TAXPAYER ROBBERY

Attention, Ohio Taxpayers

You may not have noticed, but your elected officials in Columbus have stolen your money today.

Just like corporations paying a minimal amount of income tax on earnings of billions, this crime is perfectly legal. 

(You might be thinking, is this crybaby underworked overpaid whole-summer-off with pay teacher trying to trick me with her political propaganda?) 

Wait for it.  See, in Ohio, there used to be local control of schools.  That means the taxpayers decided what kind of schools they wanted, how many teachers those schools should hold, when to purchase new textbooks, whether to close buildings or build new buildings or fix up the old buildings, and many more decisions.  Ditto police, fire, and many community services.  The taxpayers made these decisions by voting for, or not voting for, levies. 

Today, our elected representatives in Columbus have taken it upon themselves to wipe their butts with the votes of all the people who vote and care about their local communities' levy issues. 

See, they think you won't notice.  They have their money lined up to smear public employees with a glitzy campaign and tv ads. 

You, the taxpayers, chose to support your local schools, libraries, and safety services in your communities at the level that you were willing to support.  YOU VOTED.  Maybe you think a classroom with 25 students is a good ratio for your children to be able to learn.  You expect the taxes YOU pay to maintain this ratio.  Now our elected representatives have decided that there should be no limit on class size.  They think they'll save money by hiring fewer teachers to teach bigger classes.  So why aren't YOU getting a rebate on your property tax bill?  

But not only will your children NOT be getting the education you voted for.  As soon as the budget cut hits the school districts, they will end up in Fiscal Watch.  On that fateful day, your school boards will need to ask you to pass additional levies just to avoid state takeover!  So your taxes will either increase, or your school will be run by the Ohio Department of Education. 

Not to worry you, but the governor is hoping to replace many of your education degree-holding career professional educators with Teach for America recruits, who have a grand total of 5 weeks' training before being entrusted with teaching the students whose education is financed by your tax dollars!  They'll probably stick around loyally for their two-year commitment before heading off to a better paying job in the business world.  This is an example of Senate Bill 5 "creating jobs". 

As an added slap in the face, our elected representatives in Columbus want to expand virtual academies and charter schools.  Way to spend levy funds without honoring the wishes of those who voted for the levies IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Why is our state so broke, anyway?  Where DID our tax dollars go?  Who has paid 8 billion dollars less into the treasury? Certainly not the working class!   Maybe you should ask your elected representatives.

Here I Go

Hi!  If you're reading this, thank yourself--you must be a teacher!


If you're like me, you're probably becoming weary from holding all that vomit in your mouth every time you listen to the news or read anything related to education.  


Did you ever stop to think about the truth here?  I mean, if teachers are just a bunch of selfish commies with big paychecks all summer long and lavish retirement funds and guaranteed jobs for life,  if schools are doing such a lousy job that nobody can read anymore and our society is on the verge of crumbling right before our eyes, why hasn't it already happened?  


Today's teachers aren't that different from the teachers of a generation ago.  We went to the same colleges.  We took the same courses. Think of us as a software update.  You know, teacher 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, etc.  We're just slightly different iterations of the same program.  Some things changed for the better:  I think inclusion in special ed is a change for the better.  Some things got worse.  I think high stakes testing has so narrowed the curriculum that I am less of an artiste tweaking my lessons to engage the interests of students that I see first as people with varied interests, more of a human Pez dispenser upchucking discrete chunks of knowledge upon an unsuspecting and bored captive audience...


But if teachers are so evil and inept that Newsweek's cover implores readers thus: "We MUST Fire Bad Teachers", then the LEARNED leaders of our country had something similar to what we are today.  So they must be calling themselves stupid.  But they're too dumb to realize it.  Honest.