ExtremeWisdom

An Education Soundbite to fit with an Education Strategy

Here s a sound bite for all of you to remember.

"To increase 'education spending' we must decrease 'education waste.'"

Yes, it is simplistic, but it is true nonetheless.  To bolster your point (after making the above statement) simply point out thatin Illinois education spending rose 158% in 16 years, while the number of students rose only 13%.

Each of you needs to be capable of effectively arguing against increasing the NET TAKE of education spending. As a Budget Item, it should not get one thin dime of increase.  The money currently being spent simply needs to re-directed toward "the children", and taken away from the waste & abuse.

"What waste!?" That is the question you will be asked by the defenders of the status quo. (uninformed and dogmatic parents & edu-ratchiks who view growing dollars as an entitlement)

First, pink slip everyone in the state with the word "Assistant" in their title.  The state is awash in these examples of Administrative Bloat.  Their response will be that all these "assistants" are needed to manage the paperwork of all the state & federal "mandates." This leads us to....

Second, this is a perfect opportunity to get rid of the mandates as well.  It is time to end BIG ED's "mandate" scam.  Here is how the scam works.

Teachers Unions, School Board Associations, Superinendent Associations, and an army of other NGO (non-governmental organizations) all run to Springfield (or your respective state capitol) to lobby for "madates" of all forms, shapes and sizes. (Building codes, class size, politically correct curricular tripe, and restrictions on any competition (charters, alternative certification).

This is all for the purpose of running back to their local residents and demanding more money to pay for meeting the "onerous mandates" that they just lobbied aggressively for.

Call their bluff.  When you call your state legislator this summer to lobby against tax increases, you should be very clear in your denunciation of "mandates." 

[As and aside, and just for fun, ask your teachers, administrators, and board members to lobby for reducing mandates. Watch most of them slink away with scowls on their faces.]

Be very clear in your message. Cut Spending - Cut Payroll - Cut Mandates - Rinse & Repeat.

Then tell them you will accept "Tax Swaps" ONLY in the context of a NET TAX CUT, which the Illinois economy needs to remain competitive.

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Beware of the following slough off!

When talking to your legislator, and pointing out the 13% : 158% student increase to spending ratio mentioned above, they may (after attempting to hide behind "mandates") use this little "illogic bomb" on you...

"Well, all that money went to pensions" (or building new schools...or new schools & pensions..etc. etc. etc.) - [One of them actually told me this a few weeks ago.]

Your proper response to that is, "That's not my Problem!"

The REALLY cool thing here is that BIG ED has overreached, and this is best opportunity in a generation to make them pay dearly for that mistake.

School districts and the State Legislators have spent themselves into looming bankruptcy by bloating the payroll (to meet "mandates") and giving away unsustainably rich "end of career bonuses" combined with unsustainably rich "early retirement options."

HB755, 750 and 1484 are all scams to make the taxpayer bail them out with out cutting back on the absurd rate of growth.  If we continue our successes at stopping these tax grabs, we will eventally be in position to negotiate REAL EDUCATION REFORMS and/or REAL SPENDING CUTS.

By witholding tax dollars from them, we become politically powerful enough to demand concessions (in exchange for a tax swap that is a tax cut) like;

• Repeals of mandates
• Funding following students, not districts (cut special education featherbedding)
• Finanicial Transparency at the District level
• Replacing PTELL with more rational property tax laws
• Statewide Core Knowledge for 4-60% of all new first graders
• etc. etc. etc.

Hold their feet to the fire. Get (and STAY) informed on the true nature of the Education Bureaucracy.

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Sound bites to make your own.

Take our public education system back from the corrupt bureaucracy that has "privatized" it for their own personal gain.

A "Tax Swap" that is a TAX CUT!

"To increase 'education spending' we must decrease 'education waste.'"

Did Ahhhnold Blink, or is he just gathering allies before he declares War

California Pension payments went from $160 million to $2.6 Billion in 4.5 years? If we don't put a stop to this in Illinois (and nationally) there is going to be violence.  These numbers are criminal and an inducment (warranted) to rioting.

Schwarzenegger postpones pension overhaul plan by Roberto Ceniceros Posted on April 08, 2005 2:37 PM SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that he will postpone a ballot initiative aimed at replacing the defined benefit pension plans covering California’s public employees with defined contribution plans. Reducing the state’s expenses by revamping its public pension system has been part of the governor’s agenda for improving state finances. California now is contributing about $2.6 billion a year to its pension program, up from $160 million in 2000, and the costs are out of control, the governor said. His supporters had already gathered 400,000 signatures to put the issue to voters this fall. But on Thursday, the governor said firefighters and law enforcement officials pressed him to reconsider because the initiative, according to a state analysis, would erode their death and disability benefits. Gov. Schwarzenegger said he will instead meet with legislators in hopes of crafting compromise legislation. But if an agreement is not reached, “our pension reform proposal will go to the ballot in June 2006,” the governor said. “And we will win because that is what the people demand.”

America - Money Machine or Sea of Red Ink

There are two competing views of the Nation's financial condition right now.  (note that there is a lot of room in between)

1. Pessimistic View - David Walker - Head of GAO

Excerpt:

In the past, Americans have shrugged off warnings about the impending deficit and debt crises. Many Americans are too focused on today and aren’t thinking enough about tomorrow. As Walter Shapiro pointed out in a recent column in USA Today, low interest rates and modest inflation give many Americans a false sense of security. These false perceptions are reinforced by the government’s financial statements, which currently do not provide a full and fair view of our nation’s current financial condition and long-term outlook. The simple truth is that our nation’s financial condition is much worse than advertised. In addition, due largely to the looming retirement of the baby boomers, surging health care costs, and relatively low federal revenues as a percentage of the economy, we now face decades of red ink.

2. A more Optimistic View - Yale Professor talking about how to Calculate the Savings Rate.

Excerpt:

The first point involves conceptual difficulties in measuring savings. The traditional product-account (or NIPA) measure of saving in the national income accounts is the difference between current income and consumption.  The NIPA definition contrasts with the asset-account definition, which is (or should be) the change in real net wealth.

The difference between the production account and the asset-account definitions became particularly large during the asset bubble of the late 1990s. Data compiled by Gale and Sabelhaus indicate that for the 1990–99 period, the personal savings rate was a meager 3 percent of income using the product-account definition and a healthy 17 percent using the asset-account definition.A similar calculation by Lusardi, Skinner, and Venti found the net asset-account savings rate for 1999 was 45 percent while the NIPA savings rate was 3 percent.7 An integrated set of accounts, with a reconciliation table for different concepts, would help policymakers and analysts keep the different concepts and numbers clearly in mind.

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When one consumes as much data (articles, books, etc.) as I do, it becomes clear that things are pretty bad, but not as bad as they seem.  While this may sound counter-intuitive, it really isn't.

It is only a matter of making the proper decisions.

There are three main American entitlements, 2 national, and one more state and local based.  They are Social Security, Medicare (We need to throw Medicaid in here as well), and Public Education.

All three are built up on 1930s models.  All three were "destroyed" when the 1960s turned the US  toward a Eurostyle Welfare state.  All three are unsustainable in their present form, and must be radically reformed (and CUT in the case of Medicare).

This isn't left or right argumentation.  It is a force of nature.  For proof, we only need look to Europe, which is taxing and spending itself out of existence.

Regardless, I will be posting a great deal on government finance & spending in the next few weeks.  We have great opportunity RIGHT NOW to set America on a very sound course, as long as we are bold.