Posted by poor ol elroy on March 31, 2017, 9:47 am, in reply to "Re: 1% for our schools"
I dont have a problem giving money to the school system at all. I do have a problem with the money being wasted, and I have a problem with the quality of education being delivered to our children. One of the problems as I see is the "tenure", system that is in place. Most dont know what that is. It means that when a teacher gets ten years senority, you cant get rid of him or her. We had the same problem at General Motors back in the sixties. We, as union people had the companies backed up against the wall and they had to take our abuse, and believe me folks, there was plenty. And i might add we know how tragic that ended. The US almost lost the entire auto industry. We need teachers, and they need to be paid well. But we dont need teachers that have become complacent, and dont care anymore. Our test scores of our students have been dropping for years. We used to have one of the best school systems in the state. I taught high school in Alton for three years in the early eighties. I was greatly disturbed when I had a guidance counselor ask me if I required my students to be able to read. I might add, it was a 12th grade student. I feel we need to reward great teachers with higher salaries, and get a plan to help the ones who arent performing well, either get with it or get out. I feel that our school board might need an injection of local buisness leaders who might see things in an obtuse way that might save us some money also. Having all foxes on the chicken house board will not result in more healthier chickens. Oh my, im wore out, time for a nap.