Furlough Days

[pslamont]

My husband has informed me that because of differing unions and such, the support staff will still be in the schools Friday week/first furlough day. This means the expenses not only for the kitchen staff to stand around but electrical and insurance payments will still be there. This is RIDICULOUS. I wish there would be a major objection/demonstration. The mistake al around was connecting decreasing pay with decreased hours. Ugh,......

I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says

"Oh Crap, She's up!"

[punafish]

Lots of myths and unchallenged assumptions flying around:

Myth 1: Cutting waste and cutting pay is the same thing. WRONG. Good teachers should be paid more; bad teachers let go along with the multitude of non-value-added staffers and unnecessary CRAP that burden the system.

Myth 2: Increasing revenues necessarily means quality improves. Wrong again. Especially when you're throwing money at an entity that doesn't have a true "competitor" to keep it lean. Hell, the only "competitors" they have are the Charter schools and they are trying very hard to destroy them. (Not to mention a corrupt union pretending to have our children's best interest at heart). Trust me, the DOE will find many creative ways to waste our tax dollars.

Myth 3: Quantity equals quality. Not necessarily...although I AGREE that kids need as many days in school as possible; but it's kind of meaningless unless we raise the quality of our teachers and school content. (Not bashing teachers; I know many dedicated professionals...but also have seen many who are an embarrassment.)

Myth 4: Throwing the burden of responsibility at the DOE will solve our problems. No matter how much we might wish it to be so, relinquishing responsibility will not yield the desired result of giving our children a proper education. I personally wouldn't trust the DOE to take my garbage to the dump...

While I agree and sympathize with Kathy's points, the problem will never be solved without focusing on systems, processes and (ugh) politics. Root causes MUST be addressed, including changing a local culture that, on the whole, doesn't seem to care much about education. It won't happen overnight, but we (who value education) can be part of the solution. (See below for HOW.)

Where do my "crazy" assumptions come from? I ran a factory for many years and worked with world class companies (Toyota, Honda, et al). While our competitors were throwing money at fancy-schmancy equipment and focusing on increasing revenues, we quietly cut costs, focused on mastering the basics and developing our people, and cultivated repeat business from customers who shared our values. Many of my former competitors are out of business, victims of the false myths they embraced without question.

For those who insist we need to raise taxes, consider this idea as an alternative: go write a personal check to your local charter school; I promise you it'll go much farther than throwing it into the DOE black hole. (Btw, that's exactly what we've done this year and we plan to continue doing it, even though our child already graduated.)

The problem is, it's much easier said than done. But if we don't get vocal with our politicians, if we don't take responsibility for changing the system, if we don't volunteer to help these kids raise their own aspirations for a better life, then all we're doing is complaining. JMHO.

[holahan]

aloha all,

the problem is our system (i.e. government) is broken. it has gotten too large and we're just all along for the ride. problem is, they use OUR money (and poorly i might add) and do so with almost no accountability.

more taxation will not solve this or other problems. try to find a government program or department that you believe runs well. now try to think of ones that you believe run poorly. i'm sure there are many in the "runs poorly," column. the problems with our government will not go away until this country finally goes bankrupt or a new government is in place. seriously.

do some research on the internet, if you don't already know, and just look and see where our government spends OUR money. most of it goes to debt (meaning money they borrowed, after spending all of our money already), military and health programs (medicare, medicaid, welfare, etc.). our government has a horrible track record with spending our money.

more taxation will only create more waste and not solve the real problems with education in america. i spent a year living in china. if you don't have the money to go to school, you don't go to school. you better believe that every child in every class fully understands the importance of education and the sacrifices that his/her parents have made to pay for education. competition for excellence is amazingly high in that system. i have friends in china who by american standards live well below the poverty level, yet still put their child's education at the forefront of their lives. i'm not saying that we do away with "free," education in america, however this system we've created where we all feel that we are "entitled," to everything but are not willing to pay for it, is crazy.

you can't have free education, free medical, free wars and every other service our government provides, without paying for it. problem is, our government doesn't pay for it, we do. that's why it's so easy for our government to spend money with no accountability, it's not theirs and we obviously have no say in the matter.

less bureaucracy and more accountability with penalties for mismanagement are what's going to change education.

ok i'm done...

[Bullwinkle]

Just a thought... when raising my kids ... We as parents were responsible for their education. I never felt is was a burden of the state to ware house or educate my kids.

In fact my daughter got her GED at 15 and enrolled in a 2 year school at 16 and moved on at 18. She figured out really fast that in high school, the greatest common denominator based system had very little to offer her.

My practice and now hers..... don't leave it to the schools and viacom to educate and warehouse. Take this opportunity and retake the whole concept of education from the schools, they are making enough of a mess of it as it is. Time to move on.... the unions and state far more interested in deals than kids.

[tgalarneau]

I thank you for the comments on charter schools and I will do more research if they are right for my two kids.

I sincerely believe that teachers are not the main problem with our present dysfunctional system nor do I believe they are overpaid. A pay cut is not a good thing for any worker who pulls their load. But budgets and economic downturns are realities and we all suffer together.

I am pissed at what they did with this furlough mess and the teachers have to take responsibility. Obviously, they used this terrible schedule of furlough days as a negotiating tactic hoping for a tax increase when the outraged parents stood up. (A poor tactic, as a negative outcome would create a worse situation for the teachers).

It hasn't worked (still will have the union lobbyists' whispers to our legislators come spring, who may yet act in their interest). Now we all have to live with a mess I do not believe they really intended. Along with kids, parents, society, they will also suffer poor performance and lost time along with their lost pay.

In this internet age all our actions will trail us for life (scary isn't it). If they would only dare retrace their steps and at least move these days to the end of the school year, it would mitigate the problem somewhat.

Human nature being what it is, I do not believe this mess will be fixed. But, at least, real change becomes possible from chaos.

[missydog1]

Hi Carey,
I would never act like you are clueless. I think you misread my frustration. You asked if we would give back the tax and I put out some numbers to show how miniscule that tax amount is compared to the financial hit we're taking. In other words, yes.

I am a very good web searcher but in this case I'm really not aware of what is being provided and people are talking about it. A lot of local stuff doesn't get up on the web in a timely manner and I didn't expect it. This is probably the only time I've asked for help in the way of knowledge here. At least in awhile.

My son was not provided any solutions by the school or his brother and I wouldn't be handling the emergency. I don't think any of the programs you linked will work, but I can try calling in case they know of something.

I guess I'm trying to make the point that the special ed kids and parents are really hurting. They can't be left with a regular babysitter. A day care program won't take them unless they have a certified person on staff with the training. Transportation is an issue. For example, the REAL school has a special small school bus that goes around and transports all the kids who go to school in wheelchairs. Where is that bus going to be on furlough days? Loaned to the park programs? I don't think so.

Bullwinkle, your exhortations don't apply to special ed. For those parents, it's very beneficial to have professionals help. The kids make a lot more progress. As a father, do you think you would do as well working with CP, MD, FAS, autism, and so forth than people who have studied the conditions in depth? And could you do all of that after working an eight hour shift in the hot sun, climbing ladders and spraying paint? Dad is doing good getting the groceries, the laundry done, fixing the car, cooking meals, dishes done, bath, taking kid to the park for an hour and reading a bedtime story. Single parents who work full time for a company have to place their kids somewhere. School and day care centers are generally better than sitters, who don't tend to do much more than sort of keep the kids out of trouble. I watched the support systems for single parents grow slowly, in the 70's and 80's, from nothing, and now working parents rely on these systems.

It is just stupid to save money by sending working parents into a tailspin, more people losing their jobs who were not drawing unemployment or welfare. It was in part to help people get away from welfare that some of these support systems that are state funded came into being. Surely when people are able to hold jobs it helps the economy in many ways.

[Bullwinkle]

"your exhortations don't apply to special ed. For those parents, it's very beneficial to have professionals help"

And there in lies the problem. I happened to read this morning about a 97 year old lady living in a car, she needs help too......

Who will set the guidelines as to who gets the limited resources. I believe the federal aid for many of these disabilities ended under reagan, we turned the psyc wards out, closed the special schools.

Treatment for a range of child affecting conditions ranging from autism to fetal alcohol syndrome now a state burden.

Its a tough call - there are many needs, medical, education and so many other "treatments" - who will prioritize? I share the pain every time I see an unmet need.

I wish there was enough (and would pay taxes for) for all in need ... in the meantime everyone seems to think they are part of a special needs class that should get the limited money - we are staging for more winners and losers as resources become ever more limited and special needs groups become lobbying organizations

My problem is with singling out one group over another - there are so many unmet needs, more being identified every day and no way to fund them it seems.

A very sad mess - No wonder Canada has to limit immigration from the US

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/l...4892.story

edit - from the times and not Hawaii centered - enough to bring a tear to this moose though as it defines our lack of care for children......

[Carey]

Rob Tucker had announced the county program on this forum:
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9340

Two of the posters on this thread who are now saying that that they were not notified of the county program actually posted on that thread.

The county had volunteers for programs that they were offering, and were trying to accommodate the needs of the families that signed up for the programs. Because of the lack of families signing up, they have canceled, and changed, some of the Furlough Friday programs.

If you have been told about a program, comment on the program & still do not check on it until the county is canceling the programs, whose problem is that???

Also, the gas tax that was repealed was not a "little" income stream... it was close to, if not more than, the income the state needed to keep the schools open... that is why I use it as an example.

I have always asked how we are willing to give back, never mentioned WHERE to give back, yet posters here continue to to say that I am suggesting that you give it back to the government... I have not, I have asked that you give back to the community.

For those that this furlough day is effecting (including myself):

If you have notified about a program that can assist you & not checked up on it until it is too late.... what good would more notices be??? ETA: Think of how those people that volunteered to assist, and had the programs cancelled feel!

If your family is paying a heavy price for the decisions of our officials, and you have not contacted them, why not?

If you are not active & motivated, why not?

Are you doing your duty as a citizen, or not??

[Nalu]

Just a side note on the limited interest in county furlough programs. It may be that a lot of parents don't need this, have grandparents available, aunties/ uncles, or like myself work from home. I would rather do arts and crafts with my son here at home then send him off to a gym with strangers and lots of bigger kids. I, too think that there was a lot of advertising going into this, maybe because I read the paper every day.
On another note, I just saw today that Imiloa will be offering science activities for k-8th, this sounds promising, and the Arts Center, sorry forget the proper name will be having art lessons for k-8th at $20 a day. This sounds neat too. One thing that can't be debated is that this affects people of all walks of life and is controversial and hurtful to most everyone. I think there is a lot of passion and emotions involved when we start messing with the lives of our children. There was a letter in the paper today, try to read it, from the chairman of BOE, he in effect answers some of my questions and ultimately places the blame on Lingle for drastically cutting education funding. He said that administration pay/costs only amounts to 5% of the total education costs, and even if this were to be cut would not balance the buget deficit. Angela

[tgalarneau]

Carey,

I'm getting motivated and perhaps you can help me. Do you know names, addresses, numbers of who to contact with power in the teacher's union and who's responsible on Lingle's side of the contract?

I, and suspect that most others, am not in a good position for giving more money, whether is is called taxes or something else, because of our lost jobs, incomes and retirement savings. Even if we could it would have to administered by the DOE and it in turn by Lingle's administration and she still claims an additional $200,000,000 to $300,000,000 revenue shortfall even after taking the teachers and other government employees money. So it would be likely any money received by the state would be put against the projected shortfall and not reach the schools. Especially, now that the state has a signed contract with the teachers giving it away.

The only revenue neutral solution to this situation is to move the furlough days to the end of the school year.

With no money to lose on either side they should easily agree, if sincere, to moving the lost days to the end of the school year. This would eliminate the working parents immediate problem and move it to an extension of the summer break which is more manageable. It would also be easier to rearrange the school's schedule to somewhat make up for the students lost opportunity for receiving an education.

Thanks in advance.