TEACHERS AS SCAPEGOATS

A new breed of  elected Republicans have taken office and they have begun a crusade to further line the pockets of the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. Whereas Wall Street and many of the Big Banks  caused the current financial mess we now experience,  the middle class is not only forgotten when it comes to assistance but is being blamed for causing the mess. Public employees and especially teachers are the scapegoats. I am not familiar with the financial pension and pay arrangements in place in all 50 states; but in California and specifically the Fremont Unified School District where I taught for 35 years I am knowledgeable.

While teaching for the FUSD I paid 100% of my medical and dental insurance in addition to my monthly contribution to the California State Teachers Retirement System. The specifics: in addition to the usual deductions for federal and state taxes I also made monthly deductions of $108 for Medicare, $690 to Calstrs for retirement, $92 for dental insurance and $1066 for health insurance. The Calstrs retirement portfolio continues to be financially healthy because all parties continue to make their agreed upon contributions: employees 8%, school districts 8.25% and the state of California 2.017%.  Reports indicate that this shared retirement contribution plan is not the norm in all states. Furthermore, some states in teacher attack mode have not been making their agreed upon contributions to their state's teacher retirement system resulting in funding difficulties. Additionally, as a contributor to  social security for employment outside of education I was entitled upon retirement at age 62 to a monthly social security payment of approximately $1065. However; California like many states does not allow teachers to "double dip" , so my social security benefit payment was reduced by 66% (the offset) resulting in a monthly check of $355 ... not $1065.

As a career teacher I made sure I was fully credentialed, had the necessary degrees (BA & M.Ed.)  and the necessary post graduate units to be at the top of the pay scale for each year I worked. Obviously, salaries were higher in the private sector; but I enjoyed teaching and liked the job security that teaching offered. In addition to competency in my subject areas the ability to deal with 150+ 8th graders from various socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds was not every one's cup of tea. Having paid my dues both literally and figuratively I now enjoy a comfortable retirement.

The states that are now blaming public employees, especially teachers, for their current economic difficulties are in this economic mess for a host of complex reasons; but have chosen to go after a segment of the middle class in an attempt to get out of the red. As the facts and motives become more transparent it is obvious that this is a Republican strategy to go after selected unions that traditionally support the Democrats. The budget problems although real were only a means to the end the Republicans desire ... busting the unions and ending collective bargaining.

Just a few months ago various groups and individuals lamenting the state of U.S. education were calling for better pay for teachers, the immediate need to hire more teachers as baby boomers continue to retire and the absolute necessity of improving the overall quality of education for all students. Now a few newly elected Republicans with twisted personal and party agendas have chosen to ignore these warnings and want to cut teacher pay and probably cause many to think twice about teaching as a career. Now that education has become even more politicized it will become  even more dysfunctional, further damaged and a dismal failure for far too many students.

Parents, students, teachers and  American taxpayers deserve so much more from their schools and especially  from the their elected officials who control the funding.

Enough Is Enough

To be called a "sucker" is a rather derogatory label. The classic definition of a sucker is a "person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of". The associated synonyms are even more descriptive: "chump, fool, mark, fall guy, schlemiel, soft touch and mug." Why do I bring this up? Recent news and info about our economy indicate that this writer and probably the few who by chance read this Blog are "suckers". We pay our bills, pay our taxes, handle our debts and are basically financially responsible. However; there is an ever increasing group of people who do not share these characteristics or values. These folks do not pay their bills, do not pay their taxes and ignore their debts. Add to this scenario our elected officials who continue to be free and easy with our money and what we have is the financial mess in which we now find ourselves.

A recent media investigation discovered that in the city of Seattle unpaid parking tickets amount to a whopping $54 million dollars and Seattle like many other cities is dealing with severe budget shortfalls. California's Franchise Tax Board lists the top 250 delinquent personal and corporate taxpayers and these 250 account for over $130 million in taxes owed. Unfortunately, these shortfalls will be met by the  usual solutions -- increased fees along with service cuts. The systems in place to process and deal with these dead beats is virtually ineffectual. Rather than continually penalize those of us who meet our financial obligations maybe it is time to aggressively go after the dead beats. A perfunctory review of the internet shows numerous individuals who flaunt their extravagant lifestyles and yet have considerable tax debt. Some of those who owe thousands in unpaid parking tickets state they have no intention of paying the fines because there is nothing Seattle officials can do to collect the money.

On a larger scale it is reported that Egypt's Hosni Mubarak has a personal net worth of around $70 billion dollars. Egypt is one of two countries that receive the largest slice of this country's foreign aid hand outs (Israel being the other) and it looks like Mubarak has done quite well over the last 30 years. When one considers some of the clowns, crooks and characters this country has financially supported with our foreign aid dollars one can only imagine the billions of dollars now stashed in Swiss bank accounts. As Seattle officials shake their heads in disbelief over $54 million in unpaid parking tickets and California's Franchise Tax Board waits for its 250 dead beats to pay up, the rest of us suckers endure and tolerate closed state offices, reduced public services along with ever increasing fees, taxes and assessments.

The middle class in this country continues to carry a heavy financial burden. Consider the fact that a college education is now so expensive that the total student loan debt is larger than the total consumer credit debit in the United States. Over one trillion of our federal tax dollars have been pissed away in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. We have bailed out Wall street and the Big Banks only to see the ranks of the unemployed reach record highs and foreclosures escalate while the corporate elite continue to rake in lucrative bonuses.  Back in the 40's there was a movement called America First. It is time for a variation of this movement which  today could be called Americans First.

It should be fairly obvious to anyone with a pulse that we are in this current economic mess for several easily recognizable reasons and solutions are attainable:

• we have far too many members of congress and the senate who have placed their personal and party agenda above that of the country's agenda. The result is a kind of legislative grid lock.
• our continued expenditures on the mid-east wars is adversely effecting our economy ---one and quarter billion dollars spent to date and still climbing.
• tax dollars that have been collected must be better spent; that is, in America for Americans.
• past and present student loan rates must be immediately reduced  to 3%and frozen at that level.
• Foreclosures must be immediately halted and banks required t o re-set mortgage interest rates that will allow people to remain in their homes
• immediate moratorium on all foreign aid pending re-evaluation on actual need and how aid was spent.
• aggressive collection of all unpaid stat e and federal taxes as well as unpaid fines and assessments on local, state and federal level.
• immediately spread the burden of applicable sales taxes to include on line or internet sales.    

  
 
The solution is not cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the relentless attack on the middle class and main street. The middle class has carried more than its share in this economic mess. If more revenue is needed and less needs to be spent the options have been clearly identified above. Enough is enough.

GOTTA GUN ???

To write that guns are a part of our everyday experience is probably the most obvious understatement one could make. I grew up watching Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers as a boy and continued with 77 Sunset Strip, and Gunsmoke as an adolescent. Today gun story lines continue with television programs like Law and Order and CSI. Guns and stories with guns and gun violence have become a standard and ever increasing part of American life. Add to this the popularity of televised out of control behavior as seen on various reality programs and the glamorization of gun play and violence in popular alternative music and film and we have a rather gun happy environment.

Tragic events like the massacre in Tucson have happened before and will no doubt happen again. The second amendment to our Constitution states: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. " will continue to be interpreted and debated ad nauseum. Interestingly, one of the only other countries with a higher gun owner per capita rate than the United States is Switzerland and the Swiss have virtually no gun crime. Of course those who believe in a well armed populace like to cite Switzerland as a shining example of an well armed population.

Unfortunately, countries like Switzerland with a homogenous, well educated population and an unemployment rate under 4% are hardly similar to the demographics of the United States. While our cultural, racial and ethnic diversity are viewed as a source of strength and vitality by many, for others this diversity is a source of fear, loathing and hostility. What some do not understand, tolerate or even accept, the second amendment guarantees a tangible margin of safety ... a gun. Add to this scenario the perception that our justice system and various police agencies no longer have the ability to protect and serve; but have deteriorated to function merely as administrators and after the fact clean up specialists. Is it any wonder that more and more Americans find it desirable and in some environments necessary to possess a gun in some shape or form?

In 1791, 220 years ago, when the second amendment was passed, the Founding Fathers had in mind a "well regulated militia". Today after years of interpretation we may not have a "well regulated militia" but we do have a well armed population. Both law abiding citizens as well as this country's criminal element are armed and ready for action. In my opinion the incidences of gun violence we have seen in this country so far have been skirmishes. There is no doubt it will get more violent. If we can't keep guns out of the hands of the criminal element then maybe it is time to more visibly arm the police and others. The playing field is not level. The criminal element needs to become as concerned and fearful of being shot as the rest of us. The current philosophy of gun control has failed and it is time for a change. Any ideas ???

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

I am a baby boomer, born in 1946. My Mom was a stay at home mom, like most mom's of that era, and my Dad worked for the same company, Western Electric, until he retired after 35 years at the age of 55. My brother and I attended St. Rita's Parochial School and along with reading, writing and arithmetic we got a heavy dose of religion. That was a different time and place compared to today and calls to mind many fond memories. Spending our first Christmas on Bainbridge Island after almost 30 years on Kings Mountain brought these memories into sharp focus.

Christmas was a big deal at St. Rita's with both secular and religious activities. Sometime after Thanksgiving the entire school assembled in the parish auditorium and watched The Miracle on 34th Street. We also practiced Christmas Carols which we would sing at the 9:00 AM Children's Mass. In the 50's and 60's St. Rita's was a big parish. On Sundays Masses were held at 6:30 AM, 7:15, 8:15, 9:00 (the children's Mass) 10:00, 11:00 and 12:15 PM. We were expected to sit with our class and the nun that taught us for this 9:00 AM Mass.

Unlike today with the Christmas Season starting after Halloween our Christmas season began after Thanksgiving and then it was a slow start. My family put Christmas lights in the windows and hung a wreath on the front door; but the tree was a different story. I think my brother and I truly believed, as did all our friends, in Santa Claus until probably the 3rd grade. Prior to Christmas my Mom would be busy baking cookies; but the house was not really decorated. However; on Christmas morning my brother and I woke up to a decorated house, a tree trimmed and sparkling with lights and tinsel and our Christmas Garden with our American Flyer trains and of course, piles of presents. How did Santa do all this?

Years later our parents shared with us how "Santa" accomplished so much at our house. On Christmas Eve after my brother and I hung our stockings and put out milk and cookies for Santa we promptly went to bed as Santa did not visit homes where children were still awake. This was when our parents went to work. The Christmas Garden, a 4 by 8 foot winter village scene complete with houses, snow, and the American Flyer trains was assembled, wired and set up by my father. My mother trimmed the tree and wrapped all the presents. My parents shared that on some occasions they would just be finishing everything and it would almost be daylight. On one Christmas morning they heard me and my brother about to leave our bedroom and they told us that Santa had not yet been to our house and we better go back to sleep ! Hearing these stories I understood why my parents liked to just sit around on Christmas Day and relax .... they were tired having gotten little or no sleep on Christmas Eve!

After Sunday Mass my brother and I spent the day emptying our Christmas stockings and playing with our gifts and trains. By early evening we had Christmas dinner. Since we always had a roast turkey at Thanksgiving on Christmas it would be a baked ham with mashed potatoes, vegetable side dishes and dinner rolls. Of course desert would be an assortment of Christmas cookies that my Mom had baked and maybe a homemade fruit cake. It was always a most enjoyable day.

The days immediately after Christmas we visited family, especially our grandparents. My brother and I always enjoyed these visits because it meant more presents and more cookies and candy. My paternal grandmother made excellent Russian Tea cookies and kept our glasses full of Pepsi Cola. My maternal grandfather introduced us to the tangy taste of ginger ale as he used ginger ale in his high ball cocktails. These visits also gave my brother and me the opportunity to visit with aunts, uncles and our cousins. At my Grandmother's the adults would sit around the dining room table and us kids would gather in the living room and watch television, share comic books and stuff ourselves with treats and sweets. These were good times that I will always remember.

Merry Christmas Everyone,

bob