Rhode Island gets SHUT DOWN...............9/4

Rhode Island will shut down its state government for a total of 12 days and withhold millions more in local aid to help plug a growing budget hole.

Governor Carcieri who has had to jockey various union demands, cities, towns and hamlets begging for more and more and more and more and more money to fund under-performing teachers unions had to shout SHUT THIS STATE DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The unions, the teachers lobby, the whole kit and kaboodle are all ticked off that they now have 12 unpaid days to stay and home and do pretty much the same thing they do on the job......nothing.

Finally a Governor in New England who has stumbled upon an idea that doesn't involve raising taxes.

Next up we need to pull the teachers pensions, then the teachers unlimited sick days, then amend teachers hours from 7-2 to a 9-4 rotation to match the private sector worker.


We are FINALLY on the right track.

You love the unlimited sick days thing dont you.

7-2 LOL

Does Rhode Island use State Troopers on it's highway details?

another question..Do people find teachers that offensive that they're the only ones you're calling into eliminating stuff from? I'm not a teacher..I'm just asking. Thanks.

dan

the right track??? lol the teachers are about the least corrupt thing about RI. How about start by trimming down the size of the state government, fire department and state police department (which are among the largest per capita in the nation)? then maybe you will be on the right track. this proposal is just going to fix an axe wound (no sexual inuendo) with a friggin bandaid.

rhode island is a sewer

Wait, hold up, Rhode Island is a state now?

aIN'T NO TEECHER EVER DUNN LEARN'T ME NUTHIN ! i SAY GOOD rIDDENTS TO ALLA THEM'S!

Ahhh....the same Governor Carcieri who thinks illegal immigration in RI is the reason for the horrific jobless rate and hires his astroturfers to hang expensively printed signs from overpasses on I-95 and Route 4 that read: SUPPORT E-VERIFY

The guy's a moron.

You think I'm overdoing it do you? Ok, I'll ease off on the unlimited sick days angle, to be fair it isn't every teacher that gets it.

I stand by the 7-2 comment though.

Great question. Please let me clarify. I don't dislike teachers. I dislike teachers unions. The vast majority of teachers are hard working and good people.

BANG ON CORRECT SIR!!!!!!!!! Not only are the police and fire the largest per capita in the nation but also have the highest rates of being permanently disabled (yet still able to hold down a construction or other job) and on the lifetime disabled ranks.

By simply pointing out the withering body blows that the teachers unions have unleashed on this state doesn't do the problem justice. Corruption is rife across the state.

Most police and fire are honest, hard working and dedicated people, I don't want to turn on them but the problem is the state is so small we simply have too many and too much overlap.

NOW YOU'RE THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are too small to be a state. We need to
1/ get absorbed into Massachusetts and/or Connecticut
2/ become a District (District of Columbia) and eliminate one level of government
3/ become a territory (Guam) and also eliminate one level of government like municipal or state and have a territorial government do both jobs.

I get your sarcasm, again, I'm not anti-teacher.

He doesn't have all the answers, he might be a moron and the illegal immigration crusade is on one hand designed to play into what the "right wants to hear" as he has bigger political ambitions than little Rhody. He wants, gets and needs national airtime. The E-Verify program is one way to get on tv.

But (amazingly for a politician) doesn't think the way to solve budget problems is simply to raise taxes. That I like.

haha blah blah blah

and yet the state of RI will never do anything about that, because they are "heroes." What a joke. They should be the first programs slashed, because they have the least qualified people of any workforce (aka effing morons).

sooooo, its the teachers union that has caused all of the other problems? i dont follow.

This statement proves that you are full, to the brim, of shit. The backhanded compliments just prove the disingenuous nature of the bullshit coming out of your mouth, or keyboard. Your defense of them that they are 'working class' stiffs is an absolutely hilarious joke.

4/ nuke it

good thing you got that disclaimer in there

So he is just another political sellout assbag who would rather play a game, than actually stand for something that is actually honorable. He is a piece of shit.

WRONG AGAIN.........joke. You are wrong again. Try to keep up.

This constant non-stop defense of teachers unions you roll out on a weekly basis is laughable.

Joke.....you forget it's teachers unions that are DIRECTLY responsible for the decline of learning in this country

Holland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland all have HIGHER scores for 16, 17 and 18 year old children than the USA. Quebec and Germany beat the US students by 17 and 18. ..........oh ya I forgot, this is in English!!!!!! Our countries mother tongue. They are beating us in English .....


The teachers unions culture of "non-ownership" by solely worrying about their pensions, unlimited banked sick days(sorry) and protecting the flotsam of teachers who cannot teach but have tenure is bankrupting the country.

Let's be honest.........it's a p/t job. Summers off, 7am-2pm hours and unlimited PAID sick and personal days need to end.

If................if we had the same quality of education other countries get I could live with it. But we are LAST in the English speaking world.

Canada, UK, Australia, NZ, Hong Kong, Ireland all TROUNCE us in eduacational, standardized testing. Yet we let it continue. Even Scandinavia and Northern European countries using English as a 2nd language have consistently beat us.

It has to change, we are producing a HS grad class of Bic Mac flippers and not young people ready to seize the challenge.

You know shit about teachers. My wife is a teacher, she does not work 7-2. In fact her school goes from 8:05-4:05. She works the month of July. Does not get unlimited sick days. Does not get unlimited personal days. She gets up every morning at 5:30am, gets to school by 7 and doesn't get home till 6 at night. It is not a p/t job like you think it is, she puts in more time than most jobs. She is always doing work at home every night and always on Sundays. SO PLEASE SHUT THE F-UP!

I am the wife of the previous poster, and yes, I am a teacher. You are an ignoramus. There is so much I could say to you right now, but clearly your teachers failed you because by what you posted, you are an idiot. I would, however, love to know where you get the idea that we have unlimited sick and personal days. That is the joke you must be speaking of, because it sure isn't true. I am not going to spend a lot of time on here trying to convince you of this or that because you aren't worth it.

But I will tell you, someday if/when you have kids (of course this would mean finding someone as ignorant as you to make babies with) your child will go to school. And your child will have many teachers. Maybe, just maybe, then you'll get it. Furthermore, if your child has a learning issue, or speaks a language other than English, or has social or developmental issues, maybe then you'll reeeeally get it. I dare you to tell your child's teacher how marginal and unimportant their job is, and just because you don't like teachers' unions. Teachers don't teach because of unions, by the way.

It is people like you who make me LOL for real, homey. I love every minute of my job (I am an ESL teacher, by the way, responsible for not just curriculum but also English language acquisition). What I love most about my job is teaching my students and being surrounded by people who are nothing like you, and hopefully will not grow up to be.

Sarah

Sarah:

I am truly sorry you feel that way. You sound like one of the wonderful teachers who taught my 4 daughters and 8 grandchildren.


Sadly I agree with you on most points, so I ask you........... is the US education system producing world class students????

Are US students (and specifically RI) on a level playing
field???????? NO

And again........NO!!!!!'. It is unions and middlemanagement that is letting is all down.


I am glad to see you think everything is perfect.

I never said our education system is perfect. Far from it. And as a matter of fact, I even agree with you to a point on unions, particularly where they do not do enough to get rid of veteran teachers who aren't cutting it, and also I believe they do not do enough to keep the non-tenured teachers. However, it is not the unions in the classrooms every day dealing with children and trying to prepare for them for their futures.

I believe that U.S. students could be on a level playing field, but in all honesty, in many cases I believe the parents prevent it. Instead of teaching their children to learn from failure and accept responsibility, they shield them from both. This is done by blaming teachers, administrators, and anyone else who is in the picture rather than realize other issues at play, such as behavior, socialization, language barriers, or special needs.

As for the world stage, keep in mind that many other countries attend school 6 days a week and push push push their citizens. I for one do want students who perform well, but I do not want robots. I am not saying our students don't need a good push, but our assessment-crazy political decision makers are doing us no favors by insisting we measure success by tests on paper. I was never good at tests--got nervous and blanked--but I got good grades and worked my ass off. Should I have been penalized for that, or should my teachers have recognized other qualities in me to nurture? Fortunately they did, and that is what I try to do every day with my students. However, I have also taught in preschool and there are learning assessments for 3-year-olds! Is that the direction we want to go in? I hope not.

I apologize for my earlier rant, but I get pretty pissed off when people imply that teaching is some sort of blow off profession. Yes, there are people who should have retired long ago, and unions who sometimes burst with their own self importance, but that is the story at many jobs. I chose to teach because I truly want to make a difference and start my kids on the right path--and I believe I succeed in that. I hope that I am helping them to become lifelong learners and achievers. But to say that the job is part time, and that we take advantage of unlimited sick days and professional days, is an insult.

Sarah

Yeah, it's blue state heaven. Strong union pension obligations, fantastically high state worker to private sector worker ratio, great health care freebies, a senate committee that blocks stuff like E-Verify even though 95% of the Senate body co-sponsored the bill, corruption up the arse because the only corporations that will come to a state with our taxes has to be bribed, and on top of all that a very weak Republican governor to blame EVERYTHING on.

Oh, and the city of Woonsocket may get sued by the state for "civil disobedience" because the state ordered their school committee to find $6 million in cuts, but they are forcing them to spend $280,000 more on their ESL program per state and federal mandate.

Jim Traficant got out of jail today. In his honor, I'll throw out a "beam me out of here!".

Well, we have the highest self esteem, which is good for middle to upper management. And for every Indian and Chinaman that goes to Harvard Med, there's 100,000 who do rewarding stuff like make shoes for a living or tend oxen.

The Northeast produces better students and then a good chunk of them go to low tax states to get jobs. Even if the New England school systems were vastly superior, it's a waste of the extra money spent to be the best.

Oh and newsflash: ALL kids are dopes. Just had to throw that out there.

I've kept up, and you are a windbag.

what defense at all, let alone 'on a weekly basis' have I given for any teachers union? Maybe you are the one who needs to follow along, because I haven't defended them at all.

That is fine if you want to assign blame to something unquantifiable, and say that they are absolutely responsible. Maybe they are, but I'm glad you are so sure of what you believe, even if it is almost impossible to prove out.

and they all have significantly higher tax rates than we do here anywhere in the states. I thought you said this?

Nice job, failure. Did you go to RI public schools?

I'm glad you are resorting to hyperbole to prove your point. It really strengthens your argument.

I'm not arguing with you that their hours aren't desirable.

and yet most of those countries all have higher tax rates, teachers unions and go to school similar hours.

You claim to be about lower taxes, and lower spending, but almost all of the countries you have mentioned tax higher, and spend more on education than we do.

Cool, your hyperbolic analogies are wicked funnnnnyyyyy!!!!! lololoolololOLOLOLLZZZZZZLLLUUUULLLLZZZZZZ!!!!1!!1!!!!!!!!!!1111!1!11!!

wait, no, your a failure

bank handed defensive disclaimer windbag bullshit

no, none. we are not producing any mathematicians, doctoral phd's, hedge fund managers or corporate executives

seriously, your hyperbole is sad

maybe not, but assigning the blame to one group of people (the teachers union) is laughably retarded.

lol

This is a moronic statement, said by a defensive windbag, who has no idea what he/she is talking about. Where the ******** did she say everything was perfect?

lol and I'm a spelling/grammar failure!

I must have gone to school in Rhode Island, because it produces complete retardz.

Well Joke's dream of a union utopia has come true....

Judge Goldberg decided the governor couldn't just send all employees home for the day. She refused to allow the state shutdown set for tomorrow. Guys and girls of jokeefe80's ilk all partyed and had a great time for about 25 mins.


So then the Governor had to play the nuclear option. Instead of 12500 of the 15000 state employees all staying home tomorrow we are going to have 1000 layoffs.

Joke, the union and liberal-cum-latelys all over the place are crying unfair.

it has nothing to do with the unions. we still using the same basic teaching methods that we used in the 1860. it's antiquated and underfunded. schools are using 20 yr old text books because there isn't enough money to buy new ones. Yes, teachers unions and the way we compensate and incentivize teachers could use some reforming, but your comments are absurd and WAY over the top. It's far more complex than you make it out to be.

What ********ing dream are you talking about? Where, in anything I've written, do I defend the union? Other than deflecting some of the pathological nonsense being spewed, I haven't defended the unions at all.

Akshully, retard, I was working all day, in my non-union job, as a self employed working idiot, and not really giving a shit about what happens in the corrupt bureaucracy of shitty Rhode Island. so, you fail again.

good, i hope they are all scumbag, piece of shit, lazy, drug addict firefighters and cops.

hows that for hyperbolic generalization?

I'm a liberal now? I guess I better start voting differently.

you are a complete failure at this discussion. way to go.

Hey, I apologized!

Sarah