As Rome burns, a bunch of fat cats are fiddling … enjoying the high life on growing piles of your hard-earned cash …
Several of South Carolina’s top “educrats” – i.e. non-teaching academic administrators – are drawing salaries more than four times as large as the $47,000 pulled in by the average Palmetto State public school teacher. And while there’s always plenty of money in the budget for these overpaid educrats to take taxpayer-funded vacations to the beach each summer (or build putting greens at their country clubs), teachers are constantly being forced to shell out their own money (or beg parents for their money) just to cover necessary school supplies.
Talk about misappropriating public resources … and misplacing priorities.
South Carolina’s already vast educrat bureaucracy has been expanding at a much faster clip than our state’s instructional budget – although in fairness both have seen stratospheric increases in recent years.
According to the the S.C. Budget and Control Board’s 2010 local government finance report, the portion of school districts’ budgets allocated to “instruction” has been creeping downwards. That’s a decades-long trend: The larger the K-12 budget in South Carolina, the less of it trickles down to the classroom. In 2010 it dropped all the way down to 43.4 percent. Meanwhile, nearly one third of all district revenue is devoted to what the B&CB calls “administration.”
More, this may be applicable to Maryland......
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Komen Cancer Charity Halts Grants To Planned Parenthood
NEW YORK — The nation's leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its financial partnerships with numerous Planned Parenthood affiliates.
The result is a bitter rift, linked to the national abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women.
Pennsylvania Councilman Charged In Lover's 1979 Death
A Pennsylvania councilman has been arrested and charged with strangling his young lover in a cold case that has haunted investigators for more than three decades.
Bridgewater Councilman Gregory Scott Hopkins, 65, was arrested Sunday in connection with the 1979 death of Catherine Janet Walsh, 23, in Beaver County, Pa., about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Investigators said they were able to use DNA technology that was not available at the time of the crime to link Hopkins to evidence from the scene.
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Bridgewater Councilman Gregory Scott Hopkins, 65, was arrested Sunday in connection with the 1979 death of Catherine Janet Walsh, 23, in Beaver County, Pa., about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Investigators said they were able to use DNA technology that was not available at the time of the crime to link Hopkins to evidence from the scene.
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Romney Ramps Up Attack Ads Against Gingrich To Unprecedented Levels
In the most negative primary season ever, Mitt Romney is outspending Newt Gingrich 5 to 1 on attack ads ahead of today’s primary in Florida, stopping the ex-speaker’s momentum coming off a South Carolina win.
Los Angeles Teacher Charged With Molesting 23 Children
LOS ANGELES – A U.S. school teacher bound and gagged nearly two dozen children, put cockroaches on some of their faces and posed in photos with them, possibly inside a classroom, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.
A department statement said 61-year-old Mark Berndt was arrested Monday and remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. The district attorney's office said Berndt has been charged with committing lewd acts with 23 boys and girls ages 6 to 10, according to the Associated Press.
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Rep. Marino Introduces DownsizeDC.Org's "One Subject At A Time Act"
AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "It's been a long time since Congress needed a majority to pass a law," says Jim Babka, President of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. "But that could change, thanks to Congressman Tom Marino of Pennsylvania (R-10), who has introduced our 'One Subject at a Time Act' (OSTA) in Congress."
"OSTA would require each bill Congress passes to be about one subject only," Babka explains. "This would end the practice of clustering unrelated measures into one package. Congressional leaders have long used this trick to pass unpopular laws on the strength of the popular proposals with which they're unnaturally joined. OSTA would end this fraud forever."
"Every bill would have to stand or fall on its own merits," declares Babka.
Park Ranger Tases Man Walking Dogs Off-Leash
(CBS/AP)
MONTARA, Calif. — A park ranger used a stun gun on a Northern California man who was stopped for walking his two small dogs without a leash.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Gary Hesterberg didn't have identification and gave a phony name when he was stopped Sunday afternoon.
He was walking two dogs off leash at Rancho Corral de Tierra, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, located near Montara, a coastal town south of San Francisco.
Real Projects & Real Jobs For Wicomico County
A real project that would create jobs: Provide safety improvements along MD 349 between US 50 and North Upper Ferry Road
GOVERNOR MARTIN O'MALLEY TO DELIVER STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
ANNAPOLIS, MD – TODAY, Governor Martin O’Malley will deliver the State of the State address at noon. Maryland Public Television (MPT) will broadcast the speech live and serve as the pool feed for members of the media.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Bennett Middle School Is A No Go, For Now
Bennett Middle School is being tabled for now. The Board of Public Works denied the request to reconsider the project until additional funding becomes available.
For what its worth, some politicians really put their futures on the line for something Salisbury News figured would happen anyway.
Let me assure you Ladies & Gentlemen. While it may be tabled at this point and time, your voices are clearly being heard and the Board has seen the massive volume of comments from those of you completely against this project. We have delivered information that is forcing them to take a more serious look at the location and future of this project.
While the majority of people believe something needs to be done with Bennett, clearly not enough effort was placed into possibly rebuilding/remodeling Bennett. Since Wi Middle was built in 1930 and is in line to receive new air conditioning, Bennett is too new, (1965/1966) to simply tear down and rebuild at a cost to the taxpayers of more than $80,000,000.00. Their own reports showed the school was in the shape/condition of a 25 to 30 year old school.
Keep those comments coming in. Contact your Delegates and let them know how frustrated you are with such an irresponsible expense. Start holding these liberals and bureaucrats liable for such fiscally irresponsible expenditures. Better yet, here's a no brainer. Make the BOE responsible for NOT maintaining the property/structure. At the rate they're going you'll have to replace the new project in another 25 years, or less.
The Board of Public Works decision is being appealed. BE HEARD NOW!
New Posts to fall below.
Guy Finds $8K On The Road, Gives It Back To Owner
If you ever lose a briefcase containing personal documents and $8,000 in cash, you probably won't see it again. But a man in Tampa got lucky because a virtuous person snagged the case and made sure it found its way back to its owner.
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Ultrasound Zap May Be New Form of Birth Control
Do not try this at home.
A new animal study, published in the journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, revealed that a couple zaps to the testicles might be the future of contraception.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that zapping the testicles of rats with a therapeutic ultrasound machine, the type normally used by physical therapists to treat muscle injuries, abolished the germ cells that produce sperm. The best results were seen when the testes underwent two 15-minute zap sessions.
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A new animal study, published in the journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, revealed that a couple zaps to the testicles might be the future of contraception.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that zapping the testicles of rats with a therapeutic ultrasound machine, the type normally used by physical therapists to treat muscle injuries, abolished the germ cells that produce sperm. The best results were seen when the testes underwent two 15-minute zap sessions.
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Senate Inches Closer To Ending Insider Trading By Lawmakers
Sometimes good things come out of Presidential election year grandstanding. After years of reaping the benefits of a loophole that allowed insider trading by members of the Senate and House of Representatives (and their aides), legislation to stop this behavior is closer to becoming reality.
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Farm Bureau Wants Pollution Diet Stopped
WASHINGTON, D.C. The plaintiffs in a case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a motion last week to stop the federal pollution diet for the Chesapeake Bay.
The EPA's pollution diet establishes controls on land use that trespass into territory legally reserved for state governments, according to the brief. The diet also would have potentially devastating effects on agriculture within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the brief continues.
Report: Home Prices Dropped Steeply Across The Country
Home prices continued to drop in November, according to the latest report that covers 20 cities across the country in its index. Out of those 20, 19 saw a decline, resulting in a 1.3% dip from the previous month in the index score.
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New Airline Rules Give Meaning To Price Tags; Other Industries Should Follow
Cry as it might about the new federal rules designed to clarify flight ticket prices, the airline industry brought this on itself. The hidden fees and “after charges” encountered by flying consumers had reached such absurdity that one might rightly call them an attack on the English language.
Podcast: Hundreds Rally For Traditional Marriage
Supporters of traditional marriage rallied in Annapolis on the evening before bills legalizing same-sex marriage are heard in the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
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The Tricky Politics Of Political Discourse In The Workplace
(CNN) -- It seemed like a harmless comment, or so Mario Almonte thought at the time.
The year was 1992, and Bill Clinton had just appeared on "The Arsenio Hall Show" to play a rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" on his saxophone. Almonte thought it was entertaining; his supervisor, on the other hand, thought the stunt "demeaned the office of president of the United States," Almonte recalls.
Almonte offered his opinion to his supervisor and that he "relax." It turned out to be the wrong choice of words, he said. "He immediately got upset and started arguing with me, and for nearly half an hour, we kept arguing about the issue until we finally both walked away in disgust," said Almonte, a public relations specialist in New York who was not associated with the show or Clinton's campaign.
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The year was 1992, and Bill Clinton had just appeared on "The Arsenio Hall Show" to play a rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" on his saxophone. Almonte thought it was entertaining; his supervisor, on the other hand, thought the stunt "demeaned the office of president of the United States," Almonte recalls.
Almonte offered his opinion to his supervisor and that he "relax." It turned out to be the wrong choice of words, he said. "He immediately got upset and started arguing with me, and for nearly half an hour, we kept arguing about the issue until we finally both walked away in disgust," said Almonte, a public relations specialist in New York who was not associated with the show or Clinton's campaign.
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