Brockton (MA) school district, a "beacon of urban hope", lays off 430 teachers

[Bluebear]

And this is a school district whose test scores have "soared". They have also taken in 128 Haitian earthquake refugee students without receiving any reimbursement. And while Congress is about to approve 33 billion more dollars for Afghanistan fighting, THIS is how we honor students and teachers in America.

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Layoff notices have been sent out to 430 teachers -- one third of the city's teaching staff.

Parent Kimberly McGuinness says, "The teachers are good. And are here for these kids very much." "It is a travesty. It really is a travesty," says another parent, Tracy Jones. "If you're not going to invest in your children, what are you going to invest in?"...

And it's compounded by another issue -- Brockton is educating 128 Haitian earthquake refugees who now live in the city, at a cost of more than one million dollars a year, and is not being reimbursed for it.

The teacher layoffs will mean larger class sizes, program cuts, and potentially, the closing of the Raymond School. Students and parents are trying to save the school.

Wiith so many of those teachers being cut across the city, parents like Jones worry about the quality of their child's education.

"You can't tell me if my daughter's in a class with 40 other kids, she's going to get the attention she needs."

The superintendent agrees, the cuts will have a detrimental effect.

He says this is a hard lesson on education and funding in America.

"As a country, the greatest promise of democracy is a free public education and it has a cost. And we either pony up and pay that price, or we are going to continue to become a second-class nation. And it's unfortunate."

http://www.necn.com/05/14/10/430-teachers-get-pink-slips-in-Brockton-/landing_newengland.html?blockID=235073&feedID=4206

[RKP5637]

1. Just what this country needs, more ignorance through lack of education. How anyone

believes this country will be a significant world leader in the 21st century is beyond me. And many Americans are damn proud of their ignorance.

[Karmadillo]

2. But we do have a trillion dollars/year for the military.

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm

Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion



Current Military
$965 billion:
• Military Personnel $129 billion
• Operation & Maint. $241 billion
• Procurement $143 billion
• Research & Dev. $79 billion
• Construction $15 billion
• Family Housing $3 billion
• DoD misc. $4 billion
• Retired Pay $70 billion
• DoE nuclear weapons $17 billion
• NASA (50%) $9 billion
• International Security $9 billion
• Homeland Secur. (military) $35 billion
• State Dept. (partial) $6 billion
• other military (non-DoD) $5 billion
• “Global War on Terror” $200 billion

Past Military,
$484 billion:
• Veterans’ Benefits $94 billion
• Interest on national debt (80%) created by military spending, $390 billion

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. Look at this from the median voter's perspective

He doesn't have any kids in school, why should he pay for a service he doesn't use. To be fair, taxpayers should pay to have his snowmobile trails groomed.

Highly paid civil service drones, the lot of them, with their four months of vacation, and their defined benefit pensions, and their unions, all at the expense of actual, you know, working taxpayers. And they all vote Democratic. I mean, why do they get to vote at all, since they're on the government payroll, they're choosing their own bosses. I don't get to do that.

Why is there a a sheriff Arpaio to advocate for the reform of criminal justice but no comparable figure for education? Even better, why can't we not get a few hundred thousand volunteer teachers from the PRC, where they understand capitalism, and the proper role of government, to teach our children at low or no cost? They wouldn't fill our children's heads with liberal rubbish -- and they could all teach Chinese, too. I mean, math is math and science is science: water boils at 100ºC over there, too.

(Every argument made above has been made, in my hearing, from the floor in a school committee meeting during open public comments, in the last five years.)

[Catshrink]

4. Whew! I'm glad you added that comment at the end.

But you're right, many people do believe what you wrote. I've seen similar sentiments expressed at our local newspapers website following education articles. Last week said "I happen to know as a fact that teachers get a $10,000 bonus at the end of each school year." The only logical response to that is :rofl:. Others say we get paid way too much for the amount of time we put in - meaning that since we're only in front of kids 5-6 hours a day, that's all the time we work. I'd like to brush it up and chalk it up to the ignorance it is, but these are the people who vote. So methodically, I and several other watchful teachers counter their statements.

[madrchsod]

5. my right wing paper comment section here in ronnyland is invested...

with people who hate teachers,teachers union,and anyone who tries to disagree. i was going to start commenting but between the astro turfing talking points and the nastiness it just was`t worth it.

there`s going to be so many children who will just give up and wait till they can quit.that is the price they and their generation will pay for our endless wars in the middle east.

[Bluebear]

6. Well done.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Any charter schools in Brockton?

[Bluebear]

8. Why, yes.

Champion Charter School in Brockton, Massachusetts

City-data.com school rating (using weighted 2007 test average as compared to other schools in Massachusetts) from 0 (worst) to 100 (best) is 18.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/school/champion-charter-school-ma.html#ixzz0o2xqEwJU

[Geoff R. Casavant]

9. Man, I grew up in Brockton

And my first-grade class was the first in the Raymond School.

The word I get from my high school friends is that the layoffs also seriously cut the high school fine arts program. Has the school board never seen Mr. Holland's Opus?

[Bluebear]

10. This country has no interest in bassoons anymore, just bombs. nt