July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Let's stop school spending spree (08/23/07)
Letter to the Editor
To the editor:
Public participation is needed. Be there. You are invited: Aug. 27, 2007, 6 p.m. The Jay School Board will hold a public hearing on the 2008 rubber-stamped school budget. The school board is nothing more than a rubber stamp. The school superintendent and business manager arrange the budget in the interest of both the administration and school board.
The agenda could be a personal spending preference, such as an unnecessary pool, fitness room, or gymnasium just to keep up with the Joneses, instead of our primary purpose of educating our children. They are still taxing you on the unwanted gymnasium. They have stated they are going to build that gym. They will not get that gym built without a fight. If it means campaigning against every board member and leading the charge to rid the administration of the incompetent, useless, lying, non-property taxpaying and unconcerned big spenders, I will.
It appears their words that education is first are a barefaced lie. That may be true of their children, but other children must fend for themselves and take what is left. Regardless of what any one of these people say, they just want to spend money and have no idea how to save or cut spending to best benefit our children. We need to "clean house" quickly because it is almost too late now.
POWER: Put Out Worthless Elected Representatives.
The problem is getting good caring people that want elected for all the right reasons. Personal vendetta, personal gain, political gain, your family wants you to run or the position is open are not the right reasons. Erecting buildings is probably lowest on the list considering the poor state of education in Jay Schools, but the current group has put buildings and sports as a priority, not education. Do not misunderstand. I am a sports fan and know buildings are a necessity. I also know properly maintaining a building will preserve it for decades, or at least long enough to pay for it. We need a qualified coordinator of a preventative maintenance program. To maintain anything the supervisor must effectively lead and get off his or her fat duff and inspect it frequently and personally on an unannounced basis. I do not think we have effective supervisors.
We can get people for jobs paying $109,000 or more and other high-paying jobs, but no one that has the children and taxpayers' interest at heart. Spending is so bad that those in charge are about to break or destroy hundreds of families. A previous superintendent stated administrators should not be given a pay increase. That person retired and our school board gave the new superintendent a $12,000 a year raise. What were they thinking?
This school board again increased the 2007 budget by 3.1 percent. That increase amounts to more than $1 million more of your tax money. If this passed, we are stuck with an advertised amount that makes the 2008 school budget $34,367,580. We still owe over $51.5 million. The Muncie School Board realized a problem exists and cut their budget by $900,000.
I am not sure how many understand a budget. Just like everything else, the people we hire or elect to do a job for us seem to become a dictatorship that reveres the power and notoriety of the position, and forgets for whom they work and who pays them.
Dictators do not have to understand; they just do what is best for them. We need a true representative government "of the people, by the people, for the people."
I think we should freeze all administration wages, stop the automatic and flat percent wage increases. It is like a student failing to pass the SAT test. If you fail, you do not graduate, so the same should apply to all school employees or any employee.
If they fail to perform their duties or job requirements, they should not be promoted or given a pay increase. If they fail to improve by the next review period, they are terminated without further discussion.
Please attend the Aug. 27 school board meeting. This is your chance to represent your children, grandchildren, and the future leaders of this community.
Jim Sanders
420 E. Votaw St.
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
Public participation is needed. Be there. You are invited: Aug. 27, 2007, 6 p.m. The Jay School Board will hold a public hearing on the 2008 rubber-stamped school budget. The school board is nothing more than a rubber stamp. The school superintendent and business manager arrange the budget in the interest of both the administration and school board.
The agenda could be a personal spending preference, such as an unnecessary pool, fitness room, or gymnasium just to keep up with the Joneses, instead of our primary purpose of educating our children. They are still taxing you on the unwanted gymnasium. They have stated they are going to build that gym. They will not get that gym built without a fight. If it means campaigning against every board member and leading the charge to rid the administration of the incompetent, useless, lying, non-property taxpaying and unconcerned big spenders, I will.
It appears their words that education is first are a barefaced lie. That may be true of their children, but other children must fend for themselves and take what is left. Regardless of what any one of these people say, they just want to spend money and have no idea how to save or cut spending to best benefit our children. We need to "clean house" quickly because it is almost too late now.
POWER: Put Out Worthless Elected Representatives.
The problem is getting good caring people that want elected for all the right reasons. Personal vendetta, personal gain, political gain, your family wants you to run or the position is open are not the right reasons. Erecting buildings is probably lowest on the list considering the poor state of education in Jay Schools, but the current group has put buildings and sports as a priority, not education. Do not misunderstand. I am a sports fan and know buildings are a necessity. I also know properly maintaining a building will preserve it for decades, or at least long enough to pay for it. We need a qualified coordinator of a preventative maintenance program. To maintain anything the supervisor must effectively lead and get off his or her fat duff and inspect it frequently and personally on an unannounced basis. I do not think we have effective supervisors.
We can get people for jobs paying $109,000 or more and other high-paying jobs, but no one that has the children and taxpayers' interest at heart. Spending is so bad that those in charge are about to break or destroy hundreds of families. A previous superintendent stated administrators should not be given a pay increase. That person retired and our school board gave the new superintendent a $12,000 a year raise. What were they thinking?
This school board again increased the 2007 budget by 3.1 percent. That increase amounts to more than $1 million more of your tax money. If this passed, we are stuck with an advertised amount that makes the 2008 school budget $34,367,580. We still owe over $51.5 million. The Muncie School Board realized a problem exists and cut their budget by $900,000.
I am not sure how many understand a budget. Just like everything else, the people we hire or elect to do a job for us seem to become a dictatorship that reveres the power and notoriety of the position, and forgets for whom they work and who pays them.
Dictators do not have to understand; they just do what is best for them. We need a true representative government "of the people, by the people, for the people."
I think we should freeze all administration wages, stop the automatic and flat percent wage increases. It is like a student failing to pass the SAT test. If you fail, you do not graduate, so the same should apply to all school employees or any employee.
If they fail to perform their duties or job requirements, they should not be promoted or given a pay increase. If they fail to improve by the next review period, they are terminated without further discussion.
Please attend the Aug. 27 school board meeting. This is your chance to represent your children, grandchildren, and the future leaders of this community.
Jim Sanders
420 E. Votaw St.
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
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