Teacher Unions Dump $80 million Into 2014 Midterms: Result is an F+

a reply to: mugger

If you had said keep all moneys such as packs as well out of politics I would have agreed with you.

However let me explain to you. Your tax dollars are not funding Unions the workers fund Unions it ceases to be your tax dollars when they are paid to people for working, furthermore Unions exist outside of the education system and not even related to taxes. Many years ago I belonged to a trucking Union so please take note as to what your taxes pay for and what they do not pay for because you are mistaken.

originally posted by: mugger
What irks me the most, our tax money is funding this.the union shouldn't be able to spend a dime to any political party.

They should just shut up and take it? Why?

Most States Funding Schools Less Than Before the Recession By Michael Leachman and Chris Revised May 20, 2014

States Made Deep Cuts to Higher Education, New Report Finds States Are Still Funding Higher Education Below Pre-Recession Levels RELATED AREAS OF RESEARCH State Budget and Tax Budgets Federal-State Issues State Economies States’ new budgets are providing less per-pupil funding for kindergarten through 12th grade than they did six years ago — often far less. The reduced levels reflect not only the lingering effects of the 2007-09 recession but also continued austerity in many states; indeed, despite some improvements in overall state revenues, schools in around a third of states are entering the new school year with less state funding than they had last year. At a time when states and the nation are trying to produce workers with the skills to master new technologies and adapt to the complexities of a global economy, this decline in state educational investment is cause for concern.

Our review of state budget documents finds that: At least 35 states are providing less funding per student for the 2013-14 school year than they did before the recession hit. Fourteen of these states have cut per-student funding by more than 10 percent. (These figures, like all the comparisons in this paper, are in inflation-adjusted dollars and focus on the primary form of state aid to local schools.)

www.cbpp.org...

Here in Pa., there is a big budget problem. The main cause is the pension plan. Governor CorBett looked reform the teachers plan and the state pension plan and convert both to 401k's for all new employees.

What is really sad, I bet a lot of those teachers are not real union supporter's. They simply have money taken from them every payday to support the union. If I where a teacher I would be looking to come down hard on the union. I have never liked unions since I started working back in 1968. Fortunately for me I have always had a job and a career where I never had to pay union dues. But I have seen the damage unions do. In all my years of work, I have not seen a single time when a union has done good.

originally posted by: CraftBuilder
a reply to: signalfire

Parents need to start parenting again. I don't know where a new set of parenting skills are going to come from now that the ones that have evolved over the last several thousand years have been lost in the last two generations.

One of the many side effects of the downfall of the traditional nuclear family structure in America. I believe I read the other day 70% of kids in the USA today will grow up without having both a mother and father in the home.

a reply to: SubTruth

Another difference between Vietnam and here, it isn't culturally taboo to live with your parents after you leave school. You know family actually BEING important over there and all.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: SubTruth

Another difference between Vietnam and here, it isn't culturally taboo to live with your parents after you leave school. You know family actually BEING important over there and all.

I think the single family unit of just a mother and father is actually harmful to kids.

The concept you can only have happy, well adjusted children with one of each gender parent is kind of stupid IMO.

Yes, a strong family support system is needed, which can be extended family.

Using data of single working moms is very misleading. Where is the data on single working moms with a strong family support system?

a reply to: Annee

I find it ridiculous that Americans look down on living with your parents after you are an adult. Then they turn around and complain about eroding family values in the country. Even with this crappy economy forcing many millennials to live with their parents after college, the public STILL looks at it as a social failing.

There's nothing wrong with being independent from your parents, but there shouldn't be anything wrong with living with them as well. Though if you do that, you should contribute to your parents' bills and do housework/yardwork. You know treat them like a roommate.

Heck it's gotten so bad that when parents become very old and can't live by themselves, people don't even let them move back in with them THEN. Many times, they just ship them off to a nursing home where they are abused and spend the rest of their days lonely and away from their family.

Whoa there, I just got sidetracked on a rant. Sorry for the offtopic.

a reply to: theantediluvian

How many months are we going to have to suffer through this post election propaganda? How much money do you think the Koch's spent running nearly 44,000 television ads? The Koch's and their friends were looking to drop a reported $300 million.

Well that was a fine example of propaganda.

Cause it leaves out the Soro's,Gates,Buffets, the Zuckerbergs.

Why yes the 'only' people who try to 'buy' elections is the right!!!!!

Unions would never do such a thing!

Left wing billionaires would 'never' do such a thing.

Geez.

Just for snips and giggles:

Warren Buffett's 1 Billion Dollar Campaign Contribution

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: Annee

I find it ridiculous that Americans look down on living with your parents after you are an adult. Then they turn around and complain about eroding family values in the country. Even with this crappy economy forcing many millennials to live with their parents after college, the public STILL looks at it as a social failing.

There's nothing wrong with being independent from your parents, but there shouldn't be anything wrong with living with them as well. Though if you do that, you should contribute to your parents' bills and do housework/yardwork. You know treat them like a roommate.

Heck it's gotten so bad that when parents become very old and can't live by themselves, people don't even let them move back in with them THEN. Many times, they just ship them off to a nursing home where they are abused and spend the rest of their days lonely and away from their family.

Whoa there, I just got sidetracked on a rant. Sorry for the offtopic.

I so agree. Off topic or not.

I live with my daughter and take care of the kids while she works. Dad died.

Anything going on with schools, I want to know about it.

The funding cuts have been insane. Anyone who things public education should not do everything they can to hold on to what they have is not living in reality. If teacher unions have to go political to do that, then that's what they need to do.

And I've come to embrace Common Core the more I become involved with it. But, it's definitely not babysitting. Parents are gonna have to do a lot more.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Living with ones family is considered bad because that means less consumption. Remember the whole American dream thing of getting your own house and such is a post WW2 marketing invention. They want every person buying their own car and washing machine etc. You learn the importance of sharing in kindergarten and the rest of your life is dedicated to calling bs on that.

The most successful students I've met all have one thing in common, a supportive and active family. It's far too common these days to expect schools to do all the work. They can't. Parents and peers have more impact on children than teachers ever do. Sometimes a teacher can actually get through and affect a student but this is an exception, not the rule.

All the really bad students I encounter are ones who will goof off and socialize when they should be studying and whose parents let them get away with everything. These students are usually happy as hell so they don't have any incentive to change their ways. How many popular kids at your school were bookworms? How many popular kids were academically poor but either a star athlete or class clown?

Being athletic or funny or attractive or rich will get you far more friends and approval than being smart. That's why so many smart kids become teachers pets. Children crave approval and positive reinforcement and the bookworm gets none from their peers and very little from their parents.

a reply to: tavi45

This is a good point about social development. But I'd say it applies to more than just the bookworm. There are the "band geeks". You know, the people who spend all day, every day playing an instrument and playing in their school's respective band/orchestra?

Here's the thing about all those sets of people, that hard work WILL pay off. Eventually. Unfortunately for children (especially teenagers), they want instant approval and acceptance. This leads to many talents wasted when young. How many people do you know who say that they wish they had stuck with a hobby when they were younger? The best way to reinforce that is through proper parenting. This comes from more than just the parents though. Grandparents should be involved as well. Siblings should stand up for their brothers and sisters that can't fend for themselves as easily. But all those values are GONE.

Our school system is a casualty of our society's emphasis on independence. This is hard for me to accept, because I value independence so highly. But it is clearly the most evident when viewing the people most vulnerable in our society. The young and the old.

theantediluvian hit it on page 1. The United States does not hold the teaching profession in high regards. You cannot attract great teachers when you pay them mediocre wages, and then constantly belittle their work. While at the same time, it has quickly become a top-down directive from bureaucrats who aren't in the classroom telling teachers how classes should be run. Every teacher needs to teach the same, and be the same, also known as catering to the lowest common denominator (bring all teachers down to the level of the worst teachers.)

Partial bias: Why do mathematics and science teachers start off earning the same (or a small pittance more) than elementary teachers, gym teachers, music teachers, etc.? I am not putting down these other teachers, but you will not attract the top mathematicians and scientists into education because they can make way more doing anything else with their credentials.

Full bias: I have a PhD in Theoretical Mathematics. I later went into public education in the States to try and give back to my country. I was told that I was teaching incorrectly, by people who couldn't pass any of my high school mathematics class tests. So I took my knowledge and desire to help others to a new country. Where I am respected as a teacher, and paid a reasonable wage for the knowledge I bring to the table.

Good luck to the United States.

I can't really comment on high school. I'm not sitting in those classes anymore, but I can comment on college. I've attended 3 Universities and have been at the higher education game for 8 years now, I'm 30 so I'm a millennial but on the older side of the generation.

Something I have learned in school is to hang out with the foreign exchange students, they're pretty much the only classmates worth a damn. Most of the Americans that go through school take it for granted and try just hard enough to pass... the vast majority of them also take the easy way out whenever it shows up. A saying I hear a lot is "C's get degrees". On the other hand, those that are removed from American culture are far more studious, they treat the opportunity to come here and learn as a huge gift and they really try their best to do well. When I was at my previous school working on one of my earlier degrees I was always impressed by the Asians.

Compared to most of my peers I'm a great student. I'm always at the top of the class, I do extra side projects on my own time, and I excel at applying knowledge rather than regurgitating it. I have absolutely nothing on the Asians, I come off as a pretty bad student actually. If I do something once to make sure I know it they will do it 5 times, they never skimp on homework, or listen to a lecture like I do they buy the textbook and then they read it so much that they have it memorized, and school is their life. I do outside projects but I also do other things such as post here. They do literally nothing other than study. We Americans do not have that discipline.

Another example would be the Indians/Pakistani's. One of the people I'm currently collaborating with is from Pakistan and the pressure to do well for him is immense. In addition to all of his school work, in exchange for getting to study here his government makes him create an additional project every single semester to prove he is learning.

Basically what it comes down to is that we have great universities here in the US but no one has the discipline to actually try and do well at them.

originally posted by: Syyth007
The west has a strong current of anti-intellectualism running through it's culture - it's not a right/left problem, it's a cultural problem - we treat our athletes bounds better then our brightest minds - Our institutions tend to favor busy work over actual intellectual ability. Many poorer SE Asian countries outperform us academically because their cultures favor intellectualism.

The reason our education system lacks in the development of the intellect and critical think is that such things have been show to be contrary to the development of the "consumer" the "taxpayer" and the propaganda culture. The education system developed itself, seeks to further develop itself, into an indispensable god almighty institution of epic proportions in the mind of americans but is a money "rake" and gravy train.

The teachers union forks out millions for no other reason than to insure millions in return. Education in this country was screwed the day they opened the department of education and began the forging of a federal approved curriculum.

a reply to: Aazadan

A lot of that isn't even an issue of discipline, though it often is. I know plenty of people who show extreme discipline in let's say maintaining their appearance or health and employ that same discipline in school. They get the good grades and the diploma but the knowledge or critical thinking skills fade soon after, presuming they ever had either.

In my opinion it's a fundamental issue of our culture. We are taught that making money is the purpose in life. We are taught that we just need the piece of paper to get a good job to make that money. We are not taught to value knowledge unless it has a tangible, practical application. We are not taught to work for the benefit of others, with the exception of people in our social circles. We are taught that following arbitrary rules is more important than actual morality or ethics.

We do not lack a culture of hard work. We lack a culture of any real values that matter. The spirit of individualism and work and progress that made America great has long ago reached a point of diminishing returns. We forgot what the purpose of those values was. The purpose was not materialism or hedonism. Money is a means not an end.

Life is not working constantly and endlessly, especially at a job one hates. Liberty is not getting everything you want all the time, regardless of the cost to others. Happiness is not having material possessions or money or status or fame.

How does one fix a culture though? We certainly won't fix the schools no matter what we do as long as our culture doesn't shift. I run into the barrier of our culture all the time while trying to educate. Often the parents and schools are as helpless as I am. In my opinion the education system, like everything else will only get worse so long as we make no efforts to change our culture.

originally posted by: TycoonBarnaby


Full bias: I have a PhD in Theoretical Mathematics. I later went into public education in the States to try and give back to my country. I was told that I was teaching incorrectly, by people who couldn't pass any of my high school mathematics class tests. So I took my knowledge and desire to help others to a new country. Where I am respected as a teacher, and paid a reasonable wage for the knowledge I bring to the table.

Good luck to the United States.

A great many things in this country are run and controlled by hacks who are most astute at recognizing someone with more talent and ability than themselves and then breaking the balls. It has become a saturation of epic proportions.

I'm not sure the point they are trying to make $80 million compared to $4 Billion spent on this election is a drop in the bucket. Do they expect the money to be smarter than others? From Teachers unions?

Oh btw lets see how many of these new republican governors and legislatures cut the education budgets then you can wonder why the the US ranks 17th in education and falling almost every year.

I worked for a guy, British, who was hired as a special QC consultant for Nissan. He said his biggest issue with Asians is their group think. They are very controlled. There was never a "break out" guy who independently had an idea and acted on it.

Just saying, focusing on being top-of-the-class, is not the "end all-end all". Intelligence, education is nothing I'f not applied.

A friend married a Chinese woman FOB. She was very intelligent. She had to study in secret at night under her blankets with a flashlight, then secretly arrange to take the entrance exams for college ---- because she is female. Her parents only paid for her older brothers education.

She is very competitive. In her group of Asian friends, it's all about who has the biggest house. She completely lacks in logical thinking.

There is more to being successful in life then good grades in "higher" education. Not that I'm putting that down, I'm not.

Back to teacher unions. At this point, when everything seems to be about rich corporations, and budget cuts to tax supported programs, including public education, I stand with the union doing whatever it takes to hold on and maintain as much as they can.

a reply to: tavi45

Maybe, I can really only comment here on what I've seen. Today is Veteran's day so there was no class, 75% of my classmates on Monday weren't at school in order to have a 5 day weekend. Myself and the foreign exchange students are all that showed up. I spent yesterday writing computer code and studying. Most of my classmates spent it partying and drinking. Today for my extra day off I am doing homework, I spoke to a classmate today and his plan is to talk the instructor into giving us extra time because we missed a day of class. This is very typical behavior, right now I'm at one of the best colleges in the world for my particular field and the program itself has few graduates due to the difficulty (about 8% make it to graduation). I should be around driven individuals right now but instead it's the exact opposite.

I do get what you're saying about applying knowledge. US students have a huge advantage there over the Asian cultures, and I think a lot of that comes down to our university teaching style. It's why these people are so happy to come here and learn despite the coursework itself being easier. But you have to admit that knowing the material well and being able to apply it is much better than being able to apply only a lesser amount of information. I certainly don't expect everyone to be the top student in the class, that's obviously impossible. The idea that students need to learn though is one I believe in. I have seen many people pass classes without actually learning anything about that class and that doesn't help anyone.

As far as the work hard thing goes, I prefer the idea of working smarter not harder. But in order to have that knowledge to work smarter in the first place you need an education.

As far as how to change the culture, I don't really know. I'm not even sure that it's necessary. If you have values that are important to you, live your life by those values, and can show others that it's a viable way of living does it really matter if the nations culture changes? The culture of the individual is all that's really important.