NYC Mayor to lay off 6,166 teachers

where would we get the money for both of those suggestions?

I would suggest re-allocating funds. We make important what is important. Just a suggestion...we have money to spend,but are we spending it in the right places. There is no doubt that we spend money in place that did not ask for it or need it.

I don't really know man. This is a tuff one.

I was hoping people would post a few more possible solutions. Beyond the raising taxes.

Do away with all extra-curricular activities unless they are academically based. Sports alone takes huge chunks out of the budget and return nothing.

You want sports? Make them intramural.

And what's wrong with raising taxes? People act like the good fairy is going to come and pay for all the services they want. Jeez, pop those in the top 1%. They wouldn't even miss what it would take to pay the teachers. How incredibly shortsighted we are as a people.

There really IS only two solutions.

Raise taxes or cut the workforce.

Couldn't agree more.

"Disgusting, It's yore money and it should stay in yore pocket, not be gave to them there people who don't want to work at real jobs."

How's my Boehner, Paul, Koch, Walker accent?

He spent over 100 million on his recent mayoral campaign too. That was the most ever spent on a campaign. Ever. In the history of this country. Until Meg Whitman out did it by another 50 million these past elections.

Good to know all those millions are going to places that really help.

Ridiculous.

Hey, they'll learn better without teachers foisting that "Thinking" strategery on them.

I am a teacher. There are a lot of horrible teachers, and they are incredibly hard to get rid of. The reason bad teachers who have a foot already outside the door just don't leave, is because they are invested and there are huge penalties for moving your retirement out of the public employee fund. It is a very bad situation.

And that's exactly how I view your comments as......"worthless."

And I take it you would know because you spend time stalking your kid's 5th grade teachers to make sure that they aren't commies...?

Now, let's be nice. Everyone knows that Commies are a threat to Our Way of Life. You know, where the Oligarchs continue to climb on and crush the people.

I don't see why people are downvoting my comment. Rubber room teachers are teachers awaiting disciplinary action for sexually assaulting children and the like, they are paid FULL SALARY to sit in a "Teacher Reassignment Center" for 8 hours a day all year. In these rubber rooms they don't have to do a DAMN THING but sit there.

It costs New York state 100 million dollars a year to pay these teachers all because they can't fire them as stipulated in the teacher's union's policy.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/05/04/2008-05-04_teachers_in_...

I think its safe to say the voting system is not an improvement over the recommend function. Too many people vote comments down based on knee jerk reactions. Plus its a wee bit counterproductive when a website that's supposed to stimulate discourse provides a means for users to say "I think you're an idiot" in such an anonymous and quick and easy fashion.

Not all the teachers in the rubber rooms are criminal. They are used to silence decent over abusive administrative practices as well.

My mothers a teacher. And we talk often about how that program is one of the biggest blunder ever introduced into our education system.

And guess who championed that moronic piece of every child is left behind legislation???

John Boehner.

-- because none get brought forward .

LOL---yes artemis.

Old Republican strategy------No child left behind.

New Republican strategy------Every child left behind.

Republican overall strategy-----Kiss my behind.

It doesn't seem to be affecting Blomberg and his Wall St. cronies adversely.

They are all still getting their bonuses and tax cuts.

Yep, Bloomberg is a "legend" in his own mind. He is power hungry and I do believe he will go for the Presidency, if not in 2012 in 2016. But I suspect 2012. Because he WANTS it and he's got the money to BUY IT. What Bloomberg wants Bloomberg gets.

What classrooms?

Hey...maybe I'll get laid off and that can be my Florida mandated volunteer work while I collect unemployment.

Otherwise...I gotta go to work...

In New York City? Who has the time or the money to be able to do that?

These are my only options? What a limited palette of ideas you have.

Do you think America is without enough wealth to pay for the education of its children? How many teachers or construction workers or trash collectors or firemen do you see living in mansions and driving a fleet of Bentleys while dodging taxes in the Caymen Islands? Oh yeah... THOSE are the evil union workers that have abused the American public for so long.

"If your workplace is safe; if your children go to school rather than being forced into labor; if you are paid a living wage, including overtime; if you enjoy a 40-hour week and you are allowed to join a union to protect your rights -- you can thank liberals. If your food is not poisoned and your water is drinkable -- you can thank liberals. If your parents are eligible for Medicare and Social Security, so they can grow old in dignity without bankrupting your family -- you can thank liberals. If our rivers are getting cleaner and our air isn't black with pollution; if our wilderness is protected and our countryside is still green -- you can thank liberals. If people of all races can share the same public facilities; if everyone has the right to vote; if couples fall in love and marry regardless of race; if we have finally begun to transcend a segregated society -- you can thank liberals. Progressive innovations like those and so many others were achieved by long, difficult struggles against entrenched power. What defined conservatism, and conservatives, was their opposition to every one of those advances. The country we know and love today was built by those victories for liberalism -- with the support of the American people." ~Joe Conason

Yep, you're correct the problem is the Unions. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what the Republicans and Oligarchs did to the Economy.

Trouble is, the Media makes sure that the people don't know any of that information.

Well, it's pretty clear what your choice is. Lower taxes and get rid of those poor children.

If you REALLY want lower taxes---how about not fighting wars, wars are incredibly expensive.

"HUH, WAR, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

Sadly I don't think anyone would listen. I know the state would be happy to have a reason to get rid of people; to not pay them.

Alot of my friends who are teachers here in the city couldn't afford to do that even if they wanted to. Strike.

A revolution of our education system would be great thought.

Yes. And maybe we should join them.

The right threw out civics classes being taught in school in the 80's. I laugh every time I think about this. How our government runs, how the system works isn't taught in our schools.

That is a problem, and the re-writing of history books leaving out the labor struggles on purpose can tell anyone where we headed!

Yep. Just awful.

Precisely!

"Keeping people stupid, it's worked out well for the right wing!"

Let's tighten that up just a little, shall we?

Keeping people stupid, it's working out well for the right wing!

Sounds good!

History is the most important subject of all.

History is the sum total of all of mankind's experiences and knowledge.
We can't know where we are, or where we are going, unless we know where we have been, and how we got here.

Very well said!

The nyc police are actually in a hiring hold. I have a friend that moved to the city last year to be a cop, did all the training, took the test, but they won't give word on if he's hired or not. Now he works some awful security job. I think both would be a pretty big loss.

Honestly thought. The city needs just about everyone it has to run. How do you make cuts when there's no one you can cut?

Because the modern day democrats don't have a back bone and have no idea how to play the political game.

And it takes money from those wealthy people to get and stay elected.

Hey now! Wealthy people have feelings too. The fact that they have most of the money doesn't mean they don't care. They don't care cause they don't have to.

Ha. Yes. This is right.

"Now, now my dear, you mustn't worry yourself about the servants and the hired help. They'll just have to do the best they can, after all, it is already getting to the end of February.................it will be warm weather again in two or three months. Maybe they can find a cardboard box to sleep in or something. It's not as if we wanted to fire them or anything. It's only business after all. We HAD to have the bank bailouts and tax cuts, after all.............WE are too big to fail you know. It is just too bad about the little people, it is just that what they do is SO unimportant to us-----I mean, compared to us."

Now that's a picture I really DON'T want to see.

Well, technically, he re-wrote the rules so he could have a third term. And then out of about 6 million eligible voter 1 million voted in the election. And it was very very close. I think he won only 30,000 votes.

I have a post on that somewhere back in the archives.

He also spent over 100 million dollars of his own money on a reelection campaign. How bout throwing some of that at teachers so they can keep there jobs?

Yes he did. He ALSO let a "Landmark" hospital close (St. Vincent's). It needed 200 million to stay open. That's peanuts to him. And if he did not want to help out financially, he would have held a fund raiser or something. I have NO respect for him (or Christine Quinn) and have never voted for him. And yes, he spent over 100 million of his own $$$ and almost lost to Bill Thompson.

"NY has one of the wealthiest group of people in it's city and they are going after the educators of our children"

That's a great a idea. Drive the wealthy out of NYC with higher taxes. This is what's happening. Many of the wealthy who have homes in NYC are paying income taxes in other states. Their NYC home is a second home. The wealthy will not let you steal their money any more than possible. They will move first. Where will the money come from after than move away?

There's a serious need for education reform. Teachers need to be held to higher standards than tenure. Their needs to be pension reform in all government unionized jobs before pensions bankrupt the states.

Look where the US ranks in education worldwide. Something is seriously wrong with our schools. It's time to end the self esteem crap, tell kids they aren't getting it done in the classroom rather than not hurting their feelings and push them to excel.

One day my son came home from middle school with an A he got on an essay. I told him the paper was crap (it was). I made him write it again for me with proper paragraph structure, sentence structure and spelling.

It strange.

Last year when this came up, I did a post here on current on it, Bloomberg was the one who saved the day and stopped the lay offs from happening. Now he's proposing it. Wonder what forces are at work here.

I'm sorry where do you teach Warren_Merrill? Let me guess??? NO where!! Yet your years of schooling afford you the luxury to criticize an entire profession based on something one of your child'd teacher did! It is our society that is the problem and creating more poverty is not going to help it any. Teenagers are having babies and since they can't provide for themselves they can't provide for their kids. They do not take the time to re-enforce the things done in school. They do not read to the children! They do engage in conversations about the world. It can't all be the teachers fault. Of course there are bad teachers, just like bad doctors, lawyers etc, but to blame a system for all of societal problems is a joke when society itself is the problem. People need to stop talking about teachers and start talking to teachers, asking what they can do at home to support what is occurring in schools. It does not matter if you have two or three jobs, it does not matter if you are tired. You chose to have kids, you have to actually raise them. That is the most important job in the world and that is one of the only jobs that can have a zero failure rate. Yet 70% of our population is failing at the job of raising their kids. Teachers can't undo what parents have done and or not doing. Stop putting blame and stop burying the education system into a huge hole.

The forces at work are reality. The reality is pensions are bankrupting the system. Chris Christie said "No more" in New Jersey. The unions are livid. A majority of the people love him for starting to bring fiscal sanity back to the state. Bloomberg is copying Christie now that he sees a leader can get tough, survive and be applauded.

I'm not blaming the system. I'm blaming part of the system. Financially, pensions have to be brought under control as to not bankrupt the system. It needs to be easier to fire weak teachers and provide better rewards for the good ones. Schools have to stop worrying about hurting feelings and push students to achieve.

Yeah. Okay. I can see that. Still doesn't make it right thought.

the rich and the corporations...

Snarky remark , there , got any proof that is how it is in NY ?

I'm at work so I'm not going to take the time to look up statistics for you, but common sense would lead (at lease me) to believe that the New York education system isn't functioning differently than any other state.

There's this funny thing called tenure that secures a teacher's job for life. Though they'd like it to seem as if that isn't actually true....it is. There is very little that you can terminate a teacher for who has been granted tenure and their recourse is almost insurmountable.

My daughter just brought home the movie Waiting For Superman. We're halfway through it...I'd highly recommend giving it a watch.

Seen it . Propaganda . I have many friends who teach , and others in social services . The teachers tell me , some kids are not ready to learn , may not even be interested . In some circles 'intellectual " is an insult . Parents are not educated or cannot spend the time with their kids to get them ready . In Kindergarden they do not know shapes , colors or alphabet . In high school they do not understand world events , or why they should care . One friend grew to hate teaching and bailed . The influence of gangs in Philly , people getting shot in front of the school , teachers threatened for not passing kids that COULD NOT READ . You need to get info from varied sources , THEN decide what you think . Don't let them spoon feed you .

Eager to hear your thoughts.

I think this is a ploy to promote charter schools. Union busting by job elimination. I was really mad at first than I realized that those children would still have to attend school. This is about throwing out public sector jobs.