Aug
16
Rarely do I just refer you over to another site without substantial commentary, but this one press release from State Senator Mike Ellis is well worth reading. He exposes the Doyle budget for what it is: Not only a tax and fee-hiker, but also a deficit-expander. The future that’s being mortgaged: that’s us.
Last 5 posts by Daniel- Tom Barrett's Savings Plan - June 8th, 2010
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God forbid we continue to spend money on publis education!
and of course….by publis….i mean P U B L I C (NOT faith-based or voucher schools!)
MUCRmonitor,
That is an unnecesary and uninformed cheap shot on voucher schools. This years Wisconsin budget passed by joint finance did not propose spending a dollar more than previous law on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. The per-pupil spending for voucher students is tied to the increase in general school aids, hence it is in the financial interest of voucher schools to see increases in public school aids.
The long-held stance of voucher advocates in Milwaukee is that public education is a system of educating the public. The voucher law in Milwaukee takes great pains to not hurt public schools financially, and in fact has spurred large amounts of cooperation. I urge you to look deeper into the voucher law and the program. You might be surpised.
Mike
God forbid we actually have a tax-environment in Wisconsin where corporations aren’t encouraged to run for their lives, and most importantly, take jobs with them!
Not to mention, when Doyle/WEAC start talking about “funding our schools,” they aren’t talking about art and gym classes… they’re talking about increasing teacher salaries that already exceed what I can expect to make working as an ADA after I graduate from law school.
Both my parents are teachers…..do you really want to discuss how much teachers get paid? Are you implying Dan, that because you went to law school you are “above” teachers? And Brian….when did you become best friends with corporate America? Last time I checked, the government represented in some form, PEOPLE……not COMPANIES! Why don’t you address the real problem around SE wisconsin….the astronomical cost of health care?
And Dan, part of the problem with Milwaukee’s public schools (some of the worst in the nation) is that they rarely attract any high quality teachers. When was the last time you heard of a teacher going to a MPS because the salary was good?
MUCRMonitor,
According the MPS website (http://www.milwaukee.k12.wi.us.....bs/Teacher) the minimum teacher salary in MPS is “$29,224 plus an attractive benefit package.”
While I won’t say this is great, it is an attractive option for a college grad seeking a month off in the summer and good health care.
I would agree with UWM professor Martin Haberman, the staunchest of advocates for public education, that the lack of high quality teachers in MPS is due to universities producing graduates poorly suited to teach in inner-city districts. See below.
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_S.....erman.html
Dave,
As usual, you come onto a thread about one thing and begin to spin it off into a tangent on another topic.
I’m glad you chose the astronomical cost of health care in Wisconsin.
As Charlie Sykes amply demonstrates in a recent article after a pair of cases before the WI Supreme Court, a huge reason for the ‘astronomical’ costs of health insurance is thanks to the incredibly litigous society we live in.
Brian
I’m in the process of researching a miniscule facet of the collective bargaining and arbitration law for teachers right now. I stumbled across the fact that the average teacher salary in WI is 43,000. Now adjust that for 12 months of work and tack on the benefits package WEAC demands, and yes… I’ll talk to you about how much teachers get paid.
I’ll also point out (again) that it costs about $11000/child*year to educate kids in MPS. Worst in the nation, in your words… how come all the “rich folk” send their kids to private schools that operate on far less money per student per year? That’s why I’m skeptical when Doyle/WEAC say the solution to public schools is always to throw more money after bad.
I didn’t say lawyers were “better” than teachers, but ask a hundred people who makes more money and I’d be surprised if any told you it was the teacher. It was an example to point out the fact that our public education system isn’t exactly cutting bone marrow.
I’ll point it out again, monitor… relax, take a deep breath, and stop taking everything so personally. A lot of people’s parents are teachers. I’m still going to talk about controlling our education spending.
Yes….the average may be 43000 dollars a year. Thats after teaching for 20 years, you gain tenure, and you possibly obtain a masters degree. Let me ask you how much you will be making after in 20 years with your law degree….probably a whole lot more than that. Starting pay for teachers is somewhere in the range of upper 20′s I believe. Should we reduce that salary? It would seem logical to me to pay our teachers well so as to attract the best for our children. And yes….just throwing more money to schools is not the answer….however, cutting money is certainly not a solution. I applaud Governor Doyle for using his veto power to restore funding to public education that the state Republican lawmakers tried to reduce.
Actually, the budget doyle vetoed DID increase the spending for schools… just not as much as Doyle/weac wanted, and by less than was previously planned. The “cut” was a cut in anticipated growth, not an actual reduction in spending. Your argument would have been good if the central premise wasn’t faulty.
It would seem logical to me to be able to deal with teachers to AT LEAST SOME EXTENT as individuals. Good teachers deserve high pay, of course, but as you pointed out earlier, we’re sure not getting our money’s worth in MPS.