Los Angeles may lay off 3,000 teachers

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I lived in Los Angeles for awhile and I got the impression from my aunt and uncle that the public schools in LA aren't very good. My cousin went to the Santa Monica Montessori School for a crazy amount of money. Public school was laughed at by them and anyone I met. Just curious if it's really THAT bad?

California schools used to be the best or near the top and now they are near bottom.

I wonder if the 3 million illegals with dismal Mexican and Central American education histories

had anything to do with that...

imagine that

Husband_of_Mahmoud is going to come in any second now and tell you how it's the Republicans' fault

that the schools are crappy.

No, it's the messicans fault.

Your a BIGOT!

I've joined your party, Marc. Will you send me my commemorative coffee mug?

[alienlovechild 75]

right on...

i thought we needed MORE teachers in urban areas...

i'm sure LA county's classrooms are not undercrowded.

It's over California's huge deficit problem. The state Republicans don't want to raise taxes, so the entire state budget is going to have to be gutted. Stupid, shortsighted, duma$es.

Surely, you're joking. The Democrats have controlled the legislature since 1970 and has big majorities in both houses now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Legislature

Blame it all on Arnold.

Not that simple, alc. You can argue over what to spend money on, but when it comes to bringing in revenue for the state, the Republicans have held the state budget hostage. Many proposals for bringing in additional revenue have been proposed and the Republicans shoot them down. They've taken a hardline approach that our deficit problem is simply from spending too much.

How? Most public schools have locally-elected school boards and Los Angeles is 63% Democrat. They made their own mess without bipartisan stupidity.

[Craneman 2]

right on...

i thought we needed MORE teachers in urban areas...

i'm sure LA county's classrooms are not undercrowded.

It's over California's huge deficit problem. The state Republicans don't want to raise taxes, so the entire state budget is going to have to be gutted. Stupid, shortsighted, duma$$es.

On whos part???

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I wonder if Ohio will be next?

[mawilson 2,133]

I wonder if Ohio will be next?

Don't worry - you've got Joe the Plumber - he will plug the leaks in your budget.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

(01-06) 16:29 PST Sacramento, CA (AP) -- Democratic leaders sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger an $18 billion deficit-cutting package on Tuesday, even as he pledged a veto ... to stop it.

...

Democrats said their plan would avoid what Schwarzenegger has described as a "financial Armageddon," but it appeared to be dead even before it arrived on the governor's desk.

...

Schwarzenegger has pledged to veto the legislation unless Democrats change it to include concessions on labor and environmental issues that he said would speed up infrastructure projects.

...

Democrats proposed their $18 billion plan as a step toward closing California's budget deficit. It included a mix of spending cuts and new revenue.

...

The package would eliminate gas taxes and replace them with a variety of other charges, including raising the state sales tax by three-quarters of a percentage point, boosting personal income taxes by 2.5 percent, taxing companies that extract oil from California and collecting taxes from independent contractors upfront.

It then replaces the gas taxes with what Democrats call a gasoline fee that would go solely to transportation projects.

The result would mean $9.3 billion in taxes and fee increases through June 2010.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...5.DTL&tsp=1

[one...two...tree 2,762]

right on...

i thought we needed MORE teachers in urban areas...

i'm sure LA county's classrooms are not undercrowded.

It's over California's huge deficit problem. The state Republicans don't want to raise taxes, so the entire state budget is going to have to be gutted. Stupid, shortsighted, duma$es.

Surely, you're joking. The Democrats have controlled the legislature since 1970 and has big majorities in both houses now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Legislature

Blame it all on Arnold.

Not that simple, alc. You can argue over what to spend money on, but when it comes to bringing in revenue for the state, the Republicans have held the state budget hostage. Many proposals for bringing in additional revenue have been proposed and the Republicans shoot them down. They've taken a hardline approach that our deficit problem is simply from spending too much.

How? Most public schools have locally-elected school boards and Los Angeles is 63% Democrat. They made their own mess without bipartisan stupidity.

School Boards don't get to decide how much money they'll get from the state.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Wait, so California's public schools stink... so what? Just go to private school, sheesh!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It's no secret the disdain that most Republicans have for public education. Most of them would be delighted to see it fail.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

It's no secret the disdain that most Republicans have for public education. Most of them would be delighted to see it fail.

I had the pleasure of speaking with an elderly couple during my vacation last week, they live in Charlotte but moved there from Jersey. He spoke highly of many aspects of life in Charlotte but sounded positively wistful on the subject of public education. Apparently, they don't much care for it down south and the lack of caring shows in the quality. It really is a shame.

[Danno 1,228]

Hey don't be bustin on Charlotte, it's my adopted home too.

I went to Public School in NJ and doubt it is any better than NC.

As for the larger point.

I AM STUNNED no one asked the most obvious question (or maybe they did and I missed it).

3,000 teachers are getting the ax but not one administrator?

I can't recall the numbers off the top of my head, but Public school administration has grown by leaps and bounds in the last thirty years. Why are not some of these folks cut loose from the payroll?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Meck has excellent magnet schools. Better than most schools in NY/NJ.

But the average public school that doesn't require an admissions test is better in Jersey than it is in Meck.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Hey don't be bustin on Charlotte, it's my adopted home too.

I went to Public School in NJ and doubt it is any better than NC.

As for the larger point.

I AM STUNNED no one asked the most obvious question (or maybe they did and I missed it).

3,000 teachers are getting the ax but not one administrator?

I can't recall the numbers off the top of my head, but Public school administration has grown by leaps and bounds in the last thirty years. Why are not some of these folks cut loose from the payroll?

A very good question indeed.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Ha, you guys wanna see waste in school administrators salaries, come by the dirty jerz.

we got more school districts than most of y'all have hair.

and each has its own admin staff pulling in the six-figgas.

[amberdima 6]

same kind of cut-backs happened in NJ last year. I've been out of school for a year and can't get a teaching job due to the fact that there are no jobs available. 1 out of 7 student teachers in my class secured a contract. i made more $ before i spent $50,000 on college. now i have to get a co-sponsor for my K1 and hopefully won't be homeless before my SO arrives.