. . ."under Donovan's plan, parents will have tons more free time -- <br> what with being excused from the kinds of things most of us signed up for as <br> parents -- and will then form roaming street gangs or start smoking or <br> having sex."-- Keely Mix<br> <br> <br> Keely,<br> <br> I know you are the expert on education being on the school board and all. But, as I understand it, all parents have already been having sex. <br> <br> _DJA<br><br><b><i>keely emerinemix <kjajmix1@msn.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> Of course, under Donovan's plan, parents will have tons more free time -- <br>what with being excused from the kinds of things most of us signed up for as <br>parents -- and will then form roaming street gangs or start smoking or <br>having sex.<br><br>keely<br><br><br>From: Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 @yahoo.com=""><br>To: Jerry Weitz
<gweitz @moscow.com="">, Shirley Ringo <ringoshirl @moscow.com="">, <br> vision2020@moscow.com<br>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Minimum wage<br>Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 07:55:21 -0700 (PDT)<br><br>Jerry,<br><br> I agree with you 100% regarding the workforce training. The school system <br>needs to start kids one year earlier, let them out one year later ,and use <br>those two extra years to train youth a job skill, good work ethic, how to <br>search for and find a job, keep a job, and advance in that field.<br><br> They also need to teach youth how to do taxes, be a responsible member of <br>the community, build social skills, know first aid and establish healthy <br>eating habits, and all about how credit and debit works.<br><br> In other words, schools need to teach youth the things they are going to <br>need to know about living in modern society and doing well. So many things <br>you learn in school today seem pointless when you get out and never use it.
<br>You also find yourself hurting in other areas when you are expected to know <br>how to do something in life but nobody ever taught you.<br><br> Thanks for your email.<br><br> Best,<br><br> _DJA<br><br>Jerry Weitz <gweitz @moscow.com=""> wrote:<br> Raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 will not help in real <br>inflation-adjusted buying power--it is too small of an increase. So let’s <br>discuss the fundamentals. As Virginia’s former Democratic governor Mark <br>Warner’s track record illustrates, skills training in our high schools <br>would help increase wages for Idaho’s workforce and encourage more jobs. <br>With the push for community colleges in the urban areas of Idaho, I believe <br>that our local high schools could become the rural equivalent of community <br>college. This would cost money and would require a willingness to change <br>the current high school structure.<br><br> The state legislature’s current focus on shifting
school funding from <br>property taxes to the sales tax (the current maintenance and operations <br>debate) misses the point. Instead of focusing on ways to shift funds, I <br>would urge consideration for increased funding for the creation/maintenance <br>of skills centers in local high schools. Rather than seeking a balanced <br>taxation approach, the Idaho Education Association has promoted a tax shift <br>to the sales tax, which sends a confusing message.<br><br> When one examines France, with a high minimum wage, a large <br>under-skilled/inexperienced segment of its youth, guaranteed employment <br>contracts, unbending unionization, top down regulations, etc., one observes <br>high unemployment, a high cost of living, and extreme social unrest.<br><br> What works: 1) create/maintain superior education for both the <br>college-bound and the non-college-bound, 2) invest in infrastructure, 3) be <br>friendly to business, 4) be environmentally wise, and
5) do this without <br>going deeply into debt, which requires prioritization. Ireland has <br>followed the above policies with exceptional success. We should follow the <br>lead of former governor Warner and Virginia’s Republican legislature and <br>make these policies non-partisan. From what I’ve learned, Larry Grant, our <br>district’s Democratic candidate for Congress, seems to understand this <br>non-partisan, middle of the road approach.<br><br> Jerry<br><br><br><br> At 11:11 AM 8/7/06, Shirley Ringo wrote:<br> Visionaries:<br><br><br> I cannot resist the urge to weigh in on the minimum wage issue. I <br>proposed legislation during the most recent legislative session to raise <br>the minimum wage to $6.15. It received very little support from <br>Republicans. (Our District 6 Republicans did support it, and <br>Representative Trail will co-sponsor the effort with us again next year.)<br><br> "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><br><br> We plan to try again next year, at an amount above $6.15.<br><br><br><br> Without getting into the usual arguments, it’s unacceptable to have a <br>minimum wage that leaves those paid at that level in cruel poverty. <br>Lawmakers have neglected maintenance on minimum wage levels. In 1968, the <br>minimum wage meant something positive to families. In inflation-adjusted <br>dollars, it has lost nearly 40% of its value between 1968 and now.<br><br><br><br> According to polling, the vast majority of Americans believe the minimum <br>wage should be higher. I believe eighteen states have a minimum wage <br>higher than the $5.15 federal level, which has not been raised since 1997. <br>Some of these states have used the initiative process to get results, where <br>state legislators would not act on it. In some of these states, there has <br>been significant help from Republican leaders.<br><br><br><br> Many claims of negative consequences do
not seem to be true. One of the <br>claims is that jobs will be lost. In the majority of states that have <br>raised the minimum wage, there has in fact been an increase in jobs. (We <br>can’t claim the wage increase caused more jobs, but the decrease some <br>predicted didn’t happen.) An increase in employee productivity and less <br>absenteeism was reported where the pay level increased.<br><br><br><br> On the inflation issue, "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Florida reported after <br>raising their minimum wage a very minor increase in some prices. Since a <br>relatively small percent of the employed receive minimum wage, one might <br>not expect a dramatic increase in prices. (We can expect a “ripple effect” <br>though, where employers will raise wages to be more competitive.) One year <br>ago in Idaho, according to the Department of Commerce and Labor, 32,000 <br>Idahoans received a wage between $5.15 and $6.15 per hour. While
Idaho <br>State Government employee pay is entirely too low, almost none of them <br>receive pay as low as $5.15 per hour. I don’t consider it an undisputed <br>fact that there will be significant inflation, but we can certainly study <br>the issue in the states that have raised the minimum wage.<br><br><br><br> Workers who receive minimum wage live from paycheck to paycheck. (If <br>they can make it stretch.) They have no discretionary money. What are <br>they to do when their taxes go up? Just more water in the gravy, I guess. <br>At the minimum wage, it takes more than one full day to earn the money to <br>buy fifteen gallons of gasoline.<br><br><br><br> While I continue to study the issue, I am convinced that some of the <br>negative consequences of raising the minimum wage are over-stated. I am <br>also steadfast in my belief that it is unacceptable to value people and <br>families so little that we allow such a low level of compensation for
their <br>efforts and to address their needs.<br><br><br><br> Shirley<br><br><br><br><br> =======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet,<br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> http://www.fsr.net<br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br> ======================================================= <br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet,<br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> http://www.fsr.net<br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================<br><br> __________________________________________________<br>Do You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around<br>http://mail.yahoo.com<br><br><br>=======================================================<br> List services
made available by First Step Internet,<br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> http://www.fsr.net<br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================<br><br>_________________________________________________________________<br>Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee® <br>Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963<br><br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br> http://www.fsr.net <br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================</gweitz></ringoshirl></gweitz></donovanjarnold2005></blockquote><br><p> 
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