Oh and by the way... Jim and I have lived in the same very old house for 31 years. our cars are both over 10 years old. Jim and I chose to stay her because we could send out kids to private schools. Corey is th only one who stayed in the others went to public school after Sophmore year. Our children and grandchildren are our priorities have and will always be... I always worked mored than 60 miles away because thats where the jobs took me Jim drives 110 miles every day.... But the government did makle those choices for me Jim and I made them . and I bet Jim and I have paid alot more tax's than you would even dream of. Our house went from being worth alot to nothing too but you know thats just the way it goes. I did work in the banking world for 30 years and yes I do blame some parties like Fannie and Freddie but thats because I worked thru it and saw it first hand. But again putting balme on anyone other than yourself is beyond your comprehension Jim and I got married at 18 struggled to pay for college a home ,cars our kids eduction we dont live a lavished life. but we do appreciate what we have and know how hard it was to get there on our own.
Mrs. it's not looking to or focusing on the bad when I see what lies ahead for a new public school teacher right out of college. It's a reality that screams in your face when you see guys like GOP governor Rick Scott and his legislative band kick brand new teachers to the curb after they are just getting started in their new careers. In the process classroom sizes are predicted to mushroom here because of the lack of teachers. Those are realities here in Florida......not a bad dream. I am glad my oldest son can see the writing on the wall and has more sense than to subject himself to a job that one whole political party has nothing but scorn for. As I said.....my choices for my kids worked out just fine and they were choices made with thought and planning. I thought my first house was more than I could chew at the time but it was in a great school district so we went with it and it paid off for the kids with a quality education. You see something about that you don't like?.
I'll bet I am the only guy here on this board in his mid-50s who has had only one week off in 2 years.
:idea: 1. There's no correlation between funding levels and student performance: none, zero, zippo, nada. 2. The most heavily funded districts in this state, such as the Oakland School District, are at the bottom for student performance. If anything, it's an inverse relationship. 3. Example: the Los Angeles Unified School District pays it's teachers average salaries of over $90,000.00 per year with FREE medical insurance...and of course,teachers don't pay Social Security either. The result? About one-quarter of LAUSD high school kids drop out of school every year and most schools in the district perform poorly. 4. Our area of the desert has more than half-a-million people, yet our teacher salaries are capped at $65k tops, and we pay our own medical insurance. The results? We run rings around the inner city schools despite having a majority of "Engish Language Learner" students just like them. Money has nothing to do with it. 5. The old liberal belief that equal money produces equal education has been disproved in study after study going back to the 1960's. 6. Sid is right again. (Where's my bobblehead?) The great correlation that every study has found is that good parents produce good kids. Families that value education produce educated children. Families that don't, produce children who value other priorites. 7. As someone who attended both public and private schools and who sent his children to both; as a teacher for the last ten years in public schools both large and small spread over a 65 mile long area; as a teacher who has taught very poor kids and very rich kids; as a voter who has belonged to both major political parties; I can say with a straight face that the amount of money paid to teachers and administrators has very little to do with the academic performance of the students in that district. The greatest and most obvious correlation with improved academic achievement is parental involvement; followed by community involvement in local schools. 8. Six years ago, when I was new on my current job, another teacher taught me something. We were talking about the difference between public and private schools when she decided to make her point in a dramatic way. She turned to all the teachers sitting behind us (about 30 people) and said simply, "Everyone who went to a private high school raise your hand." More than two-thirds of the teachers raised their hands. Think about it... .........JO'Co
Mr Motorcity...I have not read this thread..but caught just a few pieces. Regarding time off...As an owner(former) of fast food establishments in Rhode Island...I went just short of 40 years without a day off! 12 hours a day times 7 days a week. I missed family weddings, parties, Bar Mitzvahs, and what have you. What line of work are you in? jiffer
In Michigan it was the exact opposite but of course only communities with successful parents chose to fully fund their public school systems. In that respect I agree with #6 Jo'Co. For instance....in 2009 the Grosse Pointe school district where my kids went spent $10,382.00 per pupil whereas the Detroit school district spent $7475.00 per pupil. Not surprisingly the Grosse Pointe kids outperformed Detroit kids by a huge margin. Some of that certainly is attributed to how the kids were being raised. However......even though there were a significant amount of kids in the Detroit and in the Oakland School district hell bent on failure there had to be some kids who wanted to learn and get the heck out of their miserable environment and do better than their parents had done. Their good work would be swallowed up by the losers in district testing correct? Were they all bad apples? Jif......you are the no time off king.......ouch!
:cry: Dave this will be my lst post as you are to incredible to believe. you mention vacations Jim and I took out first family vacatio 1981 the summer after my mother (and best friend) passed away from cancer Jim thought I needed to be away considering that was 12 years after we got married. we put the kids in out old pick up truck w. a shell and drove to Utah and back. the next trip we took anywhere was to the Navy Game to meet Mike and Mary. our only vacations have been long weekends to spend with very special people. and go to Jims favorite things ND footballs games I nor Jim have ever complained usually we turned in vacation time for $$$ . Our children all 3 played on travel teams (within the So Ca area) so we did sports our grandkids do sports we go w/ them. Our Kids and our grandkids have and will be our priorities .I dont think we have ever been off two weeks in a row. Jim is off summers for 2.5 mos but that is spent getting ready fr the next school year You mentions having another income Jim and I live on 1 income and have fr the last 18 mos. when I was foced to retire. Why.. Because my job was sent to India. I have looked for work but I am 61 and hard to find a job.... we just manage it. I dont feel sorry for you.... you take care of that all by yourself. How sad. Oh and PS I am too young for ss and I dont get a pension. I took a cash buyout that I cant touch for 4 years.
Listen....George says he outworks everybody, Jo'Co works hard all the time....even those 2.5 months when he is off. Believe it or not.....I have had one week off in 23 1/2 months and I am 56 and the pay is half of what I used to make. Just stating facts that support that I do in fact have personal accountability and I sure as hell am not standing around anywhere with my hand out. I'm not asking for your sympathy either. What's so incredible.......these facts get to you? "For instance....in 2009 the Grosse Pointe school district where my kids went spent $10,382.00 per pupil whereas the Detroit school district spent $7475.00 per pupil. Not surprisingly the Grosse Pointe kids outperformed Detroit kids by a huge margin. Some of that certainly is attributed to how the kids were being raised." FYI the average teacher salary in Florida for 2009 was $50,180.00 which was down from 2008 and sure to be down in 2011 even more so.
Actually AJ it was Michigan......my wife's family is there and we spent time with them. First time in 31 years being in Michigan was a different experience.
MCG Will you quit bitching about the quality of education in Fla. After all, that's where you chose to move to educate your kids. In Grosse Pointe you couldn't get a sunburn in Feb. but at least you could have a quality education. So tell us again how glad you are to be in the sunshine.
So true Gipper......so true. 8) And to top it all off I purposely relocated to the Tampa area community that has one of the best high schools in the state and my son starts there next year so I think I have that covered no matter what Rick Scott pulls. Only thing lacking is the job pay........and I truly did enjoy what I used to do. But.....my wise old Dad said to me last week I need to eschew pride and ambition and appreciate the good things I have down here so I am trying. Meeting friends today......taking the Jolley Trolley up and down the beach hitting various poolside and Tiki bars ( or both ). Not a bad way to spend the day......
Well after working 47 days in a row for 12 - 17 hours per day I am taking off the next 10 days. If I look at another peach I may puke!!! Dave this will be my first vacation in over two years, I just finished up our peach harvest where one of my ass cheeks may never be found again after dragging the ground for so long. In the process of growing and packing peaches this year we lost an estimated $125,000 after expenses because of weather events. And no there is no crop insurance for this loss, just a kick in the pants. Thank the Lord that our Citrus is doing fair at the moment, we may even break even this year :shock: Dave how would you like an occupation where not only the government does its best to put you out of business but weather can destroy all your hard work in a matter of moments. Consider this, then get up everyday and go to work leaving your family for 12 - 15 hours per day.. And you know what, I love it!! If I looked back and whined about what might have been and how unfair some govt agency treated me or the weather I would be a nut. Nobody owes me a damn thing, I choose to do what I am doing with a vengeance. If I make less or more in my occupation compared to others its my choice. I can always move to another state, change my occupation etc... This great country allows us the chance to pick our passage in life good or bad... Ralph
God bless you Ralph, God bless the fallen that have given the ultimate sacrifice so that those left behind do have the opportunity to make life's choices and God bless the United States of America!
I'll add another God Bless you as well Ralph. The Hill Country peach crop is coming in and I saw road side stands with fresh peaches. I enjoyed fresh peach cobbler over the holidays!!! Triple God Bless you and your family!!! We should have a summer, don't know how the dry conditions have affected the growers...I'm assuming that the can and do irrigate, I did not the peaches seemed smaller but I don't know if it's because this is the front end of the ripening dates or weather. Hill Country Ripening dates
Very well put, Ralph. I wouldn't worry about weather losses.... we'll just tax the "rich" and you will get yours. See Dave for the approrpriate forms. 8)
re: "For instance....in 2009 the Grosse Pointe school district where my kids went spent $10,382.00 per pupil whereas the Detroit school district spent $7475.00 per pupil. Not surprisingly the Grosse Pointe kids outperformed Detroit kids by a huge margin. Some of that certainly is attributed to how the kids were being raised." So you're claiming that your example proves that higher paid teachers and administrators in Grosse Point are the reason that the students performed better? That's absurd. I already know from experience that the kids in places like Detroit don't have any parents. Many are lucky to have even one grandparent or uncle who cares about them. Detroit is a classic example of an American city that was destroyed by liberal government policies. Families were torn apart and the parents were replaced by a vicious public welfare system which perpetuates itself and the poverty it serves in order to buy votes. No liberal will have credibility on this issue until the "extra money" is spent on the children and not on the teachers, administrators and army of social workers who all work for the government. :idea: