Say Anything Blog

Reminds me of the West Wing episode:

President Bartlett: You told the press I have a secret plan to fight inflation?
Josh Lyman: No, I did not. Let me be absolutely clear, I did not do that. Except, yes, I did that.

I’d like to hear the details of his seret plan to cut taxes.

Nd. schools don’t need more money, they need more accountability and trimming of all the “dead wood”, of which there is plenty, but the hapless Hoeven is beholden to the out-of-state teacher union bosses!

Good idea, Kevin.  Here’s a plan for you folks in ND.

1.  Immediately reduce the state’s education budget by 5% and announce the intention to reduce it another 1% each year for the next five.

2.  Require any kid participating in sports, band, choir, journalism, science olympics or drama to pay a participation fee sufficient to cover the cost of coaches, uniforms, equipment, officials, field or facility maintenance and travel.

3.  Require parents to pay an annual bus-transportation fee.

4.  Eliminate or reduce support-staff: Librarians, nurses, counselors, aides, custodians and office staff.

5.  Set maximum winter heating levels at 68 degrees.

6.  Require students to pay for all textbooks. [Average cost per book - $65.]

7.  Eliminate ‘frill’ benefits for teachers: disability, life-insurance, dental care. Offer basic Blue Cross for the employee only.

8.  Limit building administration - regardless of school size - to one principal and one assistant.

9.  Eliminate purchase of school supplies. Impose a fee on all students and parents for classroom maps, dictionaries, charts, chalk, computers and the like.

10. Consider a four-day school week for 48 weeks annually.

11. Eliminate liability insurance. Require all employees and student-families to sign a ‘hold-harmless’ contract to work in or attend school.

12. Eliminate grounds maintenance. Schools do not need trees, shrubs or even mowing. These are frills.

13. Do away with school lunches. Require every kid to bring their own from home.

14. Eliminate parent/teacher conferences.

15. Provide no more state money for school construction or expansion.  If schools need more room, let local parents pay for it.

16. Increase class size by 50%.  There is no firm evidence that smaller classes mean better learning.

17. Do away with the State Department of Education. 

18. Eliminate special services. Let the parents of home-bound kids find and pay for their own services.

19. Do away with costly pension plans for educators.

20. Close all school buildings week-days at 3:30 and week-ends. Allow no after-school use of facilities, including sports.

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

pparets seems to be paranoid about his fat government benefits not growing fast enough.

Benefits?  I work hard for every penny I make.  Do you?

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

Mine isn’t paid for with money taken from people through the implied threat of confiscation or incarceration.
How about yours?

Do you work hard for it, Kevie?

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

Only when I worked in the power plants, then I got smart and worked smart instead of hard.(;^)

How nice for you, Kevie.

You wanted the ND “dead wood” trimmed… there’s your list. 

Enjoy.

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

What do you wanna’ bet pparets dismisses any unfortunate student in his class who objects to collectivism, by adding an “ie” to their name.

awww, Kevie… that’s so cute…

Now, which “dead wood’ items on the list appeal to you?

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

You might want to check your “work” there, union teacher.
There is no “list.”
You people only protect all of the dead wood until pension time!

Awww, Kevie… so, when you actually have to decide how to trim the “dead wood” out of ND schools, you start to wet yourself.

BTW, I have never been a member of any union. But… nice try.

Now, how about that list?

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

Nd. schools don’t need more money, they need more accountability and trimming of all the “dead wood”, of which there is plenty, but the hapless Hoeven is beholden to the out-of-state teacher union bosses!

Once you trim the deadwood what will you replace it with.  You don’t pay well enough to get competence.

What do you care? You’re probably a hapless out-of- stater who sends more money to Washington DC which gets sent to Nd.. LOL!

Frankly I wouldn’t call people who are not in ND as hapless, I think a better description would be “lucky”.

But my question is serious.  You think that if you “cut out the deadwood” that everything would be better.  But the reality is different, you get deadwood in those jobs because you don’t pay enough to get live wood.

If they don’t feel they are paid enough, why do they pay dues to labor unions?

Awww, Kevie… Your one-liners are just so, so devastating. Guess you really put Lestat in his place, huh?

Apparently you weren’t smart enough in school to learn that it’s ND, not Nd.

But, since you’re the one whose always shooting your big mouth off about how ND schools need to be accountable and how the ‘dead wood’ needs to be trimmed, how about getting to that list and telling us which one’s you’d choose to do.

Odd that you seem reluctant. Why is that?

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

Lestat,

Seems t me you are getting your forest and your trees mixed up here.  The “deadwood” Kevin is talking about has already been hired and is already being paid.  Surely you aren’t going to suggest that paying them more is going to improve their capability, are you?

The “live wood” you mention is presumably yet to be hired… and they won’t be no matter what the salary might be if the “deadwood” isn’t first trimmed to make room for them.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Benefits?  I work hard for every penny I make.  Do you?

Most of us work year ‘round, pparets.

But you’re clearly not objective on this issue, and thus not worth listening to.

And, really, we’re off the point here.  We could continue to fund schools at current levels, and even expand that funding, while simultaneously giving North Dakotan’s tax relief.

The question is why Hoeven, a “Republican,” doesn’t want to do that.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Rob:

you’re clearly not objective on this issue.

How many bloggers on SAB can be characterized as ‘objective’?  You, of all people, know that social/political/economic issues involve many points of view; few of them objective.

You have a bias, I have a bias, we all have a bias.  That’s the whole point of SAB, is it not? 

I recommend the following objective read. Long, but worth the effort.

http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_viewpoints_teacher_pay_comparisons

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

Pparets, I care very little for teacher pay comparisons because 1) they’re not adjusted for cost of living (why should we pay California wages in North Dakota?) and 2) why should we pay one penny over what it takes to hire qualified teachers?

I’m satisfied with the quality of education we’re getting in North Dakota, and thus I don’t think we need to pour more money into the schools.  You, in a completely irrational fashion, keep turning my position around into meaning that I want slash education budgets.

I don’t, really, though I feel that many teachers and administrators in North Dakota are overpaid.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

"Broadly Shared Prosperity” is just another phrase for Communism.
Everyone knows how well that works.

Rob:

Why should we pay one penny more over what it takes to hire qualified teachers?

Well, you shouldn’t! I never argued that you should.

I have never thought that you wanted to slash budgets, nor have I implied that you do.

My comments on this thread have been solely directed to Kevin who seems to think that receiving salary from tax-revenues makes one a second-class citizen.

Kevin:

Mine [salary] isn’t paid for by taking money from people through the implied threat of confiscation or incarceration.  How about yours?

Folks like Kevie are quick to talk about “accountability” and clearing the “dead wood”, implying that public education is in need of trimming.  But, when challenged to show just how they would accomplish that task, they shy away, just as he did.

Are there some teachers and administrators in ND who are over-paid? I’m sure there are, just as there are some lawyers, truck-drivers, waitresses and accountants who are over-paid.  Unworthy employees have been a fact of life for 10,000 years.

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

Kevin:  The EPI is regarded as a “left/moderate think-tank"… whatever that means.  It’s a site I usually would not recommend.

But the referenced study is valid on it’s merits.

"Here lies, in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”

The times, they are a-changin’...
Bob Dylan

“Broadly Shared Prosperity” is just another phrase for Communism.

In order to have any prosperity to share, you need to have achievers, and make sure they have the incentive to keep producing.  The way to having that is profit.

"Give the lefties a pile of money, and they’ll spend it buying votes.” - Rush Limbaugh on the “bailout”.