Boston parents rally against proposed school budget cuts

Dear Angry Parents: Tell the Teacher's Union to make consessions. Even better, abolish the teacher's union and most of our problems will be solved.

So when are the teachers going to parade first and second grade children in front of the cameras for effect like they did when protesting prop 2 1/2?
Although many many teachers do a really A+ job at what they do always remember it's the best part-time job in america. (180 days work, 260 days pay)

Brilliant group of people in need of an economics lesson. Where do they believe the money will come from? Will the Teacher's Union kick back from the millions in dollars it rakes in every year to provide substandard education and fat pensions? No, this money will come from taxpayers who already are on the hook for everything in this corrupt state since nothing in the budget can ever be cut, only increased.

Boo-Hoo They can feel the pain of the rest of the state too. Everyone is being laid off statewide.... except some high profile people that work for the state... DO ANY NAMES COME TO MIND

No word about laying off the $108k/yr daughter-in-law? I guess a few teachers are less important than a secretary.

Maybe the greedy teachers union could agree to a one year freeze on wages and then there would be no layoffs, but no Unions don't work like that they would rather lose members and blame someone else. Guess what, this is a recession and people loose jobs unless they are willing to compromise. All could work at the same pay. Teachers are not sancrosact and they sure could improve their performance.

Maybe they would be more effective rallying at the homes of the BTU executive board to force them to give back a little of the rich contracts they have procured over the years. (read - free healthcare for life and generous pensions us non-gov't working fools will never see)

Just print more money! What's so hard about that?

Better hurry up though, it's projected that 1.4million Mexican refugees might be headed this way. Money has not been allocated for this "humanitarian" aid. Of course, their needs will take preference, per usual.

This is shocking. The Governor, Mayor and Legislature are going to cut teachers, police and fire. Who would've thought such a thing would happen with the DemoRATS in charge?
We can tax your gas, raise your tolls and cut services but you'll have to excuse us while we hire $175K a year hacks into jobs that haven't existed for 12 years.
Yes cut teachers, increase class size and keep hiring hacks and raising their pensions. Billy Bulger is smiling.
But don't forget come election time all you lemmings keep marching to the voting booth and pulling the lever with the D next to it. You get what you vote for.

Morons. OK, so you balance the budget through temporary infusion of federal dollars. Next year, what happens? Any plans?

Incredible how smart people turn into loons when budget time comes around, happens every year. It is a terrible economy, people are getting laid off. Plan a way to cope without mindlessly demanding "no cuts."

Parents??? No way, these are teacher union hacks.

Dear Boston Parents,,,please shut up.......sick and tired of hearing Boston, Lowell, Lawrence, just to name a few whine about schools and education. I live in Pepperell, we get squat from the state and believe it or not we pay taxes too. We share a high school between 3 towns that needs major work done on it and let me repeat we get squat from state. My town gets 500K in state aid if we're lucky while these cities get millions.....I could care less if any kid on Boston ever went to school.......yes I am that disgusted................

Hey parents, how many of you have lost your jobs? All the mayor is asking is that the teacher's union agree to a one year wage freeze, but typical of unions, they would rather see people get unemployed than make a concession. Bet the teachers who are getting the axe would change their vote and accept a freeze.
Look what the staff at the Beth Israel did to save the jobs of their fellow employees.

Regretably, because of union seniority rules the dead wood will survive.

Exhibit A as to why governments should not fund education, at least not in this way. Gives them power over the parents. The parents should look to themselves, not the government to provide their childrens education.

That's all, Globe? 3 paragraphs? Where is the analysis of the school budget proposal? of the politicking going on behind the scenes? is menino serious about laying these people off or not? Is the Union really so blind to the fact that the rest of us are all taking wage freezes and are feeling layoffs first hand? Where is the dig-deep reporting in all this? I have a 4 year old about to enter BPS next year, and so far, I'm getting my news about these high-level issues from my neighbors than from the Globe. It's a shame. People feel passionately about education - make the most of it!

Why don't they just lobby to end the MCAS money sucking waste of time and use the money for actual education ?

SO hard to be sympathetic here, to the teachers...as they have the best jobs in the world right now. Guaranteed raises, income, pensions, huge amounts of vacation....and they won't even consider a simple freeze of income (while those in the dreaded private sector lose jobs, income, raises, haven't seen a whisper of pensions in years, etc) in order to save jobs for fellow teachers?!

Nice.
The world of the public employees will have to change. The taxpayers, who are losing their jobs and income, can no longer afford it. These teachers, etc. will have to get with the private sector program of employee funded 401Ks, etc. The taxpayers, who pay for these pblic workers, can no longer afford these sweet deals. It's a gravy train that has to stop.

Somebody should ask the Mayor and Lisa Signori why they are hiding over $800 million dollars in "rainy day" funds. All the city has to do is open their books (which they are refusing to do) to prove this money exists. That is why the teachers union is "waiting" to vote on a wage freeze. Menino needs to open the books because he is lying about the budget deficit and our children are going to pay the price. I am not a teacher and I have children in BPS and am sick and tired of all the lies by this administration.

If teaching is such a deal why don't all the teacher bashers become one?

Those of you who think teaching is a part-time job have not been in a school in a long time. The pensions are not "fat" either and teachers pay into them with payroll deductions. Teachers in Boston cannot collect social security from the federal government when they retire- the pension is a substitute for that. And you have to work about 30 years to make it work out. Many people who complain about teachers are angry and ill informed.

Here is an idea,

FIRE THE TEACHERS WHO AREN'T TEACHING! Replace them with some people from the neighborhood who actually care about the kids they are trying to educate.
To many kids are falling through the cracks because no one wants to help. "They are to far gone" No, most of the people don't want to put in the effort to help. The ones that are helping are exhausted, they need more help.
The ones that are trying to help these children get what they need to succeed will most likely be the ones cut first.

What Happened To No Child Left Behind ? With out teachers there will be alot left behind to DROP OUT. Stealing from CHILDREN.

study the budget folks. The mayor either has the money or screwed up. Property taxes will be exactly on target next year. State aid is cut $60 million but stimuus money and other savings more than offsets that. That leaves 'other' revenue which is only about 17 percent of the budget and is perennially grossly underestimated. Bottom line either the mayor has the funds or he expected other revenue to increase 25 percent which is insane. Give us the numbers Mr Mayor.

Mayor Menino and his retinue are masters of playing one group against another to deflect attention from the big picture. He wants BPS parents to do his dirty work and lobby at the State House for a Meals Tax and Home Rule and to lobby the Boston Teachers Union for a wage freeze but he has not made any concrete promises in return. Mayor Menino talks about a BTU wage freeeze because he would like to put Boston's parents and teachers at odds with each in order to dilute their combined power. He says that 19 city unions (out of about 44) have agreed to a wage freeze, but how many people does that actually represent? When will Mayor Menino talk about a freeze on salaries AND overtime for the Police Union? When will Mayor Menino get serious with Boston's Firefighters about signing a contract that is not jam-packed with outrageous perks? Boston's public school parents need to tell the mayor that they will not support him any more (and will not vote for him next fall) until he demonstrates that he is actually an effective leader of our city.