How do you pay for that when we can't even pass bonds for buildings and the state has to step in to fund that?<BR><BR><B><I>Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">. . ."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="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">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
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