlines always name Bobb when the story is about cuts, but then always name DPS when the story is about questionable spending? Even though it's Bobb that's doing the spending.

[Locke09]

Here's what I think will happen as a result of these policies. I think our struggling schools will worsen, and I believe some of that will start to infect many "safe" suburbs. I believe that we will return to a nation where neither home ownership nor a college education are within reach for the vast majority of people. In short, I predict a return to the socioeconomic structures that existed in the late 19th and early 20th century. There will be much more volatile markets [[they had a "Panic" every other year back then), the ranks of the underclass will swell, and crime rates will start to spike.

That paragraph sums up some of my greatest fears for the future of this country, from a socio-economic perspective. Add to this that there are fewer safety nets for displaced and underemployed people because we have little tolerance for social programs these days.

[Novine]

"Add to this that there are fewer safety nets for displaced and underemployed people because we have little tolerance for social programs these days."

That's what you hear from the chattering class in the media and from politicians in Lansing and Washington DC. But polling of Americans show that people don't want to see Social Security or Medicare cut. Paul Ryan might be the darling of the DC cocktail circuit but many voters don't like his proposals.

[DetroitFats]

Thank God Mr. Bobb had one last chance to wag his finger at me [[a selfish DPS teacher) before leaving, and to remind me that it is all about the children. While I greedily earn almost $50, 000 a year teaching, counseling, giving music lessons, reading, writing, eating lunch and working on after-school projects with the children, Mr. Bobb has been forced to accept a paltry $770, 000 for his two years work. There were times when he had to spend as much as ten minutes with the students, posing for pictures or announcing the end of social promotion in DPS. I, on the other hand, only have to teach classes of 40-42 students five times a day, five days a week. Of course, some of his pay was subsidized by the very groups whose obvious goal is to destroy DPS and install a system of for-profit schools, but, as I’ve been told repeatedly, education is a business, and should be run exactly like a business. Also, Mr. Bobb has heroically devoted two years of his life to our school district, while I have put in less than eight. While it is true that I [[as well as every other teacher in DPS) have received a layoff notice, I am not too concerned. I know that my avaricious union will protect and defend me. After all, in the time I have worked for DPS, the only sacrifices I have been asked to make are “lending” the district an interest-free $10,000, paying an additional 3% of my salary to the state for other public employees’ benefits, lending the district five days of pay and five days of sick time [[some of which was actually paid back!), giving up hundreds of hours of prep time with no compensation, having oversized classes every year, and attending countless workshops after school and on weekends that I was never paid for. Therefore, the 10% pay cut proposed by our new EFM should not pose much of a problem for me. I am grateful that the union was able to take time from protecting the jobs of innumerable incompetent teachers to allow me these Cadillac benefits.
So thank you Mr. Bobb, for all you have done for me and for the district. I know that you will move on to a new city, most likely repeating the astonishing successes you have achieved here in Detroit and in Washington D.C. as well. And don’t worry about what the critics say. So what if your emergency financial manager expertise actually drove us farther into debt—At least a large group of out-of-state contractors and consultants were able to get rich on the backs of the children, who, as you have repeatedly pointed out, are the real reason we all work in education.

[Zacha341]

^^^^ Speak ON IT, D'Facts - DFats! ^^^^

[DetroitTeacher]

Amen-from a fellow teacher

Thank God Mr. Bobb had one last chance to wag his finger at me [[a selfish DPS teacher) before leaving, and to remind me that it is all about the children. While I greedily earn almost $50, 000 a year teaching, counseling, giving music lessons, reading, writing, eating lunch and working on after-school projects with the children, Mr. Bobb has been forced to accept a paltry $770, 000 for his two years work. There were times when he had to spend as much as ten minutes with the students, posing for pictures or announcing the end of social promotion in DPS. I, on the other hand, only have to teach classes of 40-42 students five times a day, five days a week. Of course, some of his pay was subsidized by the very groups whose obvious goal is to destroy DPS and install a system of for-profit schools, but, as I’ve been told repeatedly, education is a business, and should be run exactly like a business. Also, Mr. Bobb has heroically devoted two years of his life to our school district, while I have put in less than eight. While it is true that I [[as well as every other teacher in DPS) have received a layoff notice, I am not too concerned. I know that my avaricious union will protect and defend me. After all, in the time I have worked for DPS, the only sacrifices I have been asked to make are “lending” the district an interest-free $10,000, paying an additional 3% of my salary to the state for other public employees’ benefits, lending the district five days of pay and five days of sick time [[some of which was actually paid back!), giving up hundreds of hours of prep time with no compensation, having oversized classes every year, and attending countless workshops after school and on weekends that I was never paid for. Therefore, the 10% pay cut proposed by our new EFM should not pose much of a problem for me. I am grateful that the union was able to take time from protecting the jobs of innumerable incompetent teachers to allow me these Cadillac benefits.
So thank you Mr. Bobb, for all you have done for me and for the district. I know that you will move on to a new city, most likely repeating the astonishing successes you have achieved here in Detroit and in Washington D.C. as well. And don’t worry about what the critics say. So what if your emergency financial manager expertise actually drove us farther into debt—At least a large group of out-of-state contractors and consultants were able to get rich on the backs of the children, who, as you have repeatedly pointed out, are the real reason we all work in education.