Responding to the ridicule of teachers and the teaching profession by politicians and self proclaimed "experts"!
"Where is Albert Shanker now that we need him?" - Walt Sautter
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts

Monday, 15 June 2015

Just Wondering??

After the put down of the pension issue by the NJ Supreme Court I  looked up the following:

"Lawmakers still have never succeeded in overriding a Christie veto. The governor has issued 350 vetoes since he took office in 2010, with lawmakers failing in all 48 attempts to override him."

"While Democrats have majorities in both the Assembly and Senate, it would take a two-thirds majority in both houses to override Christie. Republicans, including on some bills they originally supported, have not provided enough votes for the overrides."

Then I looked up this:

"By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption."

Now I am sure that the Governor's continued success cannot be attributed to his charming personality so what could it be? Could it be a reincarnation of J Edgar ? Please keep in mind that I am certainly not accusing anyone I am merely musing!



Sunday, 10 August 2014

Oh - And Make Sure the Window Shades are Straight Too!

Mr. Fletcher’s article hits the nail right on the head but he fails to mention even more burdens currently placed on public education. Career awareness, dental exams, financial literacy, individualized special education programs, work study programs, drug alcohol and smoking prevention, obesity prevention, scoliosis testing, diversity training and preparation for a myriad of standardized testing all of  which are foisted on public schools throughout the year.

Then, to add insult to injury, public officials chose to malign, vilify, punish and attempt to turn the public away from the teachers who are assigned these herculean tasks.  
P.S.
I have started a petition pertaining to one of my pet peeves. You can see it at the top of the right hand sidebar. Please take a look and if you agree please sign it and pass it on to a friend or relative of like mindedness. Thanks.



Thursday, 24 July 2014

New Jersey Education Ain't That Good!

The New Jersey education system certainly has failed if 44% of the population still believes Christie is doing a good job!

During his administration:
*New Jersey’s credit rating has been reduced six times
*A $400M federal education grant was lost
*“The Governor” signs and promotes a law regarding pensions and then reneges on it a year later (then  he proclaims at a Town Hall Meeting – “A deal is a deal” – what BS!)
*An unnecessary election costing $24M was held for his political benefit
*The New Jersey unemployment rate has lagged the national average
*Millions of dollars of tax relief was given to corporations while no notable increase in jobs has occurred
*Sandy relief funds were mishandled by a 'good old boy' corporation selected by him
*The GWB debacle continues
*The shady handling of the Hunterdon County Sheriff’s situation has yet to be resolved
*“No new taxes” except for those who had their Homestead Rebate “postponed”!
*“The Governor” wormed his way into a Sandy ad spot (including his family) by paying the ad company an inflated price
*“The Governor’s” brother gets a cushy deal resulting from the renovation of the PATH station in Harrison.
*“The Governor” parcels out $3M (taxpayer money) for his lawyers to write him an excuse for the GWB  issue.
*And now he’s going on 14 “field trips” out of state attempting to become a presidential candidate! 
God help us but I guess in a country that elected George Bush twice – anything is possible!
If “The Governor” was a teacher I think he would certainly be rated “ineffective” and that’s being kind!

PS I am sure that you can think of more screw-ups. Please feel free to contribute.

Friday, 4 April 2014

"Educational Experts" are Succeeding Again ! (In Reaping Rewards for Failure)

The State has run Newark, Paterson and Jersey City schools since 1995, 1991 and 1989 respectively.
It's hard to believe, that all the "education experts" in Trenton cannot concoct not even one scheme to miraculously improve these schools after over twenty years of effort!
The lack of success in these districts tells me one of the reasons why the DOE is currently handing out reams of dictates,standards and teacher evaluation criteria to all New Jersey schools. This is designed to draw attention away from the State's failures in these state controlled districts. 
Of course another reason for the constant attack is to exact retribution against teacher's unions for not having supported "The Governor" (as he likes to call himself) and his cohorts.
Additionally, all these demands continually placed on New Jersey schools allows corporations which supply the ingredients for their implementation to extract huge amounts of money from state and local coffers. Also, the constant testing and "reforms" are being used to sully the reputation of public education so as to help bolster public support for eventually driving the entire system into private corporate hands