Posted: Monday, February 11, 2013 7:59 am | Updated: 8:54 am, Thu Feb 21, 2013.
Unless Congress takes immediate action, funding for education could be slashed by $3 billion on March 1. This would be the largest cut to education in our nation’s history, and could result in millions of dollars of lost revenue for our local school district.
Roberta Levitan
Sun Lakes
Posted in Letters to the editor, Opinion on Monday, February 11, 2013 7:59 am. Updated: 8:54 am. | Tags:
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chatmandu002 posted at 8:18 am on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
Cut til it hurts then cut some more.
sockratties posted at 10:00 am on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
If the House continues to hold the government hostage to their own agenda, the education budget will be the least of our worries. Looking forward to a double dip recession? What makes education sacred? We have yet to see any bang for our buck here in Arizona.
Roberta, please show us where federal money = improved student performance. The federal budget is not the problem in Arizona, it's the state legislature. When federal education money comes in to Arizona coffers it is inevitably offset by redirection, funneled to private or not for profit schools, or state education funding is reduced accordingly. The real experts (teachers and parents) don’t decide how the money is used because it never gets past lawmakers special interests.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:55 am on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
President Obama has a choice.
He can either order the cuts be made to local schools or...........
he can get rid of all the useless Government employees in the Department of Education. These people are paid $50,000.00 a year to "push papers" around in Washington, DC.
Yes, we all know that these are his Democrat Party constituents so it looks like President Obama, like every other Democrat President will throw Local Schools "under the bus" instead.
truth posted at 2:27 pm on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
Leon, keep up your ideology and those who think the same as you do, You will make sure Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton will occupy the White House in 2016. I am sure you added at least !0% to the victory of President Obama and the Democrats victory in 1212.
[beam][beam][beam][beam][beam][beam][beam][beam][beam][beam][beam]
valleynative posted at 3:23 pm on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
The federal government has no business involving themselves in education, beyond the G.I. Bill and similar programs.
Since the Constitution grants them no authority over education, despite the fact that they "know what's best for us", they take money from the taxpayers and only give it back to the school districts if those districts abide by federal rules.
Even if this benefits the local education system, it's an intolerable abuse of the power to levy taxes in order to extend federal power beyond the Constitutional limits.
I would gladly pay more in state taxes, and have corresponding federal taxes eliminated.
truth posted at 3:40 pm on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
Yes we need to go back to our religious values.
The Borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing two popes, Alfons de Borja who ruled as Pope Calixtus III during 1455–1458, and Rodrigo Lanzol Borgia, as Pope Alexander VI, during 1492–1503. Especially during the reign of Alexander VI they were suspected of many crimes, including adultery, simony, theft, rape, bribery, incest, and murder (especially murder by arsenic poisoning. Because of their grasping for power they made enemies of, among others, the Medici and the Sforza, as well as the Dominican friar Savonarola. They were also patrons of the arts who contributed to the Renaissance.
DemocraticDad posted at 11:07 pm on Mon, Feb 11, 2013.
Thank you for your letter Roberta. The education we give our children today, both in Arizona and nationally, is our economy of tomorrow. Unfortunately, many who have responded to your letter just don't get it, and I'm afraid they never will.
valleynative posted at 6:57 am on Tue, Feb 12, 2013.
Education is one of the very most important functions of State and local government, and is deservedly one of the State's largest budget items and SHOULD be one of the last place the State cuts. The federal government, and federal tax money, however, have little role in education.
sockratties posted at 9:27 am on Tue, Feb 12, 2013.
I would agree with federal funds for education if there were proof that it gives us a reasonable return on money spent. A dollar to Washington costs just as much as a dollar to Phoenix. I haven’t seen much value, in terms of educational excellence from either.
Arizona results, as indicated by every measurement available, indicate we are not getting the job done. Kids want to learn, parents want results and teachers want to teach. Students, parents and teachers have the least input and get the least feedback of all parties involved. If those three groups were allowed to design our school system, you could be sure it would be very different from the under functioning behemoth we have now.
Before we start trying to solve the problem, we need to define it. The solution will probably cost money but there’s no reason to expect Washington to fix the problem. Washington most likely is part of the problem. Don’t apply an expensive bandage when the patient is having a heart attack!
Many Arizona politicians want to privatize education. The more they can impede the success of public schools the better chance they have of getting a desperate public to approve more private, charter and not for profit schools. Methods at state level are almost identical to those at federal level. Delay, discuss, hold hostage, underfund and misdirect. Sooner or later the public will come around. Agenda will win over reason, given time.
valleynative posted at 10:52 am on Tue, Feb 12, 2013.
I agree with most of your points, sockratties, but our education system isn't really as bad as most people seem to think. Students who actually care about their education enough to take the ACT or SAT tests in high school score above the national average.
Where we fall behind is in areas like 4th grade reading, which suffers because it takes more than 4 years of normal classroom teaching to bring a child up to the national average if they were never read to by their parents before they started school, they have no English reading material in the home, and the parents don't even speak English.
VofReason posted at 12:41 pm on Tue, Feb 12, 2013.
Ding ding ding. Bravo Valley Native. The better question here is why do we send money to Washington to have them give us back a portion for local schooling? Whatever our friend Truth was rambling about (not sure), but we can learn from history. See there was a time when small towns would come together and build a one room school house and cobble together dollars to hire a teacher and pay for materials. Somehow, since then, Education has turned into a money grab and power play that the only solution always involves more money. Contrary to almost any business venture which generall tries to do things for cheaper at higher volume- economy of scale. Additionally, VN correctly points out that there are plenty of students who go to public schools and come out with a testable education. The key is, they speak English, their parents are involved and the students themselves care.
sockratties posted at 1:38 pm on Tue, Feb 12, 2013.
VN and VoR… your points are well taken. When we look at statistics we see an average including those that are struggling or eventually will drop out. My experience as a volunteer tutor for people preparing for college is that language skills effect every part of their learning experience. My students are from all over the world including Asia, Africa, and Central and South America as well as those who simply have not developed adequate English fluency. Most are bright, motivated people who are playing catch-up through no fault of their own. I know they are not typical of the public school problem we are addressing but their challenges exemplify those that our current curriculums are building into the future high school graduates of only a few years from now.
I contend that at some point, before many of them give up, all children want to learn. I believe that all teachers, before some of them give up, want to teach and only want reasonable compensation. I believe that most parents want their children to succeed but many don’t even know how to help. Part of the problem may be educating parents. There have been some pilot programs and intra-district efforts to accomplish this but there is no political will. There is bias and hypocrisy at every level.
Arizona is so severely polarized politically and economically that it is easy to point the finger in any direction and blame the other guy. Unfortunately it’s similar to having a bunch of people standing in a room full of gasoline threatening to light a match if they don’t get their way.
I think the answer does involve mandatory parent education, magnet public schools across district lines, better pay for teachers based on a merit system and less bureaucratic involvement. Except for bean counters and janitors, everyone involved in the public school system should earn their wings in the classroom before trying to manage those who know how to do the job. And no education job should be a political appointment.
Accuracy posted at 5:10 pm on Tue, Feb 12, 2013.
President Obama has already proposed budget cuts that would reduce support for higher education by $89 billion over 10 years. The proposed changes will reduce 2012 higher education outlays by $10 billion while raising spending for kindergarten through high school education 6.9 percent to $26.8 billion.
While the House Republican leaders put out a bill that would cut $4.9 billion from the U.S. Department of Education's fiscal year 2010 budget of $63.7 billion. The bill is expected to go to the floor of the House next week.
k33j88 posted at 5:29 am on Wed, Feb 13, 2013.
Constitutionally speaking, since where in our founding documents does it say that the "feds" have a role to play in educating our youth?
k33j88 posted at 5:31 am on Wed, Feb 13, 2013.
98% of my reasoning was treated as spam----there went the rest of my explanations.
valleynative posted at 7:19 am on Wed, Feb 13, 2013.
k33j88, try breaking it into sections and posting a couple of paragraphs at a time. Often that's enough to satisfy the moronic filter. If it isn't, it might at least help you to find what needs to be changed. It's understandable if you don't want to bother, though.
Arizona Willie posted at 8:33 am on Thu, Feb 14, 2013.
The problem with education in Arizona ( and probably nationally ) is too much administrative costs.
Teacher salaries are NOT the problem, except they are too low to attract genius teachers who can make far more in private industry. It seems salaries are so low the only teachers they can attract are pedophiles because every week another story breaks of a teacher scrooing the students.
There are umpteen dozen districts in Arizona with tremendous duplication of materials and labor.
Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.
School districts should be consolidated and at least half of the " administrators " laid off.
That is how to reduce costs and get more money for teacher salaries.
VofReason posted at 1:59 pm on Thu, Feb 14, 2013.
I agree with Willie here. Maybe not the pedophile part but the rest. Again, 9K per student funding in AZ. How can we not educate public school kids and pay teachers a decent wage based on an 8 month work year?
Arizona Willie posted at 5:05 pm on Thu, Feb 14, 2013.
VofReason: although the numbers may say 9K --- the problem, once again, is that most of that 9K is eaten up by administration salaries in tens of dozens of districts.
Very little of it gets to the classroom and the teacher and supplies.
Almost all teachers report having to buy class supplies out of their own pockets.
That's inexcusable when we are spending 9K per student.
There is so much money going to places other than the classroom and maintaining the schools that it looks to me like some theft or embezzlement is likely going on.
There is absolutely no need for more than 3 ... maybe 4 districts for the entire state.
As it is now, virtually every subdivision has it's own school district.
That's an exaggeration, folks, but not TOO far from the truth.
Arizona Willie posted at 5:09 pm on Thu, Feb 14, 2013.
VofReason: you should drop that whining about teachers only working 8 months.
Pro athletes get paid millions and work only 3 or 4 months.
Surgeons get paid thousands for 2 hours.
People get paid for the value of what they do to society.
At least theoretically.
What is the value of having your kids be taught well by qualified teachers?
Why do you want to cut their pay?
Besides which, most teachers have to take courses in their " time off " at their own expense. Just because they aren't in the class room doesn't mean they aren't working towards teaching your kids.
Accuracy posted at 10:44 am on Fri, Feb 15, 2013.
“Funding for education could be slashed by $3 billion.”
To make way for President Obama’s proposal for preschool funding for all 4-year-olds from low and moderate-income families. Education proposal – for federal role in pre-K programs – that does not yet have any price tag concerning extra government money.
VofReason posted at 12:16 pm on Fri, Feb 15, 2013.
OK Willie, but how they spend the money they are given is not the fault of Taxpayers. Nor does spending the money they get incorrectly mean that they should get more. This is the jist of the arguement. I am not saying that Teachers should not get paid well for what they do, but the fact that they work 8 months is absolutely part of the equation. Don't compare a Teachers 8 month salary to an accountant, police officer etc etc's 12 month salary and cry foul. You don't think any of these other people don't take classes or training to improve while also working 12 months a year? Yes I know athletes make millions and surgeons may only work a few hours, but the defining difference is that they are not paid with tax dollars. You understand the difference right?
Arizona Willie posted at 8:35 am on Sat, Feb 16, 2013.
Would someone who ACTUALLY is a teacher in one of the Arizona school districts clarify something?
How are teachers paid?
If they have a salary of $40,000, for example. Is that paid all during the school year and no pay during the summer, or is it divided up and you get paid every month year around?
VofReason, the only reason 8 months has ANY significance is because you have a picture in your mind of the teacher laying around for months collecting a check and you don't get to do that.
Be a teacher then.
What difference does it make if their $40K salary is paid out in 8 months, and the teacher has no income during the other 4 months except for any second job they take, or if it is paid out over 12 months?
The only thing that REALLY matters is the gross amount they get paid.
Considerations as to their " time off " are just jealousy.