Here is a post that I made at RedMassGroup.com regarding Gov. Patrick's recommendations to integrate immigrants (ILLEGAL ones, too)
Red Mass Group:: Gov. recommends business withold information from Feds
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Fund Public Schools first!
Just when you think a group can't surprise you any more, you wake up one Monday morning to read that they've done it again!
Who am I talking about? The obvious guess would be one (or both) of my daughters. But that's not who I'm referring to now. No, my girls usually give me nice surprises. Just yesterday my 5 year old (Riley) colored a beautiful picture and stayed in the lines.
This new surprise comes from the liberal wing of the MA state legislature (I know, they make up more than a "wing"). They have decided that now is the time to reconsider providing subsidies to ILLEGAL immigrants for college tuition. They want to extend in-state tuition rates to ILLEGAL immigrants. No, I do not support giving driver's licences, tuition rates, or healthcare plans to ILLEGAL immigrants. However, there is another reason why discussing this idea makes no sense to me.
We are in the middle of a financial crisis. A financial crisis that has both the state and local governments making cuts to education, human services, and public safety. Is it really a good idea to be examining a new program that will cost the state money?
The state budget for the current fiscal year used over $1 BILLION dollars from Federal Stimulus money and "Rainy Day" funds in order to cover the existing expense level. This was in addition to raising the sales tax by 25% (5% to 6.25%). Yet, the increased sales tax has actually generated less funds than anticipated...causing more mid-year cuts!
The largest question facing the state budget is "How are the Federal Stimulus and Rainy day funds going to be replaced?" These funds were used to pay for on-going operating expenses at the local level. The federal stimulus funds were specifically directed to schools as a way to make up for the fact that revenues did not exist to cover the state's portion of required education funding. In turn, these funds were used to save teaching jobs by paying the required contractual increases.
If a new source of funds is not found, municipalities across Massachussetts will be forced to ask residents for large property tax increases or face massive cuts to education, public safety, and human services.
Does the legislature really think that its more important to spend money they don't have on a new program? Is providing ILLEGAL immigrants tuition more important than funding our public schools, public safety, and human services?
This lack of rationale should not be rewarded by re-election in Nov 2010.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33950859/ns/us_news-education/page/2/
Who am I talking about? The obvious guess would be one (or both) of my daughters. But that's not who I'm referring to now. No, my girls usually give me nice surprises. Just yesterday my 5 year old (Riley) colored a beautiful picture and stayed in the lines.
This new surprise comes from the liberal wing of the MA state legislature (I know, they make up more than a "wing"). They have decided that now is the time to reconsider providing subsidies to ILLEGAL immigrants for college tuition. They want to extend in-state tuition rates to ILLEGAL immigrants. No, I do not support giving driver's licences, tuition rates, or healthcare plans to ILLEGAL immigrants. However, there is another reason why discussing this idea makes no sense to me.
We are in the middle of a financial crisis. A financial crisis that has both the state and local governments making cuts to education, human services, and public safety. Is it really a good idea to be examining a new program that will cost the state money?
The state budget for the current fiscal year used over $1 BILLION dollars from Federal Stimulus money and "Rainy Day" funds in order to cover the existing expense level. This was in addition to raising the sales tax by 25% (5% to 6.25%). Yet, the increased sales tax has actually generated less funds than anticipated...causing more mid-year cuts!
The largest question facing the state budget is "How are the Federal Stimulus and Rainy day funds going to be replaced?" These funds were used to pay for on-going operating expenses at the local level. The federal stimulus funds were specifically directed to schools as a way to make up for the fact that revenues did not exist to cover the state's portion of required education funding. In turn, these funds were used to save teaching jobs by paying the required contractual increases.
If a new source of funds is not found, municipalities across Massachussetts will be forced to ask residents for large property tax increases or face massive cuts to education, public safety, and human services.
Does the legislature really think that its more important to spend money they don't have on a new program? Is providing ILLEGAL immigrants tuition more important than funding our public schools, public safety, and human services?
This lack of rationale should not be rewarded by re-election in Nov 2010.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33950859/ns/us_news-education/page/2/
Friday, November 6, 2009
Good news travels slow
Its the everyday efforts and good deeds that don't make the news reports or papers. In the last 12 hours I've heard about two communities that have given their time and money to help further the educational opportunities of their kids.
I came home yesterday to see a note in my daughter's kindergarten folder. It was a short newsletter sent out by the Home & School Association (H&SA). The H&SA is a private non-profit group that raises money to supplement the budget of the elementary school in Millis, MA. The newletter gave information about future events and meetings, but it also reported how successful the fall fundraising drive was. Over $10,000 profit was made in the annual holiday gift sale project. This is $10,000 of private money donated to public education in a small (8,000 residents) middle class town.
The second example was found this morning when I noticed a facebook post from my friend Eric Dahlberg in Chelmsford, MA. It was the link to an article about an "adult spelling bee" that was hosted by the Chelmsford Educational Fund. Same type of organization and the HS&A, just different name. While the article didn't tell how much was raised, it was just another example of how, when given the chance, people will help.
I know this is not completely unique. Many (if not all) school communities have some version of a Parent/Teacher Association (PTA). In fact, I can remember doing fundraising for my elementary school in Troy, NY...so that is not new either.
It would just be nice to see more reports about the willingess of people to spend their own money to help our kids get a better education. Too often we just see articles about people who oppose tax increases that will "benefit schools". Funny thing is, most of the time they are talking about the same exact people!
I came home yesterday to see a note in my daughter's kindergarten folder. It was a short newsletter sent out by the Home & School Association (H&SA). The H&SA is a private non-profit group that raises money to supplement the budget of the elementary school in Millis, MA. The newletter gave information about future events and meetings, but it also reported how successful the fall fundraising drive was. Over $10,000 profit was made in the annual holiday gift sale project. This is $10,000 of private money donated to public education in a small (8,000 residents) middle class town.
The second example was found this morning when I noticed a facebook post from my friend Eric Dahlberg in Chelmsford, MA. It was the link to an article about an "adult spelling bee" that was hosted by the Chelmsford Educational Fund. Same type of organization and the HS&A, just different name. While the article didn't tell how much was raised, it was just another example of how, when given the chance, people will help.
I know this is not completely unique. Many (if not all) school communities have some version of a Parent/Teacher Association (PTA). In fact, I can remember doing fundraising for my elementary school in Troy, NY...so that is not new either.
It would just be nice to see more reports about the willingess of people to spend their own money to help our kids get a better education. Too often we just see articles about people who oppose tax increases that will "benefit schools". Funny thing is, most of the time they are talking about the same exact people!
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