What are these legislators thinking?
Operation ‘Can Kick’ In Full Swing. (re-posted from jasongillman.com)
Its for the children, right? HB5296, a $48.7 Million bill to get DPS through the school year, met little resistance from our state legislature, with seven senate, and only four house members opposing the final package. How could anyone vote to essentially close the doors? Its a valid question, and the intent should be considered honorable. However, an honest assessment of the overall situation can only remind us that it is with the best intent that we fail our children once again.
If the vote to hand over the money eradicated all debt, and set the course for district solvency, it would be hard to argue against such logic. However, the greater debt and liability still exists, and the precedent is set for the remaining $700,000,000 bailout that is next to come for DPS. Even that number is of questionable sufficiency, and is likely to be higher. Even with a bailout of this magnitude, it would be foolish to think it would be the end of hands out from a district that has produced 25% graduation rates, all the while receiving the highest per capita foundation payments.
And then there is the question of mismanagement being simply benign, or instead as a purposeful quest, evidenced by new indictments of a dozen prominent administrators within the district. Surely this is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Let us not forget also, that Detroit Schools represent only a part of the state’s public education apparatus. To be sure, it is not the only school district in Michigan that is facing obligations that seem insurmountable. What are we to do next when Grand Rapids Schools, Lansing, or even Traverse City Area Public Schools cry “No Mas!” throwing up their hands in futility?
In fairness, how could the same legislative body that rewards the graft, corruption, and malfeasance of DPS be expected to deny other communities their share of the bailout stew; leaving taxpayers with an even greater burden to overcome? How could one not expect every other irresponsible act by local governments to be forgiven by the stroke of a pen, and grace of the taxpayers?
Or their progeny?
If one understands that short of an immediate ability to pay for such relief (with budgetary surpluses), there must be a burden placed on the very children who would be ‘saved’ by such short sighted acts. The fiscal obligations will simply pile on to the already hard won bucket of bad parenting these kids have been getting for some time. Our children, if they remain in Michigan will forever be shackled to the poor choices and fiscal gluttony of today’s leaders.
Gosh, what a legacy.
We should be so proud.
(13)Nuh Uh.
(0)
Jason,
A couple of points here:
First, the $700-and-some-odd million being thrown about by Gov. Snyder and his cronies is a low-ball number designed to get sympathy from the rubes, while simultaneously keeping them from asking asking too many questions. Detroit Public Schools is in reality around $3.5-billion in debt, with no conceivable way of ever paying it back!
Second, the 25% DPS graduation rate is something that was providing too much egg on their collective faces for too long, so DPS started "massaging" the numbers into something a little more palatable.
Unfortunately (for DPS management), they had forgotten to take into account outside testing of its students which seriously calls DPS' graduation standards into question. According to the most recent numbers from National Center for Education Statistics (2015), the number of DPS students in the upper grade levels who were NOT proficient in Math was at 96%.
For Reading, 93% of DPS students were NOT proficient.
Were I to ride into town, twisting my mustache around my finger like some snake-oil salesman from over a century ago and delivering educational results like that for the money being paid out (essentially handing out diplomas to students who in reality possessed no real skills to speak of), I'd be lucky to be buried in secret so that my grave wouldn't be violated. And this would be before the likes of the BLM-crowd, Rainbow-PUSH, NAN and every other race hustler lined up to protest such an abysmal educational outcome for the youth in Detroit.
Has anyone ever wondered why we haven't heard from that zany bunch throughout this whole ordeal?
I would challenge everyone reading this to ask their elected officials in Lansing where the rest of the money will come from to pay off the $3.5-billion in DPS debt?
Seriously, my rep had no idea why I was using that number. Apparently, it isn't being circulated about while they were in Caucus.
I would also challenge them to ask those same officials on why they would even consider having Lansing pay anything at all given the pathetic education provided to students within DPS?
Literally billions in debt with very little to show for it?
I'd even ask why there isn't an investigation being conducted by the AG, but we all know where his priorities really lie.
Here, since it appears to be the vacuum of an echo chamber- http://rightmi.com/whoopie-ti-yi-yo-git-along-little-dogies/#comment-7544
Youse guys are right on. 12 principals stole for 10 years--million$--which wasn't announced until after the hysterical vote by the core-curriculumed legislators. Ten Years this went on and they're just now catching it?
Next issue--All that had to happen is a former federal judge crying to them give us more or we can't make payroll. One two-cent$ speech gave the appearance that that's all it took. This is the new strategy folks--we saw it with Mitt's two-cent$ speech crying to the masses in Utah and we're suppose to believe that his whines were enough to force the Utah masses out to vote for his candidate. Did I say that one speech and the Geo Soros backed voting machines was all it took?
We're witnessing the rolling out of the new strategy--its very simple really. The cry used to be "do it for the children" Now, its "we screwed up for the last 30 years with your blessings, so its your fault--GIVE US MONEY. All from two- cent $peeche$ as cause to jump up. Mass hysteria at it's best--controlled chaos at its best and the duping continues.
Several solutions come to mind--Each child could have been given a computer and school held on-line then the crumbling buildings go away. And/Or, Mitt should have bought up the DPS--that's what he does best, buys up corporations (the DPS is a corporation) and dismantled it. There, problem solved.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/reality-check/2015/06/03/donald-trump-mitt-romney-gucci-claim-true/28443013/
Please. Stop with the Mittens horse shit. Mittens is the reason this nation is as screwed up as Detoilet schools.
So, what's the plan on the $78B?
You purists are beyond crazy and, sure as hell don't understand how money works.
Float the debt until this half-assed state gets manufacturing jobs back from China, and Mexico.
Not certain what you mean by 'float the debt', a finance term usually associated with the issuance of short term debt. Michigan's estimated $ 78 billion in state and local debt is already issued, mostly as long term debt.
Michigan would not be well served to issue new debt just now. Michigan just got a reversal in its debt outlook from S&P, specifically due to Flint and DPS. This increases the cost of debt to government units across the state. Interest rates would explode if Michigan or any of its units tried to massively increase indebtedness.
S&P are telling Michigan no more debt, use taxes to pay for Flint and DPS. Even if Trump 'gets jobs back' from China and Mexico, those jobs are unlikely to come to a Michigan plagued by the higher taxes needed to pay off government corruption and incompetence. There are about 40 other states in the USA better run and friendlier to business.
Hogwash. You know something, ya just got dinged for $1.2B that's already pissed away, for the most part, to pay for medicaid expansion. The asshole nerd blew up Flint and did diddly-shit with DPS since 2011. There's why your S&Ps are reverting back to where they were when that fat-ass magic underpants Nixon was imported from Utah. You've nothing but tax hikes since Republicans took over. You had pensions raided. The retired wealth moved out or, moved its money out. Sure, read all the flapdoodle about unemployment being at its lowest level since 2001. They sure as hell don't talk about the labor force and the employment figures in the same sense, do they? Nope. Way down in comparison. Same can be said for all the bullshit being promoted by the Mac Cen with exports to China being up. The rotten lying bastards refuse to state that imports from China are up by two fold. That's falling behind.
And, I'll tell you what, if you don't believe manufacturing, especially, automotive will not return to Michigan, then pull the plug on this state now.
Oh, and, if you're not certain what I meant, go to your inbox and reread the replies to the shit you send.
CS we absolutely understand how money works--that's the problem. If you don't have it you don't spend it--what's not to know. Why am I paying to replace lead pipes from the street to one's home in Flint? What I am willing to pay for is setting up an interest free loan fund for replacement of leaded pipes and whole house filters, but at no point should I be paying for repairing and replacing anything on privately owned property. Why am I paying for Detroit Schools? What I'm willing to pay for is bankruptcy of the DPS, selling off it's assets, and creating safe educational environments for children. This would involve, of course, discharging of every DPS employee (good-bye pensions) who sat and watched as this went on. Bring back neighborhood one-room school houses, and classes in basements of neighborhood churches. Along with the three R's, teach children farming, woodworking, sewing, mechanics, economics and other life-skills. Each of these tasks involve reading and math--oops accidental learning at its best. But what do I know--I was educated in Detroit over 60 years ago and all of these things were incorporated into our education which I see now, was accidental.
This is why Republicans are despised. You may not like it but, those people worked paying into their retirements. Hence, that is what Rhodes is talking about, which the state did not make their payments into.
"Of course its fantasy to think that the state is responsible, except for the fact that the state is the one that’s making all the decisions, not paying itself the annual $80 million MPSERS cost and borrowing an additional $50 million to fund cash flow shortage by using the numerous levers of government and credit of the state," Rakolta said in an email. "The fantasy is thinking that someone else will bail the state out. In the end the state owns the debt and will ultimately be the payer of last resort."
One of the few times I must agree with Rakolta, and you have no idea how much that pisses me off that that happened.
As for your 60 year old memory of Detoilet, and "Bring back neighborhood one-room school houses, and classes in basements of neighborhood churches." ? Ma'am, you're nuttier than a squirrel turd- https://youtu.be/TdUKMRPbOgs?t=3m27s
My Detroit education served me well. And what I learned 60 years ago trickled down to my children and now my grandchildren. Having sat on a school board, I know first hand that a board's only job is a balanced budget; maintaining the district's infrastructure; and, hiring the best administration that understands it responsibilities to the board. Miss-stepping on any of these items is malfeasance. Principals embezzling, stealing for ten years, falls on the board by allowing criminal administration. All these criminal acts prima facially denies them their pensions.
The state doesn't own the debt--Detroit Schools owns the debt--a debt that can never be recovered. I stick by my original thought--Bankruptcy, dissolve the district, sell its assets, and in the meantime that bailout money should be used toward providing students a safe educational environment--and yes, neighborhood, one room school houses and utilizing church facilities and focusing on the three R's and life skills is the only way to turn this around as an interim solution.
http://rightmi.com/whoopie-ti-yi-yo-git-along-little-dogies/#comment-7552
Indeed. Your Detoilet education continues to serve you well- http://rightmi.com/the-only-genuine-flint-water-expert-josiah-willard-gibbs/#comment-6621
Sue said:
"..The state doesn't own the debt--Detroit Schools owns the debt--a debt that can never be recovered. I stick by my original thought--Bankruptcy, dissolve the district, sell its assets.."
Whoa there, Sue..how is the unrecoverable debt in Detroit OR their school systems...any different than the (cough) 'obligational' debt which tea partiers and the GOP UNANIMOUSLY agreed to burden taxpayers with in 2012 (during yet another election cycle)..a debt NOT (evidently) 'solvable' in the exact same bankruptcy courts all over this state?
Google: "Michigan votes Pension obligation bonds 2012"..or..
..the Mackinaw Center's last second capitulation on the same topic (their "end of the free world as we know it" stance..to.."it's OK if you screw the succeeding generations" flip flop).
JD you are making my point. Bailout is not the answer in any situation--In Detroit's bankruptcy--the legislature had no business bailing out pensions--the fed's had no business bailing out GM or the too big to fail banks. Lansing's got no business paying for street to house water hook-ups in Flint. We're watching the financial implosion of our state but the most disgusting of this is, none of this money will actually trickle down to the citizens these bailouts purport to help.
If you damage my property "street to house water hook-up" due to your negligence/incompetency as water/sewage provider, a monopolized service, you can rest assured you'd have a team of high-powered, pit-bull shysters unleashed on your ass so fast your head would spin. Making it class action would be a walk in the park. So, willing to absorb the additional costs for defending your negligence and, stack of dead Legionnaires' bodies?
Now, moving this back to the post's topic - schools. This in not a "bailout." If you do not like the State's obligation that is, shall provide public education irregardless to quality, then I suggest you amend the 1963 constitution and, in particular, your ill-informed droning bleat - Article IX § 24.
Your ignorance, pigheadedness and, emotional regurgitation's truly knows no boundaries, which serves again to validate why August 18, 1920 was a failure only to be equaled by that which is Amendment XVII.
Actually, It is ABSOLUTELY a bailout.
"shall provide" public education? nope. IT SAYS
Way big difference.
Stay on-point with Article IX § 24, dummy. You and Barb, really do struggle with this.
Ps. random word capitalization really make your statements doubleplusgooder!
No need to be a total douche. With your IX sect 24 nonsense, you are sounding like the AG
The pension obligations COULD BE met with a plan that rids us of the DPS, but in the end a bankruptcy settles it all out much differently.
It says a bankruptcy is the only way by my reading. The AG was mistaken about the ability of the bankruptcy to diminish those liabilities. This is one of those places where the US constitution actually has authority and supremacy. (article VI)
Article 1, Section 8, clause 4. US constitution.
Ain't gonna happen, cuckboy.
I was agreeing with you, Sue.
Up until the fall of 2012, Michigan Tea Party 'conservatives' rallied against bailouts, pension "obligations" and certainly any legislation containing the words "no vote of the people required".
That all changed when Republicans and those attempting to "change the party' realized that (selective) 'Right to Work' rammed through during a lame duck would look bad enough without "pension obligation bonds with no vote of the people required" proposals being (first) revealed at the same time.
So they took a chance.
And as it turned out?
"Conservatives" were just as self-interested as any pensioner in Detroit facing the exact same situation all across this state. No other far-reaching outlandishly expensive or generation burdening proposal in the history of this state had ever been proposed immediately before a major election.
The grassroots movement was exposed for it was..the tents were tore down with barely a peep either and all three sides got exactly what they wanted by early 2013.
'Paid for' silence and a shot across the bow of our grandchildren's generation to never storm Lansing again lest they pay the consequences.
Proof?
The Capital lawn has been barren ever since.