Sunday, March 08, 2009
MULLICA SCHOOL GETS GRANT
According to an article in Saturday's Press of AC, the Mullica Township School District received a grant of to install toilet rooms and upgrades to convert six classrooms for preschoolers at the Primary School. Cost $297,666 and the State Grant was for $150,744. This will be used as an expansion of the Pre-K program to include a Pre-School program at the school.
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39 comments:
Does this mean that we will need more new teachers in those six new classrooms????
The State is giving us money, but there is always a negative slant. I believe that the pre-k programs are now required by the State so I guess that teachers will be needed. Soon, I expect that they will be taking children right from the womb into a classroom to start working on the alphabet!
3:06 PM-Teachers AND teachers aides.
What about using the Green Bank school for pre-K? Why build when there is no need?
Re 8:43 pm
That's going to cost us more money in salaries and benefits than I can imagine. Why are the taxpayers being made into babysitters?
What happened to parents paying for their own day care if they have to work?
Pre- K ??? Years ago nobody even started school until 1st grade.
Are we going to be required to pay for potty training lessons next?
Keep voting D.This is what happens. Socialized government at its best. Share the wealth baby, soon you will be taking care of everyone, not just pre-k
Hey, aren't your guys, Frank Kelly, Tom Carl and Joy Wyld pushing for this too?
As well as is the teachers' union supporting it, which is mostly Republican in Mullica.
Both Kelly and Wyld have close relatives working in Mullica schools. It would stand to reason that they would support spending additional taxpayer money for the schools.
If you read the article, the state would only give us half the money. We have to come up with $150,000. Not a good idea in this poor economy. People are losing jobs. Incomes are shrinking. How can we pay for it? When is enough enough? We should be looking to cut property taxes, not raising them. Let the state put up ALL the money if its so important.
Is the present school board requiring that the teachers have master degrees to teach the babies,too?
Six classrooms? Is somebody throwing hormones in Mullica's streams?
You know, there IS a school board meeting tonight at 7:00 in the library.
To 12:22 Good point. The school board meetings are notoriously empty and silent. Tonites presenters are the school nurse and board of health. Subject : Head Lice
D controlled state madating the pre-schools. (and no, the state is not going to pay for it)
So are you implying as an R, you are opposed an educated society?
Today's children will be the leaders of tomorrow. An educated society is a better society.
Rational minds recognize the obvious wisdom that an educated society benefits all Americans. Progress toward these goals is long overdue.
Mullica has one of the best school systems in the state and is one of the reasons our home values are what they are and the median sale price of homes in our township increased 4.3%-the only percent increase in Atlantic County.
Re 2:41 pm
"Notoriously empty and silent"?
What happened? Is everybody afraid to attend because of the well publicized brawl caused by Kennedy's big mouth.
When you look at that in retrospect, it's probably the best thing that Kennedy ever did.
He let the cat out of the bag about Chasey sending him to search Larry's house,bullied a citizen that defended Larry against defamatory remarks and then Chasey and Kennedy and the clerk took the deplorable,immature action of leaving their positions and walking out of a town meeting during his small eulogy.
If none of this had happened Larry would have been put to rest and been remembered as history to the old timers.
Yes, we have Kennedy and Chasey to thank for invoking so much anger in this town that the overwhelming requests for a new "Gadfly"was answered.
How ironic that the people who hated Larry the most are the one's who made it possible to keep his memory alive forever.
What a memory. Disgusting to all who knew him, and cherished to those who used him, and continue to do so "in his memory". Talk about no respect.
What will happen to the old preschool in Nesco? Will it be another financial liability..... like the old, defunct, lead-contaminated Laurer school?
One of the biggest "users" of Larry Angel when he was alive was Janet Forman.They had a symbiotic relationship in matters of government.
Larry was far from being a perfect individual.He had a lot of faults.But in terms of confronting the deep-seated corruption and waste in Mullica's government that existed then, and still exists today, Larry was a hero.He brought to light the obvious that everyone else was cowered into keeping quiet about.He was relentless.He encouraged others in the community to speak truth to power.His weblog served, and still serves, as a living record for the residents of Mullica.History often is prologue.
Mullica was very fortunate to have Larry and, despite what those who were exposed by him would prefer otherwise, the favorable regard of Larry being Mullica's gadfly will continue on for many years in the future.
Re 10:07am
You summed up my feelings in an excellent post.
Those who have things to hide always hate those who seek the truth.
His relentless crusade for open,honest,fiscally responsible government will go on.
I feel I was priviledged to meet such a rare,intelligent and unforgettable person.
Using the Greenbank School makes the most sense for both communities. Mullica has a good school for South Jersey but far from the best in the state. My guess is that the effort to keep Mullica rural has as much to do with keeping property values up as does the school. No, we cannot afford to pick up 50% of the cost of building at about a 6 cent increase in taxes. We need to start an Enough Already No More Taxes in Mullica effort! Any takers?
I think that the almost $300,000 figure is an estimate from the NJ DOE. I believe that our school district does not anticipate that the cost of construction will be that costly. Someone please clarify if I am incorrect.
BRUCIE FOR MAYOR
The problem is not so much the initial cost of construction but the cost of additional teachers, aides and staff. We already have a new high school coming on line next year that we will have to pay for. We're being taxed to death. What happened to the plan for cost-savings by combining classrooms and teaching staffs with Green Bank School that the board was looking into several years ago? Did they give in to union pressure? This continued local school spending increases each year, the taxpayers be damned, is out of control. Something has to give.
School spending increased, despite the fact that our school enrollment has decreased 10% in the past 2 years. Enrollment declined from 804 students to 720's.
There are currently four (half-day) preschool classes. Why would there suddenly be 50% more PK students if they go to full day, suddenly increasing from 4 classes to 6 classes, while the overall enrollment is dropping?
Isn't the money for both pre-K and preschool? I think that they are extending enrollment to three-year-olds so they would be more pupils to contend with. Until now, parents have had to enroll their preschoolers in private schools, or stay with a baby sitter, if their parents work. Now the taxpayers will foot the bill. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. The article wasn't all that clear.
It was my understanding that the school would be having three year old children also, as part of a preschool program and that the pre-K was being moved to the elementary school and the preschool would be at Hilda Frame. State law may require that grades K and below must have bathrooms in the classrooms for the children and that is what I thought the grant was for, to add bathrooms to the pre-existing classrooms that were being used for special classes; i.e Basic Skills and Enrichment and aren't used every period during the day.
Maybe someone with close ties to the Board of Ed or the school will answer some of these questions.
Funding - if it comes through - is for a mandated program to service 3 and 4 year olds. Bathrooms are a requirement for these classes.
Yes enrollment has decreased - which causes state aide to decrease - which causes "school spending" to increase. The problem is with how schools are funded - it shouldn't fall on the taxpayers - but that change needs to come from government.
Please learn your facts before you attack your teachers. The teachers are NOT supporting this pre-school! It is coming from the state. I think as tax payers we need to look at our administration's salaries and benefits. They make a lot more than our teachers and no one ever questions what they do! What does the union have to do with Green Bank? That whole deal went through the BOE and the superintendent. As taxpayers we need to stop attacking out teachers and support them instead. They have no say in what happens at the school! Let's start listening to the "little guys" in our schools and find out what is really going on. The BOE and the administrators always put their own "spin" on things and leave themselves out of the equation.
Teachers not have a say in the school? The teachers union controls 70% or more of the school budget by its contract which is forced out of the BOE by threats of strikes, intimidation and other tactics. The teachers also control a large chunk of the BOE making their work of getting what they want so much easier. Don't blame the teachers?????
How about the teachers union supporting the taxpayers for once?
Our school teachers make $70,000 per 1,000 hours worked per year. I do not feel any need to "support" school teachers. They make about $70 per hour in wages alone, which is about as much as my family doctor makes.
To 5:13 poster-They also have to prepare lessons, grade papers and other things during the evenings and I don't think their days end at 3:30. They stay and prep for the next day, clean up the classrooms. Arrive early to prep for the start of the day. Attend special functions held by the school on their own time. I am not talking about the ones who teach ACE and are paid through grant money for the overtime.
Not all the teachers do this, I understand, but a lot of them do.
Yes, teachers make decent money and yes, they have a strong union in the State and perhaps some are overpaid, but like with any other job, you have good teachers and you have bad teachers and unfortunately there isn't a sliding scale on the rating of the teacher and how much they should get paid and maybe there should be.
And no, I am not a teacher or in any way affiliated with the BOE, just voicing my opinion.
The teachers have a paid free/prep period, plus a paid lunch period in addition. The teachers leave empty-handed, at dismissal time, just behind the kids getting on the bus.
I know for a fact that they all leave at 3:30. I have been in the school at dismissal time. The only staff remaining inside are the latch key personnel, custodians and some administators with secretaries.
Custodians are people who are paid to clean the classrooms and restrooms, not the school teachers. That may have been the case 100 or so years ago, when teachers weren't allowed to be married.
When there are parent-teacher conferences (a school function), they have early dismissal for the teachers that day. There are few other school functions which teachers attend.
All the benefits mentioned by the 9:35 poster were negotiated. You want us to stay after class or attend school functions then you'll have to pay us more.
We do pay more. With very few exceptions, teachers are paid for after school activities at almost $30.00 per hour. Think about the salary plus the extra hourly rate for after school activities, plus the holidays and the summers off.
I am a teacher here and I arrive everyday at 7:45 am and leave at 4:30pm. My required hours are 8:30am to 3:35pm. There are plenty of other teachers at school both in the morning and after school. Just because we are working in our rooms and you don't see us doesn't mean we are not there. I have a prep period to prepare copies, attend meetings, call parents, complete lesson plans, mark papers etc. It is not nearly enough time so a lot goes home with me or is done after hours. I only have 20 minutes to eat my lunch - don't you have a lunch time at your job? I also spend on average $2,000 per year out of pocket expenses to educate my students. How much do you spend out of your pocket at your job? Please feel free to come and visit and see what teachers really do before you throw stones. Things are not always what they appear to be on the surface.
To the 1:56 poster-I am the one who posted the comment at 5:58 and you are one of the examples I was using. I forgot to mention the out of pocket expenses teachers put out for the gifts the kids bring home for the holidays (plus the time taken to prepare the gifts, buying of items to make them, etc), books for the class that the teachers pay for out of pocket for the class library, etc.
There are numerous teachers who do stay and I know this and for this I am grateful for all you do. You can't judge all the teachers as one group, as with doctors and lawyers and every occupation, there are good ones and bad ones and some that are just mediocre.
Again, children at Mullica get a great education and is one of the reasons I moved here. Thank you.
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