Your Roundup

Interesting thread.

I was talking with my sister last night. She lives in New York and works for Bombardier, the company that makes and maintains the subway trains that run beneath the streets of New York City. The company, in an effort to show corporate compassion, offered to fund the complete relocation of five families evacuated from hurricane Katrina, offering good-paying jobs (remember the cost of living in NY) to the breadwinners and interim housing for the rest of the families until they could establish their own independence.

As of last night, she was befuddled and ashamed to report that they had received not one response.

Maybe the question should not be "Are you entitled to a job?" but "Do the entitled even NEED a job?"

Better question, do you want a job or are you doing to well on welfare?

"doing too well on welfare". There, that's better. :-)

How about the guy in Buckeye who had his 4 bedroom, 3 bath house for sale? He told his realtor to find him a family from New Orleans, victims of the Katrina hurricane. He said he wanted to offer them a place to live for free for a year.

The news channel was on site and interviewed this family of 7 who moved in. The reporter told how the owner was provided them this home for a full year with NO RENT, AND he was paying the utilities, AND he got the husband a job in Phoenix. This is what the mother/wife had to say:"

"We are grateful to have this house but we don't know what the future will hold. We lost everything. We don't have anything. I just don't know what's going to happen to us."

And the husband/father, when asked by the Reporter how he felt about having a job so soon:

"Well, transportation is going to be a problem. I lost my car in the flood. Completely ruined. I just don't know how I'm going to get to work in Phoenix."

In other words: "Somebody gimme a car. I'm poor. Help me. Help me." Ingrates. Phriggin ingrates.

I hope that benevolent property owner checks on his property frequently.
And I wonder if he is having second thoughts. Part of the inner joy of GIVING is in knowing the joy your giving has provided. Where's the joy? Where's the love?

Makes me sick.

wow

No good deed goes unpunished.

Since you asked ...

IMHO, no one is 'entitled' to anything, including life, liberty and/or the pursuit of happiness.

Those are just ideals granted by humans to other humans if they happen to be feeling benevolent. But *entitled*? Naw.

However, I'm open-minded! If someone can show me intrinsic proof of entitlement to anything, I'm willing to concede the point. :-)

And btw, I'm not just being negative and gloomy doomy! Believe me I'm very happy that I'm *allowed* to live, work, pursue happiness and enjoy a life with as much freedom as I need or want. Yeah me! And I wouldn’t be a happy camper if someone tried to change that state of being, either!

But on a more realistic note, I think everyone should contribute to society – one way or the other. I also think all are capable of contributing, they just don’t because they’ve been led to believe they are incapable of doing so and these days, people just don’t know how to think of solutions to their problems. (On more than one occasion I’ve sat in a hair salon and listened to someone who is getting their hair done complain because they’re in debt and can’t seem to get out. Hello? Try doing your own hair! That $30 - $80 a month might be a good start! But you know, it simply will never occur to them that having their hair permed and coloured is a luxury, not a necessity.).

I think true love for your fellow humans is shown through allowing all people the pride of earning their own way and enjoying the empowerment of benefiting from a life lived well through thoughtful decisions.

debraC

P.S. I have never met a single person who was unemployed except through choice and/or attitude.

So, we are all OK with the guarenteed employment that we afford our education community, regardless of their performance?

Want to live off the public good will? Want to do little, never improve and act incredulous when anyone questions you?

Become a tenured teacher...........

Better, become a tenured teacher in Payson.

Hear, hear, DebraC! Personally, I don’t think there’s anything doomy OR gloomy about your assessment of the Human Condition. Frankly, if more Americans looked at life that way, there would be much more appreciation for the blessings we have, blessings that are either ignored or taken for granted by so many these days. Some of these less than gracious evacuees should be told to go talk to someone from Somalia about entitlements.

Ahhh... I wondered what aborted thought started this thread. Something happened to your first post, Beeline87, and the thread was empty when I got here. Now I understand, and I couldn’t agree more with your disdain for the deadwood in the teaching profession.

Having said that, it should be noted that Friday’s Roundup has a great write-up by Max Foster on Anna Van Zile in the English Department over at PHS. I had an English teacher like her in my freshman year and he made an impression on those of us in his class that, for me, at least, lasts to this day. And, I don’t know if you caught the Letter to the Editor by PHS substitute teacher, Larry Farrington, but his comments about Josh Weinland give me great hope for any students who are fortunate enough to come in contact with him in a classroom setting.

The issue of tenure notwithstanding, we should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Michael,

Anna Van ZIle deserves the award. She is a very good teacher. That being said, for every Van ZIle in the classroom there are two Homer Simpsons. PHS has several Homers. Class is typified by mind numbing worksheets, pointless assignments, or even better, Disney movies.

Eliminating tenure would allow the school administration to run out the local deadwood and bring in people who can electrify the classroom.

No argument, Beeline87. That and performance-based pay would revolutionize education as we know it.

Now that we've made our positions clear, I won't be answering that knock on the door unless I'm sure it's not a union thug.

Phaye, am I misinterpreting what you are saying ? You think the displaced family member was being greedy and asking for a car ? I took it as that this was a person who was concerned about being to work on time, and thereby showing his thanks for the job. I think the comment of "Phriggin ingrates", was a bit harsh. I would not want to trade places with anyone of the people who have been victims of the recent hurricanes. As fellow Americans should be helping them, not slamming them, IMHO.

Sounds like the problem may not be . (Set up by the state or local school board ?) Performance based pay still protects what some of you may think of as 'deadwood'. A good, set of evaluation standards, administered the same to every teacher, helps. Also, while some of you may not understand, teacher associations/unions are not there to protect the deadwood. They do make sure each person receives the same due process we would all want and deserve, in whatever profession. They also provide opportunities for educators to increase their knowledge in subjects related to curriculum, student behavior, etc. Teachers are not the only professionals with unions/associations.

If I have ever had a problem with a child's teacher, I have gone to the teacher directly. I find they are usually very willing to work with parents. For the few that weren't, I would still try to work with them, but if that didn't work, I went higher. I would never want to go into a meeting wanting to destroy someone's means of providing for themselves or their family. I would want to try to work things out as peacefully for all concerned as possible.

As far as I know, teachers are people too.

I thought I previewed my last post, but apparently I need new spectacles. The first line should read "Sounds like the problem may not be the teachers, but them evaluation system."

My apologies.

Lil Ms Margarita, what a great screen name! I’ll try not to run with any possible hidden meanings and just assume it’s a reference to your name. I enjoy talking to people with names.

You're 100% right about a good set of evaluation standards by which to measure performance. I apologize for not defining the term "performance-based" in my last post. It only makes sense that performance must first be measured before it can be judged.

I still believe that in order to provide the highest quality education to our children that our tax dollars can buy, and to be fair to all the new, talented teachers that enter the profession every year, the playing field MUST be leveled, or the priorities of the public education system must be honestly re-stated as something other than our children’s education.

Seniority or tenure should NEVER be a more important factor than competency, and that’s the main problem I have with the teachers’ unions, both state and national. Their politics is another rant altogether.

I’m nobody, however, and can change nothing, so not to worry. That’s just one man’s opinion (JOMO).