Another World of Progressive Emotionalism
Aug 18th, 2009 by Randy Toman
I was at the Bethlehem Area School District meeting last night 8/17/09 Bethlehem Pa. There must have been 300-500 people there, so many so that the Fire Marshall showed up and we had to clear the aisles and find seats, I’m sure some of the people had to leave for we had more than a full house.
A very large percentage of the folks were there in anticipation of the school board cutting programs, laying off teachers and cutting the budget. Concerned Citizens of Bethlehem Area School District, our small group was there to represent the taxes payers and property owners who were taking it on the chin and funding this mess. We didn’t have a shot at voicing our concerns over this financial mismanaged debacle.
The evening evolved around the emotion s of the Teachers Union’s President stating it was the Board’s and administration’s fault for the mess and they were now punishing the children in there attempted to solve the mess. All the while the teachers offer no real solution, they offered nor showed no willingness to take either salary cuts, re-negotiate work rules that are hampering efficiency in the labor force as so many union rules do. Nor did I hear any offer to discuss the BASD large contribution to the teachers union benefit package.
What I did hear were teachers, I’m sure they were teachers because of the black shirts and comments they made, say, well we are safe they didn’t cut our program or to bad for you they cut your program meaning, I guess that they were to lose their job.
Pryor to the business meeting all the speakers that spoke; spoke of the poor helpless children, and not one of the 19 speakers said anything of the poor tax payer who had to fund the mess.
Let me make a few simple observations:
1. Emotion of the crowd and total ineptitude of management was the order of the evening.
2. The total misrepresentation and/or lack of representation of the taxpayer by the board was only too clear.
3. The total misunderstanding of the Board and administration was clearly shown and both duty and leadership was sourly missing.
4. Finally there was no conveyance of the seriousness or urgency of the situation by management or the Board. To say it is Harrisburg’s fault and express your disappointment is not an expression of ones knowledge of and/or understanding that we have a deteriorating situation that borders on becoming a disaster if in fact it already is not one.
WE SHALL SEE what is to become of the Concerned Citizens of Bethlehem Area School District, The Teachers Union, Dr. Lewis’s Administration and his Board?
The public school mess will never get better until there is choice in education. We have choice in everything else, at least until Obama and the dems take that away from us. One of the main reasons for the huge downturn in Obama’s popularity is because the people are beginning to realize that he is a Socialist, wanting his left wing government and all his unelected czars to take away our choices, especially in health-care insurance. Notice Obama claims that a government plan will create competition, just the opposite will happen. He also claims that the government postal service is failing and can’t compete against the private UPS and FED-EX? Hypocracy runs supreme in the Democrat party!
We already have a government monopoly in education and it is a huge failure for several reasons. One is lack of competition and the others are simply government buracracy and the politization of the curriculum along with the union in bed with the Democrat party. The interest in our children’s education in non-existant!
The only way to correct this is to privatize all education. Costs will cut in half and our young will get a much better education along with much needed dicipline. Just as important, is to get government out of education and to use a voucher system that will not discriminate against anyone for any reason. Until then, it will only get worse. Obama and his Marxist attitude is wrong for freedom loving Americans. The “entitlement” mentality that the dems created is detroying our rights and freedoms. It is up to us to change this corrupt system!