Begging for Towels

[k9cool]

This came pover Scullen's listserve today. Among the announcements, notice the request for used towels for cleaning PE Equipment. How sad that we can build an underused Taj Mahal on Eola for $130mm but need to beg for cleaning towels.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Groves, Barb" [[e-mail]]
Sent: 10/01/2010 08:14 AM EST
To: <[e-mail]>
Subject: [SCULLEN-NEWS] Scullen Daily Announcements - October 1st

Home of the Sharks

ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR SCULLEN MIDDLE SCHOOL
October 1, 2010


October 13th dismissal time for students is 11:40 am.

SOCCER
The soccer team defeated Gregory yesterday and avenged their only loss of the season. Scoring in the 1st half was Sohum B who dominated early on. After Gregory evened the score Austin played a perfect ball to Logan who netted home the winning goal. Great effort guys!



FOOTBALL
The Heavyweight, Lightweight and Middleweight Football Teams will NOT be practicing today.


PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The Physical Education teachers are looking for gently used towels to be used in our fitness room for cleaning equipment. Our towel budget has been eliminated and we would appreciate any donations. Please drop off towels in the box outside the main office. We will be collecting through Oct. 8th. Thank you in advance for your support.


WALK TO SCHOOL DAY
Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 6th. Please meet at Tall Grass Lake Park at 7:50 a.m. We will walk to Scullen from the park. All participants will receive a bottle of water, a lollipop, and a pencil. We hope to see you all there! Thanks to the Law Office of Vincent Cornelius for the donation of lollipops and water bottles for this special event.

[doctorwho]

Oct 1, 2010 14:07:49 GMT -6 k9cool said:

This came pover Scullen's listserve today. Among the announcements, notice the request for used towels for cleaning PE Equipment. How sad that we can build an underused Taj Mahal on Eola for $130mm but need to beg for cleaning towels.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Groves, Barb" [[e-mail]]
Sent: 10/01/2010 08:14 AM EST
To: <[e-mail]>
Subject: [SCULLEN-NEWS] Scullen Daily Announcements - October 1st

Home of the Sharks

ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR SCULLEN MIDDLE SCHOOL
October 1, 2010


October 13th dismissal time for students is 11:40 am.

SOCCER
The soccer team defeated Gregory yesterday and avenged their only loss of the season. Scoring in the 1st half was Sohum B who dominated early on. After Gregory evened the score Austin played a perfect ball to Logan who netted home the winning goal. Great effort guys!



FOOTBALL
The Heavyweight, Lightweight and Middleweight Football Teams will NOT be practicing today.


PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The Physical Education teachers are looking for gently used towels to be used in our fitness room for cleaning equipment. Our towel budget has been eliminated and we would appreciate any donations. Please drop off towels in the box outside the main office. We will be collecting through Oct. 8th. Thank you in advance for your support.


WALK TO SCHOOL DAY
Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 6th. Please meet at Tall Grass Lake Park at 7:50 a.m. We will walk to Scullen from the park. All participants will receive a bottle of water, a lollipop, and a pencil. We hope to see you all there! Thanks to the Law Office of Vincent Cornelius for the donation of lollipops and water bottles for this special event.

was $146.5 M and I am sure this won't be the last 'cut' due to the white elephant on Eola.

Imagine how many towels the $17M spent to secure good bond rates 2.5 years before the school would buy,

Make sure everyone you know makes this connection in April at the polls

[southsidesignmaker]

Just a precedent for what the district is facing. The real concern is on the income side of the equation, an area many are fearful to tread in nowadays.

[doctorwho]

Oct 2, 2010 7:19:36 GMT -6 southsidesignmaker said:

Just a precedent for what the district is facing. The real concern is on the income side of the equation, an area many are fearful to tread in nowadays.

I agree- we whizzed away millions of money from general funds before we even found a site for the unneeded school- there will be a piper to pay for this, and he is marching into town now...that's why I don't understand how anyone could be casual about putting the same people who got us here back into office on the SB again, or electing some on the SB last time that couldn't decipher a budget if the pom pom hit them over the head.. it's no wonder we are where we are

[southsidesignmaker]

Doc, the piper in this case will be the largest expense LABOR... unfortunate especially considering the great value the tax payer receives in this district. All on has to do is look at the increasing ACT scores recorded over the last few years. I suspect most of the fat has been cut, if (when) more cuts are needed we will be cutting muscle.

[macrockett]

Oct 2, 2010 11:44:19 GMT -6 southsidesignmaker said:

Doc, the piper in this case will be the largest expense LABOR... unfortunate especially considering the great value the tax payer receives in this district. All on has to do is look at the increasing ACT scores recorded over the last few years. I suspect most of the fat has been cut, if (when) more cuts are needed we will be cutting muscle.

Think of the value we would have if:

1) there was a competitive environment in education where each family could decide where to spend their education dollars without being subject to a monopoly at the property tax level,

2) the State prohibited spiking of salaries in the final years of service or where school boards otherwise had the common sense to vote such practices down,

3) salaries were tied to achievement rather than time in grade,

4) salaries were higher for teachers who taught critical subjects like math and science, and or

5) interactive software was used, where beneficial, to aid in the teaching of subject matter, like rosetta stone for language, or taught online like at k12 ( www.k12.com ).

Where is the productivity in our educational system?

In addition, as we have noted more than once, we devote significant unnecessary resources to bricks and mortar that have nothing to do with educating our children. But we are not alone, see : www.cato-at-liberty.org/public-schools-are-modern-monuments-to-profligacy/ .

Finally, as some know and the rest will find out shortly, resources are finite. The majority of our funds come from property taxes and because of the tax cap our funding is limited by growth in the community and inflation. Neither are going gangbusters if you haven't noticed.

Therefore there will be severe limitations on that primary source and even more pressure due to a dysfunctional State government that has abdicated its responsibility.

On a $290 million budget where approx 70% is salaries and benefits, each 1% raise requires additional funds of $2 million per year. At some point, something has to give.

And remember those unfunded liabilities for pensions and OPEBs (other post employment benefits)? Those are now estimated over $100 billion.

All this at a time when compensation in the private sector has plateaued for the last decade and will most likely face further pressure in the next decade.

Some people don't believe there is a real problem, others think we will work it out. What about the unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Medicaid? What about the cost of the new Health care bill?

How many people really understand the math of what an unfunded liability really is and how you quantify it? Here is an overview of the issues prepared at the end of 2007 before the financial crisis hit: perotcharts.com/challenges/ . Now the situation is much worse. To understand unfunded liabilities and to get an even more comprehensive picture, go to Chris Martenson's Crash Course: www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse (if you want to understand unfunded liabilities, near minute 5 in Chapter 13 the topic is covered). Martenson finished the Crash Course just before our economy and financial institutions...crashed...how prophetic. If you want to get even deeper into the subject, go to the cbo and look at the documents that discuss this subject.

As you can tell, I am not a fan of our federal government, be it democrat or republican. Nor am I a fan of our State government or even local government (I've mentioned it before, but does anyone who lives in Naperville know the extent of our unfunded municipal pension liability? All you have to do is look at the most recent budget. It's right there.)

I'm not even a fan of our School Board. I've spelled it out all over this Board.

Sadly, we could do much better. But you have to do more than accept the status quo. You have ask yourself why that is good enough. The reason it isn't good enough for me is because the math just does not add up. There simply aren't enough resources in the private sector to come anywhere near what is necessary to pay our liabilities, both stated and projected.

[doctorwho]

Oct 2, 2010 11:44:19 GMT -6 southsidesignmaker said:

Doc, the piper in this case will be the largest expense LABOR... unfortunate especially considering the great value the tax payer receives in this district. All on has to do is look at the increasing ACT scores recorded over the last few years. I suspect most of the fat has been cut, if (when) more cuts are needed we will be cutting muscle.

labor is the 900 pound gorilla to be sure in the long run - especially retirement costs...however all things became more unmanageable when you throw away millions of dollars

[doctorwho]

Oct 2, 2010 18:30:39 GMT -6 macrockett said:

Oct 2, 2010 11:44:19 GMT -6 southsidesignmaker said:

Doc, the piper in this case will be the largest expense LABOR... unfortunate especially considering the great value the tax payer receives in this district. All on has to do is look at the increasing ACT scores recorded over the last few years. I suspect most of the fat has been cut, if (when) more cuts are needed we will be cutting muscle.

Think of the value we would have if:

1) there was a competitive environment in education where each family could decide where to spend their education dollars without being subject to a monopoly at the property tax level,

2) the State prohibited spiking of salaries in the final years of service or where school boards otherwise had the common sense to vote such practices down,

3) salaries were tied to achievement rather than time in grade,

4) salaries were higher for teachers who taught critical subjects like math and science, and or

5) interactive software was used, where beneficial, to aid in the teaching of subject matter, like rosetta stone for language, or taught online like at k12 ( www.k12.com ).

Where is the productivity in our educational system?

In addition, as we have noted more than once, we devote significant unnecessary resources to bricks and mortar that have nothing to do with educating our children. But we are not alone, see : www.cato-at-liberty.org/public-schools-are-modern-monuments-to-profligacy/ .

Finally, as some know and the rest will find out shortly, resources are finite. The majority of our funds come from property taxes and because of the tax cap our funding is limited by growth in the community and inflation. Neither are going gangbusters if you haven't noticed.

Therefore there will be severe limitations on that primary source and even more pressure due to a dysfunctional State government that has abdicated its responsibility.

On a $290 million budget where approx 70% is salaries and benefits, each 1% raise requires additional funds of $2 million per year. At some point, something has to give.

And remember those unfunded liabilities for pensions and OPEBs (other post employment benefits)? Those are now estimated over $100 billion.

All this at a time when compensation in the private sector has plateaued for the last decade and will most likely face further pressure in the next decade.

Some people don't believe there is a real problem, others think we will work it out. What about the unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Medicaid? What about the cost of the new Health care bill?

How many people really understand the math of what an unfunded liability really is and how you quantify it? Here is an overview of the issues prepared at the end of 2007 before the financial crisis hit: perotcharts.com/challenges/ . Now the situation is much worse. To understand unfunded liabilities and to get an even more comprehensive picture, go to Chris Martenson's Crash Course: www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse (if you want to understand unfunded liabilities, near minute 5 in Chapter 13 the topic is covered). Martenson finished the Crash Course just before our economy and financial institutions...crashed...how prophetic. If you want to get even deeper into the subject, go to the cbo and look at the documents that discuss this subject.

As you can tell, I am not a fan of our federal government, be it democrat or republican. Nor am I a fan of our State government or even local government (I've mentioned it before, but does anyone who lives in Naperville know the extent of our unfunded municipal pension liability? All you have to do is look at the most recent budget. It's right there.)

I'm not even a fan of our School Board. I've spelled it out all over this Board.

Sadly, we could do much better. But you have to do more than accept the status quo. You have ask yourself why that is good enough. The reason it isn't good enough for me is because the math just does not add up. There simply aren't enough resources in the private sector to come anywhere near what is necessary to pay our liabilities, both stated and projected.

1) there was a competitive environment in education where each family could decide where to spend their education dollars without being subject to a monopoly at the property tax level,

-- and not pay twice

or families like those in Englewood ( near and dear to me based on where I gerew up)- where a charter school there - admittance based on lottery not test - is blowing away the public schools in the area.. a 100% colege attendance rate vs a 65%+ drop out rate-- would be nice if they could direct support financially there.