Some Food For Thought

[KRAM1]

When Being Biggest Isn’t the Best

We know we’re big here in Texas, but does our public school payroll have to lead the nation? For every 10,000 Texans our state-supported schools employ 273 people.

Come on, you say: New Jersey just has to lead Texas in that category, right? Wrong. New Jersey has just 266 school workers per 10,000 people. We’re No. 1! Aren’t you proud?

And we could be proud—maybe—if the numbers reflected classroom teachers trying to stuff Shakespeare, the Declaration of Independence, and some algebra into young minds. In fact, nearly half our 661,000 public school workforce does something other than teach—administering, record-keeping, answering the telephone, cleaning, transporting, serving meals, and maybe devoting time to how they can avoid having their salaries and benefits trimmed, like so many private sector workers who pay the teachers’ salaries.

The question we need to ask is, how come we need almost as many folks doing support work as there are doing the stuff for which schools supposedly exist in the first place—teaching kids?

Big budget cuts are coming in government spending all over the United States—here as well as New Jersey, New York, California, and Wisconsin (where public workers lately stormed Capitol Square to protest). The money, as everybody and his dog knows by now, just isn’t there. Raise taxes, and you damage recovering economies and cause deterioration in private sector payrolls.

Spending cuts in the government sector reflect reality: namely, too many people in legislatures and public bodies indiscriminately threw around money in the fat years that allowed them to hire more people than necessary to do the job.

Even teachers are going to lose their jobs as public schools retrench. But when you’ve got nearly as many non-teachers on the payroll as teachers, you find ways to get by with fewer services at lower cost. By the way, it’s also how you learn what you really need as opposed to what public employee unions tell you.

[EagleGreen]

When Being Biggest Isn’t the Best

We know we’re big here in Texas, but does our public school payroll have to lead the nation? For every 10,000 Texans our state-supported schools employ 273 people.

Come on, you say: New Jersey just has to lead Texas in that category, right? Wrong. New Jersey has just 266 school workers per 10,000 people. We’re No. 1! Aren’t you proud?

And we could be proud—maybe—if the numbers reflected classroom teachers trying to stuff Shakespeare, the Declaration of Independence, and some algebra into young minds. In fact, nearly half our 661,000 public school workforce does something other than teach—administering, record-keeping, answering the telephone, cleaning, transporting, serving meals, and maybe devoting time to how they can avoid having their salaries and benefits trimmed, like so many private sector workers who pay the teachers’ salaries.

The question we need to ask is, how come we need almost as many folks doing support work as there are doing the stuff for which schools supposedly exist in the first place—teaching kids?

Big budget cuts are coming in government spending all over the United States—here as well as New Jersey, New York, California, and Wisconsin (where public workers lately stormed Capitol Square to protest). The money, as everybody and his dog knows by now, just isn’t there. Raise taxes, and you damage recovering economies and cause deterioration in private sector payrolls.

Spending cuts in the government sector reflect reality: namely, too many people in legislatures and public bodies indiscriminately threw around money in the fat years that allowed them to hire more people than necessary to do the job.

Even teachers are going to lose their jobs as public schools retrench. But when you’ve got nearly as many non-teachers on the payroll as teachers, you find ways to get by with fewer services at lower cost. By the way, it’s also how you learn what you really need as opposed to what public employee unions tell you.

Looks like we need to hit the rainy day fund, cut the fat, and revisit the issue. Cutting teachers is not the answer, unless you are a douche-bag legislature that is too lazy to find alternatives and scared to use available funds/raise taxes in fear of YOUR JOB. At least, "Texas is open for business". Maybe we need fully privatized education; you know, so we don't reduce any private sector payrolls.

[GTWT]

"The money, as everybody and his dog knows by now, just isn’t there. Raise taxes, and you damage recovering economies and cause deterioration in private sector payrolls."

Texas is near the bottom in terms of tax burden. Our expenditure per capita is at or near the bottom in nearly every significant aspect of government. Expenditures can be cut, but not by much - there's just not that much fat in Texas government. New revenue sources must be found. That means rethinking the tax breaks Texas gives to business, giving careful consideration to reworking our entire tax system, and exploring new sources (e.g., gambling). We need long-term solutions not two-year fixes.

It's irresponsible to rule anything off the table when we're talking about slashing public education, the universities, and medical care of children and nursing home residents.

[UNT90]

"The money, as everybody and his dog knows by now, just isn't there. Raise taxes, and you damage recovering economies and cause deterioration in private sector payrolls."

Texas is near the bottom in terms of tax burden. Our expenditure per capita is at or near the bottom in nearly every significant aspect of government. Expenditures can be cut, but not by much - there's just not that much fat in Texas government. New revenue sources must be found. That means rethinking the tax breaks Texas gives to business, giving careful consideration to reworking our entire tax system, and exploring new sources (e.g., gambling). We need long-term solutions not two-year fixes.

It's irresponsible to rule anything off the table when we're talking about slashing public education, the universities, and medical care of children and nursing home residents.

Revenues generate your tax base. Increasing taxes on businesses will kill business incentive to expand, hire new people, etc... You raise taxes in a good economy, not a bad one, if you raise them at all.

There is lots of room in education for trimming the fat. It's the first place the state should start. More money has never equalled a better educational system. As a matter of fact, the argument could be made that the more money spent, the worse the educational system.

Suck it up, State of Texas. Make the cuts, balance the budget. Just like every family in the state has to do with their personal budget.

[GTWT]

Suck it up, State of Texas. Make the cuts, balance the budget. Just like every family in the state has to do with their personal budget.

Suck it up? Yeah, that'll work. Of course there is waste and that waste should be gotten rid of, but the budgets proposed by the Texas House and Senate will cut muscle and bone, not just fat. You're talking about firing thousands of teachers at a time when the population of Texas - including school-aged childen - is growing at a dizzying rate. Your talking about cutting state support for public schools when school distrits are under judicial orders to improve service to historically neglected citizens. Those costs will have to be met - if not by the state then locally.

Decreased state support for medical services will simply move the costs to local governments and the services will be more expensive and less effective. Decreased state support for prisons mean more criminals will be on the streets earlier. Decreased state support for higher education means the gains Texas universities has made over the last few decades will be put at risk.

Cut wasteful programs. Get rid of the PR staff for the TEA and the legislative liasons for UT. But at the same time develop state revenue strategies that will take care of the legitimate functions of state government - educating our children, provding for public safety, protecting our environment. We're citizens of the greatest state in the union. It's time we started acting like it instead of a bunch of short-sighted, selfish Yankees.

God bless Texas.

[UNT90]

Cut wasteful programs. Get rid of the PR staff for the TEA and the legislative liasons for UT. But at the same time develop state revenue strategies that will take care of the legitimate functions of state government - educating our children, provding for public safety, protecting our environment. We're citizens of the greatest state in the union. It's time we started acting like it instead of a bunch of short-sighted, selfish Yankees.

God bless Texas.

This is first and foremost the PARENTS' responsibility. Too many parents have left it up to the state and become disconnected. This is why ediucation levels have suffered in this state despite the MASSIVE budget allocated each year. .

I don't care whether they cut administrators or teachers. That will be left up to the individual districts.Tough times. Get used to it.

[GTWT]

Tough times. Get used to it.

Let me guess - you just got home from a Tea Party meeting, right?

[Coffee and TV]

I don't care whether they cut administrators or teachers. That will be left up to the individual districts.Tough times. Get used to it.

Cool. That's what I'll say when my mom loses her teaching job. I guess she can always "pull herself up by her bootstraps" or whatever other bullshit conservative meme you wanna use.

Edited February 27, 2011 by Coffee and TV

[KRAM1]

Cool. That's what I'll say when my mom loses her teaching job. I guess she can always "pull herself up by her bootstraps" or whatever other bullshit conservative meme you wanna use.

I think we all feel sorry for anyone who is in a position of losing their job. Teachers are certainly not immune to the facts of life with today's economics. One reason we are in this mess is that we seem to have a "not in my backyard" attitude to all this. Tell me that you didn't see this coming over the last 2-3 years with all the layoffs and job losses in the private sector, with the declines in property values, with all the foreclosures and business closings? Yet our public schools just went on their merry way acting like "not in my backyard" and that it would never hit the public sector. Where was your outrage when all these people were losing their jobs and losing their houses? Lots of folks are still trying to "pull themselves up with their bootstraps".

Your only answer is to blame the conservatives. Well, just in case you are not aware, the conservatives alone did not get us into this mess. Ever check out all the expensive entitlement programs your liberal friends have stuck the taxpayer with? This is not a conservative or liberal issue and your trying to tun it into one simply shows the shallowness of your understanding of it all. I just spent two days this last week in Austin talking with our state reps and senators and their policy folks and staff members. They are facing a budget shortfall...not a deficit spending situation that will last for many many years as our national deficit will. Texas will recover and recover within a couple of years. Yes, tough times...tough decisions, but it wasn't just the Republican reps and senators that were talking big cuts to me...each democrat office I talked with was signing the same message.

My wife is a retired Texas public school teacher now working part-time at UNT. She has been involved in this stuff during her career, and it hurt. I have been "laid off" and had to suffer salary reductions during my career. Yes, hard and a bit maddening, but you can recover just as the Texas economy will recover.

We all hurt for our great teachers, your Mom included, but if the school districts had done even a little planning when the facts were well known that this was coming well over two years ago, maybe some would not be wondering about losing their jobs now. Funny how administrators and teachers all stuck their collective heads in the sand and said "not in my backyard" instead of planning for what was a certainty to come.

Well, it's here...and it hurts...and no one...NO ONE...is happy about it. But, time to figure out how to deal with it other than to keep on spending the money you don't have.

[Coffee and TV]

I'm glad you got all of that from my once sentence of a post.

While my blame does lie with conservatives (not the point), I was responding to the specific part of his post that basically said "tough titties" for teachers. Sorry I don't share the same response when it comes to cutting jobs to people who already have a very modest salary and probably close to the highest job security in any western society.

[UNT90]

Let me guess - you just got home from a Tea Party meeting, right?

Nope, kinda the way I have always thought, and lived, for that matter.

Our governement leaders are like a 16 year old girl with Daddy's credit card and no spending limit. No one should be surprised we are in the position we are in, and every part of the state budget is now going to have to sacrafice.

If your mad at me, your anger is completely misdirected.

[UNT90]

Cool. That's what I'll say when my mom loses her teaching job. I guess she can always "pull herself up by her bootstraps" or whatever other bullshit conservative meme you wanna use.

A little bit of a drama queen, aren't you?

I hope your mom doesn't lose her job. That said, many people in the private sector HAVE ALREADY lost their job. A job isn't a right. Far too many in the public sector view it as such.

If your mom is really good at what she does (which raising such a good mean green fan as yourself indicates that she is, even if you are a little politically misguided), she either won't lose her job, or will end up on her feet if she does.

[GTWT]

Our governement leaders are like a 16 year old girl with Daddy's credit card and no spending limit. No one should be surprised we are in the position we are in, and every part of the state budget is now going to have to sacrafice.

If your mad at me, your anger is completely misdirected.

I'm not mad at you at all - just amused by some of the verbiage.

I actually agree that every part of the state budget should face reasonable cuts. What bothers me is the notion that cuts over the next two years will cure Texas' budget woes. Our state's financial strategy is seriously out of whack. We need to have cuts - yes - but we also need to address the mistakes that have been made in taxation. Every politician is scared to death to even talk about taxes, but the reality is that if we don't rework our tax system we are going to face this same battle every two years.

Cut spending. Develop a tax system that is adequate to pay for legitimate functions of government. Get the hell out of the SBC. The recipe for happiness.

God bless Texas!

[UNT90]

I'm not mad at you at all - just amused by some of the verbiage.

I actually agree that every part of the state budget should face reasonable cuts. What bothers me is the notion that cuts over the next two years will cure Texas' budget woes. Our state's financial strategy is seriously out of whack. We need to have cuts - yes - but we also need to address the mistakes that have been made in taxation. Every politician is scared to death to even talk about taxes, but the reality is that if we don't rework our tax system we are going to face this same battle every two years.

Cut spending. Develop a tax system that is adequate to pay for legitimate functions of government. Get the hell out of the SBC. The recipe for happiness.

God bless Texas!

We were doing OK until the economy crashed. I think another lesson should be learned. That lesson being don't assume you will always have a good economy in the future when planning a budget for today. You and I call it a savings account.

When we have an economic recoovery, a lot of the budget problems will be eased, eliminating the need for an increase in taxation. That recovery won't happen with big tax increases.

This state had a warning last year, but Governor Good Hair (runs as a conservative, spends like a liberal) chose to take federal money from the "stimulus" to balance the budget instead of dealing with the issues. The Dems and the Republicans in the State congress were complicite in this, also.

F'n politicians.

Edited February 28, 2011 by UNT90

[KRAM1]

Tan Parker, State Rep out of the Lewisville area I believe, made a great point last Tuesday morning at Denton County days in Austin. He said...and I paraphrase...Folks, we do not have a deficit problem in the State of Texas. We have a budget shortfall problem. And that problem, while challenging as it may be, is a temporary problem. Texas is in good shape and much much better than the vast majority of other states. There is no budget deficit, and the shortfall will not be long lived as economic activity in Texas is strong and increasing.

I think we all might want to think about what Rep. Tan Parker's comments mean for the state going forward. Tough times currently but the light at the end of the tunnel is not a freight train!

[GrandGreen]

When Being Biggest Isn't the Best

We know we're big here in Texas, but does our public school payroll have to lead the nation? For every 10,000 Texans our state-supported schools employ 273 people.

Come on, you say: New Jersey just has to lead Texas in that category, right? Wrong. New Jersey has just 266 school workers per 10,000 people. We're No. 1! Aren't you proud?

And we could be proud—maybe—if the numbers reflected classroom teachers trying to stuff Shakespeare, the Declaration of Independence, and some algebra into young minds. In fact, nearly half our 661,000 public school workforce does something other than teach—administering, record-keeping, answering the telephone, cleaning, transporting, serving meals, and maybe devoting time to how they can avoid having their salaries and benefits trimmed, like so many private sector workers who pay the teachers' salaries.

The question we need to ask is, how come we need almost as many folks doing support work as there are doing the stuff for which schools supposedly exist in the first place—teaching kids?

Big budget cuts are coming in government spending all over the United States—here as well as New Jersey, New York, California, and Wisconsin (where public workers lately stormed Capitol Square to protest). The money, as everybody and his dog knows by now, just isn't there. Raise taxes, and you damage recovering economies and cause deterioration in private sector payrolls.

Spending cuts in the government sector reflect reality: namely, too many people in legislatures and public bodies indiscriminately threw around money in the fat years that allowed them to hire more people than necessary to do the job.

Even teachers are going to lose their jobs as public schools retrench. But when you've got nearly as many non-teachers on the payroll as teachers, you find ways to get by with fewer services at lower cost. By the way, it's also how you learn what you really need as opposed to what public employee unions tell you.

Just a guess, but I bet NJ does not have anywhere close to the number of non-English speaking students as Texas. There are many things that Texas and the US in general could do a lot better in education. It is obvious that just spending more money is not the answer. However, I did not know that public employee unions were that big an issue in Texas.

Somewhere over the years, the school system focus has been altered from primarily providing education to one of being one of the largest providers of social services to the masses. For example, eliminating non-citizens from the state school system would probably eliminate the state overall budget deficiency in education. There would obviously be many negative effects of such a move both morally and otherwise; but recognition of the tremondous stress on the school system is warranted.

Eliminating non-teachers from the payroll sounds great until you consider that a lot of what schools are currently tasked with, including the education and care of special needs children, primary food source for far too many, endless government mandated paperwork, police and security to provide a semblance of safety at some campuses, and the detainment of students that have no interest in education. The bar in average education has been lowered so far to accommodate everyone that a whole system of alternate schools have been generated to insure that at least the most promising or in some cases the most privileged can still get a good public education. Add to these issues, that there are far too many incompetents both in teaching and administration and you get complete futility.

Trying to balance education, social justice, with the funds available is a daunting mission made almost impossible by the politics concerned. Funny, you didn't hear a lot about this impending education funding crisis before the elections.

[UNT90]

Somewhere over the years, the school system focus has been altered from primarily providing education to one of being one of the largest providers of social services to the masses. For example, eliminating non-citizens from the state school system would probably eliminate the state overall budget deficiency in education. There would obviously be many negative effects of such a move both morally and otherwise; but recognition of the tremondous stress on the school system is warranted.

A thousand times this.

And Unions aren't that big in Texas because we are a right ot work state. What does that mean? That the worker gets to choose if they want to be a member and contribute to the union. In states like Wisconsin, Union membership (and union contribution) is mandantory if you take the job.

Complete Horse@#&#.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Tan Parker, State Rep out of the Lewisville area I believe, made a great point last Tuesday morning at Denton County days in Austin. He said...and I paraphrase...Folks, we do not have a deficit problem in the State of Texas. We have a budget shortfall problem. And that problem, while challenging as it may be, is a temporary problem. Texas is in good shape and much much better than the vast majority of other states. There is no budget deficit, and the shortfall will not be long lived as economic activity in Texas is strong and increasing.

I think we all might want to think about what Rep. Tan Parker's comments mean for the state going forward. Tough times currently but the light at the end of the tunnel is not a freight train!

Texas is in good shape and much much better than the vast majority of other states...( Tam Parker).

Tell that to all the educators in the state that are going to lose their jobs .... If you look at the latest Newsweek [also some other sources ] We are one of the six worst on their map (%-wise not just total amount) ..

---There is no way we should be in this fix... Oil prices are up meaning a a lot of tax from "well head severance", also royalities from public lands, sales tax not the best ever but good, and in general the economy is Texas is very good. We are nothing like the Rust Belt states, California, or Nevada with real economic problems... Austin started this mess in 2001 with tax cuts (not to most people --sales, gasoline etc. wasn't cut), and if you remember the state was in trouble in 2003, and then they "allowed" every college to set their own tuition to make make up for lost state funding...tuition has now tripled... It has been slowly getting worse with less education funding every session... we may now be 50th in state taxes per capita although some sources have us at 47th. The legislature and governor have been messing things up big time ... some refuse to admit the truth and believe "what they want to be true" is true.... They messed up and people in education will pay for it with their jobs and students will suffer by having programs cut and larger classes.

---The question to ask is why are we so short of cash??? 25 billion is no small amount.... and this hasn't happened before, even in bad times ... part of it involved changes in the franchise tax..... and don't just accept it is the economy... Texas has a good economy in most places. Oil prices are high and agriculture (highest cotton prices ever) is booming as is the tech industry in most places. .

.

Edited March 6, 2011 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[eulesseagle]

Here is the Tx budget.....

http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Texas_state_budget

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Here is the Tx budget.....

http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Texas_state_budget

Taken from the article...

The Texas State Legislature passed and Gov. Rick Perry signed on June 19, 2009 a $182 billion 2-year budget (Sept.1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2011) with a projected $9 billion Rainy Day Fund. The FY 2010-2011 biennium budget of $182.3 billion spends $1.6 billion less in general revenue than the previous biennium. Comptroller Susan Combs acknowledged that Texas will show a $1.3 billion deficit at the end of the budget year[1], which is up dramatically from the July 2010 estimate of a shortfall of up to $18 billion dollars.[2] Other estimate the shortfall at $28 billion.[3]

Over the next two years, the state faces a budget shortfall of between $15 billion and $27 billion over the next two years, depending on who is doing the calculation.[4]

In per capita spending by state, Texas ranks 50th in the nation, meaning there is likely less fat to trim when making budget cuts in Texas than in other states.[5]

___________________________________

There is the real problem and also the fact that we are 50th or near to it in taxes collected....... As a result we are firing 1000's of educators,and enlarging classes despite have a good ecomony which actually is extremely good compared to most states... that is so wrong. All of these teachers cut loose will add to the unemployment numbers as well which taxpayers will also have to pay for... Seems that paying them to teach would be the better answer...

We are dead last in spending and Perry and friends want to even cut it more at the expense of 1000's of Texas jobs and harming our kids education. ...

Edited March 7, 2011 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[eulesseagle]

Taken from the article...

The Texas State Legislature passed and Gov. Rick Perry signed on June 19, 2009 a $182 billion 2-year budget (Sept.1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2011) with a projected $9 billion Rainy Day Fund. The FY 2010-2011 biennium budget of $182.3 billion spends $1.6 billion less in general revenue than the previous biennium. Comptroller Susan Combs acknowledged that Texas will show a $1.3 billion deficit at the end of the budget year[1], which is up dramatically from the July 2010 estimate of a shortfall of up to $18 billion dollars.[2] Other estimate the shortfall at $28 billion.[3]

Over the next two years, the state faces a budget shortfall of between $15 billion and $27 billion over the next two years, depending on who is doing the calculation.[4]

In per capita spending by state, Texas ranks 50th in the nation, meaning there is likely less fat to trim when making budget cuts in Texas than in other states.[5]

___________________________________

There is the real problem and also the fact that we are 50th or near to it in taxes collected....... As a result we are firing 1000's of educators,and enlarging classes despite have a good ecomony which actually is extremely good compared to most states... that is so wrong. All of these teachers cut loose will add to the unemployment numbers as well which taxpayers will also have to pay for... Seems that paying them to teach would be the better answer...

We are dead last in spending and Perry and friends want to even cut it more at the expense of 1000's of Texas jobs and harming our kids education. ...

We have been paying the teachers to teach .... unfortunately, since all the states take money from the federal government the teachers teach what the fed govt. tells them to teach. our classrooms are nothing more than social experiements and no longer havens of education. case in point: public education v. private schools. unfortunately, the public eduction system is full of kids who don't want to learn...looooosers. get these kids, who don't want to learn, and send them to some alternative school to learn a trade before they become pimps and whores and leach off the government welfare teat.

as for the teachers....there are probably a bunch that need to be fired along with some administrators and school boards.

Edited March 7, 2011 by eulesseagle

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

We have been paying the teachers to teach .... unfortunately, since all the states take money from the federal government the teachers teach what the fed govt. tells them to teach. our classrooms are nothing more than social experiements and no longer havens of education. case in point: public education v. private schools. unfortunately, the public eduction system is full of kids who don't want to learn...looooosers. get these kids, who don't want to learn, and send them to some alternative school to learn a trade before they become pimps and whores and leach off the government welfare teat.

as for the teachers....there are probably a bunch that need to be fired along with some administrators and school boards.

the teachers teach what the fed govt. tells them to teach. --- Total BS -- I worked in schools for 30 years and now teach college classes. Texas and each school district even adopt the books they want to use.

You are right about the alternate school part... but that takes money and this state has been cutting trade type programs... not increasing them.

If politicians really wanted to improve education --1.. get rid of those expensive state tests as they exist now -- the first one (TABS -basic skill test) was a good idea. 2. Develop or teach programs for those who are really not academic students and are not going to colleges ..ie. teach a trade or skills leading to one etc.... but that costs money.... and our current guys in Austin want to cut taxes despite we are already 50th of the states of spending per capita and may be 50th in per capita taxes as well.

---The priority is very few expenses and almost no state taxes.... Many third world countries have very low taxes too. Oddly the taxes cut in Texas are for business... and not ones we all really pay...sales, gasoline, etc. Check your total property tax BIll (not tax rate --evaluations have really climbed at state urging) It likely has been climbing as the state funds programs even less and lessforcing local "boards" to raise theirs.... that and tuition which has tripled since 2003 because of the same thing.... less state funding..

I am very conservative... I think you should collect ( or earn ) enough to pay essential bills ... including education... but find a way to fund them and not try to STAY 50th in spending and cheat students and education in general.... while adding to the unemployment rolls by firing 1000's of teachers. They also pay taxes... or would if they had an income.

..

Edited March 7, 2011 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66