School votes come amid economic woes, investigations

Most will be asked to support or reject spending increases that would inflate taxes during trying economic times of soaring gas and food prices.

[yeah right]

Lets get it straight. The districts pay into the pension system so the money does come out of our pockets.

[TeachXTwo]

Tough! We made the sacrifices and choices early on while you smoked dope and drank Bud.So now we're on Easy Street and you're in a doublewide.Har-Dee-Har-Har

[Longwood voter]

With more State funding coming into the Longwood School District, and declining enrollment, how can we be expected to vote for a rising budget!!!
Students do need a good education, but they also need a roof over their heads, food on the table, medical bills paid...I could go on, but we all understand the burden of rising prices for everything causing declining money for everyday necessities.
We can't afford higher taxes!!!!

[In The Know]

The pension being apid is fully funded by previous contributions made over the course of his 40 years of his service plus the investment income of the pension system. So yes the pension does not cost any additional money to the district where the retiree works

[yeah right]

In The Know wrote:

The pension being apid is fully funded by previous contributions made over the course of his 40 years of his service plus the investment income of the pension system. So yes the pension does not cost any additional money to the district where the retiree works

And those contributions are paid by the district (taxpayers) over the years and the payouts are based on the last 3 years salary which is definately paid by the district (taxpayers)

[Finally]

Have we become Kidcentric. Zillions of dollars for overpaid administrators and Lawyers....No for the Kids.

Go here to sound off, break the silence....http://www.theschwa rtzreport.com/vb/index.php

[Finally]

here..http://www.theschwartzre port.com/vb/index.php

[R U Kiddin]

Funny this article didn't mention the investigation of Long Beach School Board Trustee Patrick Gallagher who allegedy has violated his oath of office by receiving funds for overseeing a district program.

[omegaman]

People have to get use to the fact that the decrease in property values, which will continue, will force people in all our towns to have to cut expenses and/or increase taxes. That means salaries, services, schools and everything will have to be cut. Otherwise, you will see what happened in Vallejo, California (Bankruptcy) start to happen in a lot of places in the US.The good times are over. Get ready for the pain.

[Reality Check]

Pensions come from the taxpayers. It is not free, nor is anything else.
Long Island is loaded with corruption.

[darker]

Long Island taxpayers should use COMMON SENSE and not fall for the chronic tax increase scams of our school districts.

We pay huge school taxes for mediocre results, the kids always get little of it, and everybody else is CASHING IN BIG!

[Phil]

Stop using the word "austerity"..should be called "contingency" per the state education website...there is no austerity in a defeated budget...that's alot of bull..

[Sue]

All together, now! In lockstep! Let's vote yes!

(It's for the children.)

[Dan]

yeah right wrote:

<quoted text>
And those contributions are paid by the district (taxpayers) over the years and the payouts are based on the last 3 years salary which is definately paid by the district (taxpayers)

These funds are invested in the market. When the market does well, the system does well. When the market doesn't do well the taxpayers make up the difference.

[anonymous]

TeachXTwo wrote:

Tough! We made the sacrifices and choices early on while you smoked dope and drank Bud.So now we're on Easy Street and you're in a doublewide.Har-Dee-Har-Har

So basically what you are saying is teaching is easy. Others have worked just as hard without the security.

[anonymous]

It gives me concern that people are more aware and more concerned about their monthly income and will take it out on the school district budgets," Grishman said.

Can you imagine a comment like this. He's right we are more concerned about gas, taxes, and a roof over our heads. Not like him who's making over 100.000+ and robbing us blind. He himself does not care about the students just lining his pocket. I guess if the budget goes down he doesn't get his raise. That's all the budget is for, for the superintendents, administrators and whoever else to get their raises. Does it really go to the school.

[exislander]

Don't be suckers again Long Islanders, vote NO!

[oiram ifnab]

VOTE NO.
Tassone gets a pension in jail. Don't you feel STUPID?
VOTE NO.

[Commack resident]

It is time to vote NO on the budget. In Commack, they say that if you vote no, you will save $100--great! But more than that, you are sending a message saying that this runaway spending has to stop.

What are they going to cut on the contingency budget? Overnight fieldtrips, driver's education, a couple of teaching positions, some clubs and sports teams (not the major ones of course, but something extraneous like junior varsity badminton or the elementary school jitterbug club).

There are no cuts in the administrative building under the contingency plan. Nevertheless, voting no sends the strongest message that enough is enough. Mary Jo Masciello can send as many emails as she wants but she has been extremely irresponsible as a board member and doesn't look out for the taxpayer--she looks out for the unions and the fat cat administrators. SHAME ON HER! Unfortunately, she is running unupposed in Commack--so people should just not vote for her. Let her know how disgusted we are with her.

The teacher's contract expires in June 2008 and I have heard that they have already negotiated a new contract (not yet signed and they will never publicize the results....) with 4 and 5% increases. The tops salary now is $124,891 (yeah, that's a teacher salary and that doesn't include any extras like coaching, clubs, chaperoning **** If they give the teachers just a 4 percent raise over the next five years, the top teacher salary--coming out of our tax dollars, will be over 150K. C'mon, that's outrageous, but everything the Commack School Board does is outrageous and on the backs of taxpayers.

Vote no on Tuesday, May 20 and stop the craziness.

To see the current contract in Commack, and the top salaries from 2006-2007, go to
http://commackteachercontract.wikispaces.com

[You Sure Did]

TeachXTwo wrote:

Tough! We made the sacrifices and choices early on while you smoked dope and drank Bud.So now we're on Easy Street and you're in a doublewide.Har-Dee-Har-Har

You have been rewarded for your role in dispensing lies, half-truths, misrepresentations and generally going along with the status quo. In other words, you have performed admirably as an ideology-dispensing puppet, and have been rewarded for it. I hope the material gain is enough to soothe your tortured conscience - that is, if you have one.