Bread LineWe read in the Pilot that Dr. Liverman finds much to be proud of in tough times. Fact is he as the head man hasn't faced "tough" times yet. Up until now he has had his way with money providers and the records show very few bragging rights as our system manages to stay near the bottom regarding truancy and student SOL measurements. The School Board members have served as ever-applauding fans and apparently regard him highly. But I don't expect them to be much help as genuine tough times close in. Finding ways to offset the ten million shortage could easily include elimination of Board positions, compensation and sizable chunks of all administrative salaries. The "IS" candidate for the School Board, Debra Wahlstrom, generously offered her list of 34 sensible ways to cut costs.
18 comments:
Eliminating the early start preK program can stop, at least during the financial crisis. Especially if making muffins is high on the list of curriculum projects. Those teachers are in the news but I'd need to hear what else they teach.
What else can the head doctor do but say what wonderful things are happening at the SPS. Indeed there are a few. Students have a great sports program they sing, dance and act. These are wonderful accomplishements for the less than one percent of one percent that make it.
If he accurately portrayed in his state of the schools presentation of the progress made in graduating lawncare specialists, forklift operators we would applaude his honesty.
Pleaseeeeee with the new dog leash law, we are going to need a BIG pooper scooper to clean up the mess over at the school board. He didnt mention if they lost the grant did he? WHY?
The real reason we have so many problems with our local schools is our School Board. With no one to even ask a question, much less the "right question" we are doomed!
Did Dr. Timothy Leary replace Dr. Milton Liverman? The upbeat message dennotes someone not willing to face reality of the real world or on something.
Expect the fine Doctor to demand the City Council make up for the state losses. As usual, the Council and Manager will play political games and most likely raise taxes so that they control even more of our money.
Take out the knives and start cutting deep. There is so much fat in the city and school budgets that they could take over 30% away and still be ok.
Pooping scooping will be another career path for SPS graduates. God knows they've been shoveling it on the School Board. A budget of 123 million reduced by 112.6 million is still a h-ll of a lot of money for a shrinking student population.
It's sad when there is absolutely no one willing to say what must be said. Liverman has got to go!
The coniving city manager will make it all ok, just wait and see. She will work with her patron the mighty mayor and they will get more taxes raised. The manager ahs no love for the small people and we all know that so why not stick it to us and solve her budget problems on our backs? We need a real City Manager, not a sock puppet.
I want someone to ask our State Senators and Delagates they want legislation that provides fair competition for the public school system's dollars. The monopoly of the Public School system with CEOs like Liverman at the helm has become another AIG. In fact the national drain for education is greater than the AIG bailouts. It's time to cut our losses, stop bailing them out, fire them and get someone in there that's a results oriented businessman.
If we fire Liverman and Cuffee-Glenn, then who's going to support the Mercedes Benz dealership? Come on let's get real in the past it was Cadies now Benzs. Think about the tire and rim industry. Who's going to buy those $400/pc oversized rims that rotate when the car is stopped. We need more like them in government to keep our economy rolling along.
What hard times? When you are the city manager, making as much as many citizens in car allowance, why worry, be happy!
Manager Glen is a utter disgrace as a city manager. Things have gone from bad to reall bad since she has come to our city.
It's a shame that the next school board will probably look much like the current. Copeland and Whitley are "undecided" which means they will run again only if there is noone else or if the challenger is an unknown. Skeeter would "like" to run again, meaning tht barring anything dramatic or unforseen circumstances occuring, she'll run again be re-elected.
Debranski may be the only one with a fight, and I'm not sure if it Deb will provide a battle or not. It all depends on if she wakes up to the downtown style of politiking that I have been used to here in Suffolk for the last 35 years. If she campaigns like a politician and not a policy wonk - she'll win. Most voters don't have time (or care) about exact statistics or facts. They want 4 or 5 bullet points on campaign brochures, and it's even better if you have a lot of signs.
I've lived in the Suffolk Borough long enough to know that voters want a clear, concise message of just a few promises. Charles Parr did that, and won. If you want to win, tell the voters what they want to hear.
Copeland is probably waiting to hear of Gardy's decision. Gardy would defeat Copeland in a two-way race, based on the borough's demographics.
Glenn is a product of UVA's Affirmative Action policies. A free ride, attitude, and a belief of entitlement. Couple this with white guilt sweeping the nation's media and there you have it, Suffolk's version of Michelle Obama.
The Bread Line of the 1930s will soon be replaced by the government hand out lines of the 2010s. The photograph could be those waiting to speak to city council about saving their selfish piece of the pie. It will be the usual participants; Suffolk Public Schools, SCCA, City Workers, Non-profit organizations. So what's going to happen when the bread runs out? Borrow, beg and steal money to buy bread? I like Barclay's idea let's create another authority.
Before council meets again they should insist the School Board put down their contingencies for budget cuts. What, where, how and when they will bring about change we can believe in.
I checked Dr Wahlstrom out. she has the right creditials. Maybe she should be our next superintendent and not run for school board. It would appear she knows more about school improvement than the current Superintendent. She is a nationally author, has developed data analysis software and has trained hundreds of school improvement teams across the country. If I have to pay $200K in pay and benfits to the person who leads our schools, I'd rather invest my money on someone who actually knows what they are doing.
Candidate Wahlstrom your 34 point letter is excellent. Will you help organize a parent meeting in your borough where and how to start the process and explore what other revenue sources are available?
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