Somewhere along the line Gov. Chunky McDonuts had a bad teacher or two and now wants to exact some kind of adult budgetary revenge. This much is obvious. Sure times are hard in New Jersey right now. Yes we face HUGE budget issues. In our opinion education is the last place you cut. That's exactly what these kids were questioning and protesting about. They realize that when their most basic needs as students are cut, education suffers. We here were most pleased at the efficiency of the social networking that went on inside the schools and school-to-school in order to make these walkout protests so successful. We are pleased at the above board response and the fact the kids didn't use this as some lame "I'm skipping class look at me" event. These students were serious and KNOWLEDGEABLE about this process. Johnny wouldn't want to go to a school where each class had 45-50 students because teachers had to be cut. Johnny wouldn't want to go to a school where 15-20 year old textbooks are the norm because budget cuts or freezes require no new books be purchased. Johnny wouldn't want to go to school where bus service is cut to the point his parents MUST drive him.
Governor McDonuts urged New Jersey voters to vote down local millages if teachers didn't accept one year pay freezes. Even when towns had teachers accept this freeze, McDonuts DID NOT make any kind of special dispensation for that town or have any kind of message to those local voters that YES, this district did accept pay freezes, go ahead and vote FOR the local measure. No, he didn't do that which to us is the height of irresponsibility in messaging. Christie wanted them all to fail and judging by his 'no comment' on how he voted (way to stand up there and take accountability for your words and actions there Guv) he most likely wanted them to fail in pay freeze districts for his own political expediency.
Well done students. Your next lesson is to find Gov. Christie's house on Google Earth and surround his home with your message, he'll be inside poking his "teechur"voodoo doll with pins.
Wow, where to start...
ReplyDeleteOther than history, I think old textbooks are fine... Math has not really changed in 20 years, nor has the English language.
45-50 students in a class? More than that in many college classes, and they do just fine.
This reminds me of a debate I had years ago, when I said that food stamps should not cover CAKE and ICE CREAM. When you're in a crisis situation, you don't get to live the same way you would when you're NOT in one.
Education is neither first nor last in cuts... ALL areas need to be cut in a budgetary crisis. (Believe me, I expect this state to eventually have to undergo the same kinds of measures when we finally get a fiscal conservative in office again.)
Finally, you cheapen and discredit your own argument when you drift into the territory of making fun of someone's physical appearance, which has nothing to do with that person's policies.
I salute Gov. Christie; I pray that Michigan gets one like him.
Yes, but Chunky McDonuts is just funny.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteThus far Christie has been nothing but a bully. Not as in using the office as a bully pulpit but a bully. Here in New Jersey I have learned that New Jersey governors are like Caesars. NJ governors have more power given to them than any other state. They can line out items in the budget and are even allowed to change the wording of bills sent to them. Christie's attack on teachers unions and demanding they take a pay freeze is one thing. To stir up the state's voters and URGE them to vote no on all the millages is the height or irresponsibility. That's pulling the pin on a financial hand grenade for the small and rural districts. If Christie wants to go after the NJ state legislature to change how funding happens or go to the state to re-open the teachers contracts (that they had won in court in the last bargaining agreement FROM the state), that's fine. To cut these districts off at the knees who already have so little is unconscionable. Even if al the teachers were to take a TWO year freeze instead of the one it would be a mere drop in the bucket towards the 8 billion deficit we'll have next year here. This was doing nothing more than going after the lowest hanging fruit.
40-50 students in college classes as you and I both know is apples to oranges as colleges have much bigger enrollments and students in college want to be there, they don't have to be. Plus college kids paying $175 a credit hour are more likely to behave than a kid who grabbed the school bus at 6:30 am.
I'm of the mind education is always the last place to cut. This nation screams "But what about the children" when it comes to video games, violent movies, movies with sex, sex education in school, etc. Well here is their chance to put actions to words and support kids. Invest in education now, the dividends pay later. Kids who don't get the best education their community can supply them tend to be a burden on these same communities later on.
As to the fiscal conservative you think might be a good choice for Michigan. Look past Chris Christie, he's a corrupt Bush appointee who used his office to get his brother out of legal trouble, had an improper relationship with an assistant and has lapsed on other staying above board items.
His budget ideas CRUSH senior citizens and the remaining middle class here. Guess who gets a free pass in his budget? The top 1% of earners. John Engler cost the state of Michigan a buttload of money after raiding the teachers pension fund, Christie is making that same mistake here today.
Two more reasons I personally don't like the guy -- Pro Creationism in Schools and he's anti Stem-cell research but that's not the topic at hand.
Jim this guy has blown into Trenton with a list to hack and whack which does nothing but attack the teachers union and protects those he owes favors to. There are genuine agents of honest change, Chris Christie is not one of them in my opinion. I tend to play it fairly down the middle here but I have rarely been less impressed with a man running things than I am Christie.
As for lowering my self and my cause by calling him look related names. Yes, I do do that and yes, it does make me look like a bitter clown. I'm OK with that. I try to use a healthy bit of self-deprecation to begin with and when Christie gets a little judgmental on unions and those who oppose him I figure it's fair game even if it isn't.
I personally think the state of New Jersey has done terrible job leveraging the oh so close proximity to NYC to make more income. Lots of ways to help improve that. They'd do well to push luxury hotels within a boat ride or train ride to NYC for a third of the price for a hotel in the city. Now the impact of a better strategy to leverage location is one nobody stresses.
You and I obviously disagree on a lot of issues. But you explained your opinions very well, and I have to respect that (and I do).
ReplyDeleteDisagreement is fine, it's American even. So long as we can keep it on the issues, we're good
ReplyDelete