" First the Administrators,then and only THEN,the teachers !

Let's not put the cart before the horse ! "

" Chop from the top. we do not need the hundred grand a year admistrtors "

" Offer early retirement to the ones who deserve it and give the pink slip to the administrators and teachers who have "bad marks" next to their names. Seniority is a great thing but I believe it's being abused often times. "

" Chop from the top...??? Hmmmm.... The waste at the bottom is hardly insignificant. It adds up real fast.

We rightly rejected a greedy bond issue with NVC, and our education Governor now attacks our grade schools. Something is very wrong. "

" What is happening to the lottery money. I thought when it started that the money was to be used for education. This is just like when they raise taxes, they just find another thing to waste money on.
"

" We now know from the big Stanford study that there is no correlation between the amount of tax money siphoned off by schools and the quality of education. Lets start this whole process by eliminating the worst teachers...they must be the problem. Fire those with tenure first then any others nearing retirement next. "

" It comes from a pretty good source, an administrator, the lottery money goes to bonuses. I was blown away when I heard this. And I haven't played the lottery since. "

" According to “A Guide to California’s School Finance System (February 2007), this is what the breakdown statewide is for K-12 education. State budget (what is being proposed to be cut by the governor) 61%, Property tax (any gain in property tax results in an equal loss in state funding) –21%, Federal Government (with many strings attached) – 11%, Local revenue (developer fees, fundraising, interest) 6%, and finally State Lottery at just over 1%. Clearly the lottery isn’t doing much for education, nor is the federal government that loves to puts mandates on schools (no child left behind) and then refuses to fund them or under fund them. States like New York spend almost twice as much per student as we do in California. The entire Northeast and almost the all of the Midwest manage to invest more in the education of their children than we do in California. And the governor wants to cut even more. What a joke he is making of our children’s education. "

" It seems to me that every time the teachers are in the "hot seat" the entire nation should bend over backwards to make sure they keep their jobs -as if schools' officials and teachers were an "in danger specie". They -the school district administrators- always threat with cutting programs for the kids, increment the number of kids per classroom, etc. I have to remind you folks that in our valley there are very generous businesses (wineries, banks, etc.) who have "adopted" a school program and they are very successful at keeping it up (Silverado Vineyards for Yountville Elementary for example). Some of our schools will be hurting -the ones where parents don't participate, donate or volunteer- but must of our schools will keep the show going thanks to concerned parents and community members and groups. So, go ahead, give out pink slips they'll find another district to work for or might just decide to change carreers like many of us have given the socio-economic circumstances. "

" This is all political grand standing. We see this every year at budget time. Politicians make cuts in education, law enforcement, and fire/emergency services because these are elements of government the populace sees and depends on the most. Make cuts where it will directly affect the common citizen, and the push to raise taxes will be more palatable. If they were to cut funds for things like legislator perks, travel costs, or the bazillion layers of bureaucracy that many of us never see, it would be much more difficult to justify the tax increases. How about we refuse to allow illegal immigrant children to attend public schools? How about we instruct in English only, and print all public materials in English only. I would bet if we did just those two things, the budget crisis for education would disappear. I know, I am evil and politically incorrect. You’re darn tootin. And before you start slamming me for being “anti immigrant”, my wife is from another country. She is here LEGALLY! When I asked that we speak her native language at home so that I may better understand it, her response was “I live in America now, the language here is English and that is what I must learn.” So, you see, I am actually “Pro Immigrant”, I am just anti ILLEGAL immigrant. "

" We have tenured teachers sleeping in their class rooms who don't know if their students are in class or not, and we have administrators who, while we are told have the authority to fire them, do not have the guts to do so. The Teachers Union is the first to demand, and the last to implement any positive change. There are wonderful, dedicated, excited newer teachers who are going to be on the unemployment rolls while these SLUGS are allowed to take our money. There is definately something wrong! I agree that those schools that enjoy parental and community involvement will still be able to fund their "extras", but that isn't going to help keep the good and get rid of the bad/ineffective personnel, nor will it help with class size.
I hope our governor realizes that he has so severly disappointed those who thought he "meant what he said and said what he meant" - I can't imagine that anyone would vote for him again. "

" These administrators have taken most of the Joy out of teaching. Too many administers,administering to their own needs and wants. We don't Need a bunch of nuts,with nothing to do,thinking up these absurd ideas to spend our money on. Enough, Already !
We have to make some Noise to let them know that we,still,haven't got any benefits promised by the 'Lotto.' Wasn't prop.13 supposed to benefit the schools ! We're being swindled by these kind of people ! As to musikluvr on his opinion of Who to layoff,I'd say to him,"Engage Brain before Mouth in Gear" ! It's pretty hard to teach when he/she has to meet the needs (self concerns)of these nuts with additional,meaningless,paperwork. So,firing the worse teachers means that you're firing a potential "Teacher of the Year",but,without all of the added,non-teaching duties. "Let Them be Teachers" ! GEEZ ! "

" ‘bama, seriously, you need to research a few things before you comment. Proposition 13 DID NOT benefit schools, quite the contrary; it is considered by many to be the death of quality public education in California. Until Prop 13, California spent the national average on per student spending and ranked among the highest in the nation in student achievement. Prop 13 limited the property tax increase (which is where schools got most of their money) and now has to rely on the state to make up the balance. It got so bad that Prop 98 passed requiring minimum funding for public schools. Even with prop 98, California has sunk to 46 in the nation in per student spending. And now, the governor, in his self proclaimed year of education, wants to ignore the minimum funding and make deeper cuts to education. How will this help educate our kids? Answer: It won’t. More kids will fail to meet basic requirements, truancy will go up and juvenile crime will increase. We well then have to pay 3 times as much to house them in juvenile hall than if we just gave them the quality education in the first place.

"

" Amen, Pat. We know where to place the blame and the pressure. Keep up the good fight at the Capitol. Enough said. "