Thursday, March 29, 2007

BOE poll

Board of Education
Peter Massey
Jim Sima
Alan Sobol
unnamed Democrat
unnamed Republican
none of the above
pollcode.com free polls
I did not include Ruth Podgwaite because I've been told that she does not intend to run again. I have no idea about the intentions of the other BOE members. And for the political junkies... whether or not Jimmy or Alan run, "minority representation" may be a factor for the BOE this year. Basically, "minority representation" means that no one party (in this case, the Dems) can have more than five seats on the Board. So presumably, at least two Republicans (or perhaps another party) will be assured of "winning" this fall.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anyone who will hold budget increases to the general rate of inflation. Anyone who critically questions budget items. Someone who checks-and-balances and doesn't rubber stamp the Florio.

Anonymous said...

The unfortunate situation that our BOE members fact is that the teacher contract increases out pace inflation. So to keep spending at the inflation rate you have to cut spending on other areas like tech., maint. etc. It is too bad that the system is set up this way.

Anonymous said...

Gee, I can't understand why teachers would want their salaries to rise faster than inflation. It's so unfair of them to want to get ahead.

Anonymous said...

Wow the great unwashed again? They get both step increase and general increase most teachers do very well. They must also realize that taxpayers pay their salaries and as they get ahead someone has to pay.

Anonymous said...

2:16,
then we need to put an end to teacher contract raises outpacing inflation. Reform binding arbitration or whatever it takes. The current ripoff system is not an unchangeable, God-made law!

2:54,
I'd love to get ahead too by having my salary rise faster than inflation, but it ain't gonna happen in the private sector (ie: the real world).

Anonymous said...

Tim, your poll only allows us to vote for one.

Anonymous said...

3:22 PM Then get a new job. Plenty of people get raises that outpace inflation.

Anonymous said...

can I send my tax bill to the guy who posted at 4:37 since he has so much more money than the rest of us?

I'm surprised Ruth is not running again. She's been around since they invented electicity

Anonymous said...

Tim your poll put a popup on my compter

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Tim, after I clicked the vote button I, too, got a pop up showing a "drivecleaner" threat. Norton took care of it for me, but I wondered if it was connected to your blog vote.

Also, I noticed you didn't have Hellreich or Mwroka as a choice, but all things considered, it's just as well you left them off.

Anonymous said...

Mrowka and Hellreich (and Behrer for that matter)are not up for re-election until 2009.

Anonymous said...

I vote for John White if he runs again. An honest, independent voice for fiscal responsibility.

Anonymous said...

The arguments for and against teacher salaries are mis-directed. Teachers are not to blame for education spending, the superintendent and the BOE are.

If you look closely at the Cheshire teachers salary ranges, you will find that Cheshire pays below average for teachers with less than 5 years of experience, and significantly above average for teachers with 10 and 15+ years experience. This is by design and is not by accident. There goal is to attract the most experienced teachers to Cheshire, on the presumption that more experience means better quality.

What this has led to is a very high, average teacher salary - when compared to surrounding towns. Rather than picking on teachers, your analysis should be directed at the average years of experience. By simply reducing the average number of years experience, you can reduce the cost of teacher salaries significantly. This is in effect what the BOE does when it offers "early retirement" incentives.

As well, increasing teacher salaries at the lower steps could also reduce costs, by attracting better teachers, who ultimately would be at a lower pay grade than new teachers brought in at higher steps.
Sign me,
An R in support of teachers.

Anonymous said...

With tenure, the most experienced are not necessarily the best teachers--another fault of the system.

Anonymous said...

I agree, based on experience of my own children in the Cheshire school system, teachers who have been teaching many years are not necessarily the best.

Anonymous said...

What about voting for a person who may be an Independent or Unaffiliated? The teachers union is the last major union that has not been adjusted. The auto workers, because of their union leadership has been reduced from 500,000 to 35,000.At a Toyota plant in the Midwest last week one guy attempted to form a union, held an meeting and only two people showed up. Seems the benefits the employees were getting were better than the union's proposal. Eliminate tenure, place video cameras in all classrooms so teacher evaluation can be conducted at random without knowledge. It seems teachers conduct classes differently when evals are done, is this a surprise?

Anonymous said...

You just can't say teacher are different when someone is in the room. That is not fair. Give names and dates. For expample does someone who works for the department for labor work different when he knows that he is being watched or do the people that he works for know that he hangs out at the town hall all day on state time? Or that he makes copies using state machines and paper? How would it be if that was found out. Or if some told. That might be interesting, yes?

Anonymous said...

735 Derf sign your name and stop your crying

Anonymous said...

Sorry not Derf - Guess again.

Anonymous said...

Just ask the kids in the classroom. The Math dept is infamous for this behavior. The kids come home and say how different the teachers are and how the lessons are taught when it is evaluation day. In general the comments are why the class is taught like this on eval day only?

Anonymous said...

Your comments are meaningless with out your name or the teacher's.

Anonymous said...

The comments are not meaningless, I do agree they would have greater value if I could sign my name and list the teachers. If you follow the BOE happenings, the budget process, go to the meetings the parents who regularly show up will provide the info. Look at the amount of extra help students get in Math...but not in the school. The biggest job gain in Cheshire is being a math tutor. Get involved in the process and it will all become clear, talk to kids.