Sunday, November 07, 2004

Mounting discontent with public education in the US?


"A National Guard F-16 fighter plane mistakenly fired off 25 rounds of ammunition at the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School in South New Jersey on Wednesday night.

The pilot was meant to fire the rounds some 3 1/2 miles away at a military target range, Lt. Col. Roberta Niedt of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs told reporters in the Jersey shore township's police headquarters.

No one was injured as school was out and a lone custodian was inside the building when the bullets hit. Damage was minimal as the non-exploding, 20 millimeter bullets left only puncture marks in the school's roof and the asphalt outside the building.

The fighter jet was part of the 113th Wing, District of Columbia Air National Guard assigned to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. An investigation is being conducted into how the pilot mistook the school, located on Frog Pond Road, for a target range".


OK. Joke, joke! -- In case anybody does not get British-style humour

But it did happen




Kicked upstairs

Letter of Nov. 1 in The Pasadena Star News

My experience regarding employment throughout the years is that people are hired to perform a certain function. When a person is hired to do a job and they don't work out, or they are not fit for the job, or they simply don't do the job, that person is let go.

Not so if you're hired by the Pasadena Unified School District. If you fail as a teacher or principal, no worries, you get kicked upstairs. You get a job in the administration office at your same salary, or in some cases an even higher salary. That means the district is paying two salaries for the same job, the one downtown and the one for the replacement.

Why not put these people back in the classroom or get rid of them? They were hired as teachers and should be qualified to teach; otherwise, why were they hired in the first place?

I'd like to see a list of all the positions in the administration office, complete with job descriptions and salaries. I'd also like to know how many of those positions are filled by teachers and principals who failed in the job they were hired to perform. Soon there may be a new position downtown... Assistant to an assistant director in charge of finding positions downtown for failed employees. Enrollment is down and the administration keeps growing. Wake up Pasadena, these jobs are paid for with taxpayer money.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

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