By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… The Clark County School District has announced that it anticipates opening the school year with a shortage of 700 teachers. Many of those classrooms will be in low performing schools.
This shortage is in spite of the $5000 bonus offered to new hires. The state legislature set aside 10 million dollars for districts in the state to use as a bonus to entice new teachers to the state. Clark County School District’s share is $8.2 million. This money cannot be used for any other purpose. The district has kicked in an additional $1,000 dollars per new teacher.
There was a day when no bonus was necessary to lure teachers to Clark County. At that time, the district was leading much of the nation in compensation for teachers. The CCSD was a beacon of education throughout the United States. Teachers were flocking to the state.
Today the district suffers from the ills of large inner city school districts and a pay scale that is anything but enticing. Threatening to once again refuse to honor a legal teacher contract, under the guise that the district and the teacher’s union are in negotiations, is not conducive to alluring prospective teachers.
When one realizes that a substitute teacher costs the district $109 per day, less than a beginning teacher does, one becomes a little suspicious that the district is not unhappy with the teacher shortage.
If 700 classrooms were filled with substitute teachers, the district would save $14,000,000 a year. These $14,000,000 will more than make up for the $4,750,000 the district lost due to a $15 dollar per student reduction in state support for education in Clark County.
No one asked me but… This could be the most fun presidential campaign in years. On the Democratic side, you have Hillary Clinton who, a few months ago, was merely sitting back and awaiting her coronation.
Hillary has been touted as the first female candidate for the Presidency of the United States. However, as early as the 1872 election, Victoria Woodhull ran for the Presidency as the Equal Rights Party’s candidate. She was among the first women stockbrokers in New York. She published Woodhull &Claflins Weekly supporting equal suffrage. Her running mate was Frederick Douglass, a former slave, an abolitionist, writer, lecturer, and statesman.
Woodhull, who was a clairvoyant, championed the legalization of prostitution and eugenics. Eugenics is the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.
She also campaigned on the issue of free love. As late as 2008, the Green Party nominee was Cynthia McKinney. She was a member of Congress. She was noted for trying to pass a bill to release the government’s secret records on Tupac Shakur and assaulting Capitol police. She further alleged that the government had executed 5000 people and dumped their bodies somewhere in a Louisiana swamp.
However, out of nowhere this year, an avowed socialist Bernie Sanders has appeared. Bernie is making an earnest run for the Democratic nomination. He is making some real inroads especially with the young people who apparently have no fear of America becoming a large Greece; the nearly half of all Americans who are dependent on the government for their livelihood. Those who do not have a government job depend on the government as welfare recipients.
Both of these groups are cognizant of the fact that the Republican Party threatens both. This coalition, along with ethnic minorities, is the backbone of the Democratic Party. Many of those people see a weekend, or eight years, with Bernie as their only salvation.
As far left as Hillary is; naturally, she has been forced to tack even further into extreme left waters. While Republicans are attacking the welfare state for the middle-class and below, Bernie is attacking the billions and billions of tax dollars of welfare for corporate America.
This message resonates with those who see Bernie as their wealthy grandfather. While the Republicans are attacking the single mom and her multitude of kids, Bernie is taking on the Bankers and the overpaid CEO’s. He champions the $15 an hour minimum wage contrasting it to the $15 million salaries of those who wish to pay their employees seven dollars or less.
In contrast to the small number of Democratic candidates, the Republicans are offering 15 dwarfs; plus one rather rich guy who has a propensity to shoot from the lip; as their prospective presidential candidates.
Like or dislike Donald Trump, and there is a lot to dislike, he has certainly added some spice to the election process. It is fun to have a candidate who takes opponents attacks on him and his followers personally.
John McCain called Trump’s Arizona supporters “crazies.” Taking that personally, Trump, while in Arizona, attacked McCain’s war record.
When Lindsay Graham called him a “jackass,” Trump, campaigning in Graham’s home state retorted that Graham was a “loser.”
Trump went to the Texas border with Mexico and, when ex- Texas Governor Rick Perry verbally attacked Trump and his stand on illegal immigration, Trump struck back. He called the Governor a stupid man who bought a pair of dark rimmed glasses to make him look smarter. I got a pair of dark rimmed glass and I can tell the governor no one seems to think I am smarter.
The 15 dwarfs are not sure how to deal with this man who is running for the presidential nomination of the party even though he has no idea how to be politically correct.
The best thing that could happen to the Republicans is a Bernie Sanders Democrat nomination. The best thing that could happen to the Democrats is a Donald Trump Republican nomination. The worst thing that could happen for the country would be the election of either of these men.
Can you imagine a campaign between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump? None of the above would be a great choice.
This election could well be a catalyst for the rise of a new party. We could call it the Common Sense Party.
Thought of the week… Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.
-Gore Vidal
1 thought on “No One Asked Me But… (July 29, 2015)”
Congratulations, in one post supposedly about everything wrong with America you seem to \express opinions about our elections that seem to actually model everything wrong with America. It is people who have opinions like yours that are the true problem with this nation, grow up, get an education and try becoming a positive member of society.