[Vision2020] A proposal to balance the budget
lfalen
lfalen at turbonet.com
Wed Feb 2 11:54:49 PST 2011
Thanks for the figures. twenty years ago the private sector received higher compensation for the equivalent government job. The advantage to a government job was that job security and benifits were usually better with a government job. Now a government job is on a par with or better than the private sector. In general job security and benefits are still better with government jobs.
In regard to you previous post, I also would not want to cut facility any more than necessary. Same goes for staff. You get the biggest bang for you buck at the administrative level.I do not have the actual data, so I will use some hypothetical figures too lustrate my point. Suppose you need to cut $2, 000,000; The average staff salary is $35,000; there are 2000 total employees; the average salary is $85,000 (administration, faculty, staff). If some staff people were cut 20%, if would effect 286 people. If that were spread over all of the employees, it would amount to a 1.18% cut. That would not hurt anyone to bad. You may have the actual data. If so, you can recalculate with the actual figures. Again you would get your biggest bang for you buck at the administrative level. If Wayne wants to chime in again with his echo comment here is a quote from Winston Churcihhill "If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the p!
oint
once. Then come back and hit uit again. Then a third time-a tremendous whack!"
I did not cover secondary schools in my original post. I hope I don't rile Sue too much here, but here are some suggestions at that level. They could also take an across the board cut by taking the lead of Mr Bradbury and the Troy school. The Lancaster Teaching Method could be tried along with the use of remote computer screens. That may not work too well in small schoiols though. Arne Duncan has some good ideas to improve schools. For more on this one could start with George Will's article in the february 7,2011 addition of Newsweek. Most schools have a Superintendent an a Principal. I do not think that each small school needs a $90,000 Superintendent. Why not have one Superintendent for the County and a Principal at each school.
Rogerl
-----Original message-----
From: "Robert Dickow" dickow at turbonet.com
Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:41:50 -0800
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A proposal to balance the budget
> Continuing the thread...
>
> Some folks may still feel that government employees get paid way more than
> private employees, justifying cuts to government workers. It's hard to
> generalize, and it depends on the occupation. I got a note that asserted
> that government employees are making gobs of money here in Moscow. That
> wasn't quite the line of argument I was taking, which was about the country
> in general. Anyway, statistics can lie don't forget, so don't draw big
> conclusions, but here's a list of some professional occupations with
> salaries that show quite a bit of variance. Anyways... figures from the
> Bureau of Labor Statistics. College professors in private institutions? I
> think they're paid more, aren't they? Anybody?
>
> Attorney
> Government average: $105,577
> Nationwide average: $110,520
>
> Financial Manager
> Government average: $95,257
> Nationwide average: $96,620
>
> Economist
> Government average: $89,441
> Nationwide average: $80,900
>
> Microbiologist:
> Government average: $80,798
> Nationwide average: $63,360
>
> Architect
> Government average: $80,777
> Nationwide average: $68,560
>
> Accountant
> Government average: $74,907
> Nationwide average: $58,020
>
> Librarian
> Government average: $74,630
> Nationwide average: $49,110
>
> Human Resources Manager
> Government average: $71,232
> Nationwide average: $89,950
>
> Nurse
> Government average: $60,935
> Nationwide average: $56,880
>
> Tax examiner
> Government average: $36,963
> Nationwide average: $49,460
>
> Medical Technician
> Government average: $35,526
> Nationwide average: $33,170
>
> Bob Dickow, troublemaker
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
> On Behalf Of bear at moscow.com
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 5:50 PM
> To: lfalen
> Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A proposal to balance the budget
>
>
> Roger,
>
> As someone who has had to face the cuts imposed by CALS, I find your
> suggestions a but short sighted. I did not have science or research in my
> title and have over 8 years of seniority but I still was laid off by the
> College and to retain employment and benefits was forced to take a
> demotion. I was also one of the few people in CALS that had to take
> furlough days last year. Yet you suggest I should be willing and even
> happy to accept a 5% cut! While I feel for the people who now have to be
> paid via grant funding via the PI, the fact remains that is an option for
> them. Why shouldn't the extension offices as state and federal employees
> take the same cuts that have been imposed by the Gov. as the on campus
> departments and offices have had to absorb?
>
> All I am saying is that the problem is more complex than everyone take a
> 5% cut across the board.
>
> Chris Price
>
>
>
> > Here are some proposals to balance Federal, State and University Budgets
> > .
> > First I would take care of the mentally ill, the disabled and our
> > veterans.
> > All government employees (state and Federal) should take a 5% pay cut. The
> > private sector has taken cuts(except for Wall Street and a few others).
> > This should start with all Federal legislators. State legislators are not
> > paid that much in Idaho.
> > The University could easily balance their budget by doing so. Instead they
> > are making cuts at the low end. Cals is making the cuts on those staff
> > that have science or research in their title. This is a highly arbitrary
> > way to do it and is not based on merit or seniority. The PI that they
> > work for will have to come up with half their salary from other sources
> > such as grants. My wife has been cut to 87.5%. She is now paid for 7 hours
> > but still puts in about 12 hours a day. In june she will probably be cut
> > to half time. This means that her benefits will no longer be picked up by
> > the University. One can not afford to work for that, She has worked for
> > the UI for over 40 years. She has 3 more years to go before reaching SS
> > retirement age.
> > An across the board 5% cut would not hurt anyone that much and it would
> > easier to save the desired dollars than cutting some staff by 80 or 50%
> > The UI has opened up 4 offices in China to recruit students. Why? The UI
> > is a land grant college. They should take care of their base first.
> > Recruit in China when times are better.
> > Other ways to save money. Review all government agencies for ways they
> > can be reduced. All agencies should come with a sunset. If after a set
> > period of time they would need to be re-evaluated and authorised. If the
> > wern't they would go out of existence. All lawmakers should be on the same
> > benefits that they legislate for the rest of us.
> > All cuts in pay or personnel should start at the top. The UI like most
> > other government agencies have greatly expanded at the administrative
> > level. That is where the cuts should start. Diversity is important, but
> > the UI does nt need in excess of 20 people to handle it. There should be
> > on director and an assistant. They can then work with someone in the
> > individual departments or colleges.
> > If Administrators were trimmed back at the Federal, State and University
> > level more programs and jobs could be save on balance.
> > Help the handicapped fine jobs. When I was with Carnation and Manna Pro
> > our Small World line of Wild bird seeds were packaged by handicapped
> > people.
> > These are only a few things that can be done to balance the budget and at
> > the same time save valuable programs such as aid for the mentally ill.
> > Roger
> >
> > =======================================================
> > List services made available by First Step Internet,
> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> > http://www.fsr.net
> > mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > =======================================================
> >
>
>
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
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