Unions kill our chances for 250 mill in education money
Washington has passed our State over for that 250 million dollars (Race to the Top competition) funding. According to the Globe, Mass may have lost points for requiring union consent on enacting some plans to overhaul under performing schools and for not changing state law to allow for unfettered growth of charter schools. Our state can apply again in June for a slice of the 3.4 billion left over, but it appears that our elected eleite who cater to the union demands, will once again, leave our state at a disadvantage as our school budgets continue to decrease.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 11:55 AM
14 Comments
14 Comments:
How can anyone in this state knowing the budget crisis not see the importance of qualifiying for federal aid programs? We can go down because we don’t agree to what the ask, so everyone loses. Or we can agree to what they need us to do in order to qualify and get some federal funding to help us survive this crisis, and then re-evaluate when we are on more solid ground. Someone somewhere is missing the boat on this one, and our kids are the ones who will pay the price.
Clearly you are anti-Union Pillsbury. Finally showing your true colors, blaming Unions for all the evils in the world. Good luck in getting elected without any Union support.
Pillsbury, don’t blame the unions for this until you do your research. Did the governor or legislature ever even approach the unions on this topic or did they just never even consult them? Seems to me they waited until the last minute to do the paperwork to even qualify for consideration and I bet they waited so long they did not even have time to talk to the unions involved to reach some equitable agreements. Maybe I am wrong, but I don’t think so. I don’t think you did your homework on this one.
Unions are needed more now than ever before to protect workers rights. Just look at the pay execs at AIG make, the little guys there are not making that money. The little guys still need the unions to protect them. The rich always blame the unions for the things they don’t want to do. If they treated employees fairly, we would not need unions in the first place, but until they do, unions are the only hope blue collar workers have.
Teachers are overpaid and underworked. Time to pay them what they are worth, which will save the commonwealth a whole boatload of money.
Readers,
This comes from the Globe.. I don't make these things up. Pick up the Globe and see the headline.
I don't blame anyone but ourselves for the troubles we have. We've allowed our democracy to be hijacked by powerful groups of people with deep pockets who feel they are entitled to more than everyone else and with little to no accountability.
I wouldn't expect any union support from any union. Nor will I take a dime from any of them. Their strangle hold on our state is well documented, long before I came on the scene.
If you remember, I had blogged about this months ago. While DeLeo and others went on vacation, this application sat and waited for them to act.
Lobbyists had plenty of time to sway any language in the application that would have allowed our state to be competitive.
The name calling begins. The issue of unions, budget cuts, school closings, teachers performance are issues that are being played out all over this country. We are not alone in facing these issues. What we need to look at is where do we fall in comparision to what other states are doing. Give us some context here Jim. How many states applied for this program? How many of those were disqualified for the same reasons we were? The state that met the criteria, are then in better shape fiscally than MA or worse shape? Did unions in other states make concessions? We do not live in a vacumn, and we are not the only state facing these issues. I would be very curious to know the details, not just the headlines. We get too much of that lack of detail from the press. Don’t fall into that pattern here. Tell us what we need to know to make an informed and educated decision about what should be done. Can’t do that without a lot more information.
Richardson sucks at being our state rep. But the fact that she sucks is not reason enough for me to vote for you. It is only a reason not to vote for her. She was part of the process that left MA out of the running to get any of this funding, and from what I read, it is not the first thing she has been part of that cost Framingham federal dollars. But that does not tell me what you would have done to ensure a better outcome. You got me to sign your papers to be on the ballot, but you need to do more to get my vote. This is a great platform to use for getting your ideas out there. Start using it for that or we will start to think you have no ideas. You can win this race but to do that you need to come out of the gate running hard now. You can not beat an incumbant democrat in this town waiting until September to get your ideas out there. You need to start now.
Good Point Ever,
From the WSJ, Tennessee got 500 million while Delaware got 100 million.
In selecting winners, the education department used a complicated scoring system that weighted everything from states willingness to track student and teacher performance, adopt uniform standards and turn around or close the worst schools. Delaware got 454 points while Tennessee got 444, out of 500.
The District of Columbia came in last with 402 points. The others were Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mass, New York, N Carolina, Ohio, Penn, RI and South Carolina.
Many states pushed through contentious legislation or agreed to other changes in order to qualify.
The states that won, had union support, the ones that did not, lost out. The Sec of Education wanted to send a signal to the State capitals and so she did.
Unless Beacon Hill changes their way, we will not stand much of a chance at any of this money for our schools in the future, it's as simple as that.
I agree with the last comment here. You need to tell us more than what is going on. We need to hear what your ideas are that are different from what we have now for representation. And I also agree that you need to use this forum to do that starting now, not in the fall. You are the underdog here and to win you are going to have to work twice as hard and for twice as long as Richardson will have to work. She will get people’s votes by default if you don’t get out there in front of the residents of Framingham and quash that perception of you as a one issue man. Don’t count on winning this race just by throwing tomatoes at the opposition because that will not overcome the image a lot of people have of you. People think you are abrasive, self-centered, and unwilling to listen to the opposition’s side of things. None of those are qualities that will win you an election. Personally, none of those are qualities that really describe you accurately when people get to know you, but you need people to get to know you in order for them to see that. Slow and steady wins the race. Don’t lose sight of that.
You won’t take contributions from the Unions or lobbyists’ and you say their hold on the state is well documented and you have written about it before. All well and good but you still have to deal with the issues of the unions if you get elected, so stop passing the buck here. What would you have done differently if you were in a position to have had some say in this process. How would you have dealt with the unions stand. How would you have made sure MA was at least in the running for some of this money. Stop passing the buck and saying it is someone else’s issue. If you are serious about running, then it is now your issue, so tell us what you would do.
AV.. thanks. At least you feel it's my right to run.
If I had been in a position to weigh in on this, I certainly would have pressed DeLeo to take action and not go on vacation. I would have assembled a bipartisan group of like minded reps that are not tied to the teachers unions. I would also have asked for the opinions of educational experts who have identified our states education problems and asked for their help in bringing all parties to the table, for our kids sake. I would have voted for a plan that holds schools more accountable.
I would not have voted from DeLeo as speaker to begin with and if I am elected, I will not vote for him as speaker.
Whatever I will do will NOT be because of campaign donations from unions, big business, lobbyists or anyone else. I will NOT be bullied, bought or coerced into voting for bad or partisan decisions that don't help us in Framingham.
IR,
The only people who think that of me are in her camp. I'm not trying to appeal to party loyalists. They voted for a deceased rep, a convicted state worker and a gal who forged a signature from the Governor on her campaign literature. The very same people who want to give drivers licenses and the right to vote to illegal immigrants. The same party who has had three speakers and three senators go down in flames.They couldn't allow themselves to vote for anyone honest and up front. Am I listening to their side... They have no side at all. I won't spend much time listening to lies and mis-information from corrupt pols, it's not productive and not in the best interest of the voters.
The truth is ignored by the loyalists and it's those people who find me abrasive. I don't hold any of them in high regard and refuse to let hypocrisy rule. If it's a partisan ass kisser voters want, then they'll not vote for me. If the aware voter wants to send someone to represent this Town to the Hill who will not bow to the king and stand up for Framingham, they vote for myself.
The voter who realizes the present system of unethical behavior, corruption, secrecy and partisan back room deal making, is who I'm trying to reach and this summer and fall, I will. Voters will see all the positions I have taken on their behalf on the web site and I will have a presence here, on TV and around town until the election.
Label me any way you want, just don't lie about it.
Annon,
Years and years ago, I was a road boss for a company with a small crew. I was asked by a few of the men if I would support them taking a vote to join the IBEW. I supported their decision, met with the union reps, did the right thing by them and was fired for union activity by the company a week later. IBEW never stood up for me as they said they would. I harbor no ill will towards any of them. I chalked it up to a learning experience.
Organized labor has it's place in society, but not at the expense of everyone who isn't.
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