Ok, got it, there is no financial issue. And when the elected officials forego their pay you have made up approximately 250K. Thanks for the solution.
Last edited:
The shoes are beginning to drop
- Thread starter Danny Glidewell
- Start date
-
Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
Ok, got it, there is no financial issue. And when the elected officials forego their pay you have made up approximately 250K. Thanks for the solution.
If we are placing blame, it is the voters' fault for continuing to re-elect her with no accountability. It will only change when there is a mandatory tax surcharge on every citizen in Walton County to cover the shortfall brought about by incompetency. I'm betting that idea will go over like a fart in church. Easier to make teachers suffer than to look in the mirror and hold ourselves accountable.
Bob, by my figures we spend approximately 12,500 dollars per student in this year's proposed budget. The national average is about 10,600 per student. The state average is about 8,900 per student. Okaloosa County spends about 9,600 per student. The taxpayers of this county provide adequate funding for each student. It does not make sense that Walton County cannot provide raises, substitutes, bus drivers, supplements and per diem for training when districts with less funding provide those things. In fact, I would be willing to bet that Okaloosa provides much more for about 3,000 less per student. Maybe we don't know the solutions yet, but most people can guess where the problem is.
I am not disputing your numbers Danny, but whether it is misspent, misplaced or mismanaged a solution is required. We can spend more money than all the surrounding counties but I can only go with whats reported. If you are saying we have the money, then it is obvious life is good and with some investigation by the teachers they will be able to prove that the money is there and all will be right with the world. I will restate what I was to understand, All through negotiations the District kept saying they were close to falling below the 3% reserves required by the state. After a Special Magistrate was brought in the teachers were ruled against, and if I remember correctly, and I could be wrong the reserves was also addressed in his opinion. Now saying this, not one person has addressed solutions and if we want to preserve what a teachers job is and having to not also take the brunt of the cuts what and where do we cut to save the money. Danny, is that all money or does that include the Capital Improvement portion also?
Last edited:
go ahead sheeple, keep ignoring the obvious
keep pretending it's the 'dumb' voters
keep asking if the long term "pro" administrators make too much
keep wondering why the classroom teachers are suffering yet the
Union pimps, stooges and shills and the district higher ups are living like pigs
ask.......where does the money really go?
I imagine those figures include all parts of the total budget and I realize that school funding is an arcane process. And I admit I do not have solutions right at my fingertips, I have not looked in detail at the school budget to see where opportunities are to reduce. But common sense tells me that if our income per student is high then if ordinary management principles were being applied we would have adequate funds without dipping into the fund balance. But I cannot accept that the first/best place to start cutting a 110 million dollar budget would be teachers and items that directly impact students. If I am wrong, I will be the first to admit it, but I would bet a dollar to a donut that there are other areas that could be made more efficient or eliminated. That opinion comes from many years of being involved in the budget process inside government.
I'll venture to bet that Okaloosa's administrative staff is about the same level as Walton's while they serve easily twice the students.
Bob, I can only relate to you what I have heard from those very teachers. Most are on yearly contracts and have no job security to speak of. They are scared if they speak out they will be unemployed. While the old tenure system was filled with abuses, the pendulum has gone too far the other way. The union is trying to reform and become relevant again and they have leadership which is trying. But building organizations takes time. Meanwhile, they need our help or many of our quality teachers who have no ties here will leave and our children will suffer the consequences.