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I have friends with teachers in their families who complain about their level of compensation. Now, I am somewhat sympathetic, but I also respond with a couple of points: (1) that teachers work 9 months out of 12 and many have side gigs that crank up, especially in the summer, to supplement their income, and (2) the issue that is addressed by this new board photo.
The American People fund education to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars EVERY year. TRILLIONS. My second point to them is that we are forced to funnel an untold butt-ton into education each year, and for the most part, we don't get much to show for it. A very significant portion of our students are not learning the basics and are falling woefully behind their peers from other countries, AND a huge part of that funding is being spent on an appalling excess of administrative personnel - who, since they truly have no worthwhile duties, make matters much worse by dreaming up and instituting new toxic "educational" programs to justify their existence. They are disease-carrying leeches.
I know I have complained about this before on this board (or one of its predecessors), but back in the early eighties, when we moved to Dallas, the DISD was consistently in the news - and not in a good way. DISD was costing an absolute fortune and student testing results were heading SOUTH in a big way - SURPRISE, SURPRISE! Also, later on in the nineties, the superintendent was embroiled in a scandal where she used DISD funds to furnish her personal residence. She was ultimately tried and convicted of fraud. When this story came out, it was revealed that DISD had 27 assistant superintendents - all making a minimum of $110,000 per year. That was a really nice salary back in the mid-nineties. One of those assistant superintendents who was in charge of facility maintenance was nailed for giving roof "repair" work to his nephew's company - at the cost of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars - for extremely substandard work. One TV report showed a person punching his fist straight through the entire flat roof after one such "repair." They interviewed this assistant superintendent and it was hard to understand what he said because of his use of incoherent Ebonics ... but yet, they were paying him at least $110,000 a year ... although, that apparently wasn't enough, so he decided to arrange for kick-backs from his nephew's company.
School districts ... especially the large ones ... are rife with nepotistic hiring of completely unqualified family members and friends. And, they spend bazillions on so-called "expert consultants" who are actually bona fide IDIOTS who do nothing but screw everything up and doom the ability of students to actually learn anything worthwhile.
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence |
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