Thursday, April 08, 2010

About the Public School Teachers and Kid Touching/Raping (UPDATED ALREADY!!!)

I received an unhinged e-mail from a "friend" violently attacking me over what I said yesterday about school teachers being the most dangerous people around your kids.

Check a portion of it:
I'll have you know that I have worked in the same school district for 22 years and we have never had one instance of molestation. (Ed note: I corrected this for misspelling and punctuation errors so normal people could read it.)
Okay, since this person is a school teacher, they must know that I did not state that every school teacher was Pedobear. However, I found it very hard to believe that their school system had zero allegations of molestation. That would be incredible.

They have had TWELVE in the last ten years, that I can find! Sooooooo. That is kinda HIGH, huh? In one school district in Mississippi? Actually, that is a little LOWER than the average.

Now, I am NOT trying to say that public school teachers are all incompetent (or sexual predators). But, the VAST majority of them ARE incompetent. In the case of Mississippi, SIXTY PERCENT (60%) of our state budget goes to education. Check out PAGE FIVE. 3.079 BILLION for education in Mississippi, not counting Institutions of Higher Learning agricultural units. So most college funding is included, too.

Ignore the fact that funding colleges with tax payer money is stupid. Colleges should be FOR PROFIT and all kids would not have to even go to college if the elementary through high school system could perform a single function for which they were tasked. Do we really need MORE sociologists? Methinks, fuck no, unless they are going to run the latte machine at the Starbucks when they graduate.

"Oh, Heather, you have a degree in sociology? Great! Now, grab me a chocolate biscotti and a half-caff latte with two shots of caramel."

Anyhoo, Mississippi total population is just under three million people and we have just over 650,000 school aged kids. That is around 4800 dollars PER kid (not counting additional federal monies, which almost double that total) for education if each child gets an equal share. Wonder what kind of value we get for that money?

LOWEST overall test scores in the country. Fiftieth in academic achievement in the country. Lowest ACT scores in the country. Lowest scores in math and science in the country. Highest rate of participants in the "Free Lunch Program" in the country.

Also know that over 60,000 kids are currently enrolled in private school in our state. And another 42,000 receive no tax money for higher education. You try to do that math and figure out what the true per student cost is. If you went to Mississippi public school, chances are you cannot, so around 5600 a kid.

The good news? Sure. Our kids rank seventeenth in the country for SAT scores. A full three (3%) percent of our students take the SAT, most take the ACT. (Please note that these SAT taking kids could be going to private school. I say "could" because I am a fucking gentleman.)

Here we go. Base teacher salary in Mississippi is $35,020.00 with ZERO experience. The average income in Mississippi USED to be right around $24,000.00 in 2007. With Barry Obama and the Democrats destroying the economy, it is probably quite a bit lower now.

The ENTRY level wage for a school teacher is THIRTY-TWO PERCENT (32%) higher than the AVERAGE wage in Mississippi. Wrap your head around that. A kid straight out of college that goes to work as a public school teacher is MAKING A KILLING and is not expected to deliver a single thing.

Plus all the KIDDIE POON you can snatch!!!

Please, do not try to tell me that teachers are underpaid. They are not. Especially NOT in Mississippi, where we have the shittiest school system in the country and that shittiest school system in the country takes SIXTY PERCENT (60%) of our state money.

Then, you add on TOP of everything else, like the HUGE salary, and the absence of all performance requirements, teachers get full medical, dental, and optical pre-paid medical plans, retirement out the wazoo, free lunch if they want it, and monumental raises almost YEARLY. Again, with NO CHANCE of ever losing their job as long as they go to work on a semi-regular basis.

The fun part of being a teacher? If you do your ten years in the classroom, you can move into administration, double your non-accountability in your new administrative role, get a state funded car, go to all kinds of exotic places for "learning seminars" which are basically paid and funded vacations, screw all the office help, and continue to be the simpering idiot that you have always been. Plus, if you are REALLY lucky, you might get voted onto the board of one of the teacher's unions and really rake in the jack for DOING NOTHING.

Please folks, quit sheltering the teachers, they deserve your loathing and disdain, not your worship. And if you have kids, do not send them to government schools unless you hate them and want them to suck forever.

UPDATE: Obviously I have a blog stalker, because eight seconds after I posted this I got an e-mail reminding me that teachers only work nine months of the year. No, it is much less than that actually. Teachers, during class hours, get a five or ten minute break every hour, they get a full hour for lunch and usually another free period during the day, minimally a week break in each semester, two weeks for Christmas, other federal and state holidays, and they get off around three o'clock every afternoon. It's much less than nine real work months.

UPDATE II: By the way, this post is not to just trash Mississippi school teachers. Let's take on the country, too! Number 25 in math, NUMBER ONE IN TOTAL COST. Do not use the public education services, UNLESS you hate your children.

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15 comments:

Disgruntled said...

Back out the charter schools, at least in my state, MA, and you'd be 100% correct.

Those schools constantly outperform every metric the state uses to judge it's success.

But I imagine if you take the teachers union out and extend the school year, you get teachers who can and want to teach, and better test scores for the kids. Also the do all this with less per child than the public schools in the same city. Go figure.

(Dead) Tommy5 said...

I tell my daughter she can get whatever she wants to get out of public school. There are programs in place that allow kids to receive an advanced education. A couple years ago a kid at her school received two years of college credits before graduating high school. Unfortunately kids at the same school received a piece of paper stating they know 2+2=4 and they know how to spell kat. This is also the same school I visited yesterday and heard the “f-word” four times in less than five minutes. I told my daughter about this and her response was, “Was it from teachers or students? Welcome to my high school.”

If you think the teachers are bad now, cut their pay and see what you end up with. I agree with Disgruntled in reference to the teacher’s union.

Red said...

My public education wasn't the worst but it certainly could have been worlds better. Just because you throw more money at someone doesn't mean they are going to teach even better than before. You're going to get the same teaching period no matter if that person is teacher-of-the-year material or just clocking in to make the donuts. I find myself pushing more of an education on myself in my latter years to make up for all the lack of learning during my formative years. I'm definitely for private education. Get rid of the unions and slash funding. Get smart or go make my sandwich after graduation!

Andy said...

I have many family members that are teachers. Many taught in the public system, and several still do.

Many taught in some prestigious private Universities, and regular Public Unies. They were/are dedicated pros.

I am a product of publik edjumacation mahseff! I can state without a doubt that I had some of the best teachers to ever enter the trade. And, there was ONE common characteristic of my great teachers...and my relatives that are all great teachers.

They ALL had/have a true moral/ethical compass. There's your trouble. Too many that enter the field of education do not have a firm sense of right & wrong. If one does not have that foundation they become slack in their responsibility to impart "true" knowledge to others...to demand the best from a student, etc.

We all have heard the "If you can, do! If you can't, teach!" I have found that to not be universally true. There are many fine public school teachers that both teach, and "do."

Paul, I was wondering about the figures on that Mississippi budget breakdown. Is the TOTAL budget of MS really just 5.1 billion? Or, is that just the State spending without Federal dollars included?

The reason I'm asking is that Louisiana has about 4 million residents. Our State budget is $28 billion. About 11 billion is actual State funds. About 11 or 12 billion is federal funds. And the other 5 or so billion is "Hurricane Recovery" funds (Federal funds, too). 5.1 Billion seems like an awfully tiny budget for 3 million folks. But then again, Louisiana's budget is over the top.

I looked recently, and ours matches New Jersey that has double our population. So, maybe that's the total bill. Dunno.

Regardless, as long as Dimocraps control the legislature in MS...and in LA, we will always be last in damned near everything.

Except for maybe stinkin' Arkansas. They beat us both out in a couple of misery index categories.

Paul Mitchell said...

Disgruntled, I have not decided exactly how to classify those charter schools, but we only have one in our state. The legislature tried to pass a bill last year, but it was typical Democrat bullshit, in other words, USELESS.

(D)T5, figures. It should scare you to death, too.

Red, I am a product of public schools, but they are certainly not like they were when I was in school. Of course, I had the very same teachers my parents had, too.

Andy, that is our state budget. I have no idea how they appropriate federal money unless it is included in the 97 million NOT through the state tax commission, but the 5.149 billion is our total budget. And yes, there are some great teachers still around these days, but if you are looking at performance of any particular school, and it is headed downward, you simply HAVE to say that the good ones are in the minority or either they teach fewer students than the bad ones. That is simple math, right? Just saying.

Skunkfeathers said...

I am a product of public schools in Iowa and Colorado, before the advent of outcome-based education, back when standards for basic education in reading, writing, 'rithmetic, science, social studies and phys ed tended to matter. There was no having to "teach" to the SAT/ACT/CSAP tests on an annual basis; learning the basics prepared us consistently for the annual Iowa Basic Skills tests.

A bygone era.

I do believe that the DC school destruct gets the most money per student, and has some of the highest drop-out rates and abysmal student achievement, in the nation. When they FINALLY got a charter school/voucher program past the teachers' union, parents had their kids flocking to it and beginning to improve; then came Barry, and beholden to the teachers' union, the program was killed.

Back to dumbed-down standards.

Libtards have done all they can to wreck public education, and if they could wrap their mitts around private education, they'd turn it into shit, too.

Andy said...

Okay...5.1 billion for 3 million folks.

Louisiana- 28 billion for a little over 4 million folks.

We suck!

TD, I know that you don't think EVERY teacher to be a retarded tit sucker. I didn't mean to imply that.

I guess that I am VERY fortunate to live in a parish with extremely high standards for teachers. We have ALWAYS had school superintendents here that were no-nonsense, Christian, hard-headed moral men.

The last one was my shirt-tail cousin, and the one before him is now my State Representative in the LA House (a mean old bitch that is as right as two right shoes...was the ONLY Rep. to vote against the State Budget proposal a couple of years back...), and before her one of the greatest hard-nosed educators EVER! And, he played for the Minneapolis Lakers, too!

So, I can't bitch from personal experience. I got a good education here...and my boys have too. But, facts and figgers are fax and figures. Stats do not lie. The overall results are dismal.

If I did not live in Bossier Parish, I would certainly have my children either home schooling, or in private schools. (Not parochial schools...the priests are all child molesters...nyuk!)

Please note the "nyuk" on that...please!

Paul Mitchell said...

Andy, where I live now is the school district with the second highest test scores in the state. The school that I graduated from was always a five star school, too. But, my alma mater has gone downhill quickly. A four star school in Mississippi seems like it would be pretty good, right? Yeah, not so much. Of course, I did somewhat coast through school when I was there, too, so five star might not mean too much either.

I think that I posted on this blog once that I had the same first grade teacher as both of my parents. Well, my GRANDmother told me this past week that Mrs. McCleod was teaching when she was in elementary school and I believe her.

Andy said...

Heh! My second grade teacher was the wife of our Pastor. She was OLD then, and taught my oldest son later on.

The very best teacher I EVER had in high school was Miss (yep, Miss) Charlotte Jaynes. (I'm pretty sure that she was a lesbian, because she never married, and lived with Miss Cochran who was my 3rd grade teacher until they were both killed by a drunk driving a Chevy pickup). Those were the days when lesbos couldn't even let on like they were. Man, did I love that old gal. She could get inside your head, tell you what you were thinking, why you were wrong about it, and correct you before you even opened your mouth.

I'll swear TD, the old lady could wrap you around her finger, spin you into a ball, and knit a sweater with you! I learned so much from that old lady. God, I miss her.

She taught my Daddy, too. Dang! I guess we can't turn back the clock, but I certainly long for the days of the old school schoolers.

Disgruntled said...

Only ONE charter school?

We have bunches and the idiot governor just allowed more to be started in this state.

I don't want to sound like a cheerleader, but it far surpasses the public schools.

Imagine a school that can adjust the rules to fit the kids and focus on math and science. Uniforms, character education and a decipline system that is reward\punishment based. Don't perform, slack off, kiss the field trip\school dance goodbye. The punk factor is low, because the parents have to be involved and had to enroll them by choice. Screw up enough and the schools charter lets the staff weed out the douchbags. My child's school vastly outperforms the state in every measure.

Paul Mitchell said...

There were more, but somehow funding was rearranged. Dude, our public schools are DEAD LAST in everything. Seriously, you simply could not believe it. There might be three school districts in the whole state that are worth a shit and we have over 150. We only have 82 counties and over 150 school districts.

Do understand that my kid is finished with 1-12, though, so technically I should not care.

Andy said...

Disgruntled, I checked the Louisiana Charter Schools website out of curiosity.

We have 80 listed on their site. http://lacharterschools.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Many of them are as result of Hurricane Katrina which wiped out many public schools in New Orleans, and exposed just how putrid and rotten they were to begin with. (Like everybody didn't already know)

But, there are many throughout the rest of the State in more affluent, sane areas. I'm a fan of Charter Schools. And, even though our failboy Goober Bobby Jindal hasn't done much right...he has championed the establishment of them, and defended them against critics.

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

Fact: Private Schools funnel the best students out of public schools, hence their better performances.

Fact: About 50% of teachers work is done outside the classroom in terms of lesson preparation, marking, curriculum development and discussions with parents.

I always think that people who attack teachers and public schools should just shut their mouths for being so arrogant. If its so damn easy then I challenge them to ring up your local public school and ask them to spend a few days teaching kids and working with teachers to see what it is like. If they don't do this then they're a coward.

Paul Mitchell said...

OSO, your fact number one is incorrect to me because I think that every child can learn and have proven it. The true fact that you are getting at is only the RICHER students can get out of the public schools and excel in private schools. And Democrats just ended the DC scholarship program that was keeping poor kids out of failing schools there, too. YAY! Democrats!

Fact number two is utterly incorrect. In the United States, teachers are governed mainly from the federal level because of the "free school lunch" program's dollars. It is not the way that it used to be thirty years ago. Teachers have lesson plan weeks to distribute the teaching schedules and material, there is little out of class prep. Also, if you have never graded tests for any classes, it takes very little time at all.

Um, on the give it a try speech, you might want to speak about something that you know because I HAVE done it AS a volunteer. It is a fucking cakewalk with utterly ZERO stress. Our public schools demand nothing of teachers and pay them ridiculous sums of money. Sorry, OSO. You are badly misinformed on this issue. Hey, so far, you are 100% utterly misinformed!!!

Skunkfeathers said...

OSO is obviously libtard (mis)educated and libtard fact-dysfunctional.