Posted on 08/13/2010 5:47:32 PM PDT by Kaslin
Federal Spending: When the president urged Congress last week to pass $26 billion in emergency aid to help save the jobs of laid-off teachers, one of his human props was out of place. It was a mistake he may regret.
Flanked in the Rose Garden by teachers, President Obama said last Tuesday: "We can't stand by and do nothing while pink slips are given to the men and women who educate our children or keep our communities safe."
Later in the day, Obama signed the bill that Democrats say will save the jobs of 300,000 teachers and police officers who've been laid off due to budget problems in state and local governments.
While that claim is debatable — so far, federal spending legislation intended to save jobs has failed miserably — this one isn't: The Obama team made a mistake with one of its human props, an error that will draw attention to an uncomfortable issue .
The scene didn't look unusual. Next to Obama during his morning plea from the Rose Garden were two teachers, one of them Shannon Lewis, who had been laid off at Hampshire High School in West Virginia. Everything looked so normal that we even included in our I&I pages a photo of her at the evening bill signing.
But Lewis wasn't laid off because the government could no longer afford to pay her. She was laid off "because of an enrollment decline in Hampshire County," the Charleston Daily Mail reports.
"Even if the state were in boom times, the current school aid formula would not support her salary."
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Bump.....
She was laid off “because of an enrollment decline in Hampshire County”
Translated: she was laid off because too many parents are choosing to home school their kids.
Keep homeschooling them.
Enrollment decline.
Enrollment decline is spreading across the country with the aging of the baby boomers. In my district, it is set to hit big time in 2012. Let’s see what kind of excuses the corrupt teachers’ unions dream up to prevent teachers from being laid off.
“Let’s see what kind of excuses the corrupt teachers’ unions dream up to prevent teachers from being laid off.”
The answer is:
“Teacher jobs are sacred. Teachers can’t be fired.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.