I can’t believe that they [City Council] suggested that SVUSD teacher pay should be cut by 4% while Ury, MacLean and Kelley recently voted to double their City pay and provide themselves lifetime medical benefits for a part time commitment. That is disgusting! Who are these leaders? They should be ashamed of themselves. We need them out ASAP!
Jill Young
“Who are these leaders?,” you ask? Leaders? How about self-serving political opportunists?
I am among several Social Science teachers that being given notice for a Reduction in Force (RIF or, pink slip). I have been a member of this city since day 1 (been in the same house for 30 years now), and I have never been more disappointed in the direction we are heading.
I went to Del Lago Elementary, Los Alisos Intermediate (when it was yellow and green – the Matadors!), and Trabuco Hills High School (Class of 1994). I spent tremendous time and energy getting all the certificates and credentials to teach social science and got a job at MY high school, THHS. For two years I proudly taught at my alma mater, and despite all my best efforts, I was RIF’d. I was hired back (though, not at my original site) in SVUSD at RSM Intermediate. Again, I have poured my heart and soul into this job, my kids, and my coworkers.
Again, I am on the list of RIF’d teachers and my position at RSM is in jeopardy. There is a decent chance I’ll be retained at SVUSD this year or next given the number of people retiring in the next few years. However, I am once again at the whim of district personnel regarding where I will teach. This is after Social Science took a serious beating with the loss of a graduation requirement.
We’re expecting LESS of our students because politicians from Sacramento to the School District can’t balance a budget to save their lives. They spend on pet projects, increased bureaucracies, and their own pay increases while we “end users” make do with what little scraps we’re fed. My list of culpable bureaucrats starts local and goes all the way up to the Governor. If we are indeed the 7th largest economy in the world (according to the California Department of Finance), why are we pushing bottom of the barrel in funding? And, why is it that the funding we receive in California is always inadequate at the bottom rungs of the political hierarchy?
I doubt much time is spent in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office (or even the City Council meeting room) looking for that barest necessity, paper. LCD Projector Bulbs? Custodial Staff? Where are OUR tax dollars going? I assure you it isn’t ending up in the hands of the “end user”.
Aren’t our children the ones “too big to fail”, instead of corporate vampires like AIG, Citi, Bank of America, et al? If history serves as our best mentor and worst critic, I’m afraid to say that I draw an unfortunate parallel between the state of our state (and country) and Vietnam. “We had to destroy the village in order to save it” may just turn into “We had to destroy a generation of children in order to save ourselves”.
By disenfranchising our young teachers and their students, we’re just inviting global economic rivals of the United States (namely India, but also China and Japan among others) to have their way with us. Just as the United States eclipsed Great Britain, we too will be eclipsed unless we invest in our children.
Regarding Jill’s comment: It just so happens, coincidentally, that there is a recall happening on the horizon. The residents of Mission Viejo have to be educated and sign the petition that will oust Lance MacLean as a Council person representative. Now is the time.
This is a double standard sadness also! Sad that the “big three” see themselves as so all powerful and sad that the MV electorate didn’t see fit to turn Ury out when they had a chance in the last election! Ms. Young is correct … we DO NEED them out asap!
I guess a better word for the majority on our council is DUPLICITOUS!! Duplicitous for asking others to take a pay cut while they enrich themselves with a pay increase and potenitaly lifetime health benefits.
Think $360,000 for a 5-minutes-of-fame float.
Each time I read about the council’s lifetime benefits vote, I am sickened and disheartened. We put up with Congress and our state; can’t we insist on honesty and fairness from our local government?
Yes, MacLean should be removed, but both Ury and Kelley are cut from the same fabric. They know, and knew, such expenditures are not warranted, and represent a liability for our next generation of Mission Viejo citizens. They chose to ignore our pleas to revoke the vote!
All three should be removed – and there is no way our city should have squandered $360,000 on a Rose Parade float. Our children, and schools, public services will need this money in the future. It just signifies another example of paying off the council’s business friends, and lack of concern for their constituency and community.