Fullerton School Board Member Sets Record Straight

Fullerton School Board Member Chris Thompson was given an opportunity to refute claims made in the Fullerton Observer.  Those visiting this blog know I take them to task just about as often as they can print issues.  Thompson's remarks are at FullertonStories.com, a local website.

Thompson speaks openly and plainly about the teachers' association which he feels is causing more harm to students than good. 

Although I'm a card-carrying member of the California Teachers Association (CTA), I completely agree with Thompson's notion that the CTA spent $211 million dollars "with a primary mission of supporting candidates and causes dedicated to protecting the worst teachers in the state."

It has been my experience that the CTA is a huge distraction from what teachers are supposed to do- TEACH! 

Thompson has his work cut out for him.  Concerned about where my neighborhood elementary school was headed, I pulled my children out and have chosen to send them to a private school.  It isn't cheap but it gives me a piece of mind knowing that my children are in small classes with a very close group of families. 

I was frustrated with what I call "an eccentric multi-age classroom" that seems to be all the rage.  In some circles these multi-age classrooms are wonderful options for their children to blossom.  I, however, look at it as extremely difficult working environment for the teachers and a poor learning environment for the older children.  There were other issues as well, such as the significant amount of time preparing to take state exams instead of teaching; exam prep and teaching are not the same thing.

Back to Chris...  I know Chris Thompson can come across sounding mean or harsh sometimes, but consider the battle he is waging on our behalf and you may understand his frustration and ire.  I admire Thompson's willingness to speak up and speak out when the rest of the Board is complacent handing out awards. 

It's too bad the Fullerton Joint High School District doesn't have a trustee with that same fire to do what is right.

My message to Chris Thompson is simple:  Keep fighting!  You work for us and you have not forgotten. Thank you!

Teachers Union Asks for Higher Taxes

It's no great surprise that the California Teachers Association is calling for higher taxes.  Here is an email that they sent to CTA members yesterday urging them to contact their legislators. 

In response to the email, I contacted my legislator, Assemblyman Chris Norby, and asked him to NOT vote for any new taxes, fees, or the extensions of any current taxes or fees. 

CTA needs to give up its stranglehold on the classroom and return to the teachers' lounge. 

________________________________

Urgent Update: Assembly Speaker John Perez announced on Tuesday that he plans for the Assembly to vote on the budget on Wednesday, March 16, beginning at 1PM. Keep contacting lawmakers at their Capitol offices.Your help is needed now to stave off additional devastating cuts to public education and other public services. Get in touch with your state Senator and state Assembly Member at their district offices and urge them to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget that would protect public education from more cuts.

Also urge your lawmakers to extend the temporary taxes or put the issue before the voters during a June special election. Lawmakers have a choice between extending the temporary taxes or authorizing billions of dollars more in devastating cuts to public schools and other public services.
Background:To prevent a potential cut of $2 billion or more to our schools, the Legislature must agree to extend the temporary taxes or to place a measure on the June ballot to allow voters to extend them. Either option takes a 2/3 vote of the Legislature to achieve the goal, and it will require at least three Republicans in the state Senate and two in the state Assembly to join with all Democrats to extend the taxes or put the measure on a June special election ballot.
Your efforts can help convince both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to pass the governor’s proposed budget and extend the temporary taxes. The governor’s proposal will help erase the state’s $25 billion budget deficit while protecting schools and other essential services from further cuts. To unsubscribe or change your email preferences, please follow the link below:
http://metrics.mmailhost.com/?r=MTAwMg0KSjQ5NzI5LUNUQS0xLTQ5LQ0KMjEzNzEzDQoxMTAwMDAwMDA3MDkyY2UNCmh0dHA6Ly9jdGEudGhldmFuLnVzL0VtYWlsU3Vic2NyaXB0aW9uLmFzcHg%2fSUQ9N0NCMEE0MTMzMzYyMzcwMS1HNTIyODQ5NzI5OEItRDIwQTQxOTkxNjM2MTg5RTINCnRydWUNCmdyZWdzZWJvdXJuQHlhaG9vLmNvbQ%3d%3d

Key Points:

·         K-12 schools and colleges have already been cut over $20 billion over the last three years--$1,900 per K-12 student.
·         Class sizes are soaring, programs are disappearing and entire school years are shrinking in many school districts.
 ·         More than 30,000 California educators and 10,000 other public school employees have been laid off over the past three years. Another 19,000 received layoff notices this March 15th.
·         The governor’s plan to extend temporary taxes for five years will help prevent further cuts to schools, public safety, health and other vital state programs.
 ·         Without an extension of current revenues, public schools and colleges will lose more than $2.3 billion.  ·         The governor’s balanced budget approach will help protect students and essential services, create jobs, and stabilize the economy. 
Here’s what you can do to help!
Contact your legislators in their Capitol offices by phone and use our CTA legislative portal to contact them, too. Find it at http://metrics.mmailhost.com/?r=MTAwMg0KSjQ5NzI5LUNUQS0xLTQ5LQ0KMjEzNzEzDQoxMTAwMDAwMDA3MDkyY2UNCmh0dHA6Ly93d3cuY2Fwd2l6LmNvbS9uZWEvY2EvaXNzdWVzL2FsZXJ0DQp0cnVlDQpncmVnc2Vib3VybkB5YWhvby5jb20%3d.
Urge your legislators to support the governor’s budget plan and extend the temporary taxes.

 If they are unwilling to do so, ask them to let the voters decide by putting the issue before the electorate as a June 2011 ballot measure. 
Then close the loop by e-mailing lfeldman@cta.org to let us know: 1) Who did you meet with or reach by phone or e-mail?
2) What was the response?  Will the lawmaker support the governor’s budget?
For more information, contact Legislative Advocate Estelle Lemieux or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at 916.325.1500.

CTA: The Puppet Master

Where do they find these guys?

CTA is throwing all of their support behind a few guys who are sure to keep lining the pockets of a few CTA members.  Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Tom Torlakson are all getting significant help from the public employee union.  Besides being union puppets, all of them have misguided policies that take from many and benefit few. 

As Newsom has said, "whether [I] like it or not" I am a member of CTA.  Every chance I get to call out the union for what it is, I do.  They have done me no favors and continue to take my dues despite me crying foul and trying to get the automatic deductions stopped.

U.S. unions have out lived their usefulness.  It used to be that they protected workers from dangerous and unfair business practice.  Their only purpose for existence now is to abuse tax payers.  Seriously, what harmful environment do teachers encounter in their classroom that they need a union to save them from?  Maybe students need a union to protect them from the CTA, "evil" district management, and political union puppets. 

Given the chance, what will Brown, Newsom, and Torlakson do for our children? 

During Jerry Brown's last tenure as governor, he ran TWICE for president.  Instead of running the state he travelled the country to attend rallies.  Brown has a history of office shopping, much like Anaheim's own Harish "Harry" Sidhu. 

Gavin Newsom is a pompous ass simply for his egregious self-serving statements; not so much his message which is clouded by poor judgment but rather his delivery.  He has done more as mayor of San Francisco to hurt California than he ever did to help his own city.  Between the Prop 8 rhetoric, which I think was a big reason it won, and the sanctuary city policy, Newsom is a public nuisance.

Let's take a peek at Torlakson, the termed-out 11th Assembly District Democratic member.  All of his support is from either public employee unions or other political hacks.  On his website he says, "As State Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will be the leading advocate for restoring and increasing the state's investment in our schools."  I take "increasing the state's investment" to mean he wants to throw good money after bad in a state that is ranked number one for per student expenditure. The 2010-2011 budget from the Governor's Office shows a total $118,755,483 for K-12 education.  With more than 6,200,000 students enrolled in 2008, we must have spent $19,154.11 on each student per school year.  My son's superior private education costs me about $4,000 per year.  So where does the other $15,154 go?  The numbers vary depending on what fact sheet you use but even the worst estimate places the per-student spending at about $7,500 per year.  That's still nearly double what I pay for my son's education.  So I ask again, where did the balance of the money go? 

The answer is simple: the tax money is burned up on the front end with special programs and bloated administrative budgets.  There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of commissions and boards that receive funding through California Department of Education with members collecting stipends and travel expense reimbursement.  Our own Fullerton High School Principals are paid more than $200,000 per year with their multiple assistants being paid well over $100,000.  And I haven't even mentioned all of the those paid symposiums and seminars in Monterey and Palm Springs.  It is mind boggling how much waste (and personal profit) there is in education. 

In my opinion the education crisis cannot be solved by outsiders trying to "fix" it.  I think the change must come from within and be genuine.  To that end I believe school vouchers will force those within the broken system to address the problems for fear of a perpetual loss of funding and jobs.  It comes down to supply and demand driven by a boycott-like principle.  Unfortunately, we have few in Sacramento willing to sign their name to a voucher bill which means vouchers would have to be a ballot box initiative.  With CTA's funding, that would be a huge up-hill battle, but one that I would gladly support. 

Torlakson will continue the tax abuse of the current superintendent and the rest of Sacramento. In 2009 Torlakson voted for EVERY SINGLE BILL that was offered up!  He voted YES on everything!!!  Do we really want someone who will spend our taxes freely in the name of our children?  NO!

Debra Saunders: Principal aims for Poizner's reputation

Debra Saunders from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an interesting opinion article in the OC Register which highlights the hypocrisy of Mount Pleasant High School principal Teresa Marquez. Marquez, who accepted and apparently, at least on some level, supported Steve Poizner as a volunteer teacher, now claims Poizner doesn't know what he's talking about. The principal went so far as to confront Poizner at a book signing event.  Read the CBS5 (San Jose) story here.

I wonder if the CTA or PTA had anything to do with it...