Cleveland school board votes to cut preschool, sports, busing over shouts from residents, teachers

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 10/26/11 | Patrick O'Donnell

[EBH]

So the district has to make cuts to meet the new budget. The underlying story here is the union forced them to rehire laid-off teachers.

Choices have to be made. The mighty union or real education. If the community is going to let the union win...then the children lose.

The comments at the site are so ignorant. These people have the right to be upset, but fail to understand they rejected the other option of cutting 300 teachers salaries, benifits, and pension costs. Until any of those bottom line costs are addressed ...education cuts will continue.

[EBH]

ugh...I need more coffee this morning...

benefits

[traditional1]

Cleveland is a cesspool of Democrat/Minority pillage of taxpayers. ALL the Unions will get their 3% annual raises in 2012, the school system sucks and is filled with incompetent "tenured" teachers, as is City Government and it's patronage-dominated bloated staff of Administrative positions, and Unions have golden contracts that can't be touched. I'm sure that MOST major cities have the same issue, along with the Federal Government.

It may be too late to change any of the Unionized Public Sector problems, because the votes of the Unionistas (every pro-Union yard sign I see is most often the home of a Union Public Employee), and worse yet, the Police are Unionized, and don't enforce the Law against Union Brothers (or Sister).

[EBH]

I just find it so aggravating that they now want to blame the board, when it was the union that ‘stole’ that money for those 300 teachers.

Cause and effect...and they can’t identify the thief?

Over $15,000 per yr. per kid!

[whershey]

The said thing is all the fools that went to this meeting will go out and vote for issue 2.

[EBH]

$15,000 per child to attend school...

Local tuition from one of the best private schools in the area: http://stedhs.org/tuition.html

[Tax-chick]

Until any of those bottom line costs are addressed ... education cuts will continue.

This statement assumes the unproven premise that any of the programs being cut contributed to education, by any reasonable or measurable definition. I see fun (sports), convenience (bus service), and free babysitting ("pre-school").

The people are useful idiots, anyway. If the 300 "teachers" had remained fired, they'd have been told to show up and protest that, instead.

[ronnie raygun]

This is a common occurrence throughout many communities when the school board looses sight of who pays the bills very much like what the government does today. When the board sets a date to vote on the budget immediately threats of no buses, no sports, no after school programs are drilled into our kids heads by the teachers they are sent home to annoy thier parents and make it seem as though the enemy here is the parents. We show up to vote it doesn't go thier way they reschedule a vote many times, inconveniently of coarse to keep the numbers low over and over until it does pass and they get thier way.
.There is virtually no mention of how they will cut back thier salaries, benefits packages or other perks they feel they deserve only what they will cut from the students. This is nothing more than extortion

[Scotsman will be Free]

Typical spoiled american brats. Until we, as a nation, come to grips with the reality that the gravy train is over and we can’t have everything right now, our govt is going to continue to spend money we don’t have.

[EBH]

.There is virtually no mention of how they will cut back thier salaries, benefits packages or other perks they feel they deserve only what they will cut from the students. This is nothing more than extortion

Actually they had made those cuts back in the spring and then this fall rehired the 300 laid off teachers!

[DB]

Schools have become about jobs for unions and bureaucrats.

Children, education and the community have all become incidental...

[conservaterian]

Yep, none of these cuts have to do with education anyway. It’s time to do away with this Public Indoctrination we call Public Schools. Give the money to churches, etc. and the education will be cheaper and ten times better. Leave the sports to the little leagues,etc. We should cut teachers salaries and benefits in half then see how many of these “dedicated” teachers are willing to actually work for a living.

[Joe Boucher]

HEY.
What’s more important, padding teachers and administrators salaries and pensions or teaching the yuts?
Gots to feed the unionistas now don’t they??

[Lady Lucky]

So it came down to a choice between “preschool, spring sports and busing” — and 300 teachers’ salaries, pensions, and benefits?
How about this? Close the school, cut all those costs, and that part of the property tax that pays for school; and pay the teachers to stay home. Sort of like 300 people on real good welfare. After about five years, test the kids and see if they aren’t better off.
Then if kids are actually better off, take the teachers off life support.

[Tax-chick]

Excellent proposal from Lady Lucky. As with many other government employees, we’d probably all be better off if we simply paid them to stay home.

At least it’s a testable premise ... and the educationalist establishment hates those!

[driftdiver]

It has nothing to to with “spoiled american brats”. The same thing is happening all over the world. Those who have been sucking on the govt teat do not want to let go.

[BfloGuy]

others promoted young children to chant "Save Pre-K."

Grrrrrrrrr.

[Scotsman will be Free]

There are brats everywhere. Just because there are greek spoiled brats doesn’t preclude the existence of spoiled american brats.

[EBH]

Indoctrination starts very early here.

Question for FReepers: Can those who booed be sued for interfering with the speakers Freedom of Speech?

[snoringbear]

“This is a common occurrence throughout many communities when the school board looses sight of who pays the bills very much like what the government does today.”

If our congress holds firm against any more bailout/stimulus packages, these municipalities; Cleveland, Detroit, etc, will either get their fiscal houses in order or will do the slow spiral down the ole toilet. Some portions of Detroit are already being leveled and returned to farm land. Personally, I think that's the best option for many of the derelict cities....