In an era when criminal bankers go free how did we decide that teachers should be punished? Jon Stewart nailed the point in a recent show.
I was also stunned by commentary I've seen maligning teachers as fat cats draining tax dollars, going further than mere budget issues and veering into what comes across as a vendetta against these public workers.
A favorite theme for teacher-haters is that they don't have to work during the summer. OK fine, if you think it's such a cake walk trying to educate our kids against all odds you go apply for such a cushy job.
My mother taught school for more than two decades. She didn't get rich from it. I never caught her cashing in a bonus for ripping off investors based on a few phone calls in an afternoon.
For all the reasons our economy and government budgets have gone askew are we really so deluded as to think teachers are at fault?
What a hoot to hear pundits who defended federally-subsidized Wall Street bonus contracts as sacrosanct now blithely calling for the abolishment of collective bargaining contracts for teachers.
Oh sure, teachers are nothing but feeders at the public trough with their endless access to printer paper, pencils -- and those plush school lounges where they trade tips for investing their vast pension funds.
Not a single - as in not one - Wall Street executive has faced jail despite the systematic fraud that nearly collapsed the world economy and cost the government a fortune in bailouts. Indeed, many actually profited millions from that catastrophe.
But somehow teachers earning a national average of $43,000 have become the villains?
Craig blogs daily for CQ ROLL CALL
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Yes, TEACHERS.
The Repugs must have a scapegoat.
They have to deflect anger against the bank and Wall Street crooks, never mind themselves (politicians).
And too many sheeple buy the party line.
Because they voted in a liar!
This assault is a progression in the anti-intellectualism sweeping segments of our society.
For decades, it has been a fairly common belief that the United States has UNDERVALUED teachers. That as a nation, we needed to attract the best and brightest to teach the future leaders of our country. That teachers were woefully underpaid relative to their importance in our society.
Now, with the help and propaganda from the anti-intellectual set, we are having one of the saddest discussions I can imagine. To stand back and actually consider that our teachers NEED to be defended is a sad commentary on where this nation is today.
Many of our people have become like rabid dogs fighting over the scraps left over by the wealthy elite. Tearing down the most important in our society, those that have such impact on our children, is the height of a lack of sophistication that is shocking. Shame on us as a people.
-$400
Lost property tax relief for households receiving the maximum Circuit Breaker Program benefit.
75,544
Number of non-elderly Maine households receiving Circuit Breaker property tax relief in FY2010.
$83
Average proposed income tax break for Maine families earning between $28,139 and $48,050 in FY 2013.
$874
Average income tax break in FY 2013 for the 69,667 Maine families making more than $119,783 in the Governor’s proposed budget.
$2,770
Average proposed income tax break in FY 2013 for Maine families making more than $363,438.
550
Approximate number of estates that benefit from doubling the estate tax exemption from $1 million to $2 million in FY 2014.
$30 million
Cost in lost revenues from doubling the estate tax exemption in FY 2014-15.
$203 million
Cost to the state in the coming biennium of proposed tax changes, 50% of which benefit families earning more than $119,783
Second, you want to hold up your mom as an example. You are and should be proud of her. I'm sure she taught her students well. I have experience with teachers as family members too. My father, my brother, and two of my sisters are teachers. My dad retired at 59 with full benefits and so far has enjoyed 28 years of very nice retirement benefits. Sure, he was probably underpaid (relative to his education level and the value of what he was doing) but his retirement is gold-plated. My oldest sister recently retired after 30 years (she has two advanced degrees), at age 55. She and her husband travel around the country in a bus that would do a rock star proud. Her benefits are gold-plated and free up income for the bus and other luxuries. My dad, for example, who is healthy for someone well into his 80s, regularly tells me of tests his doctor orders and I say "why do you need these?" His usual answer is "my medical plan covers them 100%, so why not".
My dad and siblings are not rich, and they worked hard and I'm proud of them. But their benefits packages, as examples, are not sustainable (and in many ways, wasteful).
The alternative is that they don't have these benefits and their costs would fall on YOU.
The question you should ask YOURSELF is why don't YOU have good benefits and a good retirement?
Why don't YOU fight for these things for yourself?
Who has had a bigger impact on YOUR life - your teachers or some fat-cat executive who gets the golden parachute worth million upon millions? A fat-cat that may have produced nothing of value other than manipulating paper from one stack to another to produce nothing but personal wealth?
Examine your priorities, please.
Edward Gibbon pointed out that accepting Jesus hastened the decline of Rome because people became FAR more concerned about what the afterlife held and the potential rewards than worrying about the here & now, it also meant that if God was responsible for everything he'd take care of all their problems. Sound familiar?
Fan #70
I was in Early Childhood Education for 11 years. Most of the people in that field were making less than $20,000 per year. They were saints, practically volunteering because they passionately believed in what they were doing.
What's next, Fox corporate entertainment "news"? Calling nuns and monks the enemy?
The GOP/corporate machine will stop at no immoral act, no matter how ugly, how deceitful, and how loathsome. Unfortunately, their use of fox news as a mouthpiece for their deceit takes advantage of those who are most vulnerable to believing their lies, and ironically, those who are barely hanging on already -- the unemployed, the elderly, and the mentally fragile.