[kcvl]

At least 15 percent of Oakland teachers took today off to participate in the Occupy Oakland general strike, the school district said. A little more than 300 teachers missed work to join the strike, said Troy Flint, a district spokesman. The district won’t know exactly how many didn’t come to work until later today, Flint said....

Gretchen Bailey, a kindergarten teacher at Global Family School in Oakland for 15 years, said she took the day off without pay to protest both local budget cuts and the national goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

“I think we need new tax laws,” she said. “We all need to share more of the burden.”

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/latest-updates-on-occupy-oakland-protest/

[leakinInTheBlueSea]

Gretchen Bailey, a kindergarten teacher at Global Family School in Oakland for 15 years, said she took the day off without pay to protest both local budget cuts and the national goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

“I think we need new tax laws,” she said. “We all need to share more of the burden.”


Oakland Unified spends nearly $11k per student... the top performing district in the state (Los Altos Elementary) spends $1500 less per student and is a basic aid district (minimal funding from state), whereas Oakland Unified gets significant state revenue along with substantially higher federal grant revenue. So, basically, the wealthy are paying not only for their own kids' education, but also for the education of the poor (and at a 16% premium to boot). But this is simply not enough... they need to pay more. So, when she says "we all need to share more of the burden," is she referring to the poor paying more in taxes to support education, or the wealthy taking on the burden of parenting the poor as well? The real problem here is the fact that the school at which this teacher is employed counts fewer than 20 students that are not classified as 'English learners' among the roughly 220 students... poor. don't speak the language. parents never graduated high school... if in fact both parents are in the home. No amount of money will lead to the outcomes she desires.

[voicereason]

“I think we need new tax laws,” she said. “We all need to share more of the burden.”

I love how people "volunteer" others to share. Stupid me, I always thought that sharing meant you did it willingly.

[NYC GOP Chick]

“I think we need new tax laws,” she said. “We all need to share more of the burden.”

Esp. the ~50% or so who pay no taxes. Perhaps they need to kick in a little.

[cableguymn]

The district won’t know exactly how many didn’t come to work until later today, Flint said....

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Pardon me? How’s that work? kids in a room with no teacher because they don’t know if the teacher showed up?