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Saturday, August 20, 2016

With over 200 teacher openings and teachers spending their own money on necessities, the district turns down 40 million dollars.

Or, why the QEA is a joke.

QEA stands for quality education for all and it came from local philanthropists who raised fifty million dollars over three years supposedly to help our schools. The vast majority of it was earmarked for a teacher incentive plan that is both bound to fail and cause bad blood between teachers and other teachers and the district. Five million of it was also earmarked for Teach for America an expensive program that takes non education majors and puts then through a six week boot camp and then into the neediest classrooms in the district where the vast majority don't last three years.

And the district just said it was a joke and I know so because they voluntarily cut the district's budget by forty million dollars this year.

From Board members are considering a $1.69 billion dollar spending plan that’s some $40 million less than last year’s budget.

http://news.wjct.org/post/public-comment-begins-proposed-169-billion-budget-upcoming-school-year

Sigh

Why was the fifty million over three years so important from the area businessman and now we can go, nah, we don't need that forty. I think it has to do with control because the businessmen despite none being educators instructed the district what to use the money on. I also think there is a link to the proposed expansion of the Better Jacksonville plan, hey I know its a new tax, they can say, but the school board cut your millage rate so it's really a wash.

I know I sound Mel Gibson conspiracy theory crazy when I talk about a cabal of rich white men running the city, Rummel. Chartrand, Weaver and Halverson but the truth is their hands are in every pot from school board races to states attorney and everything in between. They control a disproportionate amount of wealth and hold a ridiculous amount of influence and they are for the Better Jacksonville extension. Why else when we have so many needs would we just say no to 40 million dollars?

How many paras could we have hired, psychologists and social workers? Couldn't we have used that money to recruit veterans from out of state instead of continuing to use the gimmick that Teach for America is? the district could have saved that money for summer school because a lot of kids need more time to learn the basics and less time between years so they don't lose what they learned. Or the district could have given every teacher 500 dollars to buy supplies for their classrooms but nope why do that when they know the suckers teachers will do it with their own money.

Those are just off the top of my head.

Also I get it nobody likes taxes, but you know what I think we dislike even more? Stupid people clogging up our road ways, grocery stores and public spaces.

If somebody can explain why we would just say no to 40 million dollars, I would really appreciate it.

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like a who has the biggest... Ego move to me. Vitti does not like to be told what to do so I am betting this has nothing to with what is best for children.

    ReplyDelete