Trip to China or Referendum
- on 06.28.06
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In the world of government education nothing seems to surprise me anymore. The arrogance at which they operate seems to have no bounds.
In a story Tuesday in the Daily Herald they reported that the Principals of Grayslake Central and Warren Township were heading to China to see schools there and to learn about possibly teaching Mandarin Chinese in the schools here.
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Two Lake County high school principals are on their way to China for a week to learn more about schools there, and, organizers hope, become interested in starting Chinese-language classes here. Steven Isoye, principal of Warren Township High School’s O’Plaine Road campus, and Grayslake Central High School Principal Randy Davis were tapped for the trip by College Board, the national organization that regulates Advanced Placement and SAT testing. |
Today, there is another story about Warren High School District having to cut programs or raise taxes. It is even laughable that one of the suggestions for cuts is the foreign language program at the same time a principal is preparing to leave for China to see if chinese should be taught in the school.
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Possible programs Warren can elect to cut include: • Eliminating all athletics and co-curricular programs, saving $1.7 million. • Losing 30 staff members to save $2.3 million. • Dropping non-mandatory classes, such as foreign language, saving $1.4 million. • Cutting eighth period to save $700,000. District 121 can also seek to boost its revenue by placing a tax-increase referendum on the ballot, stated the PMA report. The report says Warren’s deficit spending is reducing working-cash fund balance reserves. Weber said Warren’s financial woes are tied to a lack of revenue rather than spending too much money. He said District 121 needs more revenue, fewer expenditures or a combination of both. |
You’ll notice there is nothing about pay cuts, freezes of reductions in administrators. The cuts proposed directly affect the kids instead. Threaten the cuts to the kids so the parents hand over their wallets. This is a tried and true tactic. It is a dispicable practice.
Who helps the district pass referendums, PMA of course. They work for many schools districts in the State, so they have an incentive to help them raise taxes. That is why they donate money to the groups trying to pass referendums.
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PMA has contributed money to groups promoting “yes†votes on school tax-increase efforts. State Board of Elections records show PMA has provided $13,750 to tax-hike proponents since 2003. |
UPDATE: I received an update this morning stating that the trip is being paid for by the Office of the Chinese Language Council International and The College Board.
