I just heard that Sue Ivy’s fourth grade class at Redway will consist of 42 students this year. You can’t teach a class that crowded, no matter how good you are (and by all accounts Ms. Ivy is excellent). Many of those kids are going to lose the year, and obviously it won’t be any better for them next year.
The alternative I suppose, in lieu of what should happen which is to have the money to hire another teacher, is to take some of them out and create a combination class. But I did that in the fourth grade, and I feel that the teacher should receive double pay since he or she is teaching two classes at once. One level could also lose the year.
This is very sad.
And no, I’m pretty sure Prop L money cannot be used to hire a teacher.
Addendum: I heard from a good source this morning that the chemistry class at the high school had 40 kids as of yesterday. At least one transferred out.
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August 30, 2010 at 4:51 pm
AJ
Penalties for not meeting class size reduction targets have been reduced this year because schools are struggling to remain solvent. I believe the penalty is assessed on a daily basis, but it’s now less expensive to take the fine than to hire another teacher, in many cases.
August 30, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Anon
“Class size reduction” financial bonus is only for k-3 and the District has already had to accept some classes larger than 20 (the cut-off for CSR funds) in those grades…..
August 30, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Eric Kirk
Districts don’t need penalties from the state at this point. They need money.
August 30, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Rose
Politicians like to talk about “holding schools and teachers accountable.” It’s time to hold the POLITICIANS accountable. And I mean the ones who have held office for the last 15 and 20 years – the ones who have created this mess. Term limits (an abominable idea) didn’t fix it because they have played a strange game of musical chairs to keep themselves in office while they have bankrupted an incredibly wealthy and bountiful state. You’re not going to solve anything by returning these scofflaws to office. You can help fix this in November, Eric. But it is going to mean throwing out the party-line voting.
August 30, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Eric Kirk
It won’t fix Proposition 13.
August 30, 2010 at 7:04 pm
AJ
Oh, that’s right, I forgot the classrooms balloon after third grade.
August 30, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Joe Blow
That’s right, when all else fails, RAISE TAXES! Make the retired people pay.
August 30, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Kym Kemp
I hear the Weott classroom has a 4/5 that only has 16 kids. Honestly, a good teacher, like Sue can do a 4/5 classroom well but you are right, it is extra work. Ideally she should get extra money.
August 30, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Anonymous
The maximum number permissible in a 4th grade class in our school district is 30 and it says in the teachers’ contract that financial compensation will happen if that number is over 30 at the end of the second month of school. The contract is on their website. I have only found the part that says the compensation will be in the form of books and supplies, but I think that somewhere in there it says the teacher will be compensated too.
Those of you that have kids at Beginnings, remember that the teachers there are paid by Mattole Valley USD and the teachers have “at will” contracts which means no rights and lower pay than SHUSD teachers. SHUSD dumped Beginnings years ago and Mattole took over. I wish some parents there would take up the cause to get Skyfish back into SHUSD, thus boosting the numbers of enrolled students in our district, which will contribute to its financial health. In between Skyfish, Heather, Ganasini and the Mattole High School, I reckon there are around a hundred kids in Mattole’s system in So Hum.
Part of the planning for the new high school buildings is to create a middle school, grades 6-8, which I think would be a good idea and increase SF’s financial base.
August 31, 2010 at 6:15 am
Rose
Prop 13 is not the cause of this. If Prop 14 never existed you would still have politicians who have and who continue to OVERSPEND.
August 31, 2010 at 8:01 am
Anonymous
It is intentional overspending by politicians to put public schools out of business. Years ago I saw in the business section of the S.F. Chron that “businessmen have realized that schools are the next big business…all those kids all those hours a day not being advertized to…”
But business has taken over all of it. It’s a growth industry and by cutting funding for public schools and instead giving “charters” to businessmen and you have your captive customer base… what a deal, no?
Rich guys like Gates and the Walton family are big supporters of “charter schools” and big political contributers. They OWN lots of ‘em. The story is :Get your kids out of real public schools since they are no good and let public schools wither from lack of ADA, and send them to some “public/private” scheme. Non-profits are the unaccountable means that the business guys are turning our kids into “funding units” and a resource to be plundered. Public money is going to private schools, so they can call them “quasi public”. Please pay close attention to this. The privatization of education for the benefit of big business is another tragedy of our times. It is happening right here. Big classes, people take their kids out and put them in the “charter schools”. Redwood academy is funded by Bill Gates. So is a large part of HSU. It’s bad.
August 31, 2010 at 8:12 am
Eric Kirk
Prop 13 is not the cause of this. If Prop 14 never existed you would still have politicians who have and who continue to OVERSPEND.
Prior to prop 13 we were consistently in the top 5 states as far as education. Within a few years of prop 13, and under Republican Deukmejian no less, we dropped to the bottom 10 where we’ve been ever since. I know that correlation isn’t necessarily causation, but man is that a tight one.
August 31, 2010 at 9:10 am
Moonshadow
Where to begin with all this. Prop 13 while for a laudable aim broke the funding and financing system for the state. It took away a funding source without replacing it. On top of that it gave the same tax break to the owners of commercial properties. The result is that homeowners, whose properties change hands far more often, are carrying the burden of the budget and people are pissed off . . . take a look at this analysis that was recently reported on . . .
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16130
Then when you’re done digesting that take a gander at the trailer for Waiting for Superman and the material that goes with the documentary.
August 31, 2010 at 10:29 am
Joe Blow
Today Obama ends the war in Iraq (?) untold cost in lives and trillions in debt. And you people cry about Prop 13 because no one can pay for CA schooling! Maybe these school teachers and administrators should all take a cut in pay, show a little appreciation for their jobs in this economy and maybe we’d get a few teachers worth their salt. The monies there. Just need to set the right priorities. I guess we don’t have enough home foreclosures and homeless people in CA?
August 31, 2010 at 10:46 am
Steak n Eggs
Southern Hum…plenty of money for all those fancy trucks for Daddy and SUVs for Mommy, but none for the schools. 1 dope grower’s Escalade = 1 teacher’s yearly salary. But yet the blame game continues…its Obama, the politicians, Prop 13, blah, blah, blah. Wake up!
August 31, 2010 at 10:49 am
Eric Kirk
Maybe these school teachers and administrators should all take a cut in pay
Yeah, let’s take even more out of the hides of teachers who have already had their benefits slashed, and most of whom qualify for private sector jobs which pay twice as much. That’s a real good idea Joe.
August 31, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Lodgepole
Being able to “qualify” for another job is a good start , but let’s get real.
August 31, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Plain Jane
People who want government workers and teachers laid off or wages cut aren’t thinking clearly. Less money circulating is certainly not the answer to our economic problems. Raising taxes on the ultra rich and corporations who, if news reports can be believed, are sitting on trillions of dollars waiting for the fire sales is the only solution. They can take their millions in salaries and stock pile cash rather than pay living wages, but they should have to pay higher taxes for that luxury.
August 31, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Moonshadow
Here’s a link to the Keynesian position on “excess savings”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics#Excessive_saving
which is what these corporations and individuals who are sitting on piles of cash are doing.
August 31, 2010 at 7:58 pm
ED Denson
I was thinking that we could “solve” the overcrowding problem by having each of the 42 students’ parents chip in $100 per month during the school year to hire a second teacher. Then I noticed there was a second overcrowded class, and no doubt behind that a 3rd and 4th so in no time I’ve go the parents kicking in $500 a month or more, in order to have enough teachers to keep class sizes in the 20′s. Seemed like a good idea. On the other hand taxing people’s houses to get the money doesn’t seem like such a great idea either. There was a reason Prop 13 passed, and it was escalating taxes, sometimes on old people living on fixed incomes.
What else could we tax?
What happened to the California lottery. It was supposed to support education.
I offer no solutions, just some thoughts.
August 31, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Moonshadow
Ed . . . take a look at the article analyzing the effects of Prop 13 I posted the link to
September 1, 2010 at 4:52 am
moviedad
Same ol’ story; homeowners passed prop 13 because their tax-bill was funding the state, and it kept rising. They get the “Fixed-Rate”, but the rich corrupt it to benefit themselves.
People are upset? it doesn’t look like that to me. Plenty of talk about “Obama” Might as well join the “Tea-Party.” Truth is most of the complainers are so propagandized by the wealth-class, they argue with Socialists about how great capitalism is. When in fact it is only good for those at the top.
Tea-Party people are akin to: “Jews for Hitler.” And there are plenty of little Hitlers running around. Convincing people that it is the struggling teach living next door who is the problem; while the billionaire who sent that very person’s job overseas, to fatten his own portfolio, gets a complete pass.
I see the effects of the propaganda on this very blog. Thanks to the “N.A. Centurions” Corps like Exxon pay not one dime in taxes to the state for all the resources it extracts from California, and as soon as you talk about schools taking the brunt of the shortfall, its all about “Obama.”
What could be entertaining if it wasn’t so sad, is when the white Tea-Baggers try to convince themselves it has nothing to do with his African heritage.
All the Nazis had to do to succeed was to give the suffering Germans a scapegoat for all their problems. It worked there, and it’s working here. If you’re a Social-Progressive, I suggest you watch out.
September 1, 2010 at 7:13 am
Joe Blow
Eric, What “private sector jobs”? Haven’t you heard about the millions unemployed and becoming unemployed? When you start talking about cutting my pay with a tax increase to pay for your children’s education, you’d better start thinking about getting rid of all the waste sucking up the tax dollars first. All these “special needs” programs are great when the countries rolling in money. Children’s education is the price you pay for with ten years of war bought and paid for on money you and I don’t have. Let the warmonger’s pay or is that why you’re going after the old people?
September 1, 2010 at 8:14 am
Eric Kirk
The primary demographic suffering now are men without college education.
When people attend college and become teachers, they do it knowing they aren’t going to make the money their classmates are going to make. Their classmates will go into engineering, medicine, law, etc. It is not easy to get into the UC credentialing program (I can’t speak for other programs). You have grade and testing requirements. You have to be dedicated to the concept, for a fairly stressful job.
Make it any less attractive and you will lose the better candidates for teachers. It’s already a very high turnover job, I think the average teaching career being something like 15 years which means many give it up for something less thankless and more profitable.
I was going to be a teacher. Had my preliminary credential. Then they started piling up more requirements. In Washington State they decided to require a masters degree, which puts you deep into debt for a low paying job. I subbed for a couple of years in both Washington and California, and saw it getting worse with time. I literally said “screw it” and signed up for the LSAT.
September 1, 2010 at 8:15 am
Eric Kirk
What happened to the California lottery. It was supposed to support education.
Can’t be used to hire teachers.
September 1, 2010 at 8:26 am
Plain Jane
Well said, Moviedad.
“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” Sinclair Lewis
Fascists go after the left first to take out their fiercest opponents and then focus on their scapegoated groups. Today that is Muslims, atheists and people of color.
September 1, 2010 at 10:10 am
Joe Blow
Capitalism is the religion of the Elite Ruling Class who are generally wealthy. Religion is the opium of the people. It’s what keeps them “stupid” and malleable. The ruling Elite control the governments and are using them to wage war on the common man all over the world. Take away a man’s ability to own land and be self-sufficient enough to feed his family and you take away his self-sustaining self-esteem – his actual freedom. Do that to a country and you make it totally enslaved no matter how much wealth in natural resources it has, ie. Iraq and Haiti. The rampant looting in America continues unchecked with Obama.
September 1, 2010 at 6:59 pm
anon
i voted against prop 13 (77? 78?) but i sure do like the lower property taxes…
September 3, 2010 at 9:40 am
citizen
The reason public schools are falling apart is that public money for schools is being given by the federal and state governments to private, oh, I mean “charter” schools and non-profits.
I looked on the web about charter schools. There were videos about how great it is.
One guy, who appointed a non-profit board and took over 4 “failing” public schools said “The great thing about being a 501(c)3 is that cain’t nobody tell you what to do”.
Bush and Obama are privatizing schools by choking off funding for public schools by handing over our tax money to non-profits, where “cain’t nobody tell you what to do.”
Same thing is happening with state Parks. Why are they going unfunded while state grant money is up for grabs by private landowners who are blurring the line between public and private? Anytime you hear the words “public-private partnership” or “virtual stand in for public acquisition” you know there is no public oversite and special interests are running things.
The privatization of our local schools are happening right here in Southern Humboldt, right now.
September 3, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Ernie's Place
Brewer is favored 20% over Goddard. Yet the most articulate man in America today, Barrack Obama, has a popularity rating of 44%.
Apparently all that it takes to win in today’s politics is “Not Democrat”. Obama lost America when he failed to deliver on the jobs that he promised.
September 3, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Anonymous
Was that poll taken after the debate?
September 3, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Moonshadow
What it takes to win changes from day to day . . . the typical voter in the USA is seemingly no longer actually analyzing the candidates/issues and making informed decisions. Instead they’re voting based upon innuendo, misleading or outright inaccurate information, or because someone said to vote that way. Critical thinking is very far removed from the voting process it would seem.
September 3, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Anonymous
Whoa. Wrong thread, guys. Case in point.
Pay no attention to the privatization of our public schools right here in Southern Humboldt.
September 5, 2010 at 8:14 pm
synergy jo
arghhhh, 30 kids in my son’s 1st grade class. If I didn’t have to work, I’d get a group of 5 or 6 educated parents and start a homeschool collective. So many of us figure we’ll be agumenting our children’s education. As it should be (I have to state that my strenght is math- not ENGLISH for anyone about to critize my spelling, grammer etc…I’m going with train of thought here-ok) anyway, parents have to be involved, but seriously-how many hours do our children-kids!-have to spend focusedly learning. when is the time to be kids, to focus that magic so they can be creative thinkers? So frustrated. Moving north is an option, I suppose, but is it really any better “up there?” I think not.