Having worked in the public schools for what was by far the worse year of my life, I can attest to the HUGE waste involved. In your private portfolio, remember, the public schools don't even pay rent for the building, they're already paid for so they have more than your private enterprise would and yet what they churn out is just criminal. . . literally. They don't know much of the 3 R's, but they do know a lot about drugs, drug laws, bling, hip hop, condoms on cucumbers (a waste of a vegatable if I ever seen one), the evils of capitalism, the oppression of the white society and the evils of America, oh you get the idea. Don't get things wrong, if the union wants to get rid of bad teachers, in this case, conservative ones, they will. Just look at me, they had no trouble getting me laid off after I voted against voluteering for Obama's campaign. 2 other white conservatives (believe me there weren't any others) left the profession while I struggle to find work.

The unions are the biggest headache and here's a shocker for you all, most members are NOT teachers. They're administrators. There's 112 Administrators for every 100 teachers in the public school and they make over 70% of the money, so you now know where all your money is going to go and it's not in the classroom or even to the classroom teacher. While most adminstrators that didn't even work on the campus where making $100k to $200k while I was struggling at $30K, we had very little supplies, books that where around when I went to high school, computers and phones that didn't work. Heck, I nearly sued the school because for 4 days they didn't move my class when the AC broke and it got to over 90 degrees in the classroom. Wasn't til the principal saw me red as a lobster at 10am making threats that finally something was done. I won't go with the attitude of the student's, adminstration, or the worse of them all, the parents it was just stupid and I mean STUPID. No doubt voted for Obama. They don't care about educating children and frankly, so didn't the most of the parents (who vote) or the students. The adminstration has their money and there's nothing that can be done about it. In the district, they passed a temporary property tax increase to pay for the repairs of the school. Well, they learned why there's nothing more permanent in government than a temporary program since the building where falling apart (it is hard to teach when it's falling apart, AC/Heat doesn't work as well the phone) and they're still paying the tax that was to expire 3 years earlier and those people voted for Obama.

I say the education system is doing exactly what it's designed to do: create nimrodded knuckleheaded liberals and it does that quite well and this bill on education is just more investment in keeping the masses ignorant and easily manipulated.

And that's my rant. I hated that job and not sorry that I was laid off because trying to educate children to better themselves with this current system was a true exercise of trying to instill reason in an institution of insanity.

MadMath1 - I couldn't have ranted better myself. What an eye-opening expose! Kudos, Dude!

GlobalRoamer

Apparently the Democrats feel they can get the economic problem to disappear by getting the money to evaporate.

After reading the education 'stimulus' (pork), I am even more thankful that we homeschool!

Again Kevin, my poor misguided on some things husband, is a NYC public school teacher. When he saw 1.6 billion dollars or more, going into education, he began to drool!

Like madmath, I can also attest to the outrageous amounts of waste that go on in our public school system. Not to mention the Obama/Biden buttons the union passed out at election time.

It costs us a crazy amount of money to educate these kids.

We pay for our kids to go to a private school. We struggle, I should say to make that happen. We rent our apartment and drive old cars: their education comes first!

There are so many extra administrator/push in types that get paid gobs of money(in one case, $90K) to meander around the school and consult, or tutor one kid.

The schools cannot get rid of this dead weight. These bad teachers are protected by the union to the hilt. You could be the worst worker on earth, they stay, just get pulled out of the classroom. You have to basically injure a student to get fired...
then you end up in a rubber room in Queens all day getting your salary...

There is soo much waste; as I"m sure in most Goverment jobs...

and that's MY rant!!!!

Shout out Kevin!

And one more thing: Obama is giving what he promised:

What is more hopeful and more changing than gobs of money being thrown around??? This is WHY people voted for him. Bail ME out O!

I am disgusted!

Tbyrd073

Mmmmm Pork.......

Here we go again. Just throwing money at the issue (ineffectively at that) when we are already 11 trillion dollars in debt is not going to solve this problem. How about balancing the budget and responsible spending? Credit spending is a fucking epidemic in this country, especially with our government.

FTB (From the Blog) - You don't see a lot in here for the kids now do you? The money being proposed for education is a farce...crap, as stated earlier. As for the amount of crap, think elephant dung heap and you will have a basic idea. Actually think herd of elephant crap, and you are closer to the reality of it. This idea is insane.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

You forgot the massive illegal ignorant children who the teachers have to babysit and teach English. My friend has to now take her daughter age 14 to a school out of district. She was bored last year and here this the school thought she was ADD and to put her on drugs. I told my friend the problem is she is bored not learning. She is thriving in the new school which is a big far from home but she is learning. The other school has illegal ignorant children who go home to parents who do not learn English, which is taught free but why should they every opportunity to get taxpayer money and now more so with BO policies and Biden the moron and his bimbo wife. Illegals have ruined our country but it seems they are the chosen and I work 15 hours a day paying taxes. Illegals barely work, make anchor babies, and have better furniture than I. All courtesy of our government but you will not hear that from the media who adore them. Tell me this woman who had 8 babies I understand she is on welfare, has 6 children and always wanted a big family and says America is good for her. She is a star now. Watch for Diane brainless Sawyer and Katie Koran to interview her and I work to support taxes. Neighbors reported her 6 other children run rampant at night and the house is filthy on their street. Imagine that she has a house probably pays 100/month and is given $5000 or more now free from our well-balanced government. Our government whether State or Fed has failed the working class a la George Soros.

I live in a small town in upstate NY. We have home schooled all our kids. Ones a professor and the other is a graphic designer and our youngest is still being schooled. We received nothing from the gov for their education, not even any form of a tax break. We feed our school $ 3,000. per year to educate our neighbors kids. My wife teaches at the local Community College and gets to see the end product of our $3,000 investment. 43% of the students at the college have to take remedial courses.By the way my taxes when I moved here 20 yrs ago were $300. per yr. Depressing.

Hello! I'm going to preface this with the statement that yes, everyone is welcome to have their own opinions. Isn't that one of the perks to being an American? Being allowed to have and voice differing opinions, and being allowed to dislike our President?
I am a liberal Democrat, and I don't sympathize with terrorists. I understand your anger with the Democratic Liberals, but I am offended that you would group us all together like that. That would be like me saying that that all Conservative Republicans want to bomb abortion clinics. I'm a democrat for many reasons, one of which being that I don't believe the "trickle-down effect" works. Maybe it does for some people, but in the situations that I have seen, especially with my lower-middle-class family, it doesn't.

As for Democrats not really caring about school kids, that's a load of bull. As I said, I'm a Democrat and I'm going to college. Guess what I'm going to college for? Childhood Education. Teacher's salaries are complete crap, and to become one I have to go through two years for my A.A. in education, another two for my B.A. and at least one more for my M.A., plus I need credits on top of my M.A. and I need to participate in a certain amount of hours withing five years, every five years, or I lose my license. I'm doing this because I want to help make sure that the children in this country are well-cared for, protected, and well-educated, irrelevant to their political views or their parents political views. I work for an upper class family from NYC as a nanny, and the father of the family is a Conservative Republican. I don't think he's going to bomb an abortion clinic, and he doesn't think I am sympathetic to terrorists nor do I share tactics with them.

The point of my reply is that I just want to open your eyes a little bit, if you will. Perhaps the experiences that you have had with liberal democrats are not good. But that doesn't make us all like terrorists, that doesn't mean we don't care about children. McCain said some awful stuff in debates with Obama...and he's republican (although I'll admit he seemed pretty middle-of-the-road on a lot of issues), but I don't think that all politician Republicans will bad-mouth other politicians.

Keep your mind open.

Nina, when you read something you have the option of thinking, "I'm not like that!" Thus you should consider what you REALLY are! It sounds like you may be more conservative than you think? And trickle down does work, because I will tell you this...you will NEVER work for a homeless man. So perhaps it is you who should keep your mind open?

I'm a former PS teacher. I taught for many years and I saw a lot! Kevin you are right on with your rant. I was not a member of the NEA--the most liberal union around. When it got to the point where I wasn't even allowed to really TEACH anymore (because of meetings, and workshops and committees I had to be on--full of red tape) I GOT OUT.
I am now happily at home--homeschooling my own children, where they are actually learning something and not being filled full of ridiculous (and extremely liberal) ideas.
I love reading your blog. You rock!

Nina, feel free to group me. The point is...I DON'T CARE. I'm smart enough to KNOW where I fit. I generalize because I write a satirical blog, not for the Cato Institute. Read it like a horoscope or a Chinese fortune cookie, because there is ALWAYS truth in my words. Sometimes I make you dig a bit to find it.

Thanks for the comments.

Nina, ask yourself, which party is the one that does the grouping? Which one is obesessed with race, gender, homosexuality, religious conflicts, class warfare, affirmative action, fairness doctrine, civil rights for terrorists, etc. It isn't the conservatives. In fact, we're often attack for being responsible.
Heck, here in California, the state is trying to outlaw home schooling unless the parent is credential and part of the teacher's union and kneel to the standards (the lack thereof) of the union. If being credential is so great, why do parents, many with no formal education in education, do so much better than the public schools?

And don't tell me the hoops one must do to be a teacher, I went through them and you're in for a surprise when you get in the classroom. The value of education is lost on today's youth and on the politicians. Seems all I heard was African Americans not wanting to be too white, hispanics more concern with their gangs or working the fields unappreciative of how their education can provide better living standards for them. After all, I remember two African American students seeing one of their friends on the perfect attendence list and wanted to seek out and kick his, to paraphrase, his rear end. And these are the people that would had voted for Obama and I'm sure their parents (parent most likely) sure did.

The class warfare, something students are learning REALLY WELL in our public schools, is just horrible. We had 3 race riots during my year at this school and to my shock is how much class warfare was being waged by hispanics among themselves over how well they spoke English. Everything was race, oppression, evils of America, etc. Who's instilling those values? It sure isn't conservatives.

The schools are completely dysfunctional and given how rotten the foundation is now, I fear in 20to 30 years, the weight of the failed system will be too much and public education will cease to exist.

To add, your statement about all Muslims being terrorists is a half truth. It's liberals that don't want to profile and search Irish nuns and grandma in a wheel chair while not oooooooofending the muslims. A well know muslim schalor once said, not all muslims are terrorists, but in the last half of the 20th century, all terrorists have been muslims. A fact liberals don't want to acknowledge.

Not only was this a good rant, Kevin, but it tickled the nose of someone who thinks they can change the system from within. HA, those fricking bleeding heart liberals are so stupid!
The point you were trying to make is that the 'gubament' schools are failing, and no amount of money can fix them.
Thomas Sowell makes a good point when he said the federal department of education should be dissolved, cause of its total failure educate its students. He also said their should not be such a thing as a degree in education. Why? Because it teaches teachers not to teach academic subjects, but ways to brainwash student into thinking they are learning when they are really being taught to not think for themselves. He added Einstein would not be allowed to teach in 'gubament' schools until he was teacher certified by a state agency. Check out his videos on the subject on youtube.
Also I live in SC and the teachers are not unionized, which I thought was a good thing, being from Chicago and all. But I tell you they are no better than their unionized counterparts. I have saw first hand how they 'select' which students to really teach, and which they choose to pass along. They tried to group my kids in the 'pass along' category until I showed my black, highly-educated, professional-dressed face at school functions,and mentioned I worked for the school district as a assistant in a special education classroom then and only then did word get around who I was and 'her kids can be educated.' Still I did end up suing the district over a blantant discrimination issue. Another thing that pissed me off was the 'special education' classrooms. Most were boys, 75% black or from lower income families. There was nothing 'wrong' with a majority these kids except they needed to be taught by a effective teacher. Yet parents and educators solution was to medicate to sedate them to the age of 17 when they could kick them out of school unprepared to be a asset to society, hince the need to build more prisons.
So I beleive more money will also allow schools special education programs to expand what characteristics/behaviors defines a 'special needs child' and thus widen the net of children to be served, medicate them, and indoctrinate them to be 'little soilders' for the civilian militia Pres. Obama dreams about.
Thats my rant, Kev in response to your rant, and as a one conservative to another, thanks for the warning.
I know you are not just p_ _ _ _ _ _ in the wind, as my grandma use to say. LOL

Rose-Bud, you absolutely are a delight. I am glad you comment on my blogs, and this one goes in my blog comments "Hall of Fame"!

I worked as an Information Technology Administrator in a south Florida school district for 2.5 years. There were times when an administrator would walk into my office and tell me that we had a 50,000 dollar grant that had to be spent by Tuesday (on a Friday) or we would loose it. Needless to say I was instructed to buy anything and everything possible to exhaust the grant. We ended up purchasing servers that were never deployed, PDA(s), large screen LCDs, digital cameras, etc, etc etc . This was a regular occurrence. The waste in public schools is of the highest magnitude I have ever seen.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/30/gop-will-face-more-pressure-to-back-obamas-plan/#more-37834

Kevin,

Have you heard about the Dem marketing campaign against conservatives?

Alexander - The Dem marketing campaign against Conservatives is the mainstream media! :-)

No, I have not, but shoot me an email to discuss theblacksphere@gmail.com

Last ANON - And how many of those items grew legs and walked out of academia?

I really enjoy reading this blog. On the education note, I have to spend $20,000 per year (on very limited salary) to have my 2 teenagers in private high school. Although its bleeding me dry, its the best way I could spend my money - a very conservative Christian school. I was very disappointed with the public school system and the astronomical salaries the administrators made. The superintendant made something like $400,000 per year and the schools here rated on average about 5 out of 10. Egads.

Kevin,

The district I worked for would only track property of 1,000 or more. Anything under that was fair game so to speak. in other words..elligible for "leg growth".

There is a way to pour trillions back into our economy without more of the printing, borrowing, and spending that has caused this problem.

better stimulus

WebSmith - So true, and that is what the gov't is doing. It is rumored that Obama has devalued the dollar by half, and I am investigating that now.

If Republicans (conservatives) could lead this country so much better, then how did we get into this mess to start with?