Florida to layoff 20,000 teachers

Great post, +^ !

Absolutely. As long as no one calls them out it will only get more life-threatening for the poor/elderly. We need a group of representatives that have some degree of interest in we the people. Instead of them and their profit margins.

And if they (the GOP) is successful in busting the unions then the Democrats will effectively be short of campaign funds because it's well known that the TOP contributors to Democrats are the Unions.
Corporate big money donors favor giving to the GOP....10 to 1 and thanks to Citizens United and those crooked justices that the Koch's bought off.....
we might be seeing Democracy take it's last few breaths.
We will be an Oligarchy with the Koch's and Corporate America at the helm.

This is a HUGE war and everyone better get informed or the GOP will forever be in power if they kill off the Unions.

The American Taliban (religious extremists) and big money is taking it over and those duped tea party idiots and the left that sat out the primaries let it happen.

Love that Carlin bit, from his first album to his last HBO special - he never missed a beat, always on point and hilarious.

This is a little beside the point, but I go down to the Florida Gulf every year to fish. I decided while driving around to look for solar panels, on residences, office buildings, wherever. I never saw any! This is why - Florida Senator Martinez says "We have no availability for Solar" – Florida has no state tax for individuals (business - 5%), so to raise the money for conversion, would require property tax hikes, adding a state tax, or raising taxes elsewhere. So the "Sunshine State" burns coal.

But it wasn't always this way, in 2006 Florida had an immensely popular solar rebate program – so successful it exceeded it’s cap by 50M. So Obama gave them $31M in stimulus to honor the shortfall. Florida has decided not to honor the rebate program and no one knows why or where the money is going, except Charlie Crist I guess.

20,000 fewer teachers, no green tech progress BUT no state tax, by golly… a vision of Tea-Bag America in microcosm.

You're way off base on the sports comment. Colleges and school districts have been slashing sports. At the K-12 level many middle schools no longer have sports. At the high school level many have eliminated freshman teams and some have eliminated JV teams. In some states families have to pay a lot of money for their kids to play high school sports due to lack of funding.

As for eliminated religious fundamentalism, this statement is as offensive as it gets to go after a religion. You may not like a religion. But it doesn't mean the religion needs to be eliminated. What needs to be done is debate religious fundamentalism at the school district level.

What an excellent post, thank you!

Well, you might consider a new fishing hole as BP has a new use for our Gulf. And the G Oil Party failed to repopulate New Orleans as it was a majority democratic base before Katrina. We really are progressing on the "Two Americas Front".

It took over 20 years of work by the public and conservation orgs to get GE to address the Hudson River PCBs, but relentless pressure has forced them to dredge the stuff out. It's not an option to give up fishing holes for some of us. We are now looking at fracking in the Catskills watershed - the drinking water for NYC as well as a first class trout fishery. Never give up!

LOL. We wont need one if the climate models are correct.

Great post, pretty well applies to the nation, doesn't it?
"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Greetings,I don't know if you read my post or not, but what I said about misinformed people was not about Floridians per se, but about the general American public, at any rate, I certainly agree with what you've said here, and thank you for your post, as I've said many times, and I'm saying it to everyone besides yourself, there are people here are obviously more intelligent and care about what the hell is going on, but your energies are being squandered on a soap opera, Obama does not matter, he's bought and paid for by corporate interest, just as the majority of her government, do not waste your time or energy on the purposeful distraction, but go directly to the cause, in this case fundamentalist corporate capitalist interest, to keep everyone interested on a he said she said situation, has a purpose, to bind up your time and energies in things that only intended as a distraction, ask me specifics if you need to, but don't waste your time on the smoke and ears, that only ends in frustration, because that's entirely what it's designed to do.

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

That is a very familiar saying, but there is one area where absolute power does not corrupt absolutely-reason.

Yeah, now that you mention it, I suppose it does apply to the entire Nation.
Pretty much sums up why there are so many TP/ Republican Governors now.
Not to mention the incompetent lying fools who have taken over the House.
I still try to hold out hope that America will come to their senses in 2 years and vote the Republican clowns out of the House.
Unfortunately Florida is screwed for the next several years.

Its what I've been saying for quite some time. The vast majority of American voters are completely uninformed, unintelligent, lazy, and utter void of any ability to research any topic to find what is a lie and what is fact. I actually find myself holding back the laughter over the incredible insanity that is occurring in our country's political arena right now. The moronic mass of American zombie voters lapped up the Koch brothers, Rove, and Dick Armey funded tea bagger groups tsunami of lies and put these crazy people in positions of power. This country actually deserves what it is taking right now. Sadly, the idiots aren't smart enough to learn and prevent this in the future - if there actually is one!

Well, hold on a minute. Specific knowledge can be useful as can an overall understanding of how things work or don't work in changing things. In my experience as an activist, we have lost more than we've won, but we have saved a few rivers, a few creeks, stopped a few developments in environmentally sensitive areas and helped Native communities in this country and Canada. Knowing what "he said and she said" has definitely helped get the job done. We've changed the make up of town and village boards by getting our own people in to make better decisions and exposed crooks and liars. No doubt that now it looks rather hopeless but it's also a time for an awakening. It's going to take boots on the ground, or all we'll have left is philosophical discussion. All movements need their deep thinkers as well as people ready to get involved. All they need sometimes is a little encouragement.

You forgot the CBN-Christian broadcast network. Remember the Bakers, the Swaggert's, the televangelists? And my personal fav., Oral Roberts. The Golden Rule Bunch. They are truly perverted when it comes to science/evolution, etc.

Food for thought, but if you mean yet another election to the same bunch of crooks of congress, what is the point there? We can not even trust the electoral process itself, thanks to Diebolt, Inc. {2000}

The Democrats had a majority and went into a state of suspended animation. Unless one is very wealthy and can contribute-they are not represented, generally speaking.

So you're on the side of the biggest medical fraudster in our history? You choose your sides wisely. I'm sure he is only doing what is best for Florida and I'm sure he is protecting the taxpayers. He did such a good job of protecting the taxpayers when he ripped us off of over 2 billion dollars.

ORRR how aboutttt we quit at least one of the wars and use that money to pay the teachers

Just as long as we can afford to bail out Wall Street, save the CEO's and their golden parachutes, the 'people' can "eat cake", right?

Ouch. Truth.

Hey Urban. What are majority of people in Florida saying about this? Just curious as I'm in nyc.

yup!!

Careful what you ask for.

Onemealefla, how'd this guy get elected? What was the political climate like? What did he run on? Besides his own money. What do people in Florida make of all this?

From my understanding, his election was aided by the fact Meeks refused to withdraw. He split the Democrat vote so instead of Sink getting all the Dem votes, a few went to Meeks. From what I whatever which might be wrong, Sink could have had a serious fighting chance against Scott if Meeks had withdrawn like the Democratic Party ASKED him to do. He refused because he wanted to be in power instead of doing what was better for the party and the people (it was well known there was no way he would win).

Ugh. That's too bad. And looks what's happened as a result. Thanks for that info!

So Meeks was a spoiler, like Nader. In Oregon, Nader was funded by the GOP for the most part. We need to take the money out of campaigns-use public funds. Now that Corporations can donate to their heart's content the playing field is @ a steep angle, and true democracy is sliding off into oblivion.

It makes one understand the French Revolution and yearn for the same thing to happen in present day America.

What are other Florida folk saying about this? Are people up in arms? Or is it just another day down there?

sorry, not sure yet. been busy with national and personal all day. if i hear anything significant, i'll email you. i will be trying to organize protests.

are you a teacher?

Keep fighting the good fight. It is all we can do.

Cool. Rock the protest. I'm not a teacher but I have a few friends who are.

Well lets face it, its not like kids from Florida stood much of a chance to begin with.

My amen is above EdJoy...

Actually, I am pretty sad about this. I went to grammar school in Florida in the 70s and I had some very good teachers. Some of the programs and educational methods were bat shit insane, but I had some quality teachers. This does take away from the little that those poor kids have.

Thats how the GOP works though, take away from those who cannot defend themselves, to make up for the messes made by those who contribute the most to GOP campaigns. Im with you it is really really sad. But I think we need to really get more charter schools in more states, I went a charter school and had some of the most amazing teachers, and my school got about 70% of the money every other school got, they also have the highest paid teachers in the state, and its free to go to the school. If we had more of these kind of schools we could save millions, billions a year, and if we kept the schools smaller it would make parents and kids more willing to be invested in their school.

Charter schools are a mixed bag. Taking public money and giving it to private institutions has allowed for less accountability. I see the charter school model work well in small rural communities where the locals can and do seem more involved. BUT in poor urban communities children who are behind or have learning disabilities are shuffled into the public schools while the over achievers are creamed off the top making it seem like charter schools get better results for less money. Project Censored has done some wonderful research into this if you have further interest.

http://dailycensored.com/search/?cx=013508615264581914751:i74kibqknxe&cof=FORID:10&ie=UTF-8&q=charter+schools&sa=Search&siteurl=dailycensored.com/category/social-issues/

thats true but there are charter schools that cater to students who are behind, there are charter schools that are just for special needs children, there are charter schools for kids who are musically gifted, there could be a charter school for everyone if we had more people with more drive. For example here in North Idaho we have an all right public school system but for kids who are really bright and driven they get bored and lost in our public schools, so the need was seen and filled by our local charter which is designed for kids who need a hefty challenge. I started there in 8th grade and never in my life had I been so challenged by school work. I guess there is now one in the works designed for children with specific learning disability's, there was also one designed for kids who really excel at math and science but the voters decided we didn't really need that one, which to be honest we didn't becuase charter had already hired some of the best math and science teachers in the northwest. Seriously I had one teacher who worked for some secret military program in his off time, my freshman science teacher had like 4 doctorates, the man was amazing, my biology teacher was a bit of an oddball, he was too good for doctorates because he turned down 3 schools who wanted him to go through their doctoral programs, but damn the man knew his shit. And when I was done I failed his class, I took the final exam from the reg public school and aced it, damn fast too, the average for the test was about2 hours I took about 20 minutes. I can still tell you the Calvin cycle by heart. I can also recite by heart most of the process for replicating RNA and DNA, damn and that was like 4 years ago, im going to go google that and see if i still have it right.

Great comment! Was it the school or the teachers that make the difference? I would be interested in seeing how pay and benefits compare between public and charter in Idaho. I will try some searching myself.

http://dailycensored.com/2010/03/21/brainwashing-in-our-charter-schools/
The other link was flawed. I searched the site for info on all charter schools. You have to copy and paste the whole link to get anywhere.

I'm guessing one of the reasons is that most small businesses aren't unionize. And by small, I mean those businesses that employ less then 30 people.

We have Jobs Here in South Texas.

How much below the minimum wage are you paying?

Not sure what the pay scale is but it beats being unemployed.

America is a wonderful place. Everyone is free to make their own way. I feel sorry for those who become slaves to unions and pay the price of losing their freedom. How much to the union leaders make from union dues. I'll bet they laugh all the way to the bank.

Really, mandating a womens uterus is called being free to you and working 70 hours a week with no rights is called being free???

No wonder why this country is in such disarray it's people like you and the Walker (_o_)'s who are messing up this country by taking away the rights of people.

What do teacher layoffs have to do with abortion? You'll have to fill me in. As for work, I often worked seventy hours a week. The first year I owned a company I did it for no pay. It's how I got ahead. If you don't like your job, change jobs. Don't wait for someone else to make it better for you.

you know, for some one who keeps saying he owns a company you seem to find a lot of time posting on current.

With my current company I work as I please. If I have appointments I do them in the morning. Selling the first two plus investments put me in a good position. This site entertains me.

Fl is a right to work state! A pure non union paradise with tens of thousands of uneducated, unemployed, and poor people! If you take a trip to a construction sites in Miami, stop and watch the workers pour out of the work site at lunch time or at the end of a shift! Two thirds if not more of the workers are illegal immigrants, none are licensed, and most can't speak a word of English! Its a joke! The contractors pay below minimum wage rates and don't pay any Federal taxes or State taxes. Its a Pathetic Sight! Right to Work is code for, the Right to Hire Illegal Workers without paying taxes or for as little as possible! So why is Fl. a welfare state? UNIONS did it! No, Obama did it! You pay cheap you can't complain!
Keep blaming the Unions for the failure of a right to work system if it make you feel better! But! Facts are facts pal! Someone paid for your education! Time to Pay your way!

This is a situation of the law not being enforced. Illegals don't have a right to work. I believe companies caught hiring illegals should have their business license suspended long enough to feel financial pain.

Probably a cyber-spy for the Echelon code. Just kidding, he sounds like an Enron Ceo that cashed out early, and lives in a right to work state like Texas or Oklahoma. Their primary export is young men for the military, as there is no way to make a living any other way.

I second That motion

The last two questions the story asks is: Are there any Current users from Florida? and What do you tell us of your crazy governor and his plans?
What's wrong with that?

i don't think he was trying to tar freecrack but offer up a name of a user on current who might be from flordia since the last question in the article was asking if there was any users who can give us a local insight on this batshit cray dude.

that is so not true....you pride yourself on your warped perspective, and we love you for it...or maybe in spite of it. HUGS!