SQ 766 - Ban Taxation on Intangible Assets - Poll

[hard_r]

The schools dont need more money, they need to clean up there spending act.
There are 603 school districts in OK, there are 77 counties. Each district has well paid administration...does anyone other than me see a problem there?

Go be a school Administrator for a while. Then tell me they don't deserve their salary. My old man is a superintendent. He puts up with so much from ignorant community members. 5 teachers retired? That damn Superintendent is running off all my favorite teachers who let my kids pass without doing any work. Let's start having community meetings to try and get him fired! My kid has homework now? The teacher said the principal makes them give the kids work. Let's get that principal fired! What? They are making improvements and bettering this school? Well I went here in the 80s and it was good enough for me! They should spend that money on FOOTBALL!!!(Which is illegal) If they don't pay what they pay, why would anyone want to put up with all that BS? The problem isn't money. The problem is crappy teachers. I'm currently in school to be a teacher. I have been doing in school observations. There are so many teachers who don't care, it's ridiculous. There needs to be more accountability to teachers. Do you know how hard it is for a teacher to lose their job for performance reasons? Any other job, you do bad work, you get fired. Not so with education. If teachers give kids the education they deserve, they succeed in college, get good jobs, make more money, spend more money, and pay more taxes which then go to the schools. Don't tell me that administrators salaries need cut. You go deal with all that, and balance a multi-million dollar budget, all while having no actual power because the school board has to approve everything so sometimes your hands are tied, but the community blames you. Oh and then take a pay cut. How long are you going to continue that? Probably going to look for work elsewhere, I'd imagine.

 

[doctorjj]

How does a town with a population of 10-12k and multiple elementary schools manage with a single superintendent but a school district that has a population of 1k needs its own superintendent? With a modest increase in staff, I'm certain the superintendent of Pryor could handle all of the Mayes county schools. And we could eliminate all the other superintendents and their staffs.

 

[MLRyan]

Plenty of tax money, it just needs to be used properly.

 

[Jack T.]

BAN the tax.

This is the correct answer.

 

[hard_r]

How does a town with a population of 10-12k and multiple elementary schools manage with a single superintendent but a school district that has a population of 1k needs its own superintendent? With a modest increase in staff, I'm certain the superintendent of Pryor could handle all of the Mayes county schools. And we could eliminate all the other superintendents and their staffs.

Because those big school's superintendents have a staff working under them and they do less actual work and don't really handle everything. It's easy as an outsider to just spout these easy "solutions" without knowing how things actually work. Is the Pryor Superintendent supposed to take on all these other schools and not get a pay raise? Why do we need state government when the Federal government could just handle everything? That's what your question sounds like. No. You want a guy who is in the district, who knows the faculty and the kids and the community. That's who will make the better calls, not some guy in another town who is just looking at numbers.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

There needs to be more, and very strict regulations on how school boards can use the money they receive. Like any other politician, they would rather the teachers scrape by on sandwich money rather and give themselves raises. All the same, the post above points out these teachers need accountability. We might as well throw students in there too. They come up failing, they should take a semester off, and be given a new chance the following year.

 

[hard_r]

There needs to be more, and very strict regulations on how school boards can use the money they receive. Like any other politician, they would rather the teachers scrape by on sandwich money rather and give themselves raises. All the same, the post above points out these teachers need accountability. We might as well throw students in there too. They come up failing, they should take a semester off, and be given a new chance the following year.

School board members are not paid. And Superintendents cannot give themselves raises. There are VERY strict regulations and laws regarding how all money is spent in a school district. So that point is moot. I agree about the student accountability. If you fail, you fail and try again next semester, like college. But that only works if the teachers are doing their jobs. You can't blame the kid for having a crappy teacher.

 

[Fatboy Joe]

hard_r, I understand you are doing your observations to be a teacher. These are much different than the realities of teaching on a daily basis. There are a lot of good teachers out there, and some bad ones. There are also those teachers who were great and have been deflated by the systems they must follow. They were once great teachers but low pay, NCLB and the decreasing amount of "teaching" they get to do has ruined them. They all teach to pass a test becuase that is how they are judged.

My wife is a teacher. She averages 27 kids in each class. Each class has several kids that are problem kids (becuase their parents don't care, or are just total brats), several kids on IEP's, and several that have problems greater than a school system can understand. However, the problem kids distrupt the class forcing her to spend half the time disciplining these kids only to find out the district will not do anything anyways. She pretty much can't fail a student. The school districts will not expel a student because then their student count goes down and so will the funding.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great profession. Those who do it are all great in my opinion. You couldn't pay me enough to deal with 162 students on a daily basis.

 

[MDT]

There needs to be more, and very strict regulations on how school boards can use the money they receive. Like any other politician, they would rather the teachers scrape by on sandwich money rather and give themselves raises. All the same, the post above points out these teachers need accountability. We might as well throw students in there too. They come up failing, they should take a semester off, and be given a new chance the following year.

with all due respect, you could not be more misinformed. i served as a school board member for 5 years. the rules are already in place on how the dollars are spent. in fact, they are already heavily regulated. your remark about the board wanting teachers to "scrape by" is preposterous. the fact you elude to school board members being paid shows a basic lack of understanding of the whole structure. have you ever sat through a board meeting?

 

[hard_r]

hard_r, I understand you are doing your observations to be a teacher. These are much different than the realities of teaching on a daily basis. There are a lot of good teachers out there, and some bad ones. There are also those teachers who were great and have been deflated by the systems they must follow. They were once great teachers but low pay, NCLB and the decreasing amount of "teaching" they get to do has ruined them. They all teach to pass a test becuase that is how they are judged.

My wife is a teacher. She averages 27 kids in each class. Each class has several kids that are problem kids (becuase their parents don't care, or are just total brats), several kids on IEP's, and several that have problems greater than a school system can understand. However, the problem kids distrupt the class forcing her to spend half the time disciplining these kids only to find out the district will not do anything anyways. She pretty much can't fail a student. The school districts will not expel a student because then their student count goes down and so will the funding.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great profession. Those who do it are all great in my opinion. You couldn't pay me enough to deal with 162 students on a daily basis.

I hear you. I know all about those problems. Both my parents were teachers for years before becoming administrators. I don't like the "teach to the test" requirements, I don't think standardized tests are a good indication of a students knowledge. Part of the reason I want to be a teacher is because I have seen so many give up trying. If you're not going to try, find another line of work. I know there are good teachers. I have seen them. I hope to be one. Some kids just don't care. But unless they are on an IEP they can and should be failed. I have my own issues with special ed which I will keep to myself. Teachers deserve more pay, but that's the point. We aren't in it for the money. If I wanted more money, I'd go into something else. I want to make a difference and I believe there are ways to follow all laws and regulations without boring kids to death like I see some teachers doing. I see teachers not utilizing the great amounts of technology at their fingertips just so they can put notes up on an overhead projector and drone on and on about dates and names. That dog don't hunt. Students are different and teaching styles have to change with them. Doing it how it's always been done in the past is not what gets results. Innovation and trying new tactics to reach these kids is what is needed. But because of tenure, teachers know that they don't have to. That's not a good teacher. That's not me. There are ways to discipline without expelling. I was an in-school suspension monitor for 2 years. I know how to handle the problem students.