Sacrifice Leaders And Not A Generation

Recently, the California state budget passed with language that makes it difficult for financially strapped school districts to lay off teachers. In theory, this allows state leaders to claim they support lower class sizes and value the work of teachers, both of which are what voters like to hear.

However, this does not solve the financial mess school districts face thanks to a decrease of state and federal funding. So what are school districts to do?

State leaders have developed a way to wash their hands of blame by allowing school districts the right to shorten the school year by as many as seven days. Now, financially struggling school districts will be forced to either cut more nonessential programs (think of high schools without athletic or performing arts programs) or eliminating school days all together.

A kindergartner who enters school in a district whose school year is seven days shorter than a financially stronger one will, by the time he graduates, have lost half a school year of education. Sure, he will get to enjoy a cumulative total of three additional months of summer break. However, he will also be expected to master all state required offerings in less time.

Since state testing dates are predetermined for the spring, the eliminated days will most likely be taken off after the testing schedule is completed resulting in an earlier start to summer break. This way, students, teachers, parents, and officials can be assured a maximum amount of time was devoted to readying students for the annual state exams.

But what if shortening the school year is not enough to balance school district budgets? What then? Are we to assume today’s students are better equipped to thrive in a world that offers them fewer academic and extra curricular opportunities?

Is today’s youth less at risk to drug, criminal, or sexual activity than the generation who is making these decisions? Is our society so much better off today that we can afford to offer an entire generation less than we received?

All our budget has done is succeed in letting our leaders pass the buck on to others. They have effectively ridded themselves of the responsibility they have been elected to do simply because they lack the fortitude to tackle the many challenges we face. Democrats and republicans are equally to blame and what we are seeing in this state is simply a microcosm of what is playing out on the national stage.

We simply cannot afford to blindly reelect our leaders when they refuse to work together and solve our problems. Do not let them off the hook simply because these are difficult times. Remember, our leaders are living far more comfortably than the rest of us. It is not expecting too much then to demand the same high level of excellence from our leaders that they are expecting of a generation they so easily disregard.

Thoughts From A Vacation

After a nice two week vacation to Lake Tahoe, Chico, and the Bay Area, I realize the following:

1. July and August in Lake Tahoe are hard to top. You get perfect weather with plenty to do and it is tremendously affordable when you compare it to other popular vacation spots.


2. Congress and the debt ceiling issue shows us just how little our elected leaders do for us. They prefer to play a game of political chicken knowing the only losers will be the people they represent.


3. I may have to enter next year's Death Ride. 139 miles and five passes; each more than eight thousand feet above sea level now seems possible with my new bike.


4. Roger Goodell is not so honorable after all. How can he claim an agreement is in place when he has not run it past the people he is negotiating with? Al Davis and the Raiders were actually right for once by being the only team to not vote on the agreement.


5. This year's Tour de France is shaping up as one of the best ever in its history. Tomorrow's final time trial will determine the winner. The top three places are separated by a mere 57 seconds and that's after two thousand miles of racing.


6. I can't feel sorry for three tourists who ignore a posted sign and set foot in a raging river to get a photo taken only to be swept over Vernal Falls in Yosemite. How long before their families sue the National Parks for not preventing their act of stupidity?


7. The space shuttle flew its final flight and now what? Maybe we can make education, health care, job creation, and poverty our next frontiers.


8. U.S. women come up short against Japan in the Women's World Cup final but somehow I think there will be a lot of advertisers looking to sign Hope Solo to deals.


9. Breaking Bad began its newest season last Sunday and my DVR did not record the opener. I'm hoping it records a replay before this week's show.


10. I've said it before and will say it again: Do republicans really think they can win a presidential election next year with the group they have right now? Like many others, I am beginning to think they are doing everything they can to wreck a second term for Obama just so they can win the White House in 2016. Bipartisan politics is dead.


11. The NBA has a labor lockout too. No one cares. In fact, no one will care if it continues into next year. However, if the NFL does not start up in September, Americans will insist the president gets involved.


12. Back to the dept ceiling and the NFL. How uninformed are we? Most Americans can tell you how they feel about the NFL and its labor issues but don't have a clue as to the ramifications of what will happen if our debt ceiling is not raised.


13. A balanced federal budget sounds great but is not possible in our present form of government. When presidents have a line item veto to eliminate pork from bills; when we stop getting ourselves into so many costly wars; when we understand the difference between needs and wants; when we quit thinking we are entitled to everything we want; maybe then a balanced budget becomes possible.


14. I still do not like the idea of making the rich pay more taxes. Why? Because they are on the receiving end of almost all tax loop holes. Lets just make them pay their fair share like the rest of us. I still think a flat federal tax rate is in order and it is to be collected monthly and not yearly.


15. Tiger Woods fires his caddie. Why is this news? Are we so desperate for controversy that we can not let a golfer make a change as to who carries his clubs? The Giants fan who was beaten on opening day in the parking lot of Dodger stadium just had to have more surgery. Two more men were arrested and yet we make a bigger deal about Tiger looking for a new caddie.


16. Who do you find more repugnant, Casey Anthony or Nancy Grace?


17. I caught Justin Timberlake on Conan the other night. How can you not like this guy? He can sing, dance, act, and he more than held his own in the humor department with Coco. Now if only women found him good looking he'd have it made.


18. So Charlie Sheen will be getting a new television show based on the Jack Nicholson character in Anger Management. Lets hope this does for Charlie what the movie did for Jack. That way we won't have to listen to Charlie any more.


19. I caught Bristol Palin's interview with Dr. Drew last night. If she was an honor student in Alaska then that state is leaving a lot of its children behind. She has no business being a spokesperson for anything.


20. If you are a bicycle enthusiast like me, then South Lake Tahoe is the place to ride, especially if you enjoy climbs. Angora Lake Road, South Upper Truckee Road to the top of Luther Pass, Meyers Grade to Echo Lake, and Heavenly Valley will all leave you in awe while gasping for air. Also, not to be out done is the climb up Honey Run Road from Chico to Paradise. In two hours, I saw three cars and one deer.