Fix our schools

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

RE: Fix our schools

Jeffery_LQ1W · Senior Member

Roper wrote:

Ray, as with real estate, location is everything. If you ever do make the switch, look for places with decent teacher salaries and low cost of living. Fort Worth is one--beginning teacher salaries are around 40K and cost of living is among the lowest in the nation for cities this size. We were able to simplify and get debt-free (except for mortgage) before the transition. Our family of six is doing just fine on that one income.

Wyoming is another good place right now (not Jackson Hole, of course.) A state budget surplus from gas and oil prompted WY to raise teacher salaries by more than 6K across the board last year. Starting salary is around 40K in most WY districts that also have a decent cost of living--no state income tax, no retirement tax, low energy costs, etc. We're thinking of moving there in a few years.

You'll never be able to survive in Utah on one salary though. For all those good Mormons in office who claim "educating our children" is a moral imperative, they sure pay their teachers crap.

Wow, Wyoming seems to be the place to be. Unfortunately my wife is not enamoured with the cold in the least. I one the other hand revel on a cold winters night with a warm fire before me. I guess it goes to my upbringing in the colder climes and hers in Southern CA.

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

Now, if we want to talk about truly beautiful places, might I suggest (and yes, you are hearing it from me) Michigan? Ohio ain't bad either. There are plenty of spots in either state that I wouldn't mind receiving as an inheritence in the resurrection. And when it gets cold, that is just another aspect of the beauty particularly when there is a nice blanket of snow. And there is really no other place one can truly experience the Grand Daddy of college football rivalries than in Michigan or Ohio come game day...

Oh wait, we're talking about fixing schools and Ray quitting his job and becoming a school teacher, right? I wonder, would Ray becoming a teacher fix a school, or cause it's final and ultimate demise...

arbilad · Head Chef

Jeffery_LQ1W wrote:

Roper wrote:

Ray, as with real estate, location is everything. If you ever do make the switch, look for places with decent teacher salaries and low cost of living. Fort Worth is one--beginning teacher salaries are around 40K and cost of living is among the lowest in the nation for cities this size. We were able to simplify and get debt-free (except for mortgage) before the transition. Our family of six is doing just fine on that one income.

Wyoming is another good place right now (not Jackson Hole, of course.) A state budget surplus from gas and oil prompted WY to raise teacher salaries by more than 6K across the board last year. Starting salary is around 40K in most WY districts that also have a decent cost of living--no state income tax, no retirement tax, low energy costs, etc. We're thinking of moving there in a few years.

You'll never be able to survive in Utah on one salary though. For all those good Mormons in office who claim "educating our children" is a moral imperative, they sure pay their teachers crap.

Wow, Wyoming seems to be the place to be. Unfortunately my wife is not enamoured with the cold in the least. I one the other hand revel on a cold winters night with a warm fire before me. I guess it goes to my upbringing in the colder climes and hers in Southern CA.

Where you grew up doesn't necessarily indicate how well you'll handle cold, though. There was a sister in my mission from Alaska. If anyone could handle the cold in Ukraine, you'd think that she'd be able to. She handled the cold worse than anyone, though, including me. And I grew up in Southern California (Inland Empire).

Jeffery_LQ1W · Senior Member

I don't see the Ukraine being worse than the Antarctic.

Besides, if you are near the Alaskan coast, its not nearly as cold as it is further inland. The Ukraine definately has its cold snaps though. I am sure Kyiv is significantly colder than Mariupol due to the proximity of the water, but still warmer than L'viv, or so I hear.

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

Unfortunately I've been spoiled by the Pacific Northwest... the cost of living is killer out here, but there are few places on earth as beautiful, green, yet where mountains meet the sea... It's an amazing part of the earth... complete with massive active volcano, Mt. Raineer... no doubt destined to share the fate of Pompeii...

Best,

--Ray

Jeffery_LQ1W · Senior Member

Appalachian hills are a beautiful green, as are the Alleghennies. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we don't have a volcano to bring us closer to the Lord or nature.

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

You just revealed you ain't native to the area if you refer to the Appalachians as mere hills... In some hollers, thems' almost fightin' wurdz!

Geologically, they ain't even hills... they's the eroded remains of a grand mountain range that in it's day would have put the Rockies to shame...

You want hills, you cross the Ohio River and travel some in southeastern Ohio. Now them's hills!

Them's volcanos out in Ray's World will only be active as long as there is an active subduction zone and major slip fault zone thing going on out thar... In the meantime, with reference to those active volcanos in the Cascades... let us continue with the ballad of "When the log rolls over we'll all be dead."

Ray becoming a teacher and causing the apocalypse. Any takers on that bet?

Jeffery_LQ1W · Senior Member

Actually I am very very native to the area. Its usually just referred to as the Appalachians. I have actually hunted bear there. I generally attempt to speak to an audience that isn't quite knowledgeable in the Appalachians.

I am familiar with the Kentucky, VA, region and loved traveling around the Breaks Interstate park, largest Canyon east of the Mississippi.

Roper · Senior Bucketkeeper

From one of the very many forwards from my mom, and one of the very few worth reading (what up with grandparents and email forwards, anyway?)

After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching applicant said:

"Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning, and I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits.
You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem. You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job. I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, make sure all students pass the state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments. Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card. All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps! You want me to do all of this and then you tell me...

I CAN'T PRAY?"

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

you have my sympathies Roper. But you know what they say...

"Those who can't do, teach..."

--Ray

PS> I really am starting to think I can't do it much longer...

Jeffery_LQ1W · Senior Member

What about those that retire and teach?

I think the bottom line is, fix our parents and the schools will fix themselves.

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

Well, obviously those who retire and then teach are doing it because they just don't know how to really retire...

Yes, fix the parents. And to do that, we need to fix the social order so that good parents and good parenting is rewarded. Fix the economy so that parents can spend more quality and quantity time with their children instead of working to make a living to pay the bills.

salesortonscom · Wise and Revered Master

Cat Herder wrote:

Fix the economy so that parents can spend more quality and quantity time with their children instead of working to make a living to pay the bills.

Even when the economy is good parents don't spend the time with their children. They just buy more toys that require them to work more to pay for the credit card statement.

arbilad · Head Chef

Money is an addictive thing. You can very, very easily convince yourself that however much you have isn't enough, and that you couldn't live on less. Granted, I know some families that legitimately need both parents to be working. But those are typically families where neither the father or mother have significant marketable job skills. For instance, in one family in my ward both the mother and the father work for McDonalds. One is a supervisor and the other is a maintenance supervisor. They're wonderful people. But they are limited by their education and skills to lowpaying jobs.
On the other hand, I know of families where the mother works so that they can have such "necessities" as a flat screen TV and a vacation to DisneyWorld each year.

Roper · Senior Bucketkeeper

Fix the parents, Jeff? Fix the social order, Cat? If I was just coming in on the conversation, I would accuse you both of being communists.

But, I agree with you. I believe the only way we can realistically accomplish those goals, however, is through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jeffery_LQ1W · Senior Member

All religion is based on chainging or fixing the social order/parents.

The gospel is the best way. But holding parents to greater responsibility, helping families understand that their childrens actions reflect poorly on them, and letting families know that they must be families and not simply two working people who give their spawn money is possible without necessarily becoming a member of the church. These things are best done through Jesus Christ but long before the re establishment of the church and even without the church in many corners today, families can be very close and take those responsibilities seriously.

In any case, like you I believe Zion will come in its own good time.

-- Edited by Jeffery_LQ1W at 07:53, 2006-11-02

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

Roper wrote:

Fix the parents, Jeff? Fix the social order, Cat? If I was just coming in on the conversation, I would accuse you both of being communists.

But, I agree with you. I believe the only way we can realistically accomplish those goals, however, is through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yeah, I guess it did come across that way, huh? I should have qualified that by stating the way to change it all ultimately for everyone's benefit was through the preaching of and living of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I wonder, what would it be like if in our day we were able to accomplish what the Nephites and Lamanites are recorded as having done after the Savior's appearance to them. They certainly weren't able to do it before then, but there were times when they kind of came close out of necessity rather than choice. I wonder where we compare socially.