[Vision2020] [Bulk] RE: Why I'm going to vote Yes on the Levy

[Paul Rumelhart]

Matt,

Just a quick reply.  First, if the budget is $20,260,923.00 and salaries 
are 81% of that, then the average salary is $20,360,923.00 * 0.81 / 175 
= $94,241.99, not $114,285.  Not that that makes much of a difference - 
it's still obviously taking other salaries into account.  Also, the "and 
benefits" part is usually around a 33% increase in fringe benefits for 
State employees.  I don't know the numbers for the school district, but 
my salary at the U of I has a 34% fringe associated with it, inflating 
it's real cost by about 4/3.  Multiplying the $94,241.99 * 3/4 = 
$70681.49.  The fringe takes into account employer amounts for taxes, 
insurance, and retirement.

However, any speculation past that point is useless, because I don't 
know if their support staff is one guy or 500 people.

Paul

Matt Decker wrote:
> Keely/all,
>
> First and foremost thanks for your drive and determination towards our 
> children's education. You've taken many steps to insure success. I 
> have to admit though, that I am unsure about giving my vote to the 
> levy. Let me explain. I have many questions and have heard from both 
> sides on this topic. So please let me give my thoughts, but also give 
> me hope that our schools will spend the money wisely.
>
> Candis Donicht wrote an opinion piece tonight in which she states that 
> MSD has a budget of $20,360,923. She also mentions that 81% of that 
> goes to "salaries and benefits". She further states that, "175 
> teachers" are employed by MSD. Now bare with me, since I am a MSD 
> graduate. Twenty mil divided by 175=$114,285. We all know that can't 
> be true. So I will assume that this budget includes cooks, 
> assistants,  lawn care, etc. Let's again assume that 500 people are 
> employed by the MSD, under this percentage. Twenty mil divided by 
> 500=$40,000. A great median wage. Now we are going to increase this 
> rate by 1.9 mil. A increase of 10.33%. Seems pretty high to me. Where 
> is this money going?
>
> Now I know I may not have all the numbers correct, but I also doubt 
> that they are too far off. To me Candice stating that 81% of the money 
> goes to pay scares me. Why should raising the rate of teachers pay 
> three times more then that of inflation, raise our level of education? 
> Money does not = education.
>
> Furthermore, Dale( I will be labeled as a kirker for mentioning his 
> name) Courtney brought up a valid point in his opinion piece. He 
> mentioned that the state tax has been raised by 1%, all of which is 
> for schools. Hopefully meaning that more is coming this way. Why not 
> wait another year?
>
> I also can't get over the fact that our neighboring cities pay less, 
> but have higher test scores. Pullman has less teachers, but yet again 
> beat us in most accounts. Again money does not = education
>
> Also cant understand how Moscow has lost student numbers, but yet we 
> insist on smaller numbers. Why? When I was there we had 25-30 students 
> per class(1984-95). Now we want smaller? Hey I'm all for it, but only 
> if the GPA rises. Which, I am unsure of.
>
> I have no problem giving my vote to this levy, but I need question 
> like these answered. Please give me hope.
>
> Thanks for your time
> Matt
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     From: kjajmix1 at msn.com
>     To: godshatter at yahoo.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
>     Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 21:30:17 -0800
>     Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Why I'm going to vote Yes on the Levy
>
>     Thank you, Paul!
>
>     keely
>
>
>
>
>     > Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 20:59:25 -0800
>     > From: godshatter at yahoo.com
>     > To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>     > Subject: [Vision2020] Why I'm going to vote Yes on the Levy
>     >
>     > Just a few reasons:
>     >
>     > I can't underestimate the value of education in our community.
>     Forget
>     > evolution vs. intelligent design, think basic math skills, a
>     sense of
>     > history, simple reading skills, a knowledge of the language we
>     speak,
>     > and a basic understanding of science. Where would we be today if we
>     > didn't value education? Do you like that computer you're reading
>     this
>     > with? Are you happy to know that the hospital is just down the
>     street
>     > if you have some kind of medical problem? Would you rather drive
>     to the
>     > ocean, or walk? The more data we have to live life, the better
>     it will
>     > become. The more we all know, the better off we all are. This
>     > prosperity results in real-world economic development. This
>     makes us
>     > richer as a community. Our poorest people are richer than much
>     of the
>     > rest of the world.
>     >
>     > So, education is important. But why not educate everyone
>     individually?
>     > Why centralize it?
>     >
>     > Well, first you have economies of scale. There is more to
>     learning than
>     > just sitting around the teacher on the floor in a semi-circle,
>     listening
>     > to him or her reading you stories. You need books and supplies. You
>     > need places to work, and you need prepared lessons. Centralizing
>     all
>     > this makes sense. Why expect every family to buy a microscope? Or a
>     > bunsen burner? Or a wall map of the US? Why dump a substantial
>     amount
>     > of money individually when we can spend less by centralizing it?
>     >
>     > You also have the benefits of specialization. We teach our teachers
>     > about one particular subject until they become experts on it.
>     Why ask
>     > everyone to learn everything about all subjects? We also teach our
>     > teachers how to teach. It's not simple, and just faking your way
>     > through it is not recommended. Why expect all of us to learn this?
>     > Granted, it's probably very useful, but we have a limited amount
>     of time
>     > and a limited number of neurons. Learning all this takes time,
>     and the
>     > ones who have learned it the best cost money. Yet we need them
>     desperately.
>     >
>     > Public education is the great equalizer. People who can't afford to
>     > teach their children, whether it's because of finances or time
>     > commitments or lack of knowledge in some areas, will still be
>     able to
>     > give them an education. Every child, no matter their background,
>     has
>     > the opportunity to excel in their learning. Who will become the
>     next
>     > great physicist, or mathematician, or musician? It's also a great
>     > springboard. Who will be in the right place with the right set
>     of facts
>     > and the knowledge to make use of them and do the next great thing?
>     > That's why I want to live forever. So I can see what people keep
>     coming
>     > up with as the world progresses.
>     >
>     > Another reason for centralization is the changing nature of the
>     world we
>     > live in. All of us spend much of our lifetime unlearning things we
>     > learned as children. Some of it was simply our misunderstandings
>     as we
>     > developed and are simply later correcting. Other facts, though,
>     have
>     > simply been shown to be wrong. Look how much physics has changed
>     in the
>     > last 50 years. Subjects like history change as we realize more
>     about
>     > our past. Geography changes as world events progress. Even with
>     > relatively slowly changing fields, such as mathematics, new ways of
>     > imparting knowledge to others in these areas are found. Teaching
>     > incorrect knowledge is probably worse than not teaching that
>     knowledge
>     > at all. This corrected knowledge needs to be assimilated, and it's
>     > inefficient to have to teach every homemaker just to have them
>     teach
>     > their kids the next day. It's more efficient to have those
>     specialists
>     > I mentioned previously get updated on their subjects. It's faster,
>     > because they are subject experts, and there are fewer of them to
>     teach.
>     > It's also easier to require that they get updated on their
>     subjects.
>     >
>     > So why support this levy, specifically? Because, in my humblest of
>     > opinions, every penny we can afford to throw at it we will see back
>     > again a hundred-fold in the future as a community. I'm sure
>     there's a
>     > line out there past which any increases will not help. I think
>     we are
>     > so far away from the breakpoint that it's silly to talk about
>     it. Also,
>     > the appropriateness of this levy has been put into question.
>     Show our
>     > community that we know how important education is by voting Yes
>     on this.
>     >
>     > Paul
>     >
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