Well, this should be interesting when they stop shelling out their own money and the parents start screaming about little Johnny being "deprived of his right to an education"

www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/9661576.htm

Teachers Lose Tax Breaks for Supplies

ANDREA ALMOND

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - If Doreen Seelig pocketed all the money she has spent on classroom supplies over 35 years as a teacher - the printer cartridges, the paper, the pencils and the paperback books lent to her Venice High School students - she figures she would have a new car by now.

Now, as the new school year gets under way, the burden on Seelig and other teachers around the country is even heavier.

Because of a budget crunch, California has suspended a tax credit that reimbursed teachers up to $1,500 for classroom supplies. Meanwhile, a $250 federal tax deduction for teachers that helped defray out-of-pocket spending expired this year.

Seelig said she will still buy hundreds of dollars worth of basic materials that districts do not provide. And she will still drive her 1991 Acura.

"What are we going to do, tell the kids, `Sorry, there's no paper today,' or tell them they can't print because there's no ink?" Seelig asked. "I know I couldn't do it."

Teachers around the country often reach into their own pockets to buy school supplies for themselves or their students, either because the school system does not provide the money, or because they feel sorry for youngsters from poor homes who come to school without the things they need.

Parent-teacher organizations and private groups often donate supplies, but educators say poor districts still come up short.

For young teachers at the lowest end of the pay scale, the loss of the tax credits is particularly hard.

"The end of the tax benefits is effectively a tax increase for teachers - people who spend thousands of their own dollars each day for their classrooms and who don't deserve a tax increase," said Barbara Kerr, president of the California Teachers Association.

Nationwide, teachers spent an average of $458 on school supplies, according to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, a Maryland-based trade group.

The National Education Association and some lawmakers are working to reinstate the federal teacher deduction, which was introduced in 2002 but expired at the end of 2003. Teachers are still entitled to write off business expenses, like other taxpayers, but the amount they spend often does not meet the threshold for taking a deduction.

By ditching its tax break, California joined most of the rest of the nation. National teacher organizations do not keep track, but it appears few states now offer teachers any relief at all.

Arkansas, for example, requires that school districts reimburse teachers for up to $500 of out-of-pocket expenses. Texas officials have allocated $3 million to compensate public school teachers. Between that and local government funding, Texas teachers might reach $400 worth of reimbursements this school year.

Even when tax breaks are proposed, as in Arizona last year, the teachers' lobby may be opposed, saying the solution is more state money for education.

Karl Kaku, an English teacher at Fresno High School for 10 years, said he spent $200 on supplies before this year's classes had even started.

"Stuff to write with, stuff to write on, pens, paper, overhead transparencies, overhead markers, ink cartridges," said Kaku, who makes $56,000 a year. "Some years, there's some money. Others, there's nothing. This year there's nothing."

In the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles, teacher and expectant mother Jennifer Flores said she has already rationed her spending. "We'll do without some of the things I would usually buy," she said. "And the worst thing about it all is that it's the kids who end up suffering the most."

The California credit was first offered in 2000 as a way to keep teachers from quitting. Teachers with four to 11 years in the profession received $250 to $500. Those more experienced could receive up to $1,500.

The credit was suspended in 2002 as state legislators battled a budget gap. It was resurrected for the 2003-04 tax year, at a cost of $180 million to the state. Last month, legislators suspended the relief until 2007. Parent and teacher groups, as well as private companies, are scrambling to cushion the blow.

The Los Angeles teachers union recently teamed up with a Spanish-language radio station in asking donors for such things as glue sticks, pencils, crayons, manila folders, even socks and underwear for poorer districts.

One Web site, iLoveSchools.com, matches teachers around the country with donors. The nonprofit organization, launched in July, said it has received about $90,000 in donations.

This is truly pathetic. Our most precious resource is our children and even in our well-funded school district someone has to take up the slack and its usually at least partly the teachers that buy what's needed. I'm all for cutting BS entitlements and deductions, but not when its for education.

I can't believe this is listed as breaking news in the Monterey Herald.  Local radio station was going over this issue two weeks ago.

Tom McClintock stated that the state of California has money that equals about $8000.00 per head.  The last two years I bought all the copy paper, construction paper and a few other items for my 6yo's classes.  

Cut the administration, let private contractors bid on ALL work except for teaching, but including janitors and office staff.  Lastly, stop busing kids.  Then give the teacher's the remainder per head as a budget.

Oh, this is LA Unified School District.

EAM  

The CA teachers are exempt from CALIFORNIA income taxes.  A 4th grade teacher makes $70k/180days which is the equivalent of $130k/yr for a full time job and they only pay federal taxes.

ATTENTION Teachers!
Here is my solution - don't pay for kids' supplies - that is what taxes are for.  If you need supplies, then request them.  And if you want to try to write it off, etc, then go ahead, but we will remove the income tax exemption.

The Los Angeles teachers union recently teamed up with a Spanish-language radio station in asking donors for such things as glue sticks, pencils, crayons, manila folders, even socks and underwear for poorer districts.

You've got to be kidding me.

Okay, I know you're not.

These things are a parent's responsibility.  I got in trouble at school if I didn't bring a pen, paper, pencils, erasers, etc.  The school's job was to educate me, my job was to show up with the tools I needed to learn.

And don't get me started on the absurdity of SOCKS and UNDERWEAR.  Talk about a BASIC PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.  If the parents can't hack it, fine, but let private charity or our bloated welfare system deal with it -- NOT public schools.

And people wonder why I'm so hellbent on sending my kid to private school even though we live in the "best school district in the nation."  

I'm confused...  How do charities get the items they hand out?  Donations right.  The teachers got together and asked for charitable donations to help students.  We get to write-off donations on federal income taxes don't we?  Why is a teacher buying supplies to help students who's useless parents didn't provide them what they need any different?

Damn, we spent about $100-$150 last year to buy supplies that kids in my wife's rather poor district are always missing. Some kids do want to make it even if their parents suck. But I guess we were just greedy bastards that really want to write off that $150 from taxable income.  Geeze

So, illegal alien parents can afford to send money home to Lola, but they cannot afford to buy their own kids the school supplies they need, all the while their kids are getting a FREE education which in reality, they have no legitimate right to.

All the while, millions of dollars are being pored into the schools, yet it never filters down to the classroom. As expected, the top-heavy districts are stealing the money to pay their administrators six-figure salaries.

The schools are a freakin' bottomless pit of corruption.

Home schooling. The wave of the future.

Quoted: The Los Angeles teachers union recently teamed up with a Spanish-language radio station in asking donors for such things as glue sticks, pencils, crayons, manila folders, even socks and underwear for poorer districts. You've got to be kidding me. Okay, I know you're not. These things are a parent's responsibility.  I got in trouble at school if I didn't bring a pen, paper, pencils, erasers, etc.  The school's job was to educate me, my job was to show up with the tools I needed to learn. And don't get me started on the absurdity of SOCKS and UNDERWEAR.  Talk about a BASIC PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.  If the parents can't hack it, fine, but let private charity or our bloated welfare system deal with it -- NOT public schools. And people wonder why I'm so hellbent on sending my kid to private school even though we live in the "best school district in the nation."

I can't disagree with how you feel about it and you have valid points, but when I see the little people that go to school in our neighborhood it makes no difference to me that their parents suck or that they are poor or anything else. They just need a chance in school. Only education can change poverty. Welfare creates more welfare so giving them an opportunity is the best we can do for them.

We do our part, but the teachers do too. If they want to write it off than I am all for it.

Teachers here don't make nearly what was quoted above for CA so maybe its different there(?) I don't know.

Rusty, I'm not saying the teachers shouldn't be able to write it off as a charitable donation.  That's fine with me.  But I don't think districts should make it policy to supply kids with things their parents are supposed to be reponsible for purchasing (i.e. underwear!!!!!).  If kids still got in hot water for not having supplies, sure, they'd be embarrassed temporarily, but maybe it would inspire them to light a fire under mom's ass to get to WalMart or at least call the local charity for help.  As it is, these kids are being taught by the responsible adults around them that their families are somehow inherently different than other families and therefore shouldn't be expected to keep up their end of the educational bargain.  It's called the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

Quoted: The CA teachers are exempt from CALIFORNIA income taxes.  A 4th grade teacher makes $70k/180days which is the equivalent of $130k/yr for a full time job and they only pay federal taxes.

As a Ca teacher who pays Ca income tax I must say you are wrong.  

Quoted: Rusty, I'm not saying the teachers shouldn't be able to write it off as a charitable donation.  That's fine with me.  But I don't think districts should make it policy to supply kids with things their parents are supposed to be reponsible for purchasing (i.e. underwear!!!!!).  If kids still got in hot water for not having supplies, sure, they'd be embarrassed temporarily, but maybe it would inspire them to light a fire under mom's ass to get to WalMart or at least call the local charity for help.  As it is, these kids are being taught by the responsible adults around them that their families are somehow inherently different than other families and therefore shouldn't be expected to keep up their end of the educational bargain.  It's called the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

I know where you're coming from, but my expectations of many of their 'parents' is so low that I doubt they'd notice that their kids were without what they needed much less that they were embarrassed.

I think alot of kids that are ignored, embarrassed or don't get support early in school just quit when they get older. Then we all pay for them.

Tough problem for sure and I wish I had all the answers.

Quoted: All the while, millions of dollars are being pored into the schools, yet it never filters down to the classroom. As expected, the top-heavy districts are stealing the money to pay their administrators six-figure salaries. The schools are a freakin' bottomless pit of corruption.

No doubt, the schools spend a shit load of money on crap and admin salary, but you guys love to talk about free markets and how CEOs get paid what they do because that's the going rate.  Well that's the going rate to get people involved in the viper pit that makes up the school board and upper admin of schools.  I know my wife wants no part of it no matter what the money because it sucks.  It takes money to get people to put up with the drug user parents bitching, rich snob parents bitching, suburban jerk parents bitching, trailer park trash parents bitching, politicians bitching, teachers bitching, the state fucking you over at every oppertunity, the fed stomping on your head... and on and on.  Seeing it from the inside I have a particular disgust for it.

But the bottom line is that the teachers are trying to help students that are in the classroom that state mandates be there.  They are giving them supplies to try to help them make something out of the situation and maybe get a kid to be something other than a tax dollar sucking hole.  They are doing that with thier own time and money so why poke your finger in their eye?

my girlfriend is a teacher in compton california. in this school the only supplies given to the students are 1 pencil and 100 sheets of paper. that is it. a teacer can request anything they want but will recieve NOTHING more. the principals office is overhauled yearly. she has expensive leather couches and chairs. the janitors wash the pricipals car every day and wax it every week during school hours. the coruption of  the state and federal government is notorious. the outlook for america is bleak. this is one of the many reasons that i have given up on the human race and have chosen not to bring children into a hopeless world.

Can they still write off the cost of the rape kit and attending ER physician when they get sexually assaulted in their classrooms??

Quoted: Quoted: Rusty, I'm not saying the teachers shouldn't be able to write it off as a charitable donation.  That's fine with me.  But I don't think districts should make it policy to supply kids with things their parents are supposed to be reponsible for purchasing (i.e. underwear!!!!!).  If kids still got in hot water for not having supplies, sure, they'd be embarrassed temporarily, but maybe it would inspire them to light a fire under mom's ass to get to WalMart or at least call the local charity for help.  As it is, these kids are being taught by the responsible adults around them that their families are somehow inherently different than other families and therefore shouldn't be expected to keep up their end of the educational bargain.  It's called the "soft bigotry of low expectations." I know where you're coming from, but my expectations of many of their 'parents' is so low that I doubt they'd notice that their kids were without what they needed much less that they were embarrassed. I think alot of kids that are ignored, embarrassed or don't get support early in school just quit when they get older. Then we all pay for them. Tough problem for sure and I wish I had all the answers.

I know where you are coming from, too, and I don't mean to sound callous, but isn't that what welfare and charity are for?  I just don't like the idea that teachers have to be social workers.  Educating a group of children is a big enough job all by itself without having to be responsible for whether or not said children are wearing decent underwear.

Are they running out of paper and ink cartridges in the Administration and District offices?  Or in Sacramento?

Quoted: The CA teachers are exempt from CALIFORNIA income taxes.  A 4th grade teacher makes $70k/180days which is the equivalent of $130k/yr for a full time job and they only pay federal taxes.

I have never heard of teachers being exempt from paying state income taxes.  Do you have a source for that?  The only thing I can think is along those lines is the Teacher Retention Credit which is based on years teaching with a top limit of a $1,500 credit on your state income tax if you had taught for more than 20 years (not  sure if they still even offer it).  Also I think your figures for yearly salary is a bit too high.  $70,000/year would be considered the top step for the teacher possessing top academic credentials. The average salary statewide is only around $50,000-$55,000.

Quoted: Quoted: Rusty, I'm not saying the teachers shouldn't be able to write it off as a charitable donation.  That's fine with me.  But I don't think districts should make it policy to supply kids with things their parents are supposed to be reponsible for purchasing (i.e. underwear!!!!!).  If kids still got in hot water for not having supplies, sure, they'd be embarrassed temporarily, but maybe it would inspire them to light a fire under mom's ass to get to WalMart or at least call the local charity for help.  As it is, these kids are being taught by the responsible adults around them that their families are somehow inherently different than other families and therefore shouldn't be expected to keep up their end of the educational bargain.  It's called the "soft bigotry of low expectations." I know where you're coming from, but my expectations of many of their 'parents' is so low that I doubt they'd notice that their kids were without what they needed much less that they were embarrassed. I think alot of kids that are ignored, embarrassed or don't get support early in school just quit when they get older. Then we all pay for them. Tough problem for sure and I wish I had all the answers.

You don't know the half.  Since Mindi started teaching I hear stories that just floor me.  Parents who don't teach their kids to bathe  and amazingly nobody tells them why they can't make any friends.  Kids whos parents refuse to take calls about their childs behaviour and tell Mindi that they are her problem when they go to school.  Mothers who have homes full of dog piss and shit and whos kids are crawling with lice.  Girls getting molested by shithead fathers who drink till they pass out each night.  Kids who are smart, have a chance, and just want a life that doesn't suck cause mom and dad can't stop fighting long enough to give a shit about them in a divorce.  She had one girl who wanted to come live with us just to get away.    That was heartbreaking cause she was serious.  

It's heartbreaking how bad so many parents do.  All she wants to do is provide them a chance to get out of it.  She does that with a (required) masters degree and makes less than 32K and caps at 45K.  Just don't take it all out on the kids or the people who really do want to help them.  The parents above could care less if their kids are embarrased, unhappy, or dead.  They don't want to spend a dime that doesn't get them what THEY WANT not what their kid NEEDS.

Quoted: I know where you are coming from, too, and I don't mean to sound callous, but isn't that what welfare and charity are for?  I just don't like the idea that teachers have to be social workers.  Educating a group of children is a big enough job all by itself without having to be responsible for whether or not said children are wearing decent underwear.

Underwear is way over the line of what I'd expect a teacher to provide. I think I'd even wonder how the teacher found out they were needed

Quoted: It's heartbreaking how bad so many parents do.  All she wants to do is provide them a chance to get out of it.  She does that with a (required) masters degree and makes less than 32K and caps at 45K.  Just don't take it all out on the kids or the people who really do want to help them.  The parents above could care less if their kids are embarrased, unhappy, or dead.  They don't want to spend a dime that doesn't get them what THEY WANT not what their kid NEEDS.

You tell Mindi that there are some of us who can't do her job, but think she's great for being able to do it. Teaching and being a good parent are the two most important things adults can do. Period.

Being selfish is a problem among wealthy parents too. Its amazing to me how f'd up priorities can get for some people.

My wife is an Elementary School teacher and we buy lots of supplies for the kids from pencils & paper, to apple juice & good snacks.  The schools only give $200/year for the teacher to buy supplies here & most of the kids (she teaches poorer kids) don't have near enough supplies from home.  That equals $10 PER STUDENT for an entire year!  
The end result is I/we spend a good $100 per month for supplies for her classroom so she can give a good education to these little kids.  Granted that's more than any of the rest of the teachers in her grade level, but the foundation these kids get at the early age determines their future in school.

Ya know, for all the whining they do about this, I spend more on equipment and supplies for my Army position, and for equipment I give my soldiers or for use by my section, or misc spare parts for vehicles and such to get the rolling faster than the supply system can.

Probably about $1500 a year.

Oh, and I am a Reservist.

Every job has out of pocket expenses, they need to suck it up and quit whining.

Garand Shooter-at least your troops don't try to kill, rape and beat the shit out of you every day.

Fuck them.


50+ percent of California's budget goes directly to educating.  The MAIN reason this amount is so high is is because of  the California teachers union.  California spends and average of $8k per kid per year for schooling compared to a private HS scool which charges on $5K per student.


If the teachers want to bitch about their budget situation they have no one to blame but themselves.


Sgatr15

I pay a boatload of taxes each year, so every kid should be a stinking rocket scientist. With all that money they can afford to give each kid a new gold pen and pencil everyday.   I say if a school fails to perform the principle should be publicly flogged.  

The leaders of the teachers union should be executed for corrupting the youth.  (After a fair trial of course).

The county I attended school in wasn't very well off.  Not much of a tax base in the county.  Overall, quite a few poor people in the population.  Such is the life of a farming county.

I don't ever remember any of my classmates not having pencil & paper.  I don't ever remember any teachers having to buy things on their own.

Both of my parents teach/taught.  I don't ever remember them having to pay for any supplies out of their own pocket.

Quoted: They are doing that with thier own time and money so why poke your finger in their eye?

If you'll check my post again, you'll see I said nothing critical of teachers. On the contrary, my hat's off to them. My beef is with poor parenting and top-heavy school districts.

Quoted: Ya know, for all the whining they do about this, I spend more on equipment and supplies for my Army position, and for equipment I give my soldiers or for use by my section, or misc spare parts for vehicles and such to get the rolling faster than the supply system can. Probably about $1500 a year. Oh, and I am a Reservist. Every job has out of pocket expenses, they need to suck it up and quit whining.

How much do you make a year?

Quoted: Fuck them. 50+ percent of California's budget goes directly to educating.  The MAIN reason this amount is so high is is because of  the California teachers union.  California spends and average of $8k per kid per year for schooling compared to a private HS scool which charges on $5K per student. If the teachers want to bitch about their budget situation they have no one to blame but themselves. Sgatr15

yes, teachers are in it for the money.    Cite your source that over 50% of Ca's budget goes for education and then explain how *teachers* are getting the money.

My aunt works for the LA County School District as an advanced math teacher.
She used to spend a lot of her own money on students supplies and school room supplies.
About 8 years ago she said fuck it and refuses to pay one cent for anything.
If they kids don't have it, too bad.
If the school won't provide, too bad.

I can't feel sorry for the teachers. Teachers union is always trying to raise my taxes, or ban guns.

Edited to add; Get the illegals out of the schools and there will be plenty of money for supplies.

Quoted: And people wonder why I'm so hellbent on sending my kid to private school even though we live in the "best school district in the nation."

Fairfax County? That's where I go. Does your kid go to Paul VI?

Anyway, I can tell you the reason that the school can't pay for some basic supplies, at least in my HS (biggest in VA, you can probably find out the name from there if you're really that curious). Last year, our school bought about 50 new PCs, top-end, from Dell, with flatscreen monitors, for putting in the library. To use as search/word-processing computers. They also bought new ones for the keyboarding class and for some teachers. Of course, Computer Graphics, who needs new computers, got ignored, as did Comp Sci. We get old PII's that are dying on us as we speak.

We painted the lockers instead of buying new textbooks. Our desks are breaking, but that's okay, because several of the teachers had their perfectly functional chalkboards replaced with whiteboards. The entire art department basically needs to run a fundraiser every year to buy things they need (several of the timers on the enlargers last year were completely broken... no, school didn't replace them, the teacher had to spend almost her entire share of fundraiser money to get new ones), but we have a screaming-fast network and internet, complete with new network drives for every student.

They have the money, but they don't spend it right. That's the problem.

Quoted: Quoted: Fuck them. 50+ percent of California's budget goes directly to educating.  The MAIN reason this amount is so high is is because of  the California teachers union.  California spends and average of $8k per kid per year for schooling compared to a private HS scool which charges on $5K per student. If the teachers want to bitch about their budget situation they have no one to blame but themselves. Sgatr15 yes, teachers are in it for the money.    Cite your source that over 50% of Ca's budget goes for education and then explain how *teachers* are getting the money.

If I'm not mistaken, it is a California constitutional requirement that no less than 50% of the state budget be allocated to education.

Of course it is also a Californica constitutional requirement that all state business be conducted in English.

However since laws in California are only recognized in proportion to their utility in sucking the life out of the productive class, item one is iron clad, and item 2 isn't even given lip service.

Quoted: This is truly pathetic. Our most precious resource is our children and even in our well-funded school district someone has to take up the slack and its usually at least partly the teachers that buy what's needed. I'm all for cutting BS entitlements and deductions, but not when its for education.

Quite true, it is bullshit, but this is Kalifornistan's own fucking fault. If they would quit wasting our tax dollars on bullshit like welfare, and the 1 zillion other programs they instituted for illegals and immigrants, plus wasting our tax dollars with bullshit legislation, (sb23  &  .50 come to mind)
they're gonna reap what they sow. Democrats flushed that state down the toilet in a million different ways, some of them are just becoming more obvious now.

Look on the bright side though, in 10 years when all the idiots they put through the school system enter the job market, we're gonna have a overabundance of mcdonalds workers. Happy meals for everyone!

Quoted: Quoted: Ya know, for all the whining they do about this, I spend more on equipment and supplies for my Army position, and for equipment I give my soldiers or for use by my section, or misc spare parts for vehicles and such to get the rolling faster than the supply system can. Probably about $1500 a year. Oh, and I am a Reservist. Every job has out of pocket expenses, they need to suck it up and quit whining. How much do you make a year?

As a reservist? Under 10k most years, before taxes.


I will top that this year by a good bit, but only because I will have about 24 weeks AD instead of my normal 3-4 so its actually replacing my normal income. But even so I have increased on the job costs in other ways.

Quoted: Garand Shooter-at least your troops don't try to kill, rape and beat the shit out of you every day.

No, I keep that agressiveness directed outward. But the again, there are plenty who do try in the world.

Even in the most dangerous districts I will bet that teachers don't top the top 200 for dangerous jobs.... and that driving to work is more dangerous than teaching on the classroom.

Quoted: Fuck them. 50+ percent of California's budget goes directly to educating.  The MAIN reason this amount is so high is is because of  the California teachers union.  California spends and average of $8k per kid per year for schooling compared to a private HS scool which charges on $5K per student. If the teachers want to bitch about their budget situation they have no one to blame but themselves. Sgatr15

We have a winner! Unions and the NEA, powerful, arrogant lobbyists. Bastids

Quoted: Quoted: And people wonder why I'm so hellbent on sending my kid to private school even though we live in the "best school district in the nation."   Fairfax County? That's where I go. Does your kid go to Paul VI? Anyway, I can tell you the reason that the school can't pay for some basic supplies, at least in my HS (biggest in VA, you can probably find out the name from there if you're really that curious). Last year, our school bought about 50 new PCs, top-end, from Dell, with flatscreen monitors, for putting in the library. To use as search/word-processing computers. They also bought new ones for the keyboarding class and for some teachers. Of course, Computer Graphics, who needs new computers, got ignored, as did Comp Sci. We get old PII's that are dying on us as we speak. We painted the lockers instead of buying new textbooks. Our desks are breaking, but that's okay, because several of the teachers had their perfectly functional chalkboards replaced with whiteboards. The entire art department basically needs to run a fundraiser every year to buy things they need (several of the timers on the enlargers last year were completely broken... no, school didn't replace them, the teacher had to spend almost her entire share of fundraiser money to get new ones), but we have a screaming-fast network and internet, complete with new network drives for every student. They have the money, but they don't spend it right. That's the problem.

Yes, Magknight, we live in Fairfax County.  My son is only three months old, but he'll be going to Ambleside for elementary-junior high and we haven't chosen a high school yet.  TJ if he can get in, otherwise we may go private or even send him to Chantilly (our local high school) because they are in the top 20 nationally and I figure by high school, if you've done your job as a parent (like your parents obviously did), kids are smart enough that most of the BS just annoys them rather than interferes with their ability to learn.

I COMPLETELY concur with those who have said this is the fault of the unions, and also with you, Magknight, who said it's not the money, but the way they spend it.  When I was a high school student in the mid-'90s in California public schools, we had a state-of-the-art, multimillion dollar aquarium with sharks and exotic sea life for the marine biology department, but my math teacher couldn't speak English OR teach his way out of a paper bag, and because of the union, he couldn't be fired.  EVERY LAST ONE OF US who took his class ended up failing our math placement test when we got to college, but he still teaches there.

Quoted: yes, teachers are in it for the money.    Cite your source that over 50% of Ca's budget goes for education and then explain how *teachers* are getting the money.

I don't care wheater the teachers see that money or not.  The teachers elect the union reps and the reps are the ones doing their work.  SO if the money isn't making it to the schools thats still the teachers fault since they are the union.

And contrary to popular belief, some teachers make good money.

SGatr15

Quoted: Underwear is way over the line of what I'd expect a teacher to provide. I think I'd even wonder how the teacher found out they were needed

Ask Mary Kay LeTourneau.

Quoted: Quite true, it is bullshit, but this is Kalifornistan's own fucking fault. If they would quit wasting our tax dollars on bullshit like welfare, and the 1 zillion other programs they instituted for illegals and immigrants

A massive chunk of the L.A. County budget is spent on health care. Health care that is mandated by the Feds that the state provide for.   The voters tried to stop benefits for illegals ala Prop 187 but it was deemed illegal by the Feds.  So no, it is not all California's own fucking fault that it is wasting their tax dollars

Quoted: Look on the bright side though, in 10 years when all the idiots they put through the school system enter the job market, we're gonna have a overabundance of mcdonalds workers. Happy meals for everyone!

You're off by 10 years.

www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2388909,00.html?search=filter

Illiteracy shockingly high in L.A.

Half of workers unable to read

By Rachel Uranga
Staff Writer

Continued immigration and a stubborn high school dropout rate have stymied efforts to improve literacy in Los Angeles County, where more than half the working-age population can't read a simple form, a report released Wednesday found.

Alarmingly, only one in every 10 workers deemed functionally illiterate is enrolled in literacy classes and half of them drop out within three weeks, said the study by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

"It's an emergency situation," said Mayor James Hahn, adding that poor literacy rates could jeopardize the region's economy by driving out high-tech businesses and other industries that pay well.

In the Los Angeles region, 53 percent of workers ages 16 and older were deemed functionally illiterate, the study said.

That percentage dropped to 44 percent in the greater San Fernando Valley -- which includes Agoura Hills and Santa Clarita -- but soared to 85 percent in some pockets of the Valley.

The study measured levels of literacy across the region using data from the 2000 Census, the U.S. Department of Education and a survey of literacy programs taken from last September to January.

It classified 3.8 million Los Angeles County residents as "low-literate," meaning they could not write a note explaining a billing error, use a bus schedule or locate an intersection on a street map.

And despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in public schools over the past decade to boost literacy rates, functional illiteracy levels have remained flat because of a steady influx of non-English-speaking immigrants and a 30 percent high school dropout rate, authors of the report said.

The last available national study was conducted in 1992 by the National Adult Literacy Survey, which found that 48 percent of the nation's working-age population was functionally illiterate.

"This is a ticking time bomb, a dirty secret we don't want to talk about. We are losing the battle," said Mark Drummond, chancellor of California's community college system.

Dozens of community-based groups, including the Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and other public agencies vowed to improve programs over the next five years by connecting English learners with employers and educating 1,000 workers with English-language deficiencies during the next two years.

A top priority should be making classes more accessible. For example, the report found that no school in the county offered Saturday classes or tailored classes for adult students with families or multiple jobs.

And while nearly 90 percent of adults take literacy classes to improve their employment opportunities, only 30 percent of literacy programs include the workplace in their instruction.

"It's appalling," said Marge Nichols, the author of the study. "A 50 percent dropout rate (for literacy classes) is pretty dysfunctional. We haven't kept up."

Though the report offers no estimate for the cost of functional illiteracy, the National Right to Read Foundation places the price tag nationally at $224 billion. And local observers say untold millions are being lost by would-be employers who move to other cities in search of highly skilled workers.

Before he enrolled in a literacy class at the North Valley Occupational Center, Adolio Gonzales, 29, was intimidated by filling out job applications or even going to an amusement park.

"I didn't want to go to Disneyland because I thought it was so complicated," said the Reseda resident, who waits tables at a Carrows restaurant and wants to become a computer programmer.

Gonzales emigrated from Guatemala seven years ago and taught himself to speak English by watching television programs.

But he often found himself confused by the simplest task, and had trouble filling out an application at a fast-food restaurant two years ago.

"The application asked why I wanted to work for this company and I didn't know what to answer," he said.

Then, he enrolled in the literacy class, which emphasizes the basics, like filling out forms and reading the newspaper.

"I feel comfortable now, like I can do anything."

I'm about to puke.