Funding For Public Education Part Of Wicomico County Council Budget Hearing at 6:30 Tonight, Wicomico Youth & Civic Center
The Wicomico County Council will hold a budget hearing for the Fiscal Year 2012-13 county budget at 6:30 p.m. tonight during its regular meeting, which will be held in the Midway Room of the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. The community is invited to attend to speak on and show support for portions of the budget, which the County Council anticipates approving in a special meeting June 11.
Board of Education, school system officials and other school supporters will attend to support funding for public education. Many people are expected to speak in support of the school system's May 1 amended budget request to the county, for $38.7 million in funding. A presentation on the Board of Education's budget is posted here, on the Board's Budget page:
http://www.wcboe.org/file/0000001983..052412_Board_Budget_Hearing_Presentation.pdf
The Proposed Wicomico County FY2013 Operating Budget can be reviewed in its entirety and can be downloaded from the county’s web site: www.wicomicocounty.org; look under “What’s New.” For purposes of the public hearing the Proposed Budget will be projected on a large screen in the civic center. Persons who may want their own printed copy of the Proposed Budget should download and print it from the website. Only a very limited number of printed copies will be made for the hearing.
In addition to the public hearing, interested persons may telephone, or email any member of the Wicomico County Council, whose contact information may be found on the county web site under County Council.
The Board of Education will adopt a final budget later this month.
Publishers Notes: This information was clearly known for WEEKS, yet the BOE just published it on their Website. I have a major issue with the BOE continuously pulling these games by NOT keeping the public informed until the last minute.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
13 comments:
and it was also typical getting a post-card in the mail from the Teacher union asking for support of this horrific budget that just funds teacher pensions and healthcare in instead of getting the kids what they need.
I told the unions we would show up and denounce these tactics and ask them to help the kids by trimming the pensions and increasing the amount of teaching the kids gets
I say they should donate the money from the speed camera to the schools. After all it's about the kids right?
2:15 is right! It can't be "for the children" when you consider next year's increases which have been approved by the BOE board.
The proposed budget figures for next year by category are not even included in the link the BOE provided. All that link talks about are the county cuts. (Blah, Blah, Blah!)
Look at page 30 of Amended Proposed Consolidated Current Expense Budget FY 2012-13: (http://www.wcboe.org/department/BusinessSupportServices/Budget/BudgetReport). This budget which has been sent to the County Council shows these COST INCREASES:
$ 3,717,865 for Recruitment & Retention of highly qualified workforce (This means "Employee Raises"!)
$142,950 representing a 32% increase in Worker Compensation insurance
$ 754,650 increase in health care premiums for active employees & their dependents
$ 3472,320 increase in health care premiums for retirees
$ 69,000 projected increase in annual leave payout due to early retirement option
$156,850 projected increase in payroll, unemployment & other insurances related to fixed charges (not including property and vehicle insurance)
$ 15,000 increase in cellphone stipends for administrators
$ 37,800 for 1/2 of WCEA (Union) President's salary
This kind of stuff just burns me up. It's just BS that the BOE wants people to come out tonight and support its budget. It's for the Administrators & the Union, not the kids! I haven't had a raise in 5 years at my job, but in this economy, I'm just grateful I have a job. The BOE is a bunch of cry babies that tell only the PART of the story they want you to hear.
When will that "highly qualified workforce" show up? Out of the 13 years my son was in school K-12. I can count on 1 hand the number of decent teachers that actually gave a darn about the students. Four of them came from the 5 years he was in private school.
FYI-Some schools in our county were a bit proactive on this one and has gotten the information out with out any help from BOE...I hope it paid off big and the crowd shows what you can do when you put a little effort into something.
It is painfully obvious that this county wants their cake and eat it too. Sure we all want lower taxes, but in education, you get what you pay for. There are plenty of surrounding counties and districts who place a priority on education. We will lose great teachers if something does not change around here.
Anti-growth policies and anti-education funding will have a crippling effect on the future of this county. Would you want to bring a business to Wicomico County when the schools are in a state of flux? Not a chance. Watch as this area gets more and more depressed, the gangs will take over, as they are now, and you will have no one to blame but yourselves.
Wicomico County Schools are the laughing stock of the state. This is caused by a joke of a county government and a joke of a board of ed. and administrators.
Quality teachers are needed here, not more admin. and massive cuts. Great teachers make great students, you might want to consider trying to find them and keep them.
We have been getting burned up on all 4 telephones from the automated EMERGENCY contact system from everyone from the principal to the PTA and the teachers union asking for support. Stop calling me.
4:18 YES!!!
2:49 - Typo sorry:
Not "$ 3472,320 increase in health care premiums for retirees." It should be $ 347, 230.
I am nauseated by all the teachers at the meeting speak and wasting everyone's time. It's painfully obvious the issue is about their pay check and not the kids.
I don't get it, this woman is speaking at the council budget hearing. She was crying and whining about her son and his asthma being affected because it was 2 hot at Bennett Middle School. So if his Asthma flares up because it is to hot at the school then what does he do all Summer long? I guess the kid stays inside the house with the AC on all day. I seriously doubt that. This phony passion is nauseating.
I guess you don't have a child with asthma, so I'll forgive your stupidity.
It is not about the money, it IS about the children! First let me say that anything the students need and the budget does not have the money for it is the TEACHERS providing. We spend our own money on paper, pencils, crayons, glue, tissues, hand sanitizer and anything else needed in the classroom that there is no money for. I would be happy without a raise if it meant that more money was going to get us the supplies we need to teach the children. In the earlier grades there is a lot of parent support for supplies, but as the grade levels get higher the support gets less. And we are more limited to what we can use as a tax deduction than a CEO of a major corporation is.
We put in WAY more time than just in the classroom. And the so called summer’s off with pay is a joke. We get paid the SAME AMOUNT YEARLY whether we get it for 10 or 12 months. We just take less over that year to have money over the summer. And most of us end up getting a summer job anyway to support ourselves and our families. If we aren’t working during the summer then we are either taking classes to maintain our certification or planning for the coming school year, sometimes while working that extra summer job. Our job does NOT end at 3:00. We take our children home with us in our hearts each and every day. We plan FOR our children. We think about ways to make learning fun FOR them. They are in our thoughts and hearts when we come home, go to sleep, and wake up. And let me tell you something, there is NOTHING that feels as good as when you run into them outside of school and they are happy to see you even if you had to give them a time out or detention the day before. THAT is what we are here for…. not the money some of you think we are only after. We will miss our children this summer.
For those of you who are loving and supportive parents, we love and appreciate you in return just as much. For those of you who think teachers are nothing more than selfish, self-serving cry babies; we still love your children because WE are the ones who taught them the manners they have when THEY tell US thank you and let US know how much they will miss us this summer.
And for those of you who complained tonight about having to pay more in taxes for children to have a better education, guess what…..We pay taxes TOO! And a special note to a certain BLONDE out there, before you want to cry in public about higher taxes, don’t show up to a meeting in designer clothes! You get no pity from me!
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