Welcome to Call to Decision
WELCOME TO
THE CONTINUING COLLAPSE!
"Doing the Education
Research that Illegal Aliens Won't Do
Since 1997"
October 2008
Money may not
make the world go 'round, but there is nothing as
important as lucre to our highly trained education
professionals. Nothing.
Alas for the taxpayer and
parent, our Soviet collective farm model for education
requires ever greater inputs (tax dollars) in order to prevent the
system from collapsing into an utter shambles.
This unsustainable demand
for tax money is largely what drives the ongoing collapse of the
government school system. Now that a severe recession or worse is
upon us, no amount of whining by our highly trained education
professionals will allow them to continue to demand and receive
ever greater amounts of money.
Do you think The Continuing
Collapse exaggerates? The following stories, which were selected
from the northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of the
country to show that no region is immune, illustrate the financial
pressures building for this school year BEFORE the mortgage
induced financial crisis hit full force.
Please consider: Will many
of your neighbors be willing to be taxed out of their homes and
businesses to "save" government schools? The Continuing
Collapse didn't think so.
We should rejoice, however.
A financial catastrophe for the government school system means
that our highly trained education professionals and all that they
have wrought will be socially and politically delegitimized. This,
in turn, will finally allow us to have a genuine discussion, not
about "school reform", but about education reform.
And perhaps, just perhaps,
Christians and churches will begin to assume again the
responsibility for education that they so foolishly abandoned
generations ago.
ACTION ITEM!!
Help Paul The Bond
Slayer
The Continuing Collapse is
never without solutions, and indeed there is something everyone of
us can do accelerate the greatly desired collapse of the
corrupt and decaying government school system.
School bond levies are a
major source of the cashflow that highly trained education
professionals use to buy the support of their special
interest friends. Killing those levies will accelerate the demise
of the government school system. But how can we do this
systematically without a large investment of time?
Fortunately, all we need to
do is let Paul Dorr (aka "Paul The Bond Slayer") know if
we have a bond election coming up in our area. Paul The Bond
Slayer has defeated about $1.2 billion in bonds so far and can
increase that number substantially if he can get more information
about where school bond elections are being held.
So, all you need to do is
let The Continuing Collapse or Paul The Bond Slayer know about the
bond election in your area, and The Bond Slayer will take it from
there.
Here is how you get in
touch with Paul The Bond Slayer and a link to an article from 2005 that
describes what he does (notice that The Bond Slayer's
bond-defeat-tally has gone from $175 million to $1.2 billion in
just three years).
Paul R. Dorr, Consultant
Copperhead Consulting Services
Ocheyedan, IA
Ph 712-758-3660
dcs@iowatelecom.net
NOW, ON TO NEWS OF THE LIVING
DEAD...
DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS FORCED
TO LAY-OFF ANOTHER 300 EMPLOYEES
(Hundreds of additional layoffs expected
to come)
This is just the latest round
of job cuts in Detroit. In June 1,700 job cuts were announced to close
a $408 million budget deficit. Following those job cuts the highly
trained education professionals in charge of the Detroit schools
declared that the school district was in surplus.
Well, it appears the
declaration of a surplus was an exercise in "irrational
exuberance."
This time the grim job reaper
has come for school social workers, psychologists, substitute
custodians, bus attendants, and, horrors, the advisor to the Pershing
High "drum line."
DETROIT -- To help trim the district's
massive deficit, Detroit Public Schools' officials this week sent
layoff notices to more than 300 employees, including social workers,
psychologists, custodians and bus attendants who assist special needs
students.
The district says it has
to make cuts because of plummeting enrollment. But the layoffs,
including those made in recent months, are sending shockwaves through
schools, with parents, students and union officials saying students'
health, safety and education are jeopardized.
At Pershing High, a music teacher who
served as the band and orchestra director was laid off this summer,
which could dismantle the school's drum line...
The school board in June
reluctantly agreed to lay off more than 1,700 employees as part of
$522 million in cuts following revelations the system faced a $408
million deficit. Administrators earlier said the district had a
surplus.
The latest round of layoffs includes 40
social workers, four speech therapists and six psychologists,
according to the Detroit Federation of Teachers. Hundreds more are
anticipated.
Keith January, president of AFSCME Local
345, said he received notice Friday that 102 of the school system's
260 bus attendants will be laid off, as well as all 125 of the
district's substitute custodians, and 50 of the 660 full-time
custodians.
By the way, did you notice that the
financial crisis was caused by "plummeting enrollment"?
NOT SURPRISINGLY, MONEY ISN'T
THE ONLY PROBLEM IN DETROIT SCHOOLS:
DETROIT'S HIGHLY TRAINED
EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS HAVE NO FACILITIES MANAGEMENT PLAN,
COLLAPSING FINANCIAL SYSTEMS, AND NO PLAN FOR IMPROVING ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
(Are you surprised?)
An audit of Detroit Public Schools
found serious systemic problems across many facets of the district,
including lack of a strategy for raising academic performance,
financial systems teetering on the edge of a breakdown and a
nonexistent facilities management plan...
State Superintendent for Public
Instruction Mike Flanagan last month asked the governor to appoint a
team to review the district's books, a move that could lead to a
state takeover of the schools' finances.
And last week,
preliminary enrollment figures, upon which state funding is based,
showed a drastic decline, according to administrators.
Officials since have said all students hadn't been counted...
The system's information technology
systems, the review said, put the entire district at risk. For
example, the maintenance agreement for the payroll system will
expire soon, leaving the district unable to generate payroll and tax
information....
The audit found that the district has
no long-range facilities plan and has largely avoided closing
schools. When it did close schools, it did so with inadequate
criteria or analysis.
Pittsburgh Schools' Enrollment
Dropping Fast...
Enrollment in the Pittsburgh Public
Schools fell just over 5.7 percent in the past year...
AND NOW FOR A LOOK DOWN SOUTH,
WHERE ALL THE SCHOOLS ARE "DIFFERENT" AND ALL THE CHILDREN
ARE ABOVE AVERAGE
(JUST ASK THE PARENTS)
Dallas Independent School District is
laying off 1,100 employees, about half of them teachers...and there is
still a growing deficit.
The Dallas school board on Thursday
night authorized Superintendent Michael Hinojosa to lay off nearly
1,100 employees, including about 550 teachers....
State officials, meanwhile, continue
to express concern about DISD's finances, saying they're still
monitoring district efforts to reduce an anticipated $84 million
budget deficit.
They also expect an explanation of how
the financial mess happened.
State Education Commissioner Robert
Scott watched Thursday night's meeting online and said through a
spokeswoman Friday that he's pleased the district is taking
"necessary action" to reduce spending....
The staff cuts outlined by district
officials are expected to save about $30 million, while reductions
to nonpersonnel budgets are expected to save $38 million more.
But even those deep cuts won't get the
district out of the hole.
Administrators acknowledged that even
with the reductions, they're still headed toward a $15 million
deficit. They have not yet said how they will make up that gap....
AND IT WILL BE HARD FOR
DALLAS TO CLOSE ITS BUDGET GAP WITH STATE MONEY
State officials blame boring
games for $100 million drop that takes funds from school coffers
The "games" are the
lottery scams that Texas and other states sell to the mathematical
illiterates that the schools are so skilled in producing.
In a sense, our highly
trained education professionals must have seen this as a perfect way
to turn their failure to educate students into a windfall: Let the
schools vomit forth hordes of illiterate and semi-literate
"graduates" every year who then will fund the system by
buying lottery tickets in the hope of getting rich.
Unfortunately our highly
trained education professionals just didn't realize that even
illiterates can get bored.
Texas lottery revenues are slumping,
but experts say the sluggish economy isn't to blame....
Rather, Texas officials fear that
revenues dropped more than $100 million in the most recent fiscal
year — a $49 million blow to public education — because the
current crop of games are tired, unappealing and at the end of
their life cycle. Sales are down 2.7 percent, including a $73
million decrease in the normally mega-popular scratch-offs.
"People get bored. How many
times can you employ the same games?"
AND NOW TO THE LEFT COAST
("The train wreck is in
2009-2010.")
With the financial crisis
going at full throttle and California asking for a $7 billion
bailout from the feds, the train wreck has probably arrived.
Sometimes it's good to be ahead of schedule...
Here we have a story about
the financial woes of LAUSD, whose board and superintendent perhaps
represent the very apotheosis of government school management
skills.
In any event, at the time of
the story the highly trained education professionals were relieved
that they "only" had to deal with a $165 million reduction
in state funding. Wait until they find out what is happening to
sales tax, property tax, and income tax revenues...
Expecting huge cuts in funding from
the new state budget, Los Angeles Unified officials recently learned
they will get back about $165 million more than they anticipated.
The district is still facing a cut of
$188 million from the budget signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
last week. But officials last month had expected to lose $353
million.
Now they have to figure out what
programs to restore with the additional funds...
In a recent analysis, the Daily News
found that the LAUSD's bureaucracy ballooned nearly 20 percent from
2001 to 2007. During that same period, 500 teaching positions were
cut and enrollment dropped by 6 percent.
The district has approximately 4,000
administrators, managers and other nonschool-based employees, ex-
cluding clerks and office workers, whose average salary is about
$95,000.
About 2,400 administrators are among
the 3,478 LAUSD employees who earn more than $100,000 annually.
The average teacher salary is $63,000.
Though the unexpected funding
provides some relief, Reilly said, it doesn't fully cover the cost
of 20:1 class ratios in elementary and high schools.
Already, there are dire
predictions for the next budget and Reilly said the small
classes will not continue next year.
"In 2009, our classes are
going from 20 to 29," she said, adding that no one expects
a cost-of-living increase next year.
"The train wreck is in
2009-2010."
"THE EAST IS IN THE
RED"
(Here we have one of
those annoying obscure punning references. Let The Continuing
Collapse
know if you figure
it out.)
What's a $300 million
shortfall among friends? Problems on Wall Street (NYC's biggest
industry) will certainly drive the shortfall numbers up. A
classic Darwinian struggle for the survival of the special
educational interests with the most clout is shaping up....Oh,
and New York State's budget gap is growing toward $8 billion.
For years, the city schools have
not only been immune to budget cuts. They have seen their
funding increase dramatically. Now, though, that has started to
change, and the controversy over whether to cut, how much and
where has touched off a heated debate....
By most measures, the cut is not
exactly a cut. Overall, according to a statement by Schools
Chancellor Joel Klein, funding for schools will increase by $664
million in fiscal year 2009, with $535 million coming from the
state largely as a result of the settlement in the Campaign
for Fiscal Equity suit
over school financing. However, Klein said, basic costs for
education are projected to rise by $963 million next year
because of contract agreements with teachers and other education
department employees, and rising fuel, energy and special
education costs.
This leaves the city with a $299
million gap in money for education. (The city has already
reduced education spending this year from its anticipated
level.)
Klein said he has identified some
$200 million in cuts in what the department calls
"non-school spending" -- such as the central and
district administrations. That leaves almost $100 million to
come out of spending for the district's approximately 1,200
schools.
AND NOW FOR THE BIG
PICTURE...
"Reginald Weaver, former president of the National Education Association, says10 states have announced cuts in K12 funding, while another 16 are cutting funds for higher education. As of July 1, Weaver says, 29 states were facing budget shortfalls. “Put that all together,” he says, “and that’s about $48 billion” in the red, he says."
If the "shortfall"
was about $48 billion in July, The Continuing Collapse suspects that
the total will be above $100 billion by the time the recession really
gets going.
The Continuing Collapse loves
the smell of education pink slips in the morning...
If it wasn't the worst budget cycle in decades, it was one of the worst for school district administrators trying to juggle union-negotiated salary increases, higher fuel and food prices, and federal mandates with less money, district leaders and education experts say.
While most districts have increased budgets for the 2008- 2009 school year over last year, the increases do not meet the higher costs of fuel, insurance and food, according to the American Association of School Administrators’ public policy department members. Few districts will see decreased budgets this year, below the 2007-2008 school year, but if the budget includes fewer funds from the state or local sources, districts still have to make cuts. And if fuel and food costs are higher than budgeted, they have to make more cuts. Some districts such as Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Detroit Public Schools are dealing with outright decreases in their school budgets over last year.
It’s a perfect storm of conditions for districts in part because of the collapse of homeowners’ loans and the nation’s mortgage fiasco, which lower local property revenues that help fund school district budgets; state money reductions in part due to lower sales tax revenue because consumer spending is low; and districts’ own rising costs for fuel and food, according to Daniel Domenech, AASA executive director. On top of that, student enrollment nationwide should hit its highest peak this year, with about 50 million public school students. Some large, urban districts are seeing reduced enrollments, but those districts must compensate for receiving a reduction in state funds because of the lower enrollment.
A recent survey by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) found that 35 percent of school districts across the county this past spring and summer were making “substantial” cuts in their budgets: One quarter of those districts reduced spending on instruction, while another 30 percent were planning “minor” cuts.
Reginald Weaver, former president of the National Education Association, says 10 states have announced cuts in K12 funding, while another 16 are cutting funds for higher education. As of July 1, Weaver says, 29 states were facing budget shortfalls. “Put that all together,” he says, “and that’s about $48 billion” in the red, he says.
MEET THE HIGHLY TRAINED
EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE AT THE HELM FOR THE DURATION OF THE
FINANCIAL CRISIS
OK, here's a clue - who has
lower GRE scores that primary school teachers? Diligent readers of The
Continuing Collapse will immediately answer "school
administrators" and go to the head of the class.
Yes, indeed, we have put a
government bureaucracy with a cashflow of $600 billion or so in the
hands of a group of people who are intellectually less capable than
teachers who spend their days coloring and teaching 8 year-olds that
"cat" is spelled c-a-t (in those schools that still teach
spelling).
Rest assured that our highly
trained education professionals will not be able to manage their way
out of the crisis. In fact, they are likely to make it worse (thanks
in advance, guys).
Even the mainstream media is
willing to admit that the coveted "doctorate in
education" is a fraud. Remember this next time the self-important
principal or superintendent with the nice suit and an air of
arrogant confidence tells parents that education decisions are best
left to the "professionals".
Most top school officials in the
Washington area -- and a growing number across the country -- hold
doctorates, even though some experts contend the advanced degrees are
often too easy to obtain and of questionable value for education
leadership....
Superintendents and many academics say
the doctoral programs teach vital management and statistical skills
while providing an intellectual challenge. But critics say the
programs mostly provide financial rewards -- for the universities that
collect tuition and for educators who pick up a credential that helps
them earn a higher salary and a "doctor" title...."It's
a very wise investment. I calculated that I'd almost have to find an
oil well in my back yard to have any equivalent return," said
James W. Guthrie, a professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt
University. "In
many places, there's an implied deal: 'You get in, you pay your
tuition and we don't work you very hard.' " ...
Other experts said the quality of
education-related dissertations is often poor.
"Oh, it just gets so
bad," said Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson
National Fellowship Foundation and former president of the
Teachers College at Columbia University. "People writing
dissertations in which they ask, 'How do you feel about this? How do
you feel about that?' They run statistical tests that you can't run.
They pose questions that you can't answer with the research you've
done."
BRITISH TEACHERS' UNION DEMANDS
THAT SCHOOLCHILDREN AND TEACHERS BE ALLOWED TO BE "FRIENDS
WITH BENEFITS"
In The Continuing Collapse for
September we pointed out that a lawyer for a teachers' union was in
court arguing that teachers should be able to have
"consensual" sex with high school students.
This appears to be a movement
now being pushed by the "Government Education Internationale"
because the very same argument is now being made in Britain.
After all, highly trained
education professionals work really, really hard and you
can't expect them to take time away from their heroic work of teaching
to look for "relationships" outside of school. Besides, The
Continuing Collapse is sure that the intention is just to provide
students with "safe sex" in a "mentoring"
environment.
A British teachers’ union
representative has come under fire after claiming that teachers who
engage in consensual sex with students over the age of 16 should not
be prosecuted, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported Sunday.
Chris Keates, the general secretary of
the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers,
said in an interview to be broadcast in the U.K. on Monday that
teachers who have sex with pupils over the age of consent are guilty
of a mere “error in professional judgment,” and should not be
placed on the sex offenders register, the Mail reported....
Bear in mind, pedophiles regard
those who object to their "sexual preference" as being
bigoted against "inter-generational intimacy". The education
establishment is full of people with advanced views like this.
Especially sodomites.
WHY SHOULD GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
HAVE ALL THE "FUN"?
Undoubtedly aware of the
adult-schoolchild trysts that have become so common in the government
schools, private parties are trying to get in on the action. (Children
aren't even safe getting on and off the school bus)
Syrena Berry never saw any danger in
sending her 16-year-old daughter outside to wait for the school bus.
After all, the bus stop was only four doors down.
But four months ago, the Channelview
homemaker's secure world turned upside down. A stranger tried to
snatch her daughter — and a 12-year-old friend two days later —
from bus stops about a mile apart. As classes resume after Hurricane
Ike, Berry is insisting upon driving her daughter to school.
Both girls are among five students
from Channelview and South Houston who reported attempted abductions
from May 28 to the end of June, records show.
The cases all involve a man
with "missing teeth."...
In Montgomery County at bus stops six
miles apart, an unidentified couple within a five-day span tried to
entice a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy into a faded Toyota
4Runner a month ago....These incidents are typical of a growing
number of reported attempts to abduct children as they wait at bus
stops or walk to schools in the Houston area.
Although some of you might
think that the culprits in this story might be highly trained
education professionals cruising on their days off, the "missing
teeth" make it clear that that at least one suspect is a
"civilian".
Highly trained education
professionals are allowed to be less intelligent than Jethro from the
Ozarks and to have genetic dispositions worse than the Jukes and
the Kallikaks, but highly trained education professionals are always
required to have teeth (or at least a good set of dentures). Even in
Arkansas...
NOW SHOWING AT THE VIDEO CORNER
THE SNL BAILOUT SKIT SOROS
DIDN'T THINK WAS FUNNY
This SNL skit is very hard to find
because it was taken off most of the web after George Soros
complained about it.
ALL ABOUT BILL AYERS MR. ROGERS
STYLE
Here is a quick video explaining the
relationship between Bill Ayers and The Messiah, Barack Obama. The
presentation is at a child's level in a Mr. Rogers style, which
makes it perfect for showing to your "moderate" and
liberal friends.
PUBLIC SCHOOL DOLLARS AT
WORK:
SCHOOL CHILDREN CHANTING
"ALPHA OMEGA" IN PRAISE OF WHAT THE MESSIAH, BARACK OBAMA,
HAS DONE FOR THEM
A teacher at a Kansas City charter
school was suspended Monday after video of his public school
students chanting in praise of Barack Obama became a national
sensation on YouTube....
REMEMBER
1. Feel free to
circulate The Continuing