Posted on 03/05/2011 6:38:38 AM PST by Kaslin
Are they loyal to anything but themselves?
Public employees ruined Rome. In the 2nd century BC, the general Marius wanted to turn Rome’s citizen army, then a troop of part-timers, into a professional fighting force. To entice men to sign up for lengthy stints far from home, Marius promised his soldiers cash bonuses and — more importantly — land on which they could settle after their terms expired. It was one of the world’s first government pension plans.
Unfortunately, Marius’ reform turned out to be a recipe for civil conflict and, eventually, economic collapse. Roman soldiers began to look to individual generals, rather than the state, as their benefactors, and began to serve for financial reward rather than patriotic duty. Roman military leaders were forced to promise more and more public resources to maintain the loyalty of their troops, until one day there was no more money — by the 3rd century AD, the army cost more than tax receipts collected, an unmistakable sign that the end was near.
Public employees are now ruining the American republic, though our malefactors come not from the army but from the legions of unionized workers laboring in government service. For decades, public-sector unions have used their influence to help elect their own bosses and demand lavish pension and health care benefits. The result is 44 states facing an estimated budgetary shortfall of $125 billion.
Wisconsin is just one state finding that the cost of its employees exceeds its tax revenues. If something isn’t done to put the state’s finances on sound footing, a $3.6 billion budget shortfall looms. Gov. Scott Walker is attempting to do just that. Among other things, he’s asking his state’s unionized employees to contribute more to their health and pension plans. Those workers, especially teachers, responded with massive protests against Gov. Walker and his plan.
The average salary of a Milwaukee public school teacher is $56,500. But factor in the enormous benefits packages, including health care and pensions, and the annual average compensation is $100,005! In spite of such well-compensated instructors, and per-pupil spending higher any other Midwestern state, two thirds of Wisconsin 8th graders cannot read at a proficient level, according to 2009 data from the U.S. Department of Education. Twenty-two percent, or nearly one in four students, cannot even read at a “basic” level. True, that is slightly higher than the national average — but what a pathetically weak average it is! An atrocious 30 percent of 8th graders nationwide are “proficient” readers.
In spite of this dismaying record, Wisconsin’s teachers had the temerity to walk off the job en masse in protest of Walker’s proposals, flock by the thousands to the capitol in Madison, and force the closure of schools throughout the state. Of course, though they declined to teach while protesting their right to bankrupt the state, they were still collecting their salary. As reported by the MacIver Institute:
In Madison, the school district was closed for three days after hundreds of teachers engaged in a mass sick-out so they could attend protest rallies at the State Capitol. That could cost the district $2.7 million […]. If all the teachers in Milwaukee and Madison are paid for the days missed, the protest related salaries for just the state’s two largest districts would exceed $6.6 million dollars.
American public-sector workers have become more loyal to their unions than to the state, just as Roman soldiers became loyal to generals instead of the Senate. It’s the corruption that comes, and always will come, when one class of citizens is given privileged access to the public purse.
Minimum, they should not be paid. Then they should have to pay the state for damages. THEN they should be canned.
Of that 30% how many learned to read because they attended government school? Answer: NONE!
If studied it is likely that **every** student in this 30% were taught to read by their FAMILY in the HOME! They were AFTERSCHOOLED! If it were studied carefully,we would learn that these parents are doing **everything** that successful homeschoolers are doing, and spending as much time doing it IN THE HOME!
What about the other 70% who can not read? Hm? Chances are that if this were carefully studied, their parents ( also neglected by their government schools) can NOT read either, and therefore, had no one in the HOME to teach them to read.
Where are the studies that PROVE government schools teach anything? Where?
Where are the studies that show WHERE and HOW academically successful children learn? WHO is doing the hard work? Parents? Children? Government teachers?
In exactly what ways do the learning habits, and time spent in the home, differ from HOMESCHOOLERS? ( Chances are there is little difference in home study habits or time spent in the home.)
I have posted this question repeatedly over the years and NO NO NO “educator” has ever provided even one link!
Honestly, we are spending THOUSANDS of dollars every year on each children and we do NOT NOT NOT know if the government school even teaches the child anything!!!! These government indoctrination camps may merely be sending home a tuition-free curriculum!
Yeah! I am shouting, jumping up and down, and having a fit. We spend more on K-12 government education ( federal, state, and local) than we do on the military, and we do NOT NOT NOT know if government schooling really teaches the child anything.
Well, that's a stretch. Rome collapsed hundreds of years after Marius. Without Marius' efforts Rome never would have become the power it ultimately did. When the collapse finally did occur, there were more mercenaries than roman citizens in the legions. Rome died for many reasons, but I don't think public sector unions were one of them.
And that is the long and short of much of the problem, the other being the unbridled excessive spending of dem politicians nationwide.
[ we are spending THOUSANDS of dollars every year on each children and we do NOT NOT NOT know if the government school even teaches the child anything!!!! ]
We do know but all we do is yammer and that won’t get it done. We need to back conservatives like Paul Ryan and replaced all greedy democrats and foolish rinos at the ballot box.
Marius’ real mistake was having the generals pay the wages of their legions, instead of the Roman state. In effect, he created a situation where each general had his own private army.
Public schools, income taxes, unions, social security, these are ALL communism.
MISH: “Slavery is the issue, and forced union membership and forced collective bargaining are nothing more than slavery ...” and FORCED attendance at a government school along with FORCED CONTRIBUTIONS!!!!
Our government and our form of monetary policy are BOTH COMMUNISM.
82 teachers in one school district had a day’s pay deducted. And you should hear them beee-itching about it!
Interesting that the amount was $437/teacher. WHAT? I can’t imagine that comparable private sector employees haul in that salary!
Don’t forget they get 10 weeks off during the summer plus numerous paid hogidays through the year.
I had dinner with a GOP Wis. state legislator last night. He said that Wisconsin(and as we are now a role model, other states as well) is on the brink. If Walker loses this battle, he feels that our state will crash and be returned to the liberal Dem/union regime with little chance of recovery in the future.
Even if that was a Freudian slip, you win the FReepitzer Prize for best post of the year!
Leni
Is that not exactly what has happened to the Democratic legislators also? They have become more loyal to the union power and dollars which elected them than to the citizens of the State of Wisconsin and the economic wellbeing of the State!
The most egregious story of the robbers, broke yesterday out of Green Bay, and I heard it discussed on Milwaukee radio.
In the Green Bay taxpayer raping school district, teachers can “retire” as “emeritus” teachers, and work 10 days a year and receive 1/3 of their old yearly salary for those 10 days of drinking free coffee in the teacher’s lounge.
The story is now posted on FR. I saw it this morning.
We in WI, are a tax hell for good reason,and it starts with the public school system.
They have no shame. Of course liberals also love abortion, so I am sure robbing the taxpayers is really no biggie for them. They sleep well I am sure.
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