Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: Franklin West SU on March 18, 2014, 11:13:49 AM
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A revote on the Fairfax School District Budget is set for Thursday, April 10th. The polls will be open for Australian Ballot voting between 7am-7pm in the Old Gymnasium at BFA Fairfax (view official warning at http://bit.ly/1gxT41C (http://bit.ly/1gxT41C)). If you need an absentee ballot, contact the Town Clerk at 849-6111.
Please attend an informational meeting and budget presentation on Monday, March 31st at 6:30pm in the Elementary Gym at BFA Fairfax. Come share your questions and learn about the reductions reflected in the revised school budget proposal.
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Can absentee ballots be pickup at the town office.
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how much was it reduced by?
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I would like to offer an opinion that may not be popular here. The board did look at reductions and took some, but due to more current information there was a small addition made to the budget as well. The people who attended the board meeting following the town meeting vote seemed to be supportive of funding our school system. I beg everyone who is a registered voter to come do their duty and vote on the 10th of April. The board members are towns people who have agreed to step up and do a job for our community that needs doing. The least we can do is make time to cast our ballot, again on April 10th. You can even request an absentee ballot if you can't make it to the polls. If more than 20% of the eligible voters actually vote, yes that is about what turned out for the first vote, the vote might a better statement of our communities intent. And if you haven't registered to vote, do so! Again, a few people step up and fill the positions that help guide our community, the least we can all do is vote.
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Monte - You can not pick up absentee ballots at the town office unless you want to vote right there. Otherwise Absentee Ballots will be mailed to the individual you are requesting them for and can be hand carried back in. You can also call the Town Office and they will mail out the ballot to any registered Fairfax Voter after they check the list to make sure they are on it.
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"but due to more current information there was a small addition made to the budget as well."
The budget got voted down due to an increase higher then inflation request. The answer was " well the union says teacher pay raises are mandatory". So the answer was cut student freshman sports and a sound system. What? Listen when family budgets are tight and you have not received a raise that equals what the teachers get then how can you vote yes? Stop threatenting cutting student activities and go back to the "house" and see what can be cut in School. Go to the union and do pay freezes like all of us have had to deal with. Before you go outside clean up the inside an I'll bet you will find many ways to make easy cuts. a .4% cut doesn't cut it in my opinion stop going for emotion votes and start looking at the numbers. It amazes me that the school budget vote gets voted down however a full-time rec department director gets a split. keep in mind with a yes vote Ms. K gets a full-time job with full health benefits for her and her family. Can we afford this at this point when we are struggling to pass a school budget? Come on folks lets be smart with our money. Remember when you vote you are writing a check for the town; to the town. if you feel you can write the check then vote for all budgets. If you feel you need to save a bit then vote accordingly.
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"but due to more current information there was a small addition made to the budget as well."
The budget got voted down due to an increase higher then inflation request. The answer was " well the union says teacher pay raises are mandatory". So the answer was cut student freshman sports and a sound system. What? Listen when family budgets are tight and you have not received a raise that equals what the teachers get then how can you vote yes? Stop threatenting cutting student activities and go back to the "house" and see what can be cut in School. Go to the union and do pay freezes like all of us have had to deal with. Before you go outside clean up the inside an I'll bet you will find many ways to make easy cuts. a .4% cut doesn't cut it in my opinion stop going for emotion votes and start looking at the numbers. It amazes me that the school budget vote gets voted down however a full-time rec department director gets a split. keep in mind with a yes vote Ms. K gets a full-time job with full health benefits for her and her family. Can we afford this at this point when we are struggling to pass a school budget? Come on folks lets be smart with our money. Remember when you vote you are writing a check for the town; to the town. if you feel you can write the check then vote for all budgets. If you feel you need to save a bit then vote accordingly.
well said. don't fear the union. that is where the cuts have to be made. That is what the people want.
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Rod The budget was reduced by $65,675. Is that enough? I would like to know in dollars what the average property tax would go up for any decisions. I think that would be cool info printed next to each line item we vote on. "Does the town approve the bla bla bla" then next to it it says " this will raise the average homes property taxes $150 per year". A literal cost attached to a vote. Who knows. . .
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There was no definitive reason for the budget defeat other than more people voted no. I was at the board meeting where this was discussed and several of the people present were supportive of the budget without any cuts at all. I would remind everyone to make sure they are entered in the property tax adjustment program. The forms are filed with our income tax. This program ensures those of us whose income is under $105000 are protected in the percent of our income we have to pay towards the school tax. Our school directors enter the budget process with every intent to minimize the cost to our community while maintaining a strong system. I support their efforts towards this goal.
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Why does the School Board always threaten us with cutting sports? Why not cut salaries, supplies, or many other things. I am so sick of paying such high school taxes. Do not take away sports from our kids.
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I agree Lena. It appears if the town is not happy with the budget, they cut things at the expense of the children and threaten more cuts to the kids if this budget does not go through.
I understand from hearing from several in the community that they voted the budget down because of the raises. Many of our towns people are down an income or got 0% for a raise so they are not in agreement with this budget.
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Does anyone have the dollar amount and % related to staff raises and benefits?
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I am a federal employee and we just got our first pay increase in two years and it was only 1% to make up for cost of living after a two year freeze. I am a big believer in making cuts and freezes from the top down, not in programs for the students... meaning we should start with leadership like the principals and work down. This could very well mean re-negotiating with the union. When reading the remarks on the other thread by Rachael Levau it did feel like they (the school board) is almost threatening us (the voters) that if this budget doesnt pass the kids will pay... this may not be how she meant it but i find this unacceptable. I also found it funny where she said often these teachers are your neigbors and refusing them a raise is like telling your neighbor sorry you cant have more money....well i wouldnt mind going to said neighbor and saying I'm sorry, I just recieved the first pay increase in three years and it was only 1%, do you think you can lay off a little so we can afford to pay you? I admire and cherish our teachers but I think in some instances we need to take in account the economic situation of the community and be reasonable. That said, I'm hoping I can make it to the next meeting before the vote and hope a lot of the townspeople can go so the school board can hear from the voters the reasons they voted no. Hopefully they can take the feedback into account and fix the issues so the budget can pass.
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I hope nobody is taking all this personal. The state is working on a proposal to fund the single payer healthcare with a substantial increase on property tax in addition to a 1% tax increase across the board this week. This government spending has to end. Local school budgets are something we have voting control over at the moment. Those teachers in our community are also property owners in our community, right. As a community I would take it personal if you only cut items that directly affect the students without considering looking at the biggest ticket item in the budget.
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I too am a federal employee and have just had first pay increase of 1% in 3 years. Did I like not having a pay increase? Absolutely not! However, in knowing how the economy has affected everybody and realizing I could be without any job it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I understood the need for no pay increase. I didn't like it, but I dealt with it knowing that that $$ would be used elsewhere. I would think that be freezing teachers salaries they too would have the same feelings - they wouldn't like it but would understand it's either their paychecks or the students education. Just my 2 cents.
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Understand?
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For those who are interested, this report was produced in January 2014 for the Vt. Association of Realtors by economists Art Woolf and Richard Heaps.
http://www.vermontrealtors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Report-on-Vermont-Education-Funding-System-01272014c.pdf (http://www.vermontrealtors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Report-on-Vermont-Education-Funding-System-01272014c.pdf)
Even if you read only the Executive Summary, it gives an explanation of why Vermont spending on education has increased so much in the last 15 years. I think it makes for very interesting reading and may help us all understand a little better what is happening in the education funding landscape in Vermont.
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So while there has been a steady decrease in the total number of students enrolled in VT schools over the last 15 years (study was through 2012), (a decrease of nearly 16%) there has been an increase in staffing (teachers and aides) through the same time frame (an increase of just over 17%). Would seem to me that is one discrepancy we should look at.
As of 2012, VT spent more per pupil than any other state with the exception of New York. And with this, VT kids are doing no better on average than any other kids in any other state. Not much to show for that level of spending.
Might be time to rethink how many teachers we actually need. But that is a touchy subject and would lead to difficult decisions. And is the leadership willing to address them?
At some point, things become fiscally unsustainable. Government doesn't really care about making their books balance, they just demand more from us in the form of taxes. Leadership is the responsibility to make the tough decisions. With that said, cutting from the kids before you cut from the adults is weakness.
Thanks cvallett for the read. Very interesting.
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I just read the summary and it's interesting. I guess you'd have to take that and then something paid by a teachers organization and somewhere in the middle is probably a fair assessment. Vermont does have a very low population overall to maintain the infrastructure costs. I guess the best assessment is to find what the base staffing needed for no students and then find out the incrementals.
But overall you can't just keep paying more and more to staff. It's not sustainable sadly. And anytime you compare salaries in one area to another, you'll probably find someone is underpaid. I'm interested in how much give and take the contract negotiations had before agreed to.
If anything needs to get cut, lets get rid of the iPads first. If kids need access to technology, create a lab with enough hardware and have the kids visit that to get the exposure. Don't buy iPad's for entire grades. They'll have the lab time to learn to use them and spend more time on the theory behind them, how to use a keyboard, how to spell without spell check, how to write a paper without looking for everything on Wikipedia. Learn how to do something and then learn how to do it more efficiently. Yes, using something everyday helps, but using it with no understanding of the background processes doesn't mean much. Using an iPad to access RazKids or other sites is meaningless since you can do the same thing for a third of the price on Amazon Kindles.
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The report seems to focus only on student-teacher ratio and how it has affected spending. I found it interesting that the report stated that "teacher salaries do not contribute to Vermont’s
high spending level. Rather, if Vermont’s teacher salaries were at national levels, our total spending and per pupil spending would be even higher than they actually are." It then states later "the student-teacher ratio in Vermont, which is the lowest in the country and is ultimately the cause of Vermont’s high education spending." My take from that would be to leave salaries alone and cut positions. I wish the report would have included more information on other areas of school budgets. It seems that the scope of this report was very narrow.
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After reading that, I also agree that the salaries are alright and we need to eliminate teachers and aids. I did read in this forum somewhere we do have power to do that at this point. It sound like the board does not have any meeting until the re-vote. So we have to vote this down to have them work on this option. Companies have to downsize staff when the work load goes down. So schools have to downsize when work load goes down (AKA Students).
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I believe that administration needs to be cut not go right after student activities. What I mean is we have Franklin supervisory east, west etc. with superintendents making 6 figures. It's time to consolidate the administration piece. I also feel that all of our opinions on this forum go nowhere. Lets vote and explain your position please get involved. It's sad that this forum gets more hits then people that voted. We need to send the message and also help in the decision making process that's what real change is about. Soap box complete.
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kp2 ? do I know you....spot on with your ideas
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Rod I'm not sure I know you , however I value your opinion and you make me laugh my a&$ off. You and I think a lot alike and I wish we had more like us haha.
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One Rod is enough for any community :)
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spare the rod spoil the child
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Trevor, did i hear you were a new Daddy? Keep the baby away from Rod. Gosh only knows the stories he would tell about you. But still got to love him. Lol.
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2 rods don't make a right
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walk softly and carry a big rod
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I say there is money to trim when you have an assistant principal being paid to be an administrator but they are not available after 2:30 because they are also being paid to coach sports. Then you add on an administrator to attend afternoon meetings that the first administrator can't go to because coaching is their priority. This doesn't seem like a prudent use of tax payers' money? How many tax payers get paid to leave their job to get another job while they are supposed to be working at the first job?
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The debate the age of the tax payer is a non issue. Older generations have always paid for younger generations to go to school. Back when the current older people were in school, there were still older people paying that didn't have kids in school. What about the people that do work and get a renters rebate? You realize that some people are still extremely low paid and qualify for the benefit. They pay rent, which pays the taxes that the landlord passes on. That's the same as the homestead without all the other headaches a homeowner has to deal with.
I agree that there has to be trimming and better use of resources. There should only be one principal, one vice principal and one director for each department. That way it all flows up cleanly to one decision maker. If they feel that they have too many kids for that, then they don't know how to delegate which is a different problem. Like any business, lots of ants and one queen. The Board guides the queen who guides the ants. If you need to cut, look for funding for programs elsewhere and get back to basics. Stop building in computerize whiteboards and ipads and go back to markers and paper.
If they want more money, they should prove that the funds that have gone up track with better outcomes in programming. Not just people saying how much they enjoy something but real outcomes. College enrollments, increased scores, increased attendance, increased community involvement, lower funds spent to serve more students in some area. Anything that speaks to why an increase beyond CPI.
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I am sticking with the teachers and administrations salaries and the amount of them as a place to cut. The average salary of a teacher in VT is around 50K per year. The average clocked hours per year for a teacher is 1400hrs (I am not sure what this particular union contract stats for minimum hrs). A 40 hr full time job for the rest of us is 2080 hrs per year (not many make 50K with a full time job). As I was growing up, I remember my teachers doing other things to supplement their income. Fact is, I worked for one of them for a summer who owned a roofing company.
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TO ROD OR NOT TO ROD ? THAT IS THE QUESTION!
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Seems to me that they looked at the votes. It only got voted down by 53. So lets cut a little at the students expense and hope we can push it through with such a small margin voting it down. I have a crazy idea. Lets vote this one down as well and force the administration to not threaten our children's education right off the get go and force the top heavy administration to look at administrative cuts on the upper end not the teacher side. When you face a financial problem at your home what do you do? You look at all the little incidental logistical things that run your home. You look at cable, not going out to eat as much, maybe cutting back on the little things that run your home. You don't say to your children "Well kids sorry I cant pay for your sports anymore and by they way can't afford to bring you to School" I noticed the cuts went immediately after the kids sports. I didn't hear anything about cutting art or music. Why is it we cut technology and sports before we ever think about cutting art or music? I believe technology will produce productive innovative youth well before music or art. We have lost our way people. It's time to get it back.
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I was at the meeting when they made the cuts; cuts were suggested by superintendent's office, not sure if administration had hand in it also & maybe this is the way it done. Honestly, the board stated they did not want to cut things from the students, and each may have own reason for that, like things that would directly affect their own. This is NOT a criticism, just an observation. However there was a board member who pretty sternly stated that this should be presented to the tax payers with an added, if it doesn't go through this is what we cut next attitude; again, not a criticism, just an observation. The administration offered to take a 2% pay raise over a 3%. I have heard from a few, cut the IPADS; I remember a few years ago when technology was cut, when students all had to SHARE computer labs & not have their own.....hmmmm, what an idea! Should a raise go "across the board" for each employee, if they are custodians, paras, etc?? Opinion is it should be done on merit; you deserve it, you own it; you don't, well, step up & next time you will. I agree with many here: how many taxpayers have gotten raises lately? Most are lucky to have a job.
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As a music and drama kid, and a former music teacher, I can tell you that cuts were ALWAYS made in the arts in the past. And the issue is the kids who are in music and art are generally not in other things. When cuts happen, those kids are punished far more than the kids who might be slightly inconvenienced by Freshman basketball being cut back. There seems to be every sport for each and every grade now. If cuts need to be in what is offered to students, it makes sense to me to find certain areas of the very large sports program to consolidate.
That being said - I'd prefer there to be no cuts in what we offer our students. I realize people want cuts, and everyone would prefer something different. I just hope everyone can work together to do what is best for the students and still keep our school as productive and high quality as possible.
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I have been following this thread of debate; with many others!
There is a small consortium of parents who are interested in starting a private independent school in the Fairfax area for K - 5. We are in the very initial stages and are working with the Vermont Association for Independent Schools and the Vermont Department of Education. Our goal is simple - to provide high academic and behavioral expectations for all students participating; address the learning needs of the whole child in multi-age settings through a challenging, developmentally appropriate curriculum; identify and develop the interests and strengths of every student through active, personalized and authentic learning activities.
Again, we are in the early stages. However, we are eager parents who are seeking something "better" (which is subjective). Because there are no alternatives in Franklin County, we have decided to create on our own!
If you are interested in this possibility (in helping or joining), please private message or e-mail me @ degraffmurphy@gmail.com We are interested in hearing from parents, educators, music, art or foreign language speakers/teachers!
Thanks so much --
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My understanding of the cuts is the board did not want to make cuts that affect our children. They did not cut sports however they trimmed monies from freshman sports which has not been utilized for some time. So taxpayers arent paying for something they dont use. But they left some money from freshman sports so if needed our children will be able to still play a sport and not get cut from the team.
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I am sticking with the teachers and administrations salaries and the amount of them as a place to cut. The average salary of a teacher in VT is around 50K per year. The average clocked hours per year for a teacher is 1400hrs (I am not sure what this particular union contract stats for minimum hrs). A 40 hr full time job for the rest of us is 2080 hrs per year (not many make 50K with a full time job). As I was growing up, I remember my teachers doing other things to supplement their income. Fact is, I worked for one of them for a summer who owned a roofing company.
I agree with you Tom. When you look at the 2012 median household income for VT it is around 54K. I don't want to start a teacher bashing session or anything but we have all had to tighten our belt, I for one have not gotten a raise in 4 years. Time to start cutting the fat and holding people acountable. If you don't preform you shouldn't get a raise or have a job for that matter. I know a lot of people that would work their ass off for 50K a year with a 3 month vaca.
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Stand Alone Defense---if you "know a lot of people that would work their ass off for 50K a year with a 3 month vaca," maybe you should encourage them to get degrees and become teachers. I agree with you that "If you don't preform you shouldn't get a raise or have a job for that matter." I hope that is not why you haven't received a raise in 4 yrs. As for Tom and others, are your children currently attending school in Fairfax? Did you support these same cuts when your children were attending school?
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Stand Alone works for the Federal Gov. and is a worker like the rest of his family Papi.
I pay a nice chunk of money to the school, to the federal government and the state since I work my a$$ off and I am single. I was a graduate of BFA Fairfax. So to be clear my opinion of cuts is not based on whether I have kids or not but what is best for the children, school and town.
My problem is they cut the kids programs as their way of cutting every time. Like Margie said Music, Arts, Sports seem to leave quickly off their budget. And the idle threat in the post that more will be removed from the children if this doesn't pass. I don't like to be bullied.
I think the revamp of the administration and a chat with the union again on the guaranteed raises are my issue now. We have some great teachers who deserve more and others who deserve nothing more than what they are getting.
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May I just comment on the "three month vacation" comments? If you have ever been a teacher, you would know that just because school ends at 2:45, that does not mean your work day has ended. You have after school duties, chaperoning games and dances, and then correcting papers, tests, etc. Summer "vacation" is usually spent in other classrooms, as teachers must maintain their certification which requires taking classes the rest of their careers. Do they get more time off than many people? Perhaps. I cannot speak on the actual days. But these people are not sitting back, eating bon bons for weeks on end. They are working very hard to remain current and relevant in their area of teaching so they can teach your children. Many schools are now requiring all new teachers to have a plan in place to acquire their Masters Degree in a set period of time. If you aren't clear on what the life of a teach is like, I'm sure any one of them would be happy to talk to you about it.
Teaching is not an easy job. And it certainly doesn't help to be undermined by comments and beliefs that you don't work very hard.
End of rant.
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Stand Alone Defense---if you "know a lot of people that would work their ass off for 50K a year with a 3 month vaca," maybe you should encourage them to get degrees and become teachers. I agree with you that "If you don't preform you shouldn't get a raise or have a job for that matter." I hope that is not why you haven't received a raise in 4 yrs. As for Tom and others, are your children currently attending school in Fairfax? Did you support these same cuts when your children were attending school?
My child is too young to attend school at this time "Papi". However I did graduate from BFA in 2001 and I know for a fact there is plenty of overpaid dead weight there, as there is in most work places. I have not received a raise because no one in my office or any other office across the country has. Mind you if you feel that the school should receive more money and teachers should be paid more.... you could always pay more yourself??? Nothing is stopping you from paying more... apparently you are well off and not concerned about spending more. That's awesome for you!! Hopefully my lazy ass with 3 jobs can get there some day.
Why do you assume that the people I was talking about don't have degrees??? I have 2 people that work for me that have Masters Degrees and they don't make 50gs for 9 months of work.... You say "maybe you should encourage them to get degrees and become teachers” I think maybe it should be explained that you aren't going to become a millionaire being a teacher. Maybe if a teacher wants to make 80 or 100K a year they should get a law degree and become a lawyer?? The average teacher in Vermont makes about 35 dollars an hour. Mind you I know it is an average and there are teachers like my sister that make 16 bucks an hour. All I'm saying is maybe they should have to tighten their belt the same way we have had too. Or better yet the ones making over the average should not get their increase?? As the young ambitious teacher making 14 dollars an hour needs the increase more than the older less ambitious teacher that is making 40 dollars and hour???
Like I said before, I don't want to start a teacher bashing session but the logical place I would make cuts would be with the staff.
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May I just comment on the "three month vacation" comments? If you have ever been a teacher, you would know that just because school ends at 2:45, that does not mean your work day has ended. You have after school duties, chaperoning games and dances, and then correcting papers, tests, etc. Summer "vacation" is usually spent in other classrooms, as teachers must maintain their certification which requires taking classes the rest of their careers. Do they get more time off than many people? Perhaps. I cannot speak on the actual days. But these people are not sitting back, eating bon bons for weeks on end. They are working very hard to remain current and relevant in their area of teaching so they can teach your children. Many schools are now requiring all new teachers to have a plan in place to acquire their Masters Degree in a set period of time. If you aren't clear on what the life of a teach is like, I'm sure any one of them would be happy to talk to you about it.
Teaching is not an easy job. And it certainly doesn't help to be undermined by comments and beliefs that you don't work very hard.
End of rant.
Yes Margie, I am aware of what they do as my sister in is a teacher and I also have 2 close friends that are also teachers. Mind you most Jobs don't run from 7-2:45 on the other side either. I'm not trying to say teachers don't work hard, I know for a fact that many do. I also know a few that don't though, yet they still recieve their raise every year.
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It bothers me when people don't live up to their contracts. We have a contract with the teachers that I believe we should uphold. If we feel things need to be changed, negotiations on the next contract is where that should happen. I've been watching kids in and out of the school, and I have a real problem with the whole Ipad issue. My opinion is that the Ipad is toy for most of the kids, and a babysitter for teachers that want quiet time. How much money have we spent buying Ipads and laptop since the beginning of that program?
I wasn't given the option to "renegotiate" my contract after I enlisted.
con·tract
noun
noun: contract; plural noun: contracts
/ˈkänˌtrakt/
1. a written or spoken agreement, esp. one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.
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Maybe teachers should pay for most of their own insurance etc.. As for the iPads at school, they should be put where the sun don't shine. I hope I don't have to explain that remark to anyone. As for kids in school, my 2 sons graduated from BFA. I now have 5 grandsons there and one at Essex Tech. The teachers don't have to discipline the kids. Let's send them to the planning room. LETS get rid of the planning room. Teachers do have it easier now than 20 years ago and more pay.
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It bothers me when people don't live up to their contracts. We have a contract with the teachers that I believe we should uphold. If we feel things need to be changed, negotiations on the next contract is where that should happen. I've been watching kids in and out of the school, and I have a real problem with the whole Ipad issue. My opinion is that the Ipad is toy for most of the kids, and a babysitter for teachers that want quiet time. How much money have we spent buying Ipads and laptop since the beginning of that program?
I wasn't given the option to "renegotiate" my contract after I enlisted.
con·tract
noun
noun: contract; plural noun: contracts
/ˈkänˌtrakt/
1. a written or spoken agreement, esp. one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.
When you enlisted you weren't promised a raise every year either. Work hard and move up was your only choice or they boot you out for not making rank.... Unless you are in the guards.
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Maybe teachers should pay for most of their own insurance etc.. As for the iPads at school, they should be put where the sun don't shine. I hope I don't have to explain that remark to anyone. As for kids in school, my 2 sons graduated from BFA. I now have 5 grandsons there and one at Essex Tech. The teachers don't have to discipline the kids. Let's send them to the planning room. LETS get rid of the planning room. Teachers do have it easier now than 20 years ago and more pay.
I agree with you there Lena6!! While it is important to keep up with technology it shouldn't be used to replace basic skills like writing. I was under the impression that the Ipads were all bought on grant money from the federal government though.. i.e. some senator owns a lot of stock in Apple and wanted to boost his retirement at the tax payers expense lol.
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My children have graduated from BFA and I plan on my grandchildren attending BFA. I am not sure why that is an issue.
I have recently been informed that the state has put a good few mandates on the school without any money attached to them. Leaving the bill up to us in the form of our school tax. That raises the point. Where do we get a say in this? As far as I see it, the only thing we have is the vote on the school budget to make our point that it is costing to much. We cant let it go through every year at this rate. We have to vote it down every now and then. I believe the ipads are an important tool in the schools nowadays and I believe the savings in books, stationary ect do reduce the actual cost of these ipads. I do think there should be a lot more monitoring and less entertainment use on them. It is a tool not a toy. I also think for a lot of people, they would not mind paying a little more for the school budget if the school was performing way above average. For it increases property values and desireability for a town.
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Josh...my point is not what is in a contract, it's that a contract is a contract.
Tom...I believe kids do better in school if they spend more time with books, and less time playing games on their Ipads.
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The iPads are being treated as shiny toys. It's optional to use them. If we're paying for them and the State is moving toward digital testing as a reason to have them, then all teachers need to use them. But they are not, which means the primary reason for having them in not valid. Having access to technology does not promote nor ensure understanding of that technology. Just by putting a computer in someones hand, they are not going to understand computers better. I'm making the poor assumption that many teachers have no idea how a computer "works". I'm sure they know how to type and how to use applications, but that is a far cry from the full potential. I never had an iPad until a few years ago yet I knew exactly how it worked. I never had my own computer in school but that never stopped me from researching and learning about them. We should be promoting thinking and understanding, not just utilization. What training are the teachers receiving? Why aren't all classes using the iPad as a core instrument? What benchmarks were made to determine success? It sounded like there were none other than spend money on technology and be happy when people come look at our model. We won't compare our results to non iPad to determine if these are beneficial. A trial implies that you will accept or reject based upon set criteria. What are those criteria? Staff can't seem to point to benefits to students other than teachers get papers back faster and they can look things up. Is there any teaching of how to critically review information on the internet?
I fully support technology in all forms. More than that I support a greater stress on critical thinking. No, getting rid of this program solves no major budgetary issues. But then again, any cuts to this program would be just as large as anything the school board could think of. A $12 million budget and less than $60,000 in revised cuts. A large majority of those cuts coming from the Supervisory Union, not the schools. I'm happy with this school system, I voted yes to the first budget. But if the majority of people voted no, I'm sure going to listen a lot harder than $60,000.
Finally, to those who did not vote but now are telling the school board to keep the budget that was voted down: there is an absentee ballot, the polls are open for 12 hours on voting day, the budget was available online prior to voting, the date for voting was known for a long time. To not vote is irresponsible, to suggest that a board ignore those who took the time to come out and express the civic duty and opinions is just unbelievable. For a board member to think that this was voted down because the amount was not enough when a large number of cities and towns had the same thing happen due to budget concerns is blind. I'm thankful that Henry has given us all a great forum to debate this topic from both sides.
Please come out and vote on the 10th. Let you opinion be known, if you disagree with the budget, you need to let them know why. Voting no and not expressing why doesn't allow our officials to constructively adjust their budget. And please, next year, VOTE THE FIRST TIME. If you don't vote, please don't tell elected officials to ignore those who did vote.
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This is why we need to start somewhere. This is only the beginning. http://www.wcax.com/story/25157355/vt-house-approves (http://www.wcax.com/story/25157355/vt-house-approves)
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This is why we need to start somewhere. This is only the beginning. http://www.wcax.com/story/25157355/vt-house-approves (http://www.wcax.com/story/25157355/vt-house-approves)
This is actually a reduction to their originally forecasted 7 cent increase, still an increase but 4 cents instead of 7 cents.
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I wonder if people that don't have kids inn school realize the kids don't know how to write.. It is not taught. An iPad cannot sign your name for you.
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I agree Lena.
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Anyone know what items are included in the budget heading called general instruction? Does this include ipads, MacBook Pros, tech support people, etc. and teacher salaries all lumped together? Is there a way to break out these unrelated categories and track them back a few years? Is there an advantage or a disadvantage to taxpayers to use this approach?
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With local schools (and local school boards), I love that we can request this type of information and analyze how our dollars are being spent!
I wanted to share a recent article from the Milton Independence that details how this will be going away come 2016 (to be more accurate, our right to ask will still be the same, but the responsiveness and level of detail will probably be significantly diminished!).
For those of you concerned about "Common Core" and the disconnect with schools today, please read this article about District Consolidation: http://www.miltonindependent.com/at-the-crossroads (http://www.miltonindependent.com/at-the-crossroads)
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It's easy to ask for information. The challenge is getting a response. That's what makes me suspicious. If there is nothing to hide then they should be forthcoming with specific information.
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Have you requested this information in an official manner other than this forum?
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Perhaps I've deviated from the forum where Rachel was asking for questions. I assumed that since FWSU started this forum then they would be providing answers to questions.
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Is anyone else wondering why the budget was only reduced by $65,675 but there is an addition of a building level Student Support Administrator for $85,000? I do not agree with cutting teacher's salaries but I do agree with eliminating positions if they are not needed. We have a district Student Support Services administrator...is BFA so large that we need to hire another administrator for just one school? I don't think so. Just a thought as we go to vote tomorrow.
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Vote no today. I agree that the ipads are a good addition to the schools. Although they should not be used in any way as a toy. They should be used as a tool only. No games on them. They really only come with a cost of about 100k a year, not as big as the real problem. The problem is the staffing. There is clearly a lot less students in the school now than say 15 years ago. There is a lot more staff than 15 years ago. Don't take it personal. If a restaurant had a lot less customers in the winter. Where would the first cuts be, staff. If a manufacturing plant had a decline in contracts. They would have layoffs. You cant tell us that every teacher in the school is above average and gives 100%. Time to pay the piper for those ones. The other issue is the state mandates that have been put on the schools without state funding. The only way we have a voice on this is by voting down the budgets. Bottom line is that our taxes cannot keep climbing at the rate they are. 3-4 times faster than inflation. 6-7 times faster than the average person gets their wages increased. If you all have seen the news. Government spending is beyond out of control. For starters this is where we can start to tell them enough is enough.