Just Another Stop on the Union Busting / Privatization Tour

*  "an American original" bully and loud mouth - is this a person that we should teach children to emulate ?
 

** "with children fidgeting in their seats" - evidently he didn't "engage" the children in the lesson very well !

*** "who he said cares more about pensions" - so no one should care when the State fails to make good on the decades old promise of a reliable pension ?

**** "consistently good grades" - as assigned by whom and on what basis ?? 

PS

Having been educated by such a poor public system how did our Governor rise to his current station ? Does he think it was all accomplished exclusively by his own efforts and his public school education played little if any part? 

For What It's Worth??

I have many questions:
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Should RU continue its quest to become an athletic powerhouse?

And can this even be achieved ?

What is the true motivation behind  this attempt to bring "big time" sports to RU?

If accomplished will it really help the universities' prestige?
And if so, how ?

Is providing unpaid farm teams for the NFL and NBA a worthwhile goal for our State university?

Should the highest paid public employee in the State be the RU football or basketball coach?

What was the problem with RU remaining in the Patriot League in the first place?

Did RU  think it had to pump up its athletic image to attract more applications? 

How does high caliber athletics help to attract high caliber students?

How is a universities' "pride"  based on  its athletic program?

(BTW - what do they mean by a universities' "pride" anyway?)
************

As the song goes "Gimme some truth, all I want is the truth!"

Figures That Are Hard to Figure !

"

Money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan
$1.5 trillion

*****
Troops stationed
in Germany, Japan, Korea,etc.
(over 700 bases - $100 billion a year)

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Net US Government Bailout Outlays (after repayments)     $3.3 trillion

*****
 Total U.S. military spending makes up approximately 44 percent of all the military spending on the entire globe.

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The Pentagon currently gobbles up 56 percent of all discretionary spending by the federal government.

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The total price tag for each F-22 fighter jet is approximately $350 million.

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Egypt is second only to Israel in the amount of assistance it receives from the United States, an estimated $2 billion a year.

*****
The House Armed Services Committee has voted to give Israel another half a billion dollars in military aid-- on top of the $3.1 billion we already give Israel



and meanwhile:

"Cities Face Tough Choices as U.S. Slashes Block Grants Program"

"US cities under increasing financial strain, says study"

"Federal aid cuts worsen New York City budget woes"

"U.S. cities face threats from federal cuts to revenues, economies"

A Picture is Worth a Thousand (Well Maybe Tens of Millions) of Words !

And most of them are hired to run what are essentially no cost “farm teams” for the NFL and NBA !

and BTW

NFL and NBA are “non profits” !!!!!

( In 2012 alone, the league paid approximately $53.8 million to its big -ticket execs, including $11.6 million to Commissioner Roger Goodell and $8.5 million to former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who replaced Rozelle in 1989 and ran the league until Goodell replaced him in 2006. In 2011, Goodell received a $22.3 million bonus after negotiating several enormously lucrative extensions with the television networks that provide the predominant percentage of the league's revenues.)

and BTW

RU is spending millions of taxpayer and student monies to eagerly join the “farm team” system.

and
RU tuition and fees have doubled in the past ten years!!

What If ??

I found this article on page 7 of last week's Ledger.
If an incident like this occurred involving public school students, I wonder if it would be on page 7 ?
I kind of think it would be page 1 or possibly even show up in an editorial !Could it be that private schools are not all the bastions of  learning and decorum as they are portrayed? Maybe the Ledger doesn't want to do anything to burst the bubble ?

Testing New Jersey Taxpayers

AND
speaking of wasteful spending of taxpayer's money, remember this one  -


AND
 Meanwhile, local BOEs are prevented from awarding life long employees any acknowledge of     their years of service upon retirement. 
So much as a "Happy Meal" at MacDonald's is now illegal !
Why?
We must be frugal with taxpayer money! 

 Well, I guess that the State's frugality depends upon for whom taxpayer money is being spent and it is certainly not you or me  !!!

Maybe A Better Use of TDS ?

The other day I received an email containing information as shown below. It was the first time I have ever been sent anything about creeps like this who are currently on the loose. 

Then I began to think, "Suppose this email was sent to people nationwide?"

 That surely would increase the chances of a quicker apprehension of him and those like him.

 Why isn't there a reoccurring email chain showing pictures and info about these at-large molesters? The way it stands now the only way to get  the type of info as show below is to go to the FBI website on a regular basis and who does that? I don't and I don't think many people do.

As I continued to muse I decided that maybe my blog could include a better use ( that is besides just continually griping about the treatment of teachers and demise of  public education).

I could send with my blog notification emails a brief portrait of an-on-the run molester or felon and ask that you forward it to others who could then in turn  pass it on and so forth.

What do you think? Good idea or not?

  FBI Headquarters
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
(202) 324-3000

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted

Between The Devils and The Deep Blue Sea

Here is an article from March which I copied and saved. Although it pertains to the possible candidacy of Cory Booker (which we now know will not be the case) it makes clear points about the veracity of our present Governor.
Now, it seems certain that in the next election, we will  be presented with a choice between an unknown, sacrificial lamb from the Democrats or a widely known, bold faced liar from the Republicans. 
We are seeing a plethora of Christie advertisements exuding praise for his myriad of accomplishments and feats of grandeur.
Sadly, I see nothing from the NJEA, the CWA or AFT pointing to the deceit and hollow promises offered in his last campaign. Are comments from these groups yet to come or will they remain meekly cowering on the sidelines awaiting the blood bath to come, without uttering so much as a single word of rebuke?

If they remain mute another lie will be revealed. This time it will be the lie that these organizations are willing to stand up and fight for the membership and not just sit back and collect the huge salaries at the top!

PS
My wife insists that I change the name of my blog. She calls it "unbecoming". I disagree of course but she has finally worn me out.
Therefore, I would like to get your suggestions for a more acceptable name change. I would like to change it to a title having the same acronym TDS. 
Will you sent me your suggestion? 

PSS
Don't make it too sappy. Thanks.
Walt 


Please Click Here to Send

I Wonder If They Will Be Tough Enough to Face Up to the Trenton Bullies

New leadership elected for NJEA

Steinhauer, Blistan, and Spiller prepare to take the reins

Published on Thursday, May 16, 2013

 NJEA members have elected three educators from among their ranks to serve as officers for two-year terms beginning this September.

Wendell Steinhauer, a high school mathematics teacher from Riverside in Burlington County was elected president of the 200,000-member NJEA.  Steinhauer currently serves as NJEA’s vice president, a position he has held since 2009 following a four-year stint as secretary-treasurer.  Prior to becoming an NJEA officer, Steinhauer held a number of other offices and served as president of the Riverside Education Association and the Burlington County Education Association. 

He will succeed Barbara Keshishian, whose term expires on Aug. 31.

 Steinhauer  

Marie Blistan, a special education resource center teacher from Washington Township in Gloucester County, will be the Association’s next vice president, following four years as secretary-treasurer.  Before her election to NJEA office in 2009, Blistan served as president of the Gloucester County Education Association and held a number of offices in her local association as well.

Blistan  

Sean Spiller, a science teacher at Wayne Valley High School in Passaic County, is the newest addition to the NJEA leadership team after being elected secretary-treasurer.  Spiller is currently the president of the Wayne Education Association, and holds a number of other leadership roles in the Association, including serving on the Delegate Assembly, NJEA’s policy-making body.  Spiller is   also a Councilman in Montclair, where he resides.

The new team of leaders takes office at a critical time for public education in New Jersey.  Steinhauer expressed confidence that he and his fellow officers are up to the challenge. 

Spiller

“I look forward to working with Marie and Sean to keep New Jersey’s public schools the best in the nation,” Steinhauer said.  “We have a tradition of exceptional public schools here, and I intend to make sure we continue it.  

“That starts with respecting the talented and dedicated men and women who work in our schools,” said Steinhauer. “We cannot continue to attack and tear down teachers and support professionals and expect students to thrive.  When we treat educators as the professionals and experts that they are, schools benefit.  I want to rebuild a culture of respect, where educators have a voice in the decisions that affect our profession and our students, and I will be a strong voice for NJEA members whenever the public discussion turns to education.”

Steinhauer also vowed that under his leadership, NJEA would continue to work to promote great public schools for every child in New Jersey. “No one cares more about education than the members of NJEA,” Steinhauer said. “We’ve devoted our lives to making sure our students learn and succeed. I’m committed to carrying on NJEA’s tradition of advocating for great public schools, and that means we must be willing to consider new ideas and try new things when the research points us in that direction. 

“But it also means taking a strong, principled stand against some of the destructive ideas that are being imposed on our schools today,” he added.  “Parents and educators alike are very concerned about things such as the over-emphasis on standardized testing, which is eroding the quality of education children are getting in their classrooms.  I am very open-minded, and I welcome challenging discussions.  But I will not stand by and watch our public schools be sold to the highest bidder.”*

NJEA officers are elected by a vote of the entire membership and serve a maximum of two consecutive  two-year terms in each office.
* Or the most politically connected!!

How Many Lies Does It Take to Make a Man a Liar ?

Texas Testing Could Be Toast

Looks like those Texans are turning out to be a lot smarter than the Big City Folk here in Jersey !

Click Here for a better view of the article.

Am I A Conspiracy Theorist ? Maybe !

******************************************************

I had lunch with a friend last week. 
He said he had been cleaning out his filing cabinet and found this!
I found it both shocking and depressing. I have underlined some of the purported returns of the 1998 TPAF. 
I am a frequent viewer of the TV show"American Greed" on CNBC. Many of the shows are about Ponzi Schemes that are foisted on the public.
When I first looked at the returns on this pension report they immediately reminded me of the returns promised by the fraudsters shown on the aforementioned shows.
Then I began to think about this a bit more. I wonder if this these reported returns were really valid at the time or if they were artificially concocted to those seemingly impossible levels?
You might say " You must be a conspiracy theorist! "
(Well, I don't think I am a  conspiracy theorist but maybe!)
"Why would anyone want to inflated those numbers? "
Someone who wanted to "borrow" (steal) money from the fund so as to give tax breaks and thereby enhance his/her reelection chances and just might like to use these return numbers to justify the "theft", that's who !

Talk About Waste

I read the following replies on the local message board pertaining to the granting of school insurance contracts to companies who doled out campaign contributions. The word "waste" was used and when I thought about NJ "waste" it  raised my BP to all time highs. I just had to write my reply. I guess "waste" is a relative term but below are the postings from the Internet and my reply.
*************
So in our state there may just be bigger fish to fry than prosecuting the teacher's union in the court of public opinion. Of course, no one would ever get the governor to admit that at a town hall meeting would they? Along with his fake enemy Sweeney. You can't make this stuff up. In this area I'm sure Jersey is a national stand out, while still being 47th in job growth. The new Trenton, yeah OK!!!!!!!!

Perhaps the Teachers Union should be making a big stink about these areas of waste that directly effect their members.
***************
Talk about waste -
The RU football coach (Shiano- record 68-67 - salary $2M + plenty of bennies) suppose a teacher had barely half his kids pass NJ testing? I kind of think he would be labeled "ineffective, lose tenure and not be paid $2M a year)
The RU basketball coach - salary $650 and a "firing bonus" of over $400K.
The RU AD is given a "quitting bonus" of $1M.
The RU "athletic lawyer" (whatever that means) - $400K a "resigning bonus".
The new basketball coach - salary $1M per year for five years.
The women's basketball coach - $900K per year (at least she's winning).
The retired college Prez - $335,000 per year for teaching 15 hours per week.
The football stadium renovated for $102M with a capacity of 54,000 and the largest attendance ever was 47,000 five years ago.
The tuition at RU doubled over the past 10 years.
Where is the Governor in all this? Why isn't he very good at addressing these issues??
He was very good at capping school Superintendent's salaries.
He was very good at "reforming" (maybe deforming is a better word) public employee's pension and health benefits.
He was very good at losing hundreds of millions of Fed education aid due to incompetence in filling out paper work.
He was very good at handing out "no bid" contracts for the shore clean up (kind of like the insurance contract situation).
He was very good at handing out tens of millions to companies for the incessant testing of school children,
He was very good at capping the funding of public education.
He is very good at promoting tax breaks for the wealthy.
He is very good at eliminating property tax rebates for the average guy.
I thought public criticism, derision and castigation were his forte. I guess he's just lost his touch!!

AND NOW THIS!

AND

AND

AND 

I spoke with someone the other day about the outrageous salaries of college coaches. He told me that the reason was that successful athletic programs brought alumni dollars to the school. He said that he had been to a Penn State football game a few years back and the alumni there were throwing money at the school hand over fist.
Well, I happened to look up some info about Penn State and it seems that they are not only number one in athletics but also number one in tuition costs for in-state students. In-state tuition is over $17K. 
Doesn't it make you wonder where all that alumni money (if it is really being donated as he claims ) is going ??
PS

 75%  - a  C grade with an A+ salary !! Where Gov. Big Mouth on this ??
Sorry. I'm kind of embarrassed about my careless math ! 257/(257+343) * 100% = 43%
He actually has a 43% win average. 

Another One Bites The Dust

Politicians,"educrats" and corperations will say and do whatever it takes to privatize public education. If you want to see how "privatization" improves public institutions take a look at "prison privatization"!!

My Three Rs of Public Education Privatization - Ripoff , Robbery and Repugnant

"Committee for Our Children", "B4 Kids", "Students First", etc. -
How do they constantly come up with these flowery, lofty titles. 
They must lay awake all night thinking these up!
I'm sure that I can come with more apt titles for these organizations.
How about: 
"Committee for Stealing All We Can From Public Education" or
"Students Second Profits First" or
"B4 for My Kids at Home" or
"Committee to End Tenure So We Can Get Cheaper Teachers" ?

Notice the words "private schools" and "hedge funds". 
Those two phrases appearing in the same article is certainly telling!

Did You Know That W.C.Fields Was a Jersey Politician?

In light of these revelations, I've got an awful lot of questions and comments about the continual squandering of New Jersey monies and the antics hatched in Trenton.
*The tuition at RU has doubled over the last 10 years!! 

(Rutgers University in New Brunswick costs $13,073 in tuition in fees for state residents, now making it the eighth most expensive flagship campus. Penn State in State College, Pa., is first with an annual cost of more than $17,000.
Nationally, the average for tuition for state universities is $8,655)
*Schiano (the ex football coach) was paid over $1M a year + housing and perks!  (All this with a barely winning record of  68-67 record in 11 seasons. Let's pretend for a minute that a teacher had barely half of his students pass the NJ testing barrage over an eleven year period. What would be his reward under the new "tenure reform" laws? Don't you think he might be labeled "ineffective"? ) *RU built a giant football stadium which is rarely (if ever) filled!  (A $102 million stadium expansion project. The highest attendance home game of the season came on November 19, 2011, when 47,447 fans. Rutgers Home Attendance Declined 6.9% per Game in 2011.)
*The ex RU prez got a $335,000 a year job for teaching 15 hours a week! (The aforementioned coach's contract and stadium renovation as well as the doubling of tuition was all "accomplished" under his watch!)
*The state is spending millions on testing children over and over and over!
* RU is a State institution run by the State and  evidently not very well run but now they want  to run Camden Public Schools along with Newark, Paterson and Jersey City which also hasn't been run well by them over the past 20 years.
*The Essex County Executive gets to retire at full pension and still work at full pay.
*Why have we not heard a word out of the "Mouth That Roared" (Christie) about any of this RU situation?
**And despite all this waste, the state still has no money to properly fund the pension!

W.C. Fields was once asked what he did with all his money. His reply was "I spent most of it on wine, women and song - the rest I squandered!"
I never knew he was part of New Jersey government!!

Testing Gone Wild !

I have added numerous captions to the above video.

 

And the point of all this testing and expense?

To help justify eliminating tenure thereby enabling the firing of the higher paid teachers.
To help set the stage for low employee pay when schools are finally privatized.
To justify the privatization of public education.
To justify the state takeover of urban schools.
To allow shoveling money to test creators and publishers.
To help in the attempts to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees.
To destroy what little power the teacher's unions did possess.
Just my humble opinion!

I'm Already Ready To Quit !

I recently read a post on Linked In - High School Chemistry Teachers Group - it was as follows:

"Came into a teaching situation 8 weeks ago and am ready to quit already!
I was hired to teach chemistry at a local high school.
I have previous experience teaching the subject (to a student body with similar demographics)
plus a number of years of actual lab work. I had been working in this district for a year and
a half as a sub while in grad school so I thought I was familiar with the climate of the school
and that this endeavor would be something I could handle. After 8 weeks, I have discovered that
many of the students apparently have been conditioned to "not care" so they think it is ok to eat,
use cell phones, sleep etc no matter what I attempt to do to correct the problems. I've had AP's
come through and obviously the problem corrects itself momentarily but nothing permanent. I am so
frustrated with one class in particular, I nearly walked out today. I've never seen such apathy in
students in my life and am wondering if anyone has similar experience and/or suggestions as to how
to at least make it to the end of the school year. Thanks!
Lorraine"

 I sent my reply -
"The sad part is that the "educrats" that run the public schools keep telling teachers that they must
be "engaging" and "make the subject fun" in order to be a "good teacher".
I did forty years of chemistry and physics teaching and performed many exciting demonstrations such
as the dust explosion, the wax explosion, etc.
After these events I would always ask the class - "Why do you think that happened?" and the constant
reply was "Let's see it again!" and rarely an attempt to explain why.
Essentially then, the students wanted more entertainment, not more understanding !
I think children have been convinced that the teacher's job is to entertain and cajole them into
learning on a daily basis and if the teacher can't do that he is a "poor teacher" and undeserving of
their attention.
My concluding comment about this situation is "If you can use a piece of chalk and make pH as interesting
and exciting as a Rolling Stones concert you certainly shouldn't be a high school chemistry teacher, you
 should be on Broadway !
Walt"

What do you think?

Can Someone Please Explain This to Me ?

How can the State control the schools for twenty years and then when the district asks for control to be passed back to them the State claims the district is not performing well enough ?
If the State was in charge for twenty years and now the district is not performing well, how can that be the district's fault? I don't get it.  
Can someone please explain this to me ??
It appears to be a Catch 22 engineered by the "educrats" at NJDOE !

Confronting The "Educrats" NJEA Style ?

I sure hope there's a better  NJEA  Plan C because Plan A (a lot of whining with little action) didn't work too well and if this is Plan B (essentially cuddling up into a fetal position), it won't work either!