County schools drowning in deficits

May 23, 2012

Five San Luis Obispo County school districts have made the state’s list of most fiscally endangered, and California Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson said those districts, and more than 180 others in this state, face bankruptcy — a record number.

Saddled with the biggest deficit weight is Paso Robles Joint Unified, which this year earned the dubious distinction of joining 11 California districts facing a “negative declaration” — meaning it will not meet its financial obligations during the coming fiscal year. The district’s current fiscal requirement is $56.2 million, according to district officials.

SLO County districts wearing a “qualified certification” include Atascadero Unified, Lucia Mar Unified, San Miguel Joint Union (Elementary), and Shandon Joint Unified. Such a designation is assigned to a local educational agency when it may not meet its financial obligations during the next three fiscal years.

Nearly one-fifth of California school districts and county offices of education are risking bankruptcy, Torlakson said Tuesday following release of a report from the California Department of Education.  The report looks at all California’s 1,037 school systems.  A record-high 188 of California’s 1,050 districts and county offices did not receive a clean rating in a mid-year financial report required by the state. That means that within three years, projected revenues will not be able to cover expenses.

“This is the kind of record no one wants to set,” Torlakson said. He blamed the schools’ uncertainty on the state budget crisis.

The educational fate of 2.6 million children in this state will worsen if Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative, or a competing tax measure, are turned down by voters in November, according to his administration. Currently, the state is shaving 20 percent in overall funding, and deferring payment of millions of dollars, to schools. This in turn is forcing schools to increase class sizes, eliminate services, shorten calendars, furlough teachers and students to save on payroll, and seek parcel tax relief.

Paso Robles schools are on three-day schedules now, due to teacher furloughs.


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Give any ca government $1 and it spends $1.20. knock it down to .50 and it spends .75. Doesn’t matter whether you call it republican, democrat, school board, air board, district, supervisor, prison etc. etc. It’s the way it’s been for a generation.


It’s the mindset of CA. Kind of like the mindset of Greece.


Who’s going to open a See’s candy in Atascadero or Paso? Thanks chocoholic you reminded me.


The free market is going to open it, that’s who. It sure ain’t the government who is going to do it.


If I were a government apparatchik, I would not allow it because, after all, uh, let’s see, chocolate is not necessary to sustain life, and my opinion trumps yours.


You see how lucky you are?


I like your spirit. I don;t care for chocolate unless it has mj in it. Please don;t waste your money on something I don’t want. Talk to women about doing without it. Some would rather cut their throats than go without.


I like steaks well done on the barbee. And fish. The fish is covered, my granddaughter comes over every week and cooks me up a bunch of it. The steaks I cook. Sorry I can only afford steaks for my wife and I. Her’s will last 4 days, my lasts 20 minutes. I catch the fish myself so I could share some if you’re hungry for some.


If I give you some fish you have to buy some See’s for my wife and she will not share it.


Whats a apparatchik? I guess all that college did no good for me.


Blessings


apparatchik is one of those wonky political words that seeped into the English language from Russian years ago.


It means a member of an “apparat,” and an apparat is an organization or existing power structure, especially a political one. (Related to the English word, “apparatus”).


We have a few words from Russian, like babushka, balalaika, cosmonaut, intelligentsia, kopeck, Kremlin, mammoth, pogrom, ruble, sable, samovar, sputnik, taiga, troika, ushanka, vodka.


But the political words are my favorites: agitprop, apparatchick, Bolshevik, Cheka, Commisar, Duma, Glasnost, kulak, Menshivik, Nomenklatura, perestroika, Politburo, SMERSH, Soviet, tovarishch, Tsar, zek.


You have to admit that the Russians have a special talent when it comes to political terms. They are truly things of beauty.


I have a special affection for these wonky Russian political words and love them almost as much as chocolate. If these words ever got banned from our language, I think I would go through withdrawals.


Has anyone asked any of the those in the administrations of these school districts that are in bad financial shape exactly how much has been cut from anything any of those administrations are responsible for? We constantly see cuts in education in the form of reduced classes, teacher furloughs, elimination of the arts, sports, sciences and such, but when has anyone ever seen any cuts to administration operations? How many of the boards of these districts have “associated costs” like furnishing cars or insurance coverage for board members? Do the board members receive any pay for what should be a volunteer position? The whole hierarchy of education needs a complete shake-up from top to bottom, be it the small rural school district where a superintendent could make more than $100k a year while the teachers are limited to a three day work week all the way up to the UC and CSU systems where the chancellors and various administrators routinely make well over $200k a year. Can someone justify the costs of all of those on the various boards and in administrative positions while at the same time they keep teachers working only three days a week?


I absoslutely agree with you. If anyone did an analysis as to how much money throughtout this State that goes to MANAGEMENT (including their support staff) for K thru college you would understand why we are bankrupt. All these administrators have nothing to do for the most part and sit around developing new ideas for tests, programs to cheat the people, and other ideas to justify their positions. Year after year they develop more and then need to hire more to impact and then another idea and then more management to implement, and the cycle goes on and on and on. What happen to the days when a teacher (part time aid) with a class of 22 – 25 taught a class, a principle and a secretary and nurse maintained the office and we were all educated and California ranked as a high ranking educational State. Now, we have a teacher (no aid) a class of 30 – 36 and an office filled with support staff and a principle, vice president, program coordinator, etc. etc and then if you go to the school district office they are scrammed iwith administration and support staff into their offices and then go to Sacramento and see the hugh building with hundreds of education administrators, coordinators, and support staff to do the same job day after day, year after year and we are so successful that California ranks 46 or 48 (depending on the year) for their education system. What a waste of taxpayers money and Gov Brown can’t figure out how to solve this problem.


School administrations in revenue limit districts have been cut – from my experience mostly at the middle management level. Teachers can not be thanked enough for what they are able to accomplish during the day with the number of interruptions, paperwork, increasing pressure to meet AYP/NCLB targets with swelling classrooms and parent/guardians struggling to find well paying work and ride out this long and deep recession in the state. There is very little that board members and administrators do that is not heavily regulated by federal or state legislation and mandates. Administrators do not “have nothing to do for the most part” in your local schools. They are running at least 24 payrolls a year, accounting for construction and voter approved debt, responding to tort and property claims filed, ensuring that all personnel laws are followed in hiring, dismissal, grievances, negotiating in collective bargaining, monitoring contracts for risk management, purchasing instructional materials, providing food services that meet all regulations, filing 100s of yearly reports from budgets, audits, use of federal funds, maintenance of effort on special education expenses, financial statements, use of state funds – not one $ is spent that is not closely monitored -to maintaining transportation fleets, thousands to hundreds of thousands of square feet of facilities and grounds must be maintained up to legal safety standards, emergency response drills and lock down procedures. They are often on-call 24-7 for fire alarms, rain damage monitoring to prevent storm water runoff, vandalism, theft, alarm systems. I’ve known administrative principals that have been at every after school football game, dance, college prep night, board meeting. In my experience they are men and women, many of whom have been classroom teachers, with a deep caring for children and a strong work ethic. Becoming a school board member is not an easy position by any measure. Their roles are also heavily regulated with little free choice in decision making. They not only attend meetings that can begin at 5 and end at 10 two-three times a month they also do quite a bit of work during the week reading stacks of documents, interview panels, legal challenges, negotiations, monitoring accountability standards, millions of dollars in facilities assets and payroll, layoffs (a particularly wrenching experience), fielding phone calls and e-mails and public access to their home addresses, struggling to balance staggering losses in revenue while maintaining academics, athletics and the arts. There is no easy job in the CA public school system. There is a long history of under funding that has had the state well below the national average level since Prop 13 was adopted decades ago in this state. Prop 98, the minimum guarantee, is all but set aside and became a floor rather than a ceiling. The floor gave way in January 2008. The Governor’s tax initiative attempts to keep a flat funding amount for next year from this year. If it fails districts across this state will be insolvent and forced to the negotiations table to reduce up to an additional 15 days of instruction per year. The great equalizer, public education, will be lowered to a place where it may not recover for another generation. Meanwhile, those districts in areas in the state that vote in local parcel taxes and/or receive large distributions of taxes that exceed their revenue limit entitlement – also known as “basic aid” districts – will fare better. No one wants to be taxed regardless of your political affiliation. The decades of relying upon booms from aerospace, housing, dot.coms ended and the Great Recession revealed that the tax base cannot support the result.


That should read, ” a ceiling rather than a floor”


Guess these are new issues are weren’t around 15-20 years ago. Interesting! Someone must have been running California’s great school district before all these idiot rules, regulations, mandates were implemneted. Interesting!


Thank you for the clear description of some of the morass of issues that school districts have to deal with and some of the causes of those issues.


Thank you for a well reasoned response. Although I sound like I am condemning all school administrations, I do realize that there are going to be districts that do have committed individuals that truly do the absolute best they can and they do work very hard to make sure that the cuts they are forced to make are done with the least amount of pain possible. Whether it is because they don’t make very much noise about how much they are struggling or it is because these hard working individuals are more the exception than the rule, we in the general public usually only hear about cuts being done in the most visible manner, namely increasing class sizes, cutting programs, teacher furloughs and so on. I am still of the mind that there are some districts that do have a much too heavy topside in their administrations and that some get paid at a very high wage, more than $100k a year for being an administrator. Would you know where the information is available to see exactly how much individual districts pay their administrator positions and supervisors? That would interesting reading and would certainly show which districts are doing the best they can to make sure that public education dollars are being spent as wisely as possible. Thanks again.


Slobird,


“What a waste of taxpayers money and Gov Brown can’t figure out how to solve this problem”


Damn, isn’t it a shame that Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t see this coming, or really solve this problem in his 7 year tenure as the Governator? He did produce huge budget cuts to the public school system, where class sizes sky-rocketed, but that’s about it!


Sad indeed, that his time was wasted in this respect and leaving this problem to Jerry Brown. Hey, that premise sounds familar on a national level, doesn’t it?


Are you saying this problem just started 7 years ago and or you saying this is a result of seven years of trying to control the costs. Until all these FURLOughs are damped and actual costs and long term solutions are implemented this is not going away. I am not talking just about pays, pensions, benefits, etc. but policies have to change. When a nation’s majority employment base is of government sponsored programs and the private sector is now the minority, without taxing the minority to death how is this substantible. IT IS NOT!!!! Look long term and not at your current payment, Ted!


SLOBIRD,


NO, I am simply saying that you blame Jerry Brown for not coming up with solutions, whereas, the former governer “Arnold” didn’t have any either, and passed the problem on to Jerry. Get it? Good.


Why don’t we go back to Mr. Grey Davis who was kicked out of office. He was governor January 4, 1999 – November 17, 2003. Might as well blame him for all the problems of today. You know, like Bush is at fault for all of todays problems.


Nice to have people to blame isn’t it.


God Bless


bobfromsanluis,


“Can someone justify the costs of all of those on the various boards and in administrative positions while at the same time they keep teachers working only three days a week?”


Yes, the heirarchy makes the rules to support their postions. Plain and simple. They certainly cannot warrant their salaries relative to their performance of late.


This is a horrible position to be in, yet we created the problem. To read this article and the one about the Air Board, it is clear that we have the wrong priorities. As much as I consider myself an environmentalist, it seems just wrong that we have a county office that produces nothing, except fines, to cover staff costs meanwhile our education system struggles financial, let alone performance wise. We should be focused on improving our future leaders’ education, not creating new rules that cost businesses undue financial harm with no benefit from the fines other than to cover a dept’s staff cost. This needs to change.


County schools drowning in deficits


SO ARE THE PARENTS TRYING TO MAKE ENDS MEET!


We have chosen to home school our child at her request. Our schools have become inefficient at teaching, hung up on test scores, insistent on continuing to teach archaic concepts, attempting to teach mathematics, science and history but not the child. Bullying and drugs have made schools unsafe places both physically and emotionally. My daughter has blossomed from an emotional wreck, crying everyday on her way to school, feeling like a failure and a misfit for not being able to understand algebra in 7th grade, being constantly criticized for being lazy, not paying attention. She now is self confident, has many healthy friendships , and is excelling at learning . The entire educational system in California is broken from the top down……


This is a pretty hasty generalization. I agree that there are indeed problems in the public and private school systems however you make it seem as if every child attending traditional school is a drug using bully learning archaic concepts. Teachers and lower level administrators work very very hard with the resources at hand to help each child realize and achieve there potential. For some students, this traditional method may not work and other methods, such as home school, may be a better alternative.


Praise God she is getting exactly what she needs from her parents. You guys are great examples for her. I say, always put the kids first. Hopefully she has a grandpa to take her fishing and a grandma to be hugged by.


We were blessed to have raised one of our grandkids. I will never forget teaching her how to float in the spa at three years old and to fish at 5. She’s 24 now and bugging me constantly to take her albacore fishing.


Sorry I get started on talking about the kids and I space out.


God Bless your family.


Lilylu,


Can I be frank, and you can still be Lilylu, okay? After your very telling monologue, the bottom line is that your offspring seems to be a problem child, period. Did you first have her see a psychologist because of little missy’s crying, low self-esteem, feeling like a failure and a misfit? These are sure signs that she should have been first in line at the psychs office on Monday morning!


Were YOU honestly there to solidify the fact that she may not have been paying attention, and in fact, lazy? Or was it the little miss’ that told you this and you swallowed it hook line and sinker?


Some California Public Schools, if the student shows a microcosm of being smarter that a dead crow on a SLO back road, start them in the 6th or 7th grade with algebra. We assume that you’re very proficient at teaching same, along with geometry, trigonometry, and Calculus as well?


Subjectively, your daughter worked you over to get out of school because it probably was just too hard for the little princess. Because of this, you want to blame the school district in a sweeping generalization that ALL of it from the top down is bad? What a joke!


Barring her future lack of socialization and learning how to deal with her fellow kind, her mommy and daddy now sets the paradigm! Your daughter can kiss most colleges goodbye by her being taught by her mommy and daddy, that’s a given.


Good luck, she is going to need it, NOT YOU!!


Ted,


Your broad generalizations about Home Schooling and assumptions about Lilylu’s situation are worse than her generalizations and assumptions about the school system. Was this an intentional effort to make a sarcastic point or are you just uninformed/misinformed about home schooling?


OnTheOtherHand,


Listen, the teachers get sick and tired of the other side of the fence as well! As one example, spoiled little brats that are undisciplined at home, where the parents think that it is up to the teachers to handle this aspect of their lives. Teachers are NOT baby sitters! It starts in the home, period! With today’s economy, there is hardly time for the parents to TEACH AT HOME along with their offspring going to school as well, therefore, the teachers get the brunt of this problem at school.


In the case of Lilylu’s little princess, how much of her problem maybe starts at home? We don’t know, but to propose what her little girls MO was, is quite enlightening. I’ve seen many children act in the same manner, and when seeing them with their parents, they do nothing but try and placate to them instead of disciplining them!


Some parents think their children can do no wrong and will often go as far as threatening to sue the school in the face of any discipline their little darlings so desperately need. Albeit, the teachers in the Lilylu’s daughters case, threw a party when her parents decided to home-school her! One less spoiled undisciplined brat to contend with that can upset an entire class (sarcastic point that is probably more so than not).


To be facetious, home schooling is great for the teachers. But, it’s not good for their future job security, but in turn, this is the only way that they can reduce class sizes because of budget cuts where the teacher is given even more students in their classes, with less teacher’s aides. Let them enjoy this lessor class size while they still have a job.


The severe cuts in our school system is part and parcel to why it is getting more difficult to properly teach. Yes there is a problem, so let the next generation all be home-schooled, and they will be as smart as some of their parents. GOD FORBID!


On a side-note, you and others are lucky that I am leaving the religious aspect out of this equation!


Ted, I think you stepped on your tongue on this one. Do you have happy little normal kids running around playing hopscotch and so on? I have raised many children over the past decades and I can honestly say it wasn’t easy. One of our children was home schooled and she graduated from college with honors. Another was home schooled and now has four kids of her own. One of our boys was home schooled and now runs a business that by todays standards is successful. Being a small child he was ruthlessly bullied.


I raised hell with the school board and the school where he was going to. Unfortunately I finally had to threaten the bullys father before it stopped. But my wife and I decided to home school him til he went to high school He wanted to play sports so we let him go spend some of our tax dollars. He did very well.


I spent thousands of dollars trying to help one of our adopted kids. Psychs offices, behaviour hospitals, blah, blah, blah, all for not. Home schooling didn’t help either. She was an alcoholic syndrome baby so she suffered greatly. Along with the rest of us. She was the bully in school. Actually tried to kill a few kids. Finally had to place her in a private school to keep her alive.or from killing someone. There wasn’t any Special Ed classes back then. Not that that would have helped.


Instead of blaming these people pray for them. I’m sure that crossed your mind, being a man of God and all.


I believe the kids when they tell me something that is botherring them. That’s the least I can do. It is natural for a person to manipulate to get into their comfort zone. Kids reach out when they are afraid, or angry, or in pain. That is what we want them to do. I am proud of these parents for doing the right thing and loving their daughter. Way to go, guys.


God Bless the kids and the parents. If enough people would home school maybe the school board would find a way to take care of the problems.


Spirit Filled,


In your case, you are to be commended. Where you found the time to teach, and provide for your family at the same time, our Hebrew-Christian God only knows.


Let’s face it, our entire society is going to hell. Could this be the precursor to the Second Coming? It’s been 2012 years and counting, so let’s hope like the previous generations, that it will happen in our lifetime, praise!


With the Second Coming, barring Jesus’ loving nature in having people killed by fire, plagues, and beasts., what gift will you be giving me as we make marry at the party afterwards? (Rev.11:5-10)


We will be sharing a few mj laced cookies. And a laugh or two. It will be my pleasure. Actually I all ready died once. They ask my wife if they should bring me back if possible. She told them yes so they did. I woke up feeling peaceful and well rested. I don’t remember any tunnel or light but the peace was nice.


God Bless you Brother.


Spirit Filled,


A laugh or two subsequent to Jesus bringing a hoard of angels to earth to have the unbelievers killed by fire, plagues, and beasts? Huh? There will be dead, mutilated, rotting, and unburied bodies everywhere because of Jesus’ loving revenge, and you’ll be laughing? (Rev.11:5-10)


You already died once? For the sake of our Hebrew-Christian God, please don’t try and tie this in to a “born again” experience, okay? It is hard for me to get through your ungodly posts as it is, and I don’t need you to spin off in another Satanic direction!


You can thank our God that you didn’t have a drag out fight with your wife just before she had to make the decision in bringing you back to life. Praise Jesus in this respect!


No, I was born again when first baptised. You do like to hear your own words as I do mine. From now on please don;t read what I have written. I don’t want to warp what;s left of your mind.


And yes, I was having a disagreement with my wife before I died. In fact we have been arguing for 48 years of marriage. Keeps us alive and passionate. And what that means shall remain private. My wife is an angel and thinks about others before herself. A great example of humility for me to learn from.


Even though what you say is out of the Old Testament, doesn’t mean you are a rightous man. I will also pray for you. Fire and brimstone mostly turns people off, actions of love bring them close to God. But who am I to say. Nobody.


God Bless


TedSlanders- While your words are harsh, I see your point.


This Viewpoint published in the Tribune about a month ago by Dr. Curt Dubost, Superintendent of San Miguel, is a very well written piece that tries to help parents understand a teacher’s Monday through Friday challenges. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/04/19/2035224/viewpoint-teachers-face-many-challenges.html


These parents that constantly criticize schools and teachers, yes you LilyLu, are of no help to the situation and in fact make it worse by perpetually spewing this nonsense that all involved simply suck at their job and don’t give a shit. Think you could handle 30, 60, 90, 120 different children’s personalities a day? Not only making sure they are safe but also trying to educate them in a somewhat synchronized fashion? Bueno suerte.


BERT,


FINALLY, another coherant and notable refutation to the Lilylu’s of SLO County!


The situation works both ways, as we know, and I am sick and tired of parents disparaging ALL of the teachers in this county because they feel that their little darlings aren’t receiving what they perceive as the total teaching experience! Yet, they are okay with teaching their children themselves, and of which, they don’t know sh*t about how to do it, nor do they know the subject matter to begin with. The blind leading the blind!


Great article, the Lilylu’s of this county need to read it, ten times as their homework assignment!


Take heart, Brother Ted…You know what they say: the acorn don’t fall far from the tree ! Praise God in his infinite wisdom of creativity and procreation.

This is likely a “demon seed” that was an undisciplined problem for the whole school. Just think how many real students will now be able to learn without the distractions from this special needs student.


I guess any child that is getting home schooled is a demon seed. Were you home schooled? Sounds like you think there is something wrong with the special ed kids.

I pray you never have a child with special needs. All children are to be cherished and loved. Hopefully how they need to be loved. Kids are sacred in God’s eyes. I’m quite sure Brother Ted can come up with proof in the old testament or new.


I love kids and I find what you are saying an insult to our Creator. Everyone is made in God’s image and who are we to soil it.


God Bless you.


Oh no, I attended a variety of Public Schools, K-12…elementary and Jr. HS in older relics of peeling paint and huge ceilings in what would be termed the ‘inner city’.. Students of all backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities. This was an education in itself.

High School involved a move to a much smaller, rural community, but one that had a sizable “special-ed” population among students …upwards of around 20%. So much that school administration had no choice BUT to mainstream students in non academic classes. The were various reasons for this high ratio, but mainly multi-generational from environmental causes, particularly lead ingestion.

As such, I did have some friends among these ‘special-ed’ students. The troublemakers were the arrogant bullies that thought they were better than everyone else. These were the “demon seeds” with bad parents.


“The troublemakers were the arrogant bullies that thought they were better than everyone else. These were the “demon seeds” with bad parents”.


How does this statement apply to what Lilylu and her child are doing?


You lost me. Sounds like the acorn landed on someones head.


God Bless


Vote for his tax increase, and the schools will NOT receive money (sufficient or otherwise). You already passed a GUARANTEED school funding initiative years ago. Problem is, the legislature doesn’t appropriate the funds to meet the guarantee. As stated in the article, they defer payment, then cancel payment. Vote for what you want, but it will NOT help as long as the legislators who are running Sacramento are in office.


The real problem is the monopoly game strategy. You pass the tax initiative and the money goes to the school. However, the money the school is currently getting will be stopped (yhey won’t go to jail for thid move) and put somewhere else in the budget. The pocket of money never really rises because the passed tax increase just replaces existing funding.. Look at the money the State just got from the Federal Bank Foreclosure Payoff ($12B and the State kept approximately $250 MIL to fill budget gaps). The Budget shortfall of $16 B already has calculated $2B that Zuckerberg from Facebook will be paying the State on his recent winoff. But the rich don’t pay their shareand you can see the money is spent before they even get it. What a joke…


The only solution to these problems which has teeth is to privatize them.


In the free market, THE CUSTOMER IS KING.


In this crony collectivist market the customer is a serf.


What you are asking for can only be had via the merciless discipline of the free market. In a free market, the customers decide what service is offered, when, where, how, and at what price.


A market forces the sellers to please their buyers, or lose their business.


The public schools just drag right along, decade after decade because they have a captive audience. They don’t have to improve. There is no market discipline! There never will be!


All they have to do is offer more shuck and jive, whine and complain, and in the end, raise your taxes to “solve” the problem that their collective farm economy caused in the first place.


Come on! All that LOTTO money should be paying off in SPADES, right? I mean, that’s what we’re told!


Guess all those campy-sounding bond initiatives from years past are all catching up with us. Any fool who ever voted for ANY bond simply deserves the financial ruin they become. We cannot even devalue our currency fast enough to get out of this…


Lastly, I’ve never seen or heard of a government agency that was adequately funded and staffed. They are always just getting by with the “resources available” – yeah? Try working in the private sector. Any “resource” you get is taxed/tariffed/fee/fined away. And they’ll hate you for it, to boot! What a ideology we’ve been teaching for these past 100 years.


Where is Calvin Coolidge when you need him?


The lottery funds have provided approximately 2% of the funds received in a school district each year. Around $140 per student for unrestricted use and an additional $17 per student that must be used for instructional materials. Welcomed, surely, but around 2%. The public does not play the lottery in the numbers that would provide a larger amount of dollars to schools. Unless there is a very large jackout as was recently seen during the Mega Millions jackpot.


The influx of cash each year must fluctuate quite a lot. You cannot necessarily “count on” a certain amount of $ coming from this source.


My business does not have the private the private sector problems you describe.


Let’s see all the threats we are getting:


– Need sales tax increase to maintain streets…

– Need Cuesta College Bond to continue education

– Need Vehicle/Property Tax/Head Tax for Air Quality

– Need Cigarette to continue cancer research


All this with no long term solutions is not going to work now or later…

Please, we can not continue to kick the can down the road. The only States making any progress (slow but progress) are those making some tough decisions. All I see California do is FURLOUGH, FURLOUGH, FOURLOUGH. When are we going to make the long-term tough decisions that almost every person, household and business in this State has had to make.


We want every program for every solution for the good of someone somehere and everwhere. Well, I;m tired of it all and say , ENOUGH, I am done supporting every cause, illegal, political party, and State, County, City, School, etc.with their tax me more sulutions. This insanity needs to stop and that is what I support..


“SLO County districts wearing a “qualified certification” include Atascadero Unified, Lucia Mar Unified, San Miguel Joint Union (Elementary), and Shandon”


Well all over the grade where alll the corrupt fraud has taken place in recent years, anyone living there should look for new leadership or new ground with water,.


And what a bunch of whinners my wife single handedly without American citizenship or a second grade AMERICAN education has made $3,000 for the Elementary Schools in los Osos,,,,,,,,,,,?


Well, Idea, get off your lazy asses and out from in front of the days of our lives and participate in fund raising for your school, but if your lazy and dumb, take the kids fishing, I did give that guy the green, because right now, he’s right, some day If you fat ass lazy people get your bulging butts and do something to help out this tragic pinch we are in, THIS COULD GET BETTER.


And to the cigarette tax guy he’s right!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cigarettes cause cance and the poisons planted in them make them more addictive,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,!!!!!!!!!


Make them ilegal and fine every body who lights up $25 bucks, nobodies out a bundle of money and you fiscal crisis is solved, smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette, we want your death taxes, that’s why we poisoned you, sorry but you have to admit and you will if you are honest with yourselves, if you smoke you are not the sharpest tool in the shed.


NOW GO TO YOUR SCHOOL GET A PACKET AND START FUND RAISING IF YOU CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I have to add, help teach your children, like the grandpa guy, my daughter of 7 years and second grade just read my post asking me if she could say asses, I am so proud of my wife and daughters progress, they got involved and did something, while I can’t even spell and don’t have spell check on this brouser and don’t really care, you did get the message right!


Cheseburger, you are a good man. And your wife, God Bless her, is a good woman. You are lucky to have her. Sounds like we are all lucky to have her out there working for the kids. Give her a big thank you for us.


Your daughter sounds very bright, be sure to tell her if she says jack asses shes okay. Just don’t forget to say jack first. I had to teach the kid’s that same thing. Told them I forgot to say jack first and they reminded me constantly from then on. I have a somewhat salty mouth. Used to be a garbageman and never got over it. Not these push a button garbolagists of today. I actually had to lift hundreds of cans and dump them into my truck for the dump. Sorry I got off track.


You are a blessed man to have a wife that loves you and be able to raise a child at the same time. To me, that’s the American Dream.


Love them with all you have and for God’s sake take them fishing. Your daughter will love you for it. You don’t have to be a good fisherman just good at loving your daughter and wife. Don’t clean the fish in front of her though. The kids really get attached to any fish they catch.


God Bless you and your family. Keep up the good work!


Thanks, all the red comes from the extra fat asses behind their keyboards, get off the couch! Oh they just couldn’t do that, a bunch of lazy people out their, tommorro my wife and daughter turn in there “Walk a thon” fund raising packet with $185.00 in cash a hundred dollar bill on top, she stopped watching the days of our lives and did this for free! Monark elementary, call them and see who won, it’s a contest to see who can raise the most funds, she wins it every year, and my daughter gets beautiful gifts from both Baywood Elementary and Monark Grove, ,,,,,,,!!!!!!

I don’t really care if you thin skinned old ladies like me at all, I have something good to say and only Spirit Filled and a few others, would be willing to do something other than just complain, 99% of you people moved here from LA anyway so why don’t you up and move back, today, LOL. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Maybe if we didn’t spend trillions for 700 military bases (officially; actually, it’s over 1000), and trillions more fighting “war” against Will o’ the wisp, there would be a few dollars left over for domestic chores.


Blame Bush you guys. He takes the blame in a quiet way. Next you’ll have us close all our bases and leave us unprotected at all.


Maybe a billion dollars would save our schools, or a trillion dollars. The school district would be so happy with all that money to waste. If we were closer to the top in educating our kids maybe it would be worth it. We are very low in the scale.


Makes me think someone is wasting money.


I say punt and take the kids fishing. Probably learn more from grandpas like me anyway.


Then everyone would be fighting over who caught the biggest fish. Human nature at work.


God Bless


I would teach the boys how to love the women in their lives and how to treat them like the angels they are. Take the blame when he makes a misstake. Give and not be waiting for something in return. Be humble and upright. Honest but tender. God loving and using the talents God gave them. Let them know that a man’s word is law. A hand- shake is much more binding than a contract.


What your wife says in the long run is much more important than what you have to say. (speaking from experience on that one).


Love others with all your might.


Ok, I feel better now. A lot more to say but that’s enough for now.


God Bless all you lads and ladies. God loves you.


I cannot understand what kind of person would give this post a thumbs down.


“Let them know that a man’s word is law.” Okay this might be it., this bitch is for equal rights.


“that a man’s ____________________” the other half can write thier names.


Huh???????


It didn’t include both genders. “A man’s word is law and a women’s word is what? ”


Sorry just trying to find out why anyone would put red on your beatiful post my daughter read that one too.


And loved it, lot of mean people moved here I quess.


A woman’s word is listened too. Listen to a woman with your ears and heart. Look at her when she is talking to you. Repeat back to her what she is conveying to you,.that way she knows you listened. Don’t interrupt her.


Take her advice if that is warranted or applicable to what you’re doing. Since you are the spiritual leader in your home you have the final say in any decision. If your decision failed it is your fault. Take the blame like a man. No complaints or excuses. Fix what’s broken and move on. Don’t be a cry baby.


The more misstakes you make the more apt you will be to listen to your wife more.


God Bless all.


“leave us unprotected at all. ” Okay grandpa, didn’t get that but I,m for closing all the bases and turning the red button over to th U.N. After the last shit head fiasco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank God Saddam Hussein is gone. Putting people in meat grinders to hear them scream is a good reason to invade. The way he continually tortured his people was another good reason.


I am still not convinced about the weapons not being there. And I also think OJ was not guilty. I watched the trial completely. Even made up my own mind. Hey if the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.


No reason to get all testy about this. The glove didn’t fit, what else should I think.


You must be joking about turning the bases over. Even the esteemed leader in the White House hasn’t stopped the war or gotten rid of the bases.


God Bless you Brother.


Leather shinks!


Little known fact that I read somewhere. The actual glove was removed from evidence. The glove was produced from a virgin bull born in the Ukraine and shipped by the Concord to Argentina. It was made for very rich people only. Kings and Queens. Given as a gift to OJ in reparation for good deeds he performed during one of his football games in college. I know it sounds rediculous but that’s the writer’s fault. The glove in evidence was a phoney made from the hide of a cow that had died of natural causes. After the cow became dog food they sold the leather cheap. That’s why the leather shrunk so badly.


I am very happy to get this info out to you before it’s too late. Spread the word.

I wonder where the other glove is? Maybe the LAPD took it and sold it to a one armed man. Could happen.


By the way I am the one who wrote about the glove then read it. That happens a lot these days. They say you can’t argue with the written facts, well it doesn’t count if you are the one that has written it down then read it and bam it’s a fact.


Get real. We all know OJ didn’t do it.


God Bless


ridiculous


But that’s a tautology to say that “we all know it.”


How did his blood get all over the crime scene? Still think Mark Furman showed up early to sprinkle it all over the place?


But then, where did Furman get the blood? Did he do a transfusion on Simpson when he was asleep?


As I remember, they found a small amount of OJ’s blood on the back gate. And yes they could have taken a few drops from the sample they got from him tot test his DNA.


By the way what the hell is a tautology? Wow, never heard that one.


“We all know it” was said with tongue in cheek. I thought you would all know it.


“yes they could have taken a few drops from the sample they got from him tot test his DNA”


But DID they? You have to PROVE these allegations for them to stand up in court! You can’t just throw theories around and then consider that “evidence.” It is NOT “evidence.” It is just theory.


Simpson’s blood was found mixed in with the victims at the crime scene. The victims blood was also found on the floor and on the accelerator in his motor vehicle. Did Furman put that blood there, too? How? Where is the EVIDENCE for that?


I beg your pardon. What I meant to say was that you are using “a priori” reasoning when you say that “We all know it.” In other words, you were making an “a priori” argument for the defendant’s innocence.


I think you are wrong about all the blood found at the crime scene that was OJ’s. Very little was actually found. Anyway it’s the prosecutions problem proving OJ’s guilt. Not the other way around. Thank God.


Blood found in his motor vehicle. No they didn’t find blood in hiis vehicle. Sounds like you would have voted to convict him on faulty evidence. Oh well, it’s not the first time. Glad he got off. He didn’t do it. They also didn’t find blood mixed in with the people killed either.


You know in your heart I am right. A priori or not, doesn’t change my outlook or statement use in this case.


Thanks for the law lesson though. I am always open to new ideas. Actually I took law in college but was drawn away from studying it. Too complicated for my small limited brain power.


God Bless you


You are quite mistaken about the Simpson murders.


The “amount” of blood found was not the issue.


Blood evidence at the Bundy scene irrefutably connected Simpson to these murders. Yes, they did find Simpson’s blood on the outside of the vehicle. Both the perp’s and the victims’ blood were found inside the perp’s motor vehicle. Look it up. And nobody else but Simpson put it there, in haste, in panic, and in guilt.


The prosecution DID prove his guilt. The worst jury in history simply could not find the courage to act upon it.


On the other hand, maybe the evidence wasn’t the problem?


Maybe discretion was the better part of valor?


Remember Rodney King? White police officers acquited?

The LA Riots?


Maybe the jury got “death threats” just in case they got any wild ideas that he might be “guilty”? Maybe they were informed that LA would go up in flames if Simpson were convicted of his obvious crime? Maybe nobody even had to tell them that, since it was perfectly obvious?


Lots of room there for cowardice to take its course when the Sword of Damocles was hanging over the city of LA.


How can evidence be “faulty”? Evidence is evidence. What is faulty is the workings of the human mind, in a word “bias,” you know, that evil stuff that the court tries its best to root out during voir dire?


I’m NOT glad he “got off.” He DID do it; that’s perfectly obvious. Any unbiased person of average intelligence not afraid of myth and mystique, hooligans setting fire to cities, or public shame would think the same.


I never set foot in a law school, though I have been drawn to the study of the law more than once. I have never considered it beyond the powers of my ratiocination. Ironic, isn’t it?


Bush is a NWO crook. He’ll get his.


Did I say close ALL military bases? No. But we could probably close 70% of them and not lose one iota of security. In any case, the spending on the military is NOT sustainable.


Why?


See: Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (New York: Random House, 1987), 442: “…today’s armaments industry is becoming increasingly divergent from commercial, free-market manufacturing.”


However, I completely agree with you that the school districts would waste that money.


That’s why I have said time and again that the only way out of this dilemma is to PRIVATIZE the public schools. Only a free market can force them to do what their customers demand of them because then their customers would be able to vote with their feet.


Can taxpayers vote with their feet?


I agree with you on this one as far as the schools go.


So, does this mean that if Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative, or a competing tax measure, is turned down by voters in November,


NO EDUCATION WILL BE AVAILABLE AT ALL TO STUDENTS?


Are there no alternatives?


Can the private sector do nothing about this?


Actually, I support keeping these kids out of school. let the teachers regain their sanity as they are used as sitting ducks in this problem, let the kids get back to the basics, and given us all a break for having to hear all this C**P everyday. I am so over all the negativity coming from government. I thought they were suppose to be the problem solvers and all they continue to do is dig us in deeper and deeper so that we can’t see the yellow brick road anymore.


I am tired of all the threats (increase taxes or this will happen), vote for this bond (or that won’t happen), vote for this proposition for this cure, et.c etc. etc. Our leadership is insane (so are we for voting them in) as they continue to move forward with a $200 B OR MORE train to nowhere, create new programs daily to burden all resources with, and then cry wolf.


Best post on the blog, like the bridge to nowhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My thanks from the worst speller on hear Cheseburger, I didn’t even get that right when I logged in 4 years ago, but I can finish what I started and conrete too, what can we all do to help.


Sounds like you are beginning to understand that Government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem.


Yep, I’m tired of it, too. Is life a “zero sum game”? I don’t think so.


Why does the state have to be involved in education at all? Free market answer: it doesn’t. Monopoly/special priviledge answer: it does. Which sounds better?


Release the public schools from dominance by the state. Privatize them. All they need is a MARKET.


In a market you have purposeful human action. This involves individual actors buying and selling, producing and consuming, and making decisions FOR THEMSELVES. The “state” has nothing to do with this process; it goes on IN SPITE OF the state.


In a socialist state, you have “mandates.” The state dictates, the economic actors follow. But, as we have seen again and again, this doesn’t work very well, does it? What happens? We have the continual threat of deficits and shortages. There is continuous squabbling over curriculum, philosophy, bullying, waste, taxes…….there will be no end to the troubles in this system!


True, we already do have some private schools, but for the most part, they are populated only by the rich. The vast majority of school children attend public schools. Something is wrong with this picture when the lion’s share of the market is run by the state! We have seen the future of state run enterprises, and IT DOESN’T WORK!


Get the state out of the education business, then, all of this unpleasantness about taxes, bond measures, pleas for more money, furloughs, debt obligations, squabbling over curriculum, philosophy, bullying, waste, taxes, etc., will evaporate like snow in the summer sun.


Let the MARKET decide the way that it decides everything else. Because the fact is that YOU are the market. Therefore, YOU should be deciding your own economic fate, not some faceless, careless, bureaucrat in a plush office up in Sacramento, or in D.C. The latter will never get it right, but YOU can get it right for yourself if you become a real market player once again.