My local school budget

Data from http://www.middletownk12.org/finance/files/User%20Friendly%20Budget%202010-11.pdf

Pupils	2009	2010	Net	Net %
Pupils on Roll Regular Full-Time	8540	8814	274	3.2%
Pupils on Roll Regular Shared-Time	86	84	-2	-2.3%
Pupils on Roll Reg Accr. Adult High Sch	16	22	6	37.5%
Pupils on Roll - Special Full-Time	1461	1381	-80	-5.5%
Pupils on Roll - Special Shared-Time	101	108	7	6.9%
Private School Placements	58	53	-5	-8.6%
Total	10262	10462	200	1.9%		As pupils increase…
Selected Items	09-10	10-11	Net	Net %
Total Operating Budget	146,208,972	140,366,709	-5,842,263	-4.0%		1. ...we spend less overall
Local Tax Levy	119,793,275	123,878,213	4,084,938	3.4%		2. but we're taxed more
Regular Instruction	51,142,450	48,884,706	-2,257,744	-4.4%		3a. even though we're spending less on teaching
School Sponsored Athletics	1,418,274	1,152,279	-265,995	-18.8%		3b. And less on sports
Personal Services - Employee Benefits	22,499,239	23,808,496	1,309,257	5.8%		4. but we are spending a million more on benefits
Total Comparative Per Pupil Cost	12,638	12,106	-532	-4.2%		5. so we spend less per kid overall
Classroom-Salaries and Benefits	7,240	7,505	265	3.7%		6. but more per kid on teachers
Employee Benefits as a % of Salaries	23.4	26.7	3	14.1%		7. and those benefit costs are rising

And apparently those benefit costs are rising even after the layoffs of 124 district staff, including 72.5 teaching positions! [http://www.app.com/article/20100420/NEWS/4210326/1283/LOCAL07/Middletown-voters-oust-school-board-incumbents-reject-budget]

You're nasty. You know who you are.

If there's a hell, there's a special room in it for people who go to the bathroom and don't wash their hands. But, many are unaware that there is a slightly smaller, adjacent hellroom for people who go to the bathroom and wash their hands without using soap! Especially when it's RIGHT THERE.

2010 New York City Start! Wall Street Run & Heart Walk

Heartland Brewery

When a man reaches a certain age, he must begin to think more carefully about what drinking on a Thursday night does to his body on Friday morning. Last night I met a friend for beers and something to eat at Heartland Brewery (the place you go when no one wants to make a decision as to where to go), and while it was far from a raging party my body kind hurts in that annoying way it does after I exercise. Since when is 3 beers enough "exercise" to make my joints sore? FML.

Anyway, I've been known to be sour on Heartland over the years, with my primary gripe being along the lines of "if you're a brewery, your beer shouldn't suck, and if it does the food better be damn good". And the food wasn't. However I do have to say that they redeemed themselves (to some degree) last night. The IPA flowed really nicely. It's one of their standards and always on the menu; I'm not big into "seasonal specialty" beers but their "Not Tonight Honey Porter" sign made me chuckle. All the pints are $6.95, and a seven-dollar beer is not that bad in the city. Service at the bar was friendly and attentive, and we had no trouble getting a table for something to eat. Comment on the economy that they have tables open at 730?

Maybe I was too busy hating on them to notice the menu, or maybe it really has changed over the years, but in either case dinner did not disappoint as in years past. I had the Pan-Seared Salmon (Pineapple citrus salsa and grilled polenta, served with frisée and radicchio salad and chipotle mayo 15.50) while my friend got the Grilled Cheese (I think it was on special - if so, bonus points for putting grilled cheese on the menu!). I can't speak for his but mine was pretty damn good, the salsa not overpowering the salmon. Overall Heartland Brewery worked themselves up to "acceptable, not exceptional" from "hell no" on my list - your results may vary.

Quote without attribution

Who said "Slavery's chains are forged in the furnace of envy"? I've been using that but can't find an attribution...

At least the UAW is paid to work poorly

Hooray! Another victory for the glorious proletarian revolution, keeping the capitalist oppressors’ foot off our necks. All hail our brave and industrious comrades in the teachers’ unions! Look how they make all our lives better – especially our most precious resource, the future tax- and dues-payers of the great collective (what the free-thinking non-union aristocrats still condescendingly call “children”):

DA: NYC Teacher Had 4th-Graders Fight In Class
[Link to cbs story]

A teacher at a New York City public school has been charged with forcing his fourth graders to fight in the classroom. The allegations are startling; that a fourth grade teacher at PS 65 in Queens not only condoned, but encouraged two boys to turn his classroom into their very own private "fight club." …

Prosecutors say Gullotta [the teacher] then instructed the boys to lie to the school nurse about what happened….

Of course, the part about this being good for the children is bullshit. Thanks to the union, this guy can’t be fired, even though he was arrested. He’s still on the public payroll, as are many other non-fireable teachers. Sure, deep down, in the slimy dungeon core of the educational establishment there’s some level of normal thought where at least they pull them out of the classroom, but hey – you get to keep paying your fair share to keep them employed doing nothing! I was going to just link to the article about NYC spending $53 million to keep them plugged into the union machine, but instead why don’t you Google “paid not to teach” and see how many of these stories come up… NATIONWIDE!

Guess what? The real travesty is not just there’s a 1930s-style industrial union thieving from the taxpayers, fighting every single reform, and corrupting state and municipal politics… it’s that there are actually great teachers in the public schools, people who can change kids’ lives (for the better, not like the example above), and they’re trapped in the teamsters. They can’t be promoted or rewarded, nor can they protect our children by excelling at their jobs and having the crappy teachers wash out of the system. Or even the ones running a fight club. Such a system encourages, enforces, and engrains mediocrity. But hey, pay your dues.

Oh, and for the record I have many friends who are teachers in public schools. They of course belong to the trade unions. I don’t have any friends who are poor or mediocre teachers. If any of them read this and consider it an attack on them, or their profession, I encourage them to read this again; my beef, like almost everyone else in the private sector, is not with teachers but the unions.

It only makes sense if you don't think too hard...

Again, Comrade Kucinich should be voted out of the public eye. His comments, and this article, reflect two big logical flaws in the whole discussion over bonuses.

The first is that it's somehow "bad" that people make a lot of money; this is a ludicrous idea assuming that the money is being made honestly, not stolen. The second is that "banks" should be discouraged from taking risks; this is silly. Taking risk, in anticipation of adequate reward, is the whole point of the banking/investment industry, and any well-functioning (read:capitalist) economy in general.