Are you saying taking us black folks of government assistance? Hell what about my Jordans?

Idealists should live in the projects and preach their change to believe in at 11 pm in the middle of the spot in the projects. Yeah- now that would be change alright.

It would change yur status form idealist to realist I’ll tell you that much!

spending, excuses and party special interests are the problems.

There is money. There’s money for cops, firefighters and teachers.

What’s going on right now is income-redistribution.

Bush, Obama, Greenspan, Geithner, etc., they gave wall street trillions.

Change we can believe in?!

To echo what others have written here, I’m not saying that teachers don’t deserve to be paid more or don’t deserve a raise. I think that if OUSD is struggling to retain talent among new teachers that they should look at ways to retain them. At our school, some of the best teachers are the newcomers.

However, we have to balance this with the realities that we are faced with. Lots of “deserving” and “talented” people are losing their jobs. Families are struggling to make ends meet. Foreclosures are on the rise. Cities are going without vital services. Everyone is being asked to make do with less. I don’t know that our police officers, fire fighters or teachers should be immune to this economic climate. Now is not the time to be asking for more.

That said, if there are too many admin levels or bloated administration positions within OUSD, then I’m all for cutting back in those areas and reallocating money to the front lines or putting it to work to keep classes smaller.

I read the story without referring back to the blog. I imagine the vast majority of people who read your Tribune stories do not follow this blog or the comments to the blog. Therefore, most readers of the article may be left with the impression that teachers in California probably have little to complain about compared to their counterparts in 49 other states. They may think school boards are acting irresponsibly by paying teachers relatively lavish salaries.

I think it would have helped to make brief mention of the cost-of-living factor in the actual article. I thank Steven Weinberg for sharing the link that shows we are really the 44th highest paid teachers in the nation. I know your intention was not to mislead many readers, but that may have been the effect.

Thanks for clarifying in the blog. Is there a chance to clarify in the actual paper?

And regarding OUSD schools, the only district that compares to it both leadership and performance-wise is LAUSD and I have been involved with both districts. They have been under performing for decades now(except for small enclaves).

My point? Cuts have to be made even when we need the services, even when concessions are given, even we we are one of the neediest cities in the nation.

I am not saying that we need to cut teacher salaries, or that teachers should give concessions. I am saying that to push for salary increases now appears as though those that are pushing are out of touch with the economy, the severity of the cuts made in other services and what people can afford to add to their tax burdens when they are unemployed.