don't you ever tire of presenting zionist neocon opinions? On Dec 28, 8:57 am, Keith In Tampa <[email protected]> wrote: > *Schools should serve our children--not interest groups > * by Newt Gingrich > > New York City is home to more than 220,000 children living in poverty. > Many live in households with at least one parent who is not employed--and > as I wrote recently, two-thirds of those in extremely poor households > don't have even one parent who works. Hope and opportunity, for many of > these children, must seem a distant promise. > > For generations, America has entrusted our schools with the futures of our > children. Education, we have rightly told our kids, can help them get > ahead. Yet for the thousands of poor young New Yorkers who make their way > to school each morning, this, too, must seem hollow. More than one-third > of their schools are classified as "failing." Students pass through the > years despite struggling with basic skills like reading and writing. Fewer > than one in four is ready for college by the time they finish high school. > > Some people, however, are thriving in the city's failing schools. In many > of the same neighborhoods where children go home to extreme poverty and > households without a single working parent, custodians in the schools make > six figures. In fact, their union contracts guarantee many of them > salaries far in excess of teachers in the same schools. > > As the New York Post discovered last year, 20 public school janitors make > more than $140,000 a year. And the disparity is not limited to a few odd > cases: the base salary for a first year custodial engineer is almost > $80,000, while new teachers without graduate degrees make about $45,000, > NBC New York reported recently, teacher salaries max out at around $100,000 > in base pay, while the custodial engineers can make up to $114,000 in base > pay. > > Wouldn't it be great if New York City schools served their students as > well as they serve some of their custodians? > > Students--especially those from very poor families--would be better served > if they had the opportunity to earn money part-time at school by doing > some of the tasks custodians are now performing so expensively. > > Dozens of poor students could have part-time, paying jobs for the $100,000 > a year New York schools pay some custodians. For that amount, more than 30 > children could work just two hours each school day and each take home > $3,000 a year by the time they are 12 or 13 years old. > Some of this work could be clerical; other tasks could be janitorial, such > as cleaning the cafeteria, or emptying the trash, or vacuuming the > classrooms. These are similar to the chores many parents require their > kids to do at home, and it would allow 12- and 13- year olds to make money > they desperately need. Giving children the opportunity to earn money would > help teach work habits, and letting them do so in their schools would > build a stronger commitment to that community. > > This idea is not far from a proposal Time's Joe Klein made two decades > ago. As he recalled recently, he wrote "that the school janitors had a > contract that paid them more than teachers received (nearly $60,000--and > now nearly double that) but, according to said contract, they only were > required to mop the cafeteria floor once a week. I suggested at the time > that maybe the city could save some money by contracting out the > heavy-duty janitorial work, but also build some character and community > spirit by having the kids and their parents help keep the schools clean." > > Klein makes another excellent point about the work schools already require > students to do, observing the oddity that although "many high schools now > require some form of public service--often community cleanup > programs--said service can't take place within the school itself." > America's poorest students need the world's best education system, strong > work habits, opportunity, earned income, and a little hope. > Compared with using taxpayer money to pay custodians more than teachers > and multiple times the average income of neighborhood families, giving > students the opportunity to work hard and earn money at school makes a > world of sense. > > Your friend, > > Newt > > OnDayOne...Newt2012.jpg > 111KViewDownload > > RealChange.NewtGingrich.jpg > 81KViewDownload
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