[Vision2020] [Bulk] RE: Why I'm going to vote Yes on the Levy
Matt Decker
mattd2107 at hotmail.com
Sat Nov 10 08:43:07 PST 2007
Paul,
Yes you are correct I must have had a trpo in the calculator.
> Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 23:57:00 -0800
> From: godshatter at yahoo.com
> To: mattd2107 at hotmail.com
> CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] [Bulk] RE: Why I'm going to vote Yes on the Levy
>
> 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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> http://www.fsr.net
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