Posted on 05/09/2012 7:02:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
Head Start, a preschool program for low-income kids has been a spectacular success, not for kids, but for teachers and teachers' unions.
Please consider Miami-Dade County seeks to unload Head Start program, salaries
For more than four decades, Miami-Dade County officials have managed Head Start, the storied preschool program for children from low-income families. But the county now wants out — and “generous” salaries are partly to blame.
On average, Miami-Dade paid its Head Start teachers $76,860 in salary and fringe benefits in 2011, county records show. That’s about 90 percent higher than the second highest-paying Head Start provider in the county, Catholic Charities, which paid its teachers an average of $40,418 in salary and benefits.
On the administrative side, 17 county Head Start staffers made more than $100,000 in salary and benefits.
Last week, the county submitted paperwork to offload much of the Head Start program to three local agencies: the Miami-Dade school system, Easter Seals of South Florida and the YWCA of Greater Miami-Dade.
But the plan has been met with resistance from some parents and politicians, who say the shake-up would hurt the current Head Start staffers.
About 400 county employees would face the prospect of either losing their jobs or accepting substantial pay cuts if the new agencies hire them.
“You’re talking about great people who worked with kids for their entire lives with the county and now we’re saying, ‘We can do it cheaper,’?” said Evelio Torres, president and CEO of Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe. “You’re talking about people who are trying to pay their mortgages and support a family.”
Head Start was created in 1964 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society campaign. The program provides free, full-day preschool and social services for low-income children.
Head Start has been a consistent money-loser for the county, in part because Miami-Dade pays its Head Start employees much higher salaries and better benefits than any other local providers, records show.
Last year, the average Head Start teacher on the county payroll made more than triple the $19,441 in salary and benefits given to Head Start teachers at Paradise Christian, Miami-Dade’s lowest-paying Head Start provider.
The county’s highest paid Head Start employee was director Jane McQueen, who received $188,624 in salary and benefits.Key Concern of Politicians and Unions
Notice the key concern.
But the plan has been met with resistance from some parents and politicians, who say the shake-up would hurt the current Head Start staffers.
Where the H is the concern for kids?
Logic would dictate that if teachers' salaries were lower, then the county could afford a much higher teacher-to-student ratio.
Instead, the concern is for the teachers and administrators. The problem is corrupt politicians are in bed with the unions and administrators. The former seeks to buy votes from the latter. The latter does not give a rat's ass about the kids.
One only needs to look at the communication on Twitter done by certain sectors of society to realize that money going into education is a collosal waste.
I’m not certain what the answer is, but pumping $15,000 a year per student into these soon to be felons, welfare queens, or drug pushers is not helping.
Perhaps they could have kids learn some trade like welding, instead of traditional education.
I'm wondering if that is for 9 months of work. Even for 12, it is way too much even with the familiar "Public schools must accept everyone" argument.
Just how many gang bangers do you have among the pre-school set?
What do you have against welders? Most of the welders I’ve known work hard and earn an honest living?
After being repeatedly informed that she couldn't know all that, they dumbed her back to their idea of what she should know according to them.
None of my other grandkids ever went to Head Start, and she recovered.
“What do you have against welders? Most of the welders I’ve known work hard and earn an honest living?”
Well, that was my point...maybe these guys could do something honest with their lives.
Head Start has become a direct funnel of taxpayer money to public employee unions. Time to bust this racket. RICO?
I had the same experience with my son in Kindergarden...in 1975! I was told that year was for “SOCIALIZATION”....from then on I was a very leary Young mother when it came to “education.”
My sister in law works for headstart in PA. The only positive I claim is that she used to be a bleeding hear liberal. She still is, but her eyes have been opened up to the welfare and unemployment scam. She used to think that those families needed all that money and support. Now she gets upset b/c it is abused. Which is exactly what I say happens. But now she got to see it first hand.
“but for teachers and teachers’ unions.”
Edumacational industrial complex at it’s best.
When I started school, (1951-1952), I was 6 years old, my little town didn’t even have kindergarten and I somehow managed to struggle through life with some degree of success.
IMHO that fact proves that successful education is a three way street involving parents first, students second and teachers third.
An average annual salary and benefit package of $ 78,000 ($ 39 an hour) plus to participate in a failed program?
Enough said.
This is not new. Harper Lee touched on it in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Scout went to first grade knowing how to read. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to read “the right way.” That whole subplot disturbed me as much as the racism.
It is just a very expensive, state-run, taxpayer funded baby-sitting service so unwed mothers can do other things during the day.
Giving pre-schoolers an arc welder or acetylene torch might be problematic, don't you think?
They will need those skills to build more indoctrination camps.
Believe it or not, in 1951 I "tested out" of kindergarten.I remember one question on the test. It was a picture of a girl holding a purse. The question was, which hand is the purse in, her right or her left.
You had to know which side was right, then turn it around because the girl was facing you.
Anyway, I started first grade a year early.
Ie. the "let us be poor in a gulag selfblame selfhating society so as to fight poverty" system... typical liberal sicko mindset.
Yeah....I started school the same year as my year younger sister....less PUBLIC school could probably NOW be proven to be a sign of a HIGHER education level but, that won’t stop the public leeches.
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