School districts will feel budget pinch

Some very painful decisions await school districts in western New York. They are all expected to see their state funding slashed dramatically.

[Swimmingly]

Easy, do what has always been done, raise taxes. After all it is for the children.

[times up]

When things are good you get the best you can get. When things are bad you give back to save your job. For the job you do you and the time you get off you are way over paid. Go out and buy some winkle free cream and suck it up.People cant afford it with all the high taxs they have to pay in NY state. You voted the same people into office year after year and now your paying the price.

[enforcer]

The more we spend on education... the dumber the kids get... I say try bringing God & discipline back into the classroom & save the $$...

[Jack]

It's high time ,it's way overdue for ALL TAXPAYER FUNDED SALARIES SCHOOL EMPLOYEES , GOV'T , ALL MUNI WORKERS ,POLICE , SANIATATION WORKERS, SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS EVERYONE TO TAKE A HEALTHY CUT IN PAY AND BENENFITS, THE TIME FOR MASS CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND MUNI IS UPON US...ACT NOW OR FACE COMPLETE FISCAL MELTDOWN AND THE ONLY WAY PEOPLE WILL VOTE IS WITH THIER 2 FEET........

[Marylou Altieri]

Just because people in the private sector do not receive dental or vision coverage does not make that practice correct. Everyone has an unalienable right to proper health care, including dental and vision coverage. News reports have recently indicated that having healthy teeth leads to a healthy heart. Therefore, dental coverage is essential. Instead of govenment employees going backward, the rest of the population needs to move forward. That is why I sought a civil service position when I decided to enter the job market. Instead of wasting time complaining about what civil servants get - what they negotiated for - spend your time trying to improve the lot of those working in the private sector!

[hillbilly]

Marylou Altieri wrote:

Just because people in the private sector do not receive dental or vision coverage does not make that practice correct. Everyone has an unalienable right to proper health care, including dental and vision coverage. News reports have recently indicated that having healthy teeth leads to a healthy heart. Therefore, dental coverage is essential. Instead of govenment employees going backward, the rest of the population needs to move forward. That is why I sought a civil service position when I decided to enter the job market. Instead of wasting time complaining about what civil servants get - what they negotiated for - spend your time trying to improve the lot of those working in the private sector!

You have it way wrong, in the private sector benefits are based on profits ,in civil service benefits are based on union sucking pigs bleeding taxpayers to death

[Marylou Altieri]

Before unions, people had to work 12 hour days, had no holidays or vacations (maybe just Christmas), no sick time and having Saturdays off was unheard of. You have unions to thank for the 5 day work week and 8 hour work days. If workers hadn't organized, we'd all still be living like a third world country, except for the very rich. In the private sector, profits are for the stockholders; they could care less if the common workers can't pay their bills, afford braces for their children or have to go to work on when they're sick in order to get a full paycheck - unacceptable! Everyone should have a union to protect their rights and look after their best interests.

[curious]

enforcer wrote:

The more we spend on education... the dumber the kids get... I say try bringing God & discipline back into the classroom & save the $$...

What so you suppose the students that do not believe in god should do during the that part of the lesson? What if the teacher is an atheist?

Great suggestion, enforcer!

[funnyguy]

Marylou Altieri wrote:

Before unions, people had to work 12 hour days, had no holidays or vacations (maybe just Christmas), no sick time and having Saturdays off was unheard of. You have unions to thank for the 5 day work week and 8 hour work days. If workers hadn't organized, we'd all still be living like a third world country, except for the very rich. In the private sector, profits are for the stockholders; they could care less if the common workers can't pay their bills, afford braces for their children or have to go to work on when they're sick in order to get a full paycheck - unacceptable! Everyone should have a union to protect their rights and look after their best interests.

Do you think I have to have a union to tell me what I can do & what I cannot do ??Ive worked MOST of my life outside of unions & made a darn good living. my employers let me do the job when they explained what it consisted of. All of my employees treated me & fellow workers well.UNIONS have some good but not everyplace some of them are deterents to improvement THEY SUCK

[funnyguy]

NOW I like to post some info.In the 50 s the lottery came in effect. 15% was to be for the jackpot . 10% was for addministration.75% was for schools. Now if there are millions for the jackpot at 15%, where is the 75% for schools? thats a lot of money missing. I say the lottery is a sham.

[Taxpayer]

Marylou Altieri wrote:

Before unions, people had to work 12 hour days, had no holidays or vacations (maybe just Christmas), no sick time and having Saturdays off was unheard of. You have unions to thank for the 5 day work week and 8 hour work days. If workers hadn't organized, we'd all still be living like a third world country, except for the very rich. In the private sector, profits are for the stockholders; they could care less if the common workers can't pay their bills, afford braces for their children or have to go to work on when they're sick in order to get a full paycheck - unacceptable! Everyone should have a union to protect their rights and look after their best interests.

Unions are unecessary since labor laws and OSHA have been in place. Unions only make the union leaders rich. Why do the charter schools do better than their union counterparts? Why do we have to supplement the union teachers' pensions if they are underfunded? There is no accountability with the present system. Test grades go down? Teachers should be staying after school and working with the kids EVERY day. There should be less time "off" and more educational hours. Will never happen because of the union stronghold on the state.

[Marylou Altieri]

First of all the lottery was not started in the 50's in New York State. Second, you'd be surprised at the number of parents who pull their children out of charter schools after a few months or after one year because of their dissatisfaction. This is when parents finally realize that it's their children, not the schools that are at fault. When a child keeps changing schools because a parent can't believe their child could possibly be the one at fault, they ultimately realize that it's not the teachers or the school, it's their lazy, lying child. If teachers are staying after school to help their students, when they get home, they will call parents, grade papers, prepare lesson plans, etc. How many hours do you think teachers spend when they're not physically in the building having face time with kids, doing work directly realted to their jobs? In addition, what's wrong with a parant demanding that their children stay at home, reading and studying? Why do I see so many children out wandering in the evening when there's homework to be completed? Some parents have to take a little ownership of their children's educations. They need to be involved. They should MAKE SURE their kids' homework is finished. They should insist that their children bring home the hand outs that would keep them informed of what's going on at school. They should ANSWER THE PHONE when the school calls. They should make sure their children come to school with writing utensils and that they go to bed at a reasonable hour. When their child misbehaves at school and receives consequences, more consequences at home should be the rule. I have seen students who've attended the school I work at playing outside after they were suspended from school. What message does that send to a child? Teachers have masters degrees. That level of education deserves the appropriate compensation. In addition, why is it that my generation did just fine with the amount of time we attended school? We didn't need Extended Learning Opportunities. Why? Because we learned what we needed to learn during the school year. Summer school was the exception in the sixties. Summer school is a big waste of money, if you want to know where to cut costs. Most of the children who attend summer school do NOTHING during the school year, and then the district feeds them a watered down version of what they should have learned and moves them on to the next grade (if they pass). How much do you think it costs to teach a child 7th grade 3 times? It's not the teachers fault, not when the majority of the class passes because they paid attention and did their class and home work. Learning does not happen by osmosis. A little effort on the part of the learner is necessary. Children are given too much these days; they don't have to work for anything. They're bought everything they want. Go buy more Sony Playstations, X Boxes and Wi's. Let your children play non-stop. Don't ever tell them no. Do all of the housework by yourself and wait on your children hand and foot. See what kind of adults you turn out. They'll have it so good, they'll never want to move out! There should be more time "off" for private sector workers. We should "raise all boats," not lower them.

[hillbilly]

Marylou Altieri wrote:

First of all the lottery was not started in the 50's in New York State. Second, you'd be surprised at the number of parents who pull their children out of charter schools after a few months or after one year because of their dissatisfaction. This is when parents finally realize that it's their children, not the schools that are at fault. When a child keeps changing schools because a parent can't believe their child could possibly be the one at fault, they ultimately realize that it's not the teachers or the school, it's their lazy, lying child. If teachers are staying after school to help their students, when they get home, they will call parents, grade papers, prepare lesson plans, etc. How many hours do you think teachers spend when they're not physically in the building having face time with kids, doing work directly realted to their jobs? In addition, what's wrong with a parant demanding that their children stay at home, reading and studying? Why do I see so many children out wandering in the evening when there's homework to be completed? Some parents have to take a little ownership of their children's educations. They need to be involved. They should MAKE SURE their kids' homework is finished. They should insist that their children bring home the hand outs that would keep them informed of what's going on at school. They should ANSWER THE PHONE when the school calls. They should make sure their children come to school with writing utensils and that they go to bed at a reasonable hour. When their child misbehaves at school and receives consequences, more consequences at home should be the rule. I have seen students who've attended the school I work at playing outside after they were suspended from school. What message does that send to a child? Teachers have masters degrees. That level of education deserves the appropriate compensation. In addition, why is it that my generation did just fine with the amount of time we attended school? We didn't need Extended Learning Opportunities. Why? Because we learned what we needed to learn during the school year. Summer school was the exception in the sixties. Summer school is a big waste of money, if you want to know where to cut costs. Most of the children who attend summer school do NOTHING during the school year, and then the district feeds them a watered down version of what they should have learned and moves them on to the next grade (if they pass). How much do you think it costs to teach a child 7th grade 3 times? It's not the teachers fault, not when the majority of the class passes because they paid attention and did their class and home work. Learning does not happen by osmosis. A little effort on the part of the learner is necessary. Children are gitoo Go buy more Sony Playstations, X Boxes and Wi's. Let on your children hand and foot. See what kind of There should be more time "off" for private sector workers. We should "raise all boats," not lower them.

your civil service greed is running down your chin,better get a napkin. ya know why we made it through school in the 60`s and 70`s? we had options that are not available today, our "state " thinks all children are the same and should all be good little robots and must all meet the same regents requirements or the same SAT requirements and if they dont they must be a "lazy lying child",your words not mine,well I`ll tell ya something, not all kids are the same but they have no options like a trade school or such so what do they do?they drop out, just look at graduation stats in this country ,its disgusting but what is the governments answer? throw more money at them to keep doing the same crappy job but you are obviously part of the system so as long as you keep getting your money to hell with the"lazy lying child". I amglad you werent near any of my kids when they went to school and by the way they all are graduates

[Blithering Idiot]

public sector union contracts need to be revisted immediately. they are a joke

[Swimmingly]

Marylou Altieri wrote:

Just because people in the private sector do not receive dental or vision coverage does not make that practice correct. Everyone has an unalienable right to proper health care, including dental and vision coverage. News reports have recently indicated that having healthy teeth leads to a healthy heart. Therefore, dental coverage is essential. Instead of govenment employees going backward, the rest of the population needs to move forward. That is why I sought a civil service position when I decided to enter the job market. Instead of wasting time complaining about what civil servants get - what they negotiated for - spend your time trying to improve the lot of those working in the private sector!

A couple questions for you.
First, please tell us where in the United States Constitution does it say any citizen has a right to health care?
Second, if everyone in the United States has health care, who pays for it? Doctors, nurses, medication, medical equipment and supplies are not free.
What if all of us got govt jobs? We would all have those benefits. Where does the money come from to pay those govt employees?

[Swimmingly]

Marylou Altieri wrote:

Before unions, people had to work 12 hour days, had no holidays or vacations (maybe just Christmas), no sick time and having Saturdays off was unheard of. You have unions to thank for the 5 day work week and 8 hour work days. If workers hadn't organized, we'd all still be living like a third world country, except for the very rich. In the private sector, profits are for the stockholders; they could care less if the common workers can't pay their bills, afford braces for their children or have to go to work on when they're sick in order to get a full paycheck - unacceptable! Everyone should have a union to protect their rights and look after their best interests.

Unions for employees in private companies can be ok. Except the union leadership becomes just as greedy as some of the execs that run the business.
On the other hand unions that represent govt employees are evil and should be eliminated. Why? Because all govt employees are paid with the money taken from a hard working taxpayer. The govt does not generate money, it takes money. Therefore whenever a govt union demands something it is the taxpayer who bears the brunt of it and has no say in the process. All govt unions should be disbanded today!

[Swimmingly]

I agree, parents need to be more involved with the children. That being said, I wonder why it is so hard to teach at the elementary level. Why a new lesson plan every year? Just use the same plan for all the new faces. 2+2=4, always has always will. These children need more homework, not just once a week but at least three to four times a week. They also need recess too. Can't keep a kid sitting down and learning for too long, there attention span won't do it. They need do burn off some energy. We had two recesses a day plus a long lunch. The school day was longer then too (70s). The education system has become too cluttered with all these new fangled ways of teaching (DIBELS). How about getting a math book from the 50s and teaching that. And finally, put the Regents program back to the way it was before, as a voluntary program for those who want to try to obtain that diploma. Although my diploma from Michigan is just as good as my wife's Regent diploma from New York.

[Marylou Altieri]

Swimmingly wrote:

<quoted text>
A couple questions for you.
First, please tell us where in the United States Constitution does it say any citizen has a right to health care?
Second, if everyone in the United States has health care, who pays for it? Doctors, nurses, medication, medical equipment and supplies are not free.
What if all of us got govt jobs? We would all have those benefits. Where does the money come from to pay those govt employees?

Just because it's not written into the constitution doesn't mean it can't be done. Have you ever seen someone who desperately needed medical treatment turned away? It's heartbreaking. Do you know how many people in this country have died for lack of simple treatment that no one would provide? Whatever employers contribute to health insurance companies would be transferred to a National Health Insurance program instead of to the Private Health Insurance companies. The benefit would be that more than their employees would receive medical care. If they can do it in Europe and Canada, they can do it here.

[Marylou Altieri]

hillbilly wrote:

<quoted text>your civil service greed is running down your chin,better get a napkin. ya know why we made it through school in the 60`s and 70`s? we had options that are not available today, our "state " thinks all children are the same and should all be good little robots and must all meet the same regents requirements or the same SAT requirements and if they dont they must be a "lazy lying child",your words not mine,well I`ll tell ya something, not all kids are the same but they have no options like a trade school or such so what do they do?they drop out, just look at graduation stats in this country ,its disgusting but what is the governments answer? throw more money at them to keep doing the same crappy job but you are obviously part of the system so as long as you keep getting your money to hell with the"lazy lying child". I amglad you werent near any of my kids when they went to school and by the way they all are graduates

I, too agree that the Regents diploma requirements are unrealistic for many students. There are still trade schools for students and adults in Buffalo. I do not believe in to hell with the lazy, lying child. I just think people should place the blame for someone not getting an education on the students who refuse to do any work. I am not a teacher, by the way. I love the children who attend the school I work in - even the naughty ones. It's just so sad to see all the money being spent on certain students being wasted because the students themselves are squandering their potential and the resources available to help them succeed. If you've never worked in a school, you have the right to give an uninformed opinion but until you've seen what the kids really do and how hard most of the teachers work, it really has no meaning. It's like me saying that doctors and nurses aren't doing their jobs because some patients in hospitals have to wait over an hour to get someone to come into their rooms for assistance and wind up wetting themselves because they can't wait that long because even though hospitals charge ridiculous amounts of money for hospital stays, the quality of treatment that is received does not equal the amount of money spent to get that treatment, but that's an entirely different issue. All of my kids graduated, too. If people like you were left in charge, this country would be quickly back pedaling all the back to the Dark Ages. I'm just so glad that Obama won the election. Now we can start to undo all the damage that occurred during the last eight years.

[Marylou Altieri]

Swimmingly wrote:

I agree, parents need to be more involved with the children. That being said, I wonder why it is so hard to teach at the elementary level. Why a new lesson plan every year? Just use the same plan for all the new faces. 2+2=4, always has always will. These children need more homework, not just once a week but at least three to four times a week. They also need recess too. Can't keep a kid sitting down and learning for too long, there attention span won't do it. They need do burn off some energy. We had two recesses a day plus a long lunch. The school day was longer then too (70s). The education system has become too cluttered with all these new fangled ways of teaching (DIBELS). How about getting a math book from the 50s and teaching that. And finally, put the Regents program back to the way it was before, as a voluntary program for those who want to try to obtain that diploma. Although my diploma from Michigan is just as good as my wife's Regent diploma from New York.

I don't know where you went to school, but here in Buffalo where I attended in the sixties and seventies there was no recess, just lunch. When I was in third grade, I recall asking my mom what recess was and why I didn't get to have recess in my school. Young children today get too much homework. The only homework I had in the primary grades, up until 3rd grade was spelling. Everything else was done in school. When a child in kindergarten gets homework, the parents have to assist. When I went to school, my mom told me, "I already went to school. I did my work. Now it's your turn and I'm not going to help you because no one helped me. I know you can do it." I was and honor roll student and my parents never helped me. When I asked my older sister what a word meant, she didn't tell me, she made me look it up myself. Students today don't even know their phone numbers. They all have cell phones that they put the numbers into (which they're not allowed to use in school). When you ask them what their phone number is, they can't give you an answer. If they've moved and the parents haven't informed the school and there's an emergency, there's a big problem because a parent can't be contacted. Kids don't even bother to even learn their phone numbers anymore! In addition, all of the teachers who work at the school I work at think that DIBELS is a big crock of you-know-what too. They have no choice but to teach they way the district dictates. Sometimes the district even wants to script exactly what a teacher should say with no variation. They have very little latitude when it comes to teaching and learning styles.