POWER  Versus  Consensus

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and really thought you got your point across only to find out later that they ignored everything you said? Well, that's what a consensus group is. The  powers that be (those are our elected representatives) will listen and then do what they want. Do you think they already know what they want? I'm sure they do. The direction comes from Washington and all the non profits and grants. One member of the steering committee at the meeting last night finally said "Maybe we are trying to do too much with this whole child concept." She's right but she will be passed by like a post is passed by by a Bullet Train. Do you think this district is going to do away with the whole child concept and leave all their nonprofits unfunded? Not hardly.

So did the public get to vote whether to spend the QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS to fund an architectural firm to plan education in Helena? NO. I wonder how they would have voted. Did the public get to vote on what to pay the next Superintendent (minimum $135,000.00)?NO. I wonder how they would have voted.The public doesn't control anything except their vote for the trustees. This is after all a representative democracy. The only thing that counts is the vote. Without the vote we live in a dictatorship.If anyone can undermine the vote as ACORN does across the country (the latest in the news today is New York) then they have succeeded in subjugating the people to a dictatorship. Is it a coincidence that it is always the Democrats that are against voter I.D.? 

So why have all these consensus groups for hiring the superintendent and "planning" the Helena School District's education future (especially when the curriculums are now being written internationally with the COMMON CORE STANDARDS- no need even for teacher input in our new curriculums)? Have you ever heard of the BANDWAGON TECHNIQUE? If you haven't this is a way of getting people to go along with what you want because it seems that everyone else wants it. In consensus groups who gets to decide what everyone wants? The trustees of course. The trustees have the vote. The firm apparently tracks what people say and tries to get them to say the things that they need to say to get where the board wants them to be. At the meeting last night the firm was lamenting that at the last meeting they didn't get everything they wanted. Maybe I interpreted it wrong but this is what I heard.

Speaking of the vote did you know that the Helena School District voted to go to an all mail in ballot at the last board meeting? Did you know that the voter fraud across the country is almost always with absentee ballots- which are mailed in. Many people who never voted find out that indeed a vote was cast in their name. Did you know that in the City of Helena elections, that are all mail in, less than fifty percent of the ballots were returned? I wonder where all those ballots ended up?

As we register people to vote everywhere all you need is the last four digits of someones social security number and their name and you can register them and sign their card. Then the ballot will be sent to your house and you can vote it! As a general rule the elections officers do not track addresses. In one precinct in another state, 900 ballots were found to have come from the Democratic headquarters.

The problems with write in ballots are very numerous. As we have more and more consensus groups we have less and less security of the vote. I hope this is just a coincidence.

The occupy Wall Street crowds tend to cry "Power to the People"- well I think that is what our founding fathers had in mind and I think that is what is being destroyed here. One mother said to me that people should have the choice to spend their money on the school they want. I agree with that. That would be real "Power to the People". Sitting in consensus groups and having someone else decide what everyone wants is not power. Being forced to pay a monthly fee of $200.00 a month and upwards for schools that you don't control is not "Power to the People". Being put out of your house because property taxes continue to go up as school trustees spend hundreds of thousands dollars for firms they don't need is not "Power to the People" either.

GET THE STARS OUT OF YOUR EYES!

Having stars in your eyes may be a very romantic concept if you're falling in love but if you want to provide good education for children it's better to just know what the heck you're talking about. As pointed out on this blog earlier no one knows what the "21st century" is going to be, not even these real smart superintendents that they are looking for in this Superintendent search. Belonging to  the Association of School Superintendents (is this acronym what it looks like?) anyway going on, and going to the national meetings in Denver, does not make them an expert, a genius or a soothsayer of the future. Running after every Federal grant thought up by greedy insiders who want to become the consultant (good money and less work- you get paid travel too) does not make them a "21st century educator" either.

I went to the superintendent search meetings against my better judgment  because I know this is a farce, if the board doesn't have the person they want picked out I would guess they have some candidates. But I found the public comment interesting and enlightening. The usual cast of liberals got their email alert and showed up. The union had their spokesperson, Peak (gifted and talented) had many spokespersons (they're worried about the public support they're losing), the health department was represented (they're educators like Planned Parenthood is now), The "Explore" program (preschool for the handicapped) was represented, a couple of old school board members, one guy who wants suicide education (Heaven help us- this works like all the drug programs and sex programs- you talk to young people about the whole thing until they're depressed and start thinking about it!! If you want to know how this has played out in other states I have a book for you.), and so it went- there were a few parents who had some insights and maybe no axe to grind.

At the first meeting on January 9th one man had an astounding piece of information. He addressed the group as working in technology and having that background. He explained to us that our district is lacking in technology expertise and that when the Power School program (the one that tracks little kids behavior and every other thing) first came out anyone and everyone had access to all the information!! That's right - your kids attendance record and behavior record in class, in the school, on the playground and on the bus was available to anyone who went on the internet and looked at Power School. I wonder how long this went on?

The first two questions posed were about how wonderful our schools are and how wonderful Helena is. Well I love Helena period- but I wouldn't say I stay here for the art!!It was interesting to note that these liberals who just love the "whole child" concept ( where schools are basically the family, providing daycare, food, health care, mental health care and so on) think that Helena is such a great town because we are a "family" town and we are great parents because we are all so educated. How does this jive with Bryant where all kids (irregardless of family income) are given free food all day long "because their parents just won't feed them?" Anyway, on to how all the other towns admire Helena Schools. Where do they get this stuff? We're below state average in math at every grade level, 25% of our kids at Helena High don't make it to graduation, and out of 138 middle schools in the state Helena Middle school is ranked 101st by the Office of Public Instruction! That's where the stars come in. Do these people do any research at all? Do they think? Do they really think (I think some of them do) that going after every grant makes our district innovative and successful? They need to get the stars out of their eyes and do some research. They need to look at what is really happening in our schools.

The third question was about characteristics for a new superintendent. More stars in the eyes. He has to be a "21st century educator". He needs to prepare our children for the 21st century and beyond. Do they really think this guy is going to know what the future is, or do they just think if he gets on the bandwagon for every grant out of Washington that he knows what the future will be? He has to work with the union implicitly because we have a heavily unionized workforce and this is the face to our children. REALLY? We are heavily unionized, but I thought this was just job security, retirement and wage increases . How is the union involved in good education for kids? They'd take away the education of our students in a heart beat if someone tried to cut their wages and benefits. This superhero needs to be a lobbyist for the legislature, do community service, and belong to most of the civic organizations in town too! He needs to be open, accessible, a good leader and manager as well (This makes sense but did we have to pay a firm to find this person from out of state? There are people like that right here in little old Helena.) It was really amazing to hear people say (some of whom apparently had not even lived in Helena that long) that we need a superintendent from out of state because so many of our educators are so backward and we need an out of stater to bring us into the 21st century!! Keep in mind that though Montana has gone from 5th in the nation to 20th in the nation in academic rankings since school reform started, they are still way ahead of Washington D.C. , California and most of the other states these people so admire. 

Finally someone suggested maybe he should have common sense. AMEN TO THAT!! Just think of it-common sense and the character to back it up. What a dream that would be- it almost makes me get stars in MY eyes. Someone who would actually demand accountability in these programs and THROW OUT PROGRAMS THAT ARE NOT WORKING!!  I don't mean those silly little forms that the federal grant people require. Teachers are pressured to fill those out positively. I mean like- did the DARE program after 30 years of operation in the district actually decrease drug and alcohol use? That answer I believe would be no since as reported by Youth Connections 25%  of our youth are on MARIJUANA!! Have our gifted and talented students become more proficient because of the PEAK program which takes them out of school for one fifth of their education? Are all these teacher training programs that leave our children at home for four of their school days resulting in  better scores? We were never below state average in math at every grade level before. Not only should this dream superintendent with common sense look at whether programs are working, he should look at how new programs affect the total school environment. For example, should curriculum time be used for redundant programs like the four programs we have to supposedly eliminate drug abuse? Maybe one would suffice- pick Health Enhancement Curriculum , or Youth Connections, or Resource Officers  or the Dare Program. 

Finally we got to the question about deficits in the school district with 5 minutes to go before the end of the meeting. This was eye opening. One mother complained about how her gifted student was bored in class. Another mother said her gifted honor student who went off to college this year called home crying because she was not prepared to do college level work. Over and over it came out that too much time is spent without an academic focus and that lower level students are catered to while the gifted and more capable students are ignored.

This brings up a final point. It is difficult to serve every student. BUT WOULDN'T THE TEACHER HAVE A CHANCE IF THERE WAS TRACKING? Tracking has a very evil name in schools these days but the simple truth is that if you want our best students to excel you need to provide a curriculum just for them- and I don't mean cooking and rafting on one day a week. I mean math , reading, writing, science , social studies- every single day all day long. Students in the middle need a competitive education as well and struggling students deserve remedial help. If schools were allowed to track this could all be accomplished and our scores would go through the roof. Instead of going to this common sense approach our district is doing the opposite. Our district is putting kids in Academies at our high schools (Helena High has 77% of freshman in according to the principal). Academies are all ability levels in the same 4 core classes (30 kids follow each other like in middle school). It doesn't take a genius to forecast the result of this little experiment. We can only hope these people get the stars out of there eyes before our schools sink to their lowest ever. Let's stop "WHOLE CHILDING"our kids and start giving them the education they need and deserve!!

EXPERTS

Have you been to any of those planning meetings for the new school bond? Well, I have. The firm the Helena School District hired for $250,000.00 is an architectural firm- but as pointed out on this blog earlier they aren't going to be doing any architectural drawings for the $250,000.00, they are going to plan the future of education in Helena. In fact, they are not even versed in educational issues, thus they had to hire BRAIN SPACES, a firm that apparently are "Education Experts". BRAIN SPACES sent a spokeswoman to the planning meeting ( maybe it's her business and she's the whole firm- I'm not sure about that)- in any case this is the extent of her "expertise". She made an amazingly biased and I think ill informed comment about classroom structure. She said no one ever had their most powerful learning experience sitting in the third seat of the fifth row. In other words, she is biased against classrooms organized in traditional rows. I asked her about her teaching experience, and apparently she has never even taught in an elementary classroom, just some middle school and college teaching. And this is the person leading the way to what our school district will look like in the future.

I asked her for her email and we had a little discussion about classroom structure. First I think we must challenge her premise that the most important education is the "powerful" learning experience that you can remember. The most important things you learned in school such as reading, writing and math happened over many years of day by day learning most of which you can not remember. If it were not for hard disciplined work most of which was not necessarily exciting, you would be illiterate.

Secondly I would like to challenge the premise that education should always be exciting and entertaining. Once in a while it is. When you've achieved a goal for example, or learned enough to discover something exciting. But many times, like any work, or all the work you will do in your life, it takes focus and discipline. It is not entertainment, it is work. As for the premise that teaching children learning discipline is the old factory model I would like to challenge this as well. We don't know what the future will be (especially 75 years from now!) but if it includes working from home on computers the ability to focus and stay on task will become even more relevant. As anyone who works at home knows, it is very hard to get to work and stay there when people are coming in and out, the phone is ringing, and you could just sleep in because no one is watching over you. School prepares children to set goals and do tasks that will reward them in the far future. They learn the discipline to do things that they may not always want to do. This is not a "factory" model , this is life.

 Thirdly I would like to most definitely challenge her bias toward rows. I taught for many years with students of all ability levels. I tried groups and pods. I found they didn't work. How would you like to sit all day with someone right at your elbow? I found students do better work when they have their own space and can focus. There is less talking and more working when students have their own space. For projects desks can easily be turned or moved. This is particularly important for students with ADHD. Students may not have to be on drugs to control impulsive behaviors and lack of focus if the teaching environment was structured to help them stay organized and focused.

Finally I would like to challenge the bias that exciting learning does not happen in rows. One of my most successful programs was a grammar program that used all the senses. It had a visual overhead as well as student papers. It had songs and rhymes and required oral responses as well as written ones. It engaged all students and was even effective at the end of the day when we were all tired. My struggling students loved it best. They participated, had fun and felt successful.

In my experience struggling students get lost in unstructured project environments. They don't need a "guide by the side" they need a teacher who structures a learning experience for them where they can find success and get extra help when they need it. There are many different ways to teach and many different teachers with successful teaching strategies. I'm sorry to see people call themselves "experts" and then dismiss out of hand years and years of successful teaching and learning experiences. After all, this country was built long before all the new liberal education ideas hit the workshop circuit.

DOES YOUR VOTE MATTER?

Normally this blog is about the schools and the progressive power that is destroying them but the news of the day is so terrible that today this blog will be about how the progressive power has and is destroying not only our schools but our country and everything it was ever meant to stand for.

If you are a liberal and you are reading this blog let's start with your most treasured bias, you think the rich are getting richer under capitalism and the poor are getting poorer. Well, our capitalism has been compromised, what we really have now more than anything is corporatism. And who is getting richer? Do you know that Bill Clinton was being paid $50,000 a month by MF Global(quick math $600,000 a year)  - the corporation Jon Corzine (another liberal) was compromising (taking money out of clients accounts to cover losses apparently).So- our first "black" president as he calls himself is out enriching himself by influence peddling. Our presidents used to go home after they were president. They didn't set up foundations and influence peddle to get rich. You see, they had a little thing called integrity. They served their country and went home like George Washington did. Oh, I guess that is all just so Passe' isn't it. We are all just so foolish to think that people who say they are for the poor shouldn't use the poor to make themselves rich and part of the jet set like the Obama's are doing.

Jon was hoping Bill could get the Federal Reserve to buy him out of trouble. As it turns out our elected officials have no control over the Federal Reserve. They can call in Fed Chairman Bernanke and ask him a few questions but then he goes on his merry way printing paper that represents American dollars and sending it to Europe and Japan. This is the same as printing dollars- more dollars means dollars are worth less and it will definitely mean  inflation at home. If you are a liberal and reading this you may wonder how inflation is going to help the poor and the middle class- it isn't. No one is going to be able to support their life style, or in many cases even pay for their necessities. So do you still think you're liberal friends are helping you out?

The debt and inflation that this government is now engaged in is going to crash this economy. When it crashes just remember that it was liberals that wanted every one of these programs. Liberals that grew this  government and it's budget out of control. Republicans voted for this stuff to get reelected under liberal pressure and propaganda. Reagan stopped the cold war only because he compromised with a Democrat House and Senate.

So does your vote count? Not if this influence peddling, corruption, and big government bureaucracy and control through regulations rather than laws continues. As mentioned on this blog earlier our legislature here in Montana comes in every two years and is handed budgets already made by state agencies, and as in the case of the Office Of Public Instruction, is told they must give an inflationary increase that they decide on. Seems like all the laws have already been made and the legislature must just go along or be sued. What about the peoples voice? The people need to demand that their voices be heard and that their voice counts. This country can no longer stand under business as usual. We did what the liberals wanted for the last fifty years and look where it has gotten us. HELP!!! WE'RE DROWNING!

WHO FEEDS THE CHILDREN?

I was just noticing this holiday season how everyone shares about their children (including me!). Christmas cards and Christmas parties are all about what the kids are up to. People love their children and they are so proud of them. How much propaganda does it take to convince the American people that "people just won't feed their children." That's what you're told when you bring up the obvious, that with food share and SNAP (food stamps) poor people have access to food, so why do they have to depend on the school for breakfast and lunch?

Gee, if " People just won't feed their children- I mean you do of course but those 'others' just won't do it.", how do children ever make it to kindergarten in the first place? Wouldn't they die of starvation with no food for 5 years?

You know, in my view it gets down to this, simply put, people do feed their children. They also love their children. America is built of wonderful strong families and individuals that certainly CAN take care of themselves. So why are there people in our society that want to convince us otherwise? Do they have a SELF INTEREST here? If everyone could take care of themselves they'd be out of business! If everyone could care for themselves the centralizing of power and money would be stopped! This country might do what no country has ever done before- remain free instead of allowing the power to become more and more centralized until freedom is lost. This usually takes about 200 years- we're at 235 and we're at a tipping point.

For some people it's just easier to take kids to school and let them get breakfast and lunch there. Many people fall into that trap because they don't realize the harm they are doing to their children and this country by teaching dependency rather than independence.

Our freedom depends on this independence from government programs. It depends on children learning when they are young that their parents can care for them without the government. I taught school for 30 years in Helena, 8 of them at Bryant School- I never once had a child come in crying after the weekend because they were hungry. No child ever passed out from hunger. Not all families are completely functional all the time and that's what social services are for- but these dysfunctional families are an overwhelming minority.

It takes a lot of propaganda to convince a people that they are helpless- especially Americans whose heritage is freedom and belief in themselves. If you've traveled to socialist countries, as I have, you realize what a lot of propaganda it must take to convince a people that this system is better than the American system. Socialism, Communism, Marxism, depends on centralized big government. It strangles economies, lives and freedom. As someone said once, you have only to look at their teeth and you know the difference between their system and ours.

It's up to the American people to decide they'd rather work and teach hard work and freedom to their children than to gradually give up their constitution and let the government control their families and their  lives. The people's interest is disparate- it's not cohesive like unions or other special interests. The people have to stand up against these special interests that have convinced themselves "they're doing it for the good of the people". NO- they're doing it for their own self interest and the money they are getting paid and spending comes from everyday average Joes who are trying to figure their own life out.

This Christmas season let freedom ring out. Vow to stand up for our way of life in America, for capitalism, freedom and our constitution. Turn back the propaganda that "the middle class is shrinking"-(this society has a very strong middle class- greater than any in any society at any time in history and capitalism did this for us) or, our "children are starving"(have you seen any on the street lately), or "Parents just won't feed their children."(who exactly is that and why haven't they been turned in to social services?) or, my all time favorite,"how can you look into the eyes of the homeless?"(REALLY- how many jobs has this guy lost or quit? How much alcohol or drugs has he taken? What has HE given back? Maybe he should have a hard time looking into the eyes of those of us who are disciplined, paying taxes , and working hard.)

 Nothing in life is easy but this country went through massive immigration (my grandparents were part of that- sometimes they lived on soup and bread- but they bought a home, raised a family and very proudly joined the middle class), wars, depressions, and much more before the present day liberals were on the scene. We can and should continue without their programs and yes- FEED OUR OWN CHILDREN!!!

WERE WE AT THE SAME MEETING?

Have you ever been at one of those meetings where you can't believe what you're hearing? When one person speaks and no one seems to have heard what they said? That was the school board meeting last night.

The first item on the agenda was recognition for the Capital High state football championship(GO BRUINS!). But, the team didn't show up. What?!!- they didn't show up. 3 kids were there and the coach- and these kids did not include the quarterback. I remember when my daughter's soccer team won State- they were so proud-they were all there at the board meeting to be recognized. What's going on? Then the coach said- this sounds unbelievable- that he "chest bumped" the principal! He laughed but I certainly did not get a funny picture in my mind.

Well, on we go. Then they asked for public comment on consent items-but they didn't say what these were so they passed unanimously with no comments. The boy scouts were there to see "democracy in action", some democracy! I looked through my materials and I think the consent action items may have been the 403(b) HEART amendment which had to do with benefits for employees absent because of military service and a plan termination which was eliminating all the extra benefits for our wonderful superintendent who has fortunately moved on to Boulder.Wow, it took some looking to find these, they were stapled to the back of the agenda behind minutes from 6 previous meetings. What if this had been something seriously objectionable. Too bad, moment has passed, on we go. Democracy?

The next item was the transportation bid update. The man presenting explained very carefully why we don't need seat belts on these huge busses 1) the weight of the bus 2) the shape of the bus and the seats are specifically designed for incredible safety 3) the information from ADVOCATES OF SEAT BELTS points out that they saved 2 lives (maybe) out of TWENTY SIX MILLION STUDENTS TRANSPORTED TWICE A DAY NATION WIDE. Students were safer in the bus than outside of it. He went on to explain many things. There is no Montana law but if we put in seat belts than ALL THE FEDERAL REGULATIONS kick in.  In other words, EVERY CHILD UNDER 60 POUNDS WILL NEED A CAR SEAT! That is approximately every child until at least 3rd grade! He went on about the cost and that these will have to be shoulder harnesses. Our school board immediately began to discuss- and of course they just love the idea of seat belts- what liberal would ever turn away from a chance to control and regulate? Regulations are always a good thing aren't they? So- without a vote they directed this man to look for a bid WITH SEAT BELTS. He explained to them that you can't just ask for it and then restart the whole bidding process when you realize how expensive and cumbersome this is going to be. Can't you just see our bus drivers out there with a scale to make sure he's in compliance with the car seats? Of course he'll have to make sure they're all buckled in (Liability). What will the time frame be on this? Another half hour of instruction time lost because bus riders will be late? I guess breakfast at Bryant will have to be delayed until the bus riders get there. Will there be ANY TIME to teach before first recess? Well, why worry about such a pesky thing as instruction time. On we go. I wonder why we're below state average in math at every grade level?

The next item on the agenda was COMMON CORE STANDARDS. You see, everyone in the WORLD- I'm not just making this up- is going to learn the same things!! And in case your wondering-according to the presenter- this is NOT a national thing!! It's a state thing! REALLY?? How can that be if they're all going to be the same? IS THERE SOME MIND READING GOING ON HERE? Well apparently thirty six states are already on this bandwagon and of course Denise Juneau(our state superintendent) just couldn't wait to sign Montana up. Why do people vote for Democrats? Let's vote for a Republican next time and get some INDEPENDENT THINKING. So according to the curriculum director- there will be no need for  teachers to be on curriculum committees anymore because the curriculum will be done for them. Just think of that, nameless bureaucrats in Washington and at the U.N. deciding what we will teach in Helena, Montana! She gave the example of Finland- if our students go there they will know everything because everyone will be teaching the same thing! But wait a minute, don't they speak Finnish in Finland? Won't they learn to read and spell and do grammar in Finnish? Will they really be interested in learning Montana History? Won't they be learning English as a second language? They don't use feet, inches, or pounds so will they be learning that anyway? Will they be learning all about our buffalo and elk on the plains or will they be learning more about their natural habitat by the sea? They could put all of this into every curriculum but we're having some real trouble teaching what we have now! Twenty five percent of our kids aren't even making it to graduation.

CORE STANDARDS, of course, will be heavy in across grade level collaboration and critical thinking. Let's talk about critical thinking first. To be flip about it- if our little kids could critically think they wouldn't believe in Santa Clause! But seriously, little children are not just miniature adults. Besides, they need to learn their letter sounds first so they can blend them into words and then maybe be able to read something so they have some information to think critically with. Otherwise, guess what?- They'll critically think what the teacher wants them to think- they'll be propagandized. The across grade level collaboration is just another way to take the control of the classroom and curriculum out of the teachers hands.  He/She is responsible for kids performance on tests but has no control over the teaching. Good teachers get to use their own teaching style and creativity. Under these new programs our teachers' independence and passion is being buried!

If this was just one of those boring office meetings with the jokers we could laugh it off. But this is our kids and the future of this nation. Core Standards has effectively inserted an I.V. (to use medical terminology) into the veins of our school system and can now pump in any garbage and propaganda they want to fill our kids' heads with. It's really time for all of us to vote for board members that "get to the meeting" i.e. think and use their common sense and independent thought.

THE GRAVY TRAIN

We were told at the last board meeting that our old superintendent is now making TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in Boulder Colorado. I'm sure that doesn't include his retirement, vacations and health insurance either. WOW!!! That's more than most doctors, lawyers, dentists and other professionals. What makes a superintendent that valuable? After all, getting a doctorate in education is not comparable to the work that goes into science and math degrees- I know, I have two children that have achieved these. Could it be the magic they are achieving for our students- the wonderful successes they artfully create? Maybe not- when our former superintendent left we had  25% of our high school students not making it to graduation and our district had math scores that were below state average at every grade level.  And just think- this is his jumping off salary- what will he get paid NEXT YEAR?!! Speaking of vacations- our present superintendent that is getting a pile of money just got back from the Dominican Republic where he was building houses for Habitat for Humanity(I guess). Did he get his salary docked or were the people of Helena paying his salary while he wasn't even here? If this position is so valuable how can he just leave for extended periods?

Well, who else is getting this money and job security in this world of annuities? Who are the pretenders to the throne? Well we already know we'll be forced to pay ONE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS (at the minimum) to start our new superintendent- and we don't know what the benefit package will be but you can count on retirement, healthcare and vacations even if they don't give him the annuity, car and cell phone. Do you think there are other people (not the actual teachers that are actually needed because they actually teach) that are on this gravy train? Maybe there are thousands of programs, grants, and teacher training groups who get money too? Who else gets it and wants more? Food people? Day care people? Mental health people? Planned  Parenthood ? WOW!! THIS COULD GET EXPENSIVE!!

I was at the planning meeting Tuesday night. All the cast of characters were represented from Florence Crittendon to Archie Bray, Myrna Loy, Exploration Works,UM of Helena, the County Health Department and the Helena Education Foundation. They had about thirty special interest groups sign in  under their names.What if all of these people want a part of the pie? What if every non profit is trying to get on the school district payroll? What if they actually want space in the schools and to be on the payroll? Do you think they would do this? WELL.....Youth Connections already has space in our schools (these are the non psychiatrists that do mental health screening of all our high school kids). They told us at a board meeting that their grant is running out in 2013 and they hope to be on the payroll by then!! Gee, why should all these important groups have to worry about fundraising and getting Federal grants when they can just get space in the schools and get right on the bandwagon or GRAVY TRAIN?!!

After all, PLANNED PARENTHOOD now is so involved in education they have a director of education. I guess they know where the money is! I'm just so mean- all these people just care about kids and here I am talking about money!

Well taxpayers are people too, and parents. They agreed to pay for education, not teacher job training and every imaginable non profit and social program. As with the home visiting program talked about on this blog earlier, our schools aren't addressing problems, they're looking for them- kind of like every kid getting free breakfast, lunch and snacks at Bryant, IRREGARDLESS OF THEIR PARENTS INCOME!!! There must be something seriously wrong with our teacher preparation programs in college if teachers immediately need professional training when they start working.

Do taxpayers have the right to expect their needs to be addressed too? They're trying to raise a family or save for retirement or live on a retirement income but the schools just want more money all the time. Property taxes keep going up and the schools put huge pressure on the legislature (even sue them!) to get more money- they wouldn't mind if state income taxes went up- they need the money. Do taxpayers pay Federal Income Tax? You mean those Federal grants aren't free? Well they don't actually have matching fund requirements do they? You mean we have to pay for them? Do they go away after a couple of years and leave the school district with new employees and programs to pay for out of our school budget? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I do believe that is exactly what happens.

Maybe people should be allowed to raise their own kids and school should be about education. Maybe all these groups should get off the gravy train and go find WORK in the private sector or raise their own money instead of raping the taxpayers. I know they all just do it FOR THE CHILDREN.