I am no great fan of amending the State constitution for political purposes, but I am in strong support of Proposition 2, which would enshrine the right to collective bargain in the State constitution. Why is this necessary and why the high art form of misdirected truths toward this issue by our state Republicans, in Lansing and locally.
The Republicans in control of the State of Michigan passed legislation that would dictate benefits for public employees. Also by starving the school districts of funds that are reduced due to corporate tax breaks. Now one would wonder why a party that espouses free enterprise would take a page from Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro and impose state controls on such issues? This answer is that free enterprise is for certain individuals and groups (banks, investment bankers, employers etc.) but not for public workers.
The most important fact that they do not tell you is that collective bargaining is the truest form of free enterprise. Both parties can make negotiation requests of the other and for an agreement to be reached, BOTH parties must agree. If both parties do not agree, management can implement what is called the last best offer.
This however is not enough for State Republicans, who want to force benefit and wage concessions without the right of both parties to bargain. What have they done with this money….. tax breaks for business interests to “create” jobs. However unemployment in Michigan is UP for the last 7 months.
Now local and state Republicans will crow that we still have collective bargaining in Michigan. This is somewhat true, in the sense that chickens can collectively bargain with Col. Sanders as to whether they would like to be fried or broasted.
It is unfortunate that the misuse of legislative power in Michigan has resulted in the need to enshrine in the state constitution a right that has been in existence for decades. Politics does make strange bedfellows, but Snyder, Calley, Colbeck, Heise and their fellow travelers marching to the tune of state imposed economic benefits is perhaps a trip down the rabbit hole that even Alice would be amazed to take.
If schools don’t get the money, a big reason will be a $1.6 billion business tax cut that took effect Jan. 1. That cut is costing the School Aid Fund — the primary revenue source for Michigan’s K-12 schools — more than $700 million per year, or almost $500 per student, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/01/new_michigan_usiness_tax_cut_t.html Now here is how the story unfolded. Snyder and the Republicans once they got control of the State wanted a way to "pay back" public employee unions for supporting Democratic candidates. The first step was this tax shift. This was designed to starve districts into forcing their employees out of the middle class with huge wage and benefit cuts. This not being enough the next step was to eliminate the ability of districts to withold union dues from workers for their union. According to the MASB (Michigan Association of School Boards) it cost ZERO for a district to provide this service, but attacking public employees is the new order of the day. No other than Nolan Finley (the Detroit News columnist who is often to the right of Heinrich Himmler) stated that the legislation was pure and simply "punitive". The third step was then to implement state dictation of benefits for public employees ala Hugo Chavez and company. The ulimate goal is the elimination of public employee unions and the Walmartization of Michigan
How much $$ do you think it will take to educate those that DO NOT want to be educated...( Detroit Schools )? It's obvious that way too much $$ has been wasted on those that DO NOT want to learn.
From what I remember, Plymouth/Canton was one of the leaner school districts around, and proposal A used that to give them less than other districts (since what you got was based on what you spent previous years). And now in recent years the state has drastically cut the spending per pupil.
There is a GOOD OLE BOY network in the public education system that SHOULD be addressed....especially in the administrators clique. Many ( NOT ALL ) retire, get rehired as consultants at a high pay with benefits...car, travel,food & beverage expenses...etc. I know this on a personal level and it does NOT benefit the students .
Scott Craig Northville Scool Board Trustee
If you have dificulty finding replacements I would be glad to assist. NO upfront money to me I'll split the savings 50%/50% and I'll buy my own benefits. Game ON???
The funding you are talking about was a one time $200 per student. Key word: One Time. I also get a little concerned when you bring names like Heinrich Himmler into any conversation. I think that is inappropriate...