Half A Million

California is going broke and will be asking the federal government (which means we in Florida will be on the hook for a part of the tab) to bail them out.  The Florida Whig Party continues to pound away that Democrats and Republicans have been in control of almost all offices in all branches of government in all states for 150 years, and they have given We the People some amazing public employee pay scales. The base salary in 2008 for Gregory Bewernick was $171,320.97, Douglas McMonigle was $151,313.29, Stephen Moore was $174,092.53, and Teresita Domineck was $151,338.40.  These four Los Angeles Unified School District school teachers (yes school teachers, not administrators) make nearly half a million dollars in base pay. And by the way, from 2001 through 2007, the administration grew by 20% while the number of actual teachers decreased by 6%. Now get ready for this one (you might want to sit down) because 2,400 of the 3,500 working in administration make more than $100,000 in base salary.

God Bless American Public Service

State and local governments employ some 20 million people nationwide. Employee compensation costs represent the largest set of expenditures in every state budget. Analyzing the fiscal dynamics of the civil service system reveals some of the most significant constraints and opportunities legislators confront in balancing state budgets.

Total state expenditures exceeded $2.2 trillion last year, of which wages and benefits amounted to $1.1 trillion. Consequently, budgeting decisions related to at least 50 percent of all state budgets are driven by the wage provisions of civil service contracts and funding obligations for state workers’ health care and pension plans.

Labor costs also constitute a sizable proportion of private-sector business costs. But the average wages and benefits provided to public sector employees far exceed the rates paid by private employers. For example, the average hourly wage of public employees last year—$39.66—was 45 percent more than the average hourly wage of $27.42 paid in the private sector.

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Is low pay, over worked, and poor benefits always the case? Where will the nation draw the line? How will the nation pay? Are we all socialists? Have we turned into a nation of "get it while the getting is good" and if so, what's next? Have we lost the vision of President Kennedy when he said to ask not what the nation can do for you but rather what you can do for your nation? And have too many among us added a "but" that must includes a heafty paycheck?

In a perfect world there would always be the right ratio of student to teacher; however, when teachers and administrators are making nearly or as much as the Governor and a Supreme Court Justice, you have to ask...

Now consider the teacher if a poor Florida County, whose starting salary is less than $30,000. How do you think this person will vote when it comes time to elect another Democrat or Republican to office? Will they continue voting the same people in office who have bailed out, what seems like, everyone in banking, Wall Street, and the many state pensions that are, or nearing, collapse? At what point does the rank-and-file American (government employee and private sector employee) begin to realize that we are going broke and cannot continue draining the coffers?  If education is the future for our children, what future are we giving them when they will inherit a mountain of debt that they too cannot pay?

We must have standards and measurable performance in the classroom; however, the FCAT is not working in many ways. Teaching to pass a test does not prepare children to be successful critical thinkers in an ever competitive global market that sees more informatin and change in a decade than the world saw in the previous thousand years.

While not every parent is a role model...

Most still strive for the live the American Dream, but in the end...

It takes balance.

If you agree that our cities, counties, state, and nation are out of balance, click HERE and start doing something about it.

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Inaugural Address by President John F. Kennedy on January 21, 1961; true then and true today.