School budget, Bullying and the auto bill
As the 2011 budget forecast for Framingham Schools takes shape, Superintendent Hiersche says a 3% reduction in staff, or around 54 people, may be a reality. Transportation cuts could mean no busing for kids living 1 1/2 to 2 miles away from schools. It's way past time the school department get with the program and reduce their budget... somehow. Any ideas from anyone are welcomed.
Beacon Hill, in their reaction to bullying in schools and on the web, in light of recent suicide of the S Hadley school student, has once again, showed how the lack of insight into this matter has produced another overbearing, infective bill. Last year, the bill received support from teachers and law enforcement, because it had a provision for school districts to report cases to the State, but in the Senate version, it's gone. Another provision in the bill would require every school district to adopt prevention and intervention measures. And another part of the bill would mandate that children on the autism spectrum receive counseling on how to avoid and respond to bullying. This part makes no sense what so ever.
The entire bill misses the most important factor, parents of the bullies and their victims. Before cops are drawn into this and separate classes are taught on how to prevent and report bullying, the schools should first acknowledge and react to in school bullying. Parents are the only answer to this problem and should be counseled if need be and held accountable for their children s actions. In my life's experience, bullies grow up to have bullies as children. And it's our own fault for not having more control over our children, not the schools, cops or legislators. The Senate will vote on this in early March and could have done something about this years ago, but once again, people have to die at an intersection before a light goes in.
The big money comes to the lobbyists, representing car companies, they got so far, 600,000 to kill the "Right to Repair" bill that will be voted on today. Car manufactures claim company secrets will be compromised, while everyone else says it will help the consumer get car repairs done cheaper than the dealer. Mass would be the first state to enact such legislation and I hope they can get this done. It's a whole sale rip off, getting any repairs done at a dealership, regardless of manufacture. And the worst part of this is that most drivers pay more than they should for the same service done by a repair shop. Lets see if all that lobbyists money sways the Hill away from fair competition and lower car repair prices.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 10:45 AM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
Never have heard of this Right to Repair bill, but it is about time someone looked at that issue. Why do I have to go to the dealer who charges me twice as much money as the local guy? I would rather support the local guy, and he would do a better job, and I can find him if he doesn't. Will be interesting to see who does not vote for this, and ask them why they didn't.
Right to Repair? You mean we actually have to pass a bill in order to have that right? What the hell is going on in this country?
Bullys have been around forever. Why is is suddenly and issue that requires us to legislatively address it? I was a kid 60 yrs ago and there were bullys around then. Someone, it got settled, and no one ever died that I can remember over it. Our society has completely lost sight of its sense of responsibility and accountability. Lets get back to a society where we all looked out for each other instead of stepping all over each other in the rush to get ahead. We can not fix what is wrong with some new laws. We need to fix what is wrong with our family and society. That is where the problem is, so that is where the solution will be found.
Schools are important and although I get that they need to do their part in lowering the town expenses, the education of our kids should be the last expense we want to cut. There may be waste in the school budget, in fact I am pretty sure there is, but if we don’t actually see the entire budget, then how can we know that? If the teachers don’t want to have their jobs cut then they need to push for the school budget to be open to the public so we can see how much of the actual money is spent on important things like salaries for good teachers, and how much of it is stuff that could and should be cut. Transparency in all things leads to fairer and more equitable decisions.
n light of the Toyota fiasco, lets hope people stop protecting these car companies and start worrying about the people who buy the cars. We are not stealing any business away from the dealers with this bill. We are just making it a level playing field. They can do the repairs if their price to do it is on par with the competitions. If not, I will go somewhere else. Isn’t that what a free market enterprise is all about?
Pillsbury, you telling me that if it was your grand daughter that some bully was picking on at school you would not want the teachers and the principal to get involved and stop it? They are on the front line seeing it happen, not the parents. Think about it that way. I can not imagine you would want them to stand by and let some kid bully one of our own.
I think you are right on target with your comments here about bullying Pillsbury. Parents who were bullys raise children who are bullies. The apple does not fall far from the tree. But the problem is that means the parents of the kids doing the bullying are not going to see it as a problem, so they are not going to do anything to stop their kids from being bullys. That means the school, or someone, has to step in and stop this.
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