furlough perdue.

Updated: Perdue budget: Teachers face 3 more furlough days in next six months

12:26 pm January 15, 2010, by Aaron Gould Sheinin

Gov. Sonny Perdue just released his budget proposals for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the 12 months starting July 1. The headline: pain.

Public K-12 education faces an additional 3 percent cut in the current fiscal 2010 budget, while most all other state agencies must find 8 to 9 percent to cut before June 30. All state employees, including teachers, must take three furlough days before June 30.

Perdue’s amended 2010 budget stands at $17.4 billion, down from the $18.6 billion plan he and lawmakers agreed to last year.

The 2011 budget, which takes effect July 1, is projected to be $18.2 billion.

More to come.

Update 1:40 p.m.: The good news for teachers, and all state employees, is that Perdue’s 2011 budget does not include additional furloughs.

The overall picture for K-12 education is not entirely clear, either.

For example, in both 2010 and 2011 budgets, schools overall will receive more money, largely thanks to federal stimulus funds.

But the basic funding mechanism for schools, the Quality Basic Education funding formula, shows a $450 million reduction the rest of 2010 and $527 million in cuts for 2011.

Of that $450 million in 2010, about half of it comes from the teacher furloughs (roughly $30 million a day in savings) and through increased health care costs for teachers, administration and staff, leaving about $218 million in actual programmatic cuts.

It also appears as if nearly all state employees will be paying more for health care, or already are as the governor has pushed agencies to implement cuts for the past several months as monthly revenues have plunged.

Update 1:49 p.m.: As expected, there are no tax increases in either budget, but there is at least one new source of revenue, a sort of “bed tax” charged to hospitals and a fee on managed care providers. Together those fees will raise about $345 million and will largely go to fund increased Medicaid costs.

Perdue said he is also tapping a Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority fund for more than $200 million through a series of bond market transactions.

Update 2:23 p.m.: The Department of Corrections, which some observers already consider to be at a crisis point, will see nearly $36 million of its $987 million budget cut this year and another $12 million in 2011.

Update 2:28 p.m.: In terms of state tax revenues, Perdue is estimated that individual income tax collections will increase by about $350 million in 2011 to $7.52 billion and state sales tax collections to growth about $200 million to $5.28 billion. Corporate income taxes would see a modest $5 million increase to $580 million in 2011.

Tobacco and motor fuel taxes would both see slight declines, according to Perdue’s revenue estimates.

More to come.

_______________________________________________

I found out while on the phone with my mom this morning. I was at Whole Foods getting breakfast and she actually prefaced the news with a disclaimer of sorts: "Have you seen the front page of the paper? No, you haven't. You don't read the paper (She knows I don't read/watch the news; I think it's all bullshit, propaganda, wrought with scare tactics). Well . . . just . . . don't start cussing. You're in public." And then she told me.

Again: Wow.

Fucked up on so many levels, for so many reasons. Backwards. Maybe I'll get into it later. I'm just not in the mood now.

Davey Crockett is pissing me off, too.

I want new, nicer clothes. Not fancy or exorbitantly expensive; I've never been a big fan of wearing brands or designers. Just better-made.

Project Runway was good last night. Excited it's started again.

Headache. Always headaches.

goddamnit.

My bed was entirely too soft and warm and perfect this morning. God.

Kindergarten cracked me up, as usual. I love reading to them. And I was in a pretty great mood for the better part of my day.

My high spirits came crashing down at the end of fourth grade, though. A kid that a lot of people would probably consider, "bad," asked me if he could tell me something after class. He motioned for me to lean down so that he could cup his hands around my ear and tell me, like it was a secret. This kind of thing has happened enough in my career as a teacher thus far that I'm accustomed to some silly exchange and me and my student going on with our days. But I was wholly unprepared for what I heard next:

My brother dead.

"Seriously??" Was all I could say. I was sort of dumb-founded. And this is from a kid who already lost one older brother. I made sure he wasn't just re-telling a story he thought I hadn't heard. But he clarified pretty quickly that, no, this was his twelve year old brother. He was caught in a drive-by.

HIS TWELVE YEAR OLD BROTHER.

I asked him if he was alright and he told me yes, without batting an eye. He said he was fine; that is not fine. It is not okay to be okay with a sibling dying. That shit stopped my mental function in its tracks. I lost the ability to speak proper English for at least twenty minutes and sort of stared into space. Apparently, I was the first person he'd told. I kind of ushered him back to his homeroom and then to the counselor's office.

After I got back to my room, my capacities kicked into high gear and my mind starting racing. I knew already that in second grade this kid had been at home, hiding in his closet with a fucking baseball bat while his brother was shot downstairs over a couple hundred bucks. He found his brother.

Now, this? Really? And that's ignoring that he's got a mom who locks herself in the bedroom with boyfriend and leaves him to take care of the baby. He asks to stay at school almost everyday during dismissal.

It sounds like a bad Lifetime made-for-TV movie, I know. I know. But it's not.

I told a friend--who shall remain nameless--after work and his first reaction was, "I know this is going to piss you off, but . . . black people."

That detail is somehow simultaneously the least and most important factor in this fucked up story.

On an individual scale, it is my ten year old student who will deal with the repercussions of these deaths and their means for the rest of his life. He's stuck. Color, socio-economic status, anything but age is totally fucking irrelevant when the focus is on him.

But when the scope is widened to the entire community and its history, and you trace the missteps and wrongdoings and fucked up circumstances back to their roots, to their ultimate end, in all probability (and in my firm opinion) . . . the desperation that led to both of those murders--and has subsequently left this kid scarred for life--is a distant result of some inequality established and perpetuated by white people. A centuries-old chain reaction. Domino Effect. Whatever. With a finger pointed squarely at the easiest target.

I don't give a fuck if that makes you mad. Shove it.

Lots of serious stuff in here lately. Oh, the irony.

Unexpected, awesome phone call last night.

Dunno if I'm going to the show this evening. I'm tired. I need dinner.

(was) fuming.

WOW. Just . . . wow:

Gov. Wants Change In How Teachers Are Paid

Posted: 10:09 am EST January 12, 2010

Updated: 10:54 am EST January 12, 2010

Comment On This Story ››

ATLANTA -- Gov. Sonny Perdue is calling for legislation that would pay Georgia's teachers based on student performance, not their advanced degrees.

Perdue says the state's current system rewards teachers for their level of education instead of classroom achievement.

He announced the proposal Tuesday at the annual Eggs and Issues Breakfast presented by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. It was the governor's final address to the group, as he enters his final year in office.

Perdue also renewed his vow to reach an agreement with the governors of Florida and Alabama on water use before all three leaders leave office -- and possibly by the end of the legislative session. He left open the possibility of a special session later this year to address the issue.

_______________________________________

Forget the fact that this breaking news got no more than TWO SENTENCES of media attention in a state with some of the lowest standardized test scores and highest dropout rates in the nation. Forget that parents play a huge role in their child's academic success. Forget all that.

First, we're furloughed--in lieu of he and his cronies taking a paycut, of course. And now, this. Genius! Eliminate the incentive for teachers to continue their education. Make it even less desirable for the typical (spineless/brainless/tactless) teacher to work in schools like mine for fear of the achievement gap driving down her wages; thus making some semblance of consistency for my kids that much harder to come by. Resulting in more jaded kids and daunting working conditions = fewer teachers willing to teach here = the cycle continues/that legendary achievement gap crumbles into a fucking canyon.

And while you're at it, let's keep pretending that students on the Southside are on a level playing field in the so-called Game of Life. You know, the ones that come to school without breakfast . . . or a fucking coat? Because when you're freezing and hungry, you should still be able to take--and ACE--the same test the kid with a brand new, fur-lined, down Abercrombie jacket and belly full of McDonald's breakfast takes, right? Riiiiight . . .

GO FUCK YOURSELF. We'll talk when you take a couple of furlough days yourself and agree to let the opinion polls and/or unemployment rate determine your salary for the remainder of your term. Thanks.

Anyway.

The show last night was ah-mazing. One of the better at the Warehouse, to date; and I might've had the best seat in the house. Good, long talk with EDV. Also, I'm pretty sure I earned the Mama Bear title I was given by a former enemy. I like it. I had an excellent night.

I was thinking for just a second last night, too, that I don't ever want to get married. I just wanna be a hardcore kid forever. Ha.

Going home, now.

the moon is down.

Yesterday was amazing. Perfection.

Apples and peanut butter for lunch.

Drove home from work with snow falling.

Got a call from Wolf Camera at 3141 Piedmont Road; photos I took this summer were developed and back in. Here are a couple of those:



That particular store happens to be down the street from my folks' house, so I stopped by and we looked through the stack of black and whites I had. Eight rolls total.

Visited Borders afterward in the hopes of finding my long-lost Further Seems Forever disc. No such luck. Procured two new books in its stead:



and

Both overdue purchases.

Home afterward for in-bed reading, Farside, and Bon Iver.

Fell dead asleep and was awakened shortly after by a phone call from our Librarian telling me school was cancelled for Friday. Turned my alarms off and fell my ass right back to sleep.

So good. SO goood.

Today has been equally uneventful. Watched Davey discover and subsequently lick snow. Was funny. Breakfast early and back to bed till 2:00. More apples and PB. Coffee, too. Scanned some photos (my scanner/MS Paint really don't do them justice, though; I'll probably finish that at Mom and Dad's sometime).

Involved in an experiment with a member of the opposite sex. He is wholly unaware, however, of said experiment. And I don't really know what the fuck I'm doing. Game-playing fucking sucks, but part of me is convinced it's a necessary evil. Jesus. I'm so bad at this.

Had a dream that two of my very favorite boys sold out last night? And that some stranger got the dogshit sniped out of him right in front of me. Weird. Lots of those lately.

Longest post in a while, huh?? That will be coming to an immediate, emergency halt.

spare time.

Drawings I did today to facilitate procrastination:

Maybe painting this afternoon/evening. I really want these in a triptych frame, with the words, "I'll drown with you," in the center opening. I doubt anyone gets that, but I don't give a fuck. The boar's head kind of pisses me off; it looks more like a pig and a wolf got busy. I'll probably draw it twelve more times and hate it just as much. HAAA.

Still owe Eddie S. another piece. Still trying to come up with something good.

It's 3:00. Grades are in. Fuck off.

ftw.

I can't use my new Flip camera with my county laptop, goddamnit. And my desktop is slow as shit. I need my own laptooopppp. Hello, tax return.

Teacher workday and my principal is actually letting us use it to plan. No professional learning, no workshops, no speakers. I am in awe. And ridiculously excited. I wish I had my iHome with me. And some sweat pants.

I was in an awful mood at bedtime last night; for no good reason, as usual. Things took a turn for the better right before I fell asleep, though. Had a reconciliation of sorts:

I'm not mad at you or anything.

Good good good to hear. It's funny, too: when I was upset, one of the first things I thought was, "I need my students." This time last year, my job was the root of most of my stress. Things change so much. I like it.

A list of other things I like right now:

• painting my nails almost-orange red;
• Davey Crockett;
• texting;
• alone time;
• hot showers;
• my long hair;
• Scrabble (forever), FreeRice, Apples to Apples;
• standing back and watching your shit crash and burn.

Will be cleaning my classroom, lesson planning, and submitting grades today. Hanging artwork if I have time, too.

weird dreams.

Tryyying to clean house. Easily distracted and somewhat unmotivated. Not good.

But I've acquired a lot of cool furniture/paintings/miscellaneous household items recently and I want to arrange them in a straight house.

One of them is this little red occasional table I saw discarded at Pete's house months ago. When he asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said I wanted the red table. He brought it over yesterday.

Yay! I love it.

Also convinced my mom to give me the paintings of my gramma and great aunt she has at the house and another old rose painting with a really great frame.

Lots of facebooking and texting lately. I like it.

Back to work Monday. Kids back Tuesday. Miss themmm.

Should get back to cleaning. Ughghughroignrfgolnfg.