New York Post writers Marcus Winters and Jay Green say that everyone knows teachers are terribly underpaid — just ask any teacher, union official or anyone with an interest in the money poured into public education. However, the writers point out that, as of 2002, national teacher salaries average $44,600.

Most, but not all teachers work 9 months a year — though that has changed in some districts. $44K for 9 months? Not shabby.

Doing the hourly wage comparison, the Labor Department says firefighters nationwide earn $17.91 an hour, cops $22.64 an hour and teachers $30.75 an hour. They write:

“Yes, teachers have a vital job to do, and they should be fairly paid. But compared to the 50-hour workweeks and daily insecurity of most white-collar workers, the tenured life of a teacher is a darn good deal.”

Coming up on November 8th, Fornicalians have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 74, which reads:

Proposition 74:Increases length of time required before a teacher may become a permanent employee from two complete consecutive school years to five complete consecutive school years; measure applies to teachers whose probationary period commenced during or after the 2003-2004 fiscal year. Authorizes school boards to dismiss a permanent teaching employee who receives two consecutive unsatisfactory performance evaluations. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Unknown impact on school district teacher salary costs as a result of changes in teacher tenure and dismissal practices. Fiscal impacts could vary significantly district by district.

As I posted earlier, if Prop 74 passes, could “merit pay” be far behind?

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney spoke about this very subject last Friday on the Laura Ingraham show. She said that Romney had been leading a charge against the political clout of teachers unions in Massachusetts by offering the idea of a $15,000 merit pay increase based on test scores of students.

He said:

What we’ve found is that the underperforming schools in our state are not spending less money than those doing well. Schools that are underperforming do not have larger class sizes than the ones doing better. The major difference between the better schools and the ones that are not so strong boils down to a couple of things.

One is the capability of the teachers involved and their motivation in leading the class, and the other is the involvement of parents. So we’re focusing on both those areas by saying that we want to bring in more excellent teachers, particularly in math and science, by paying a $5,000 bonus to those coming in with math and science backgrounds. We want to pay $5,000 more to those who teach advanced placement classes, in other words, the best and the brightest. And then we also want to pay $5,000 more to any teacher who’s able to be in the top third of their school in terms of helping their kids move from one grade to the next. And that would be assessed by their scores on their exams.

Now you’d think we’re preaching heresy of some kind, by suggesting that we want to give more money to teachers. The teachers’ union doesn’t want more money for teachers unless it’s only based on tenure. They want mediocrity not to be considered as they look at pay; they want a pay system based on tenure alone. We want to see it based on merit, on commitment, on involvement and on excellence.

Laura asked: What does this look like in the legislature?

This is going to be a campaign that takes a long time to win. I believe that our education reform plan will move forward this year, but not in its entirety. I think it’s a campaign that will need to enlist the minority community. My democratic party in this state, which controls 85% of the legislature, has long received the support of unions as well as minorities. But there’s a gap here, and it’s going to be growing, between minorities and unions.

As the minority population recognizes that the failure of the schools is costing their kids their future, I think you’re going to see the minority community, over time, realize that real reform that changes the way unions work in our schools is essential.

Laura said: Governor Schwarzennegger in California had merit pay blocked when he came up against the enormously powerful teachers’ unions. How do you propose to get around that in your state?

This is the sort of thing where you do the calculation and you say, okay, there’s no way you can win this. But you have to start the fight. You have to start the campaign. You have to keep fighting and campaigning for this around the country. You have to say, our kids are more important than the teachers’ union bosses. Look, the teachers agree with me. The teachers want the kind of program I’m proposing. They want to be recognized as a profession where the best performers are rewarded more effectively, with a great future career and better pay.

But the teachers’ union doesn’t want that. They want to protect their very weakest union members. And over time, we’re going to be able to wear down the unions, because the parents and the teachers are going to demand that kids come first.

Governor Romney continued:

You know, it’s interesting to me that this country has proven to the world that our system, where the best are rewarded, where people have freedom of choice, where people are able to build their own success, that works. A lockstep socialist system does not work. And in teaching, that message hasn’t gotten through. The teachers’ unions are clinging to a model which has been proven to be ineffective. The teachers themselves, I believe, in growing numbers, and certainly parents and kids recognize that we should be rewarding the best teachers a lot better.

I want to see our best teachers paid a lot more money. And our worst teachers, I want them to get effective training or move on to careers where they can be more successful.

In my opinion, this logic is absolutely unassailable.

Let’s distill this down to its basic elements: a bunch of white supremacist wingnuts decided they wanted to march in Toledo, Ohio, yesterday except they didn’t get to march, per se.

“Authorities said there was little they could do to stop the group, because they did not apply for a parade permit and instead planned to walk along sidewalks.” Mayor Jack Ford, who is black, said “They do have a right to walk on the Toledo sidewalks.” Ford at one point confronted leaders of the mob and tried to settle them down.

“A gang member in a mask threatened to shoot him (Mayor Ford), and others cursed him for allowing the march, the mayor said. He said he didn’t know if the man who threatened him was actually armed, but he blamed gangs for much of the violence. The march had been called off because of the crowds, and the white supremacists had left.”

In all, 114 people got arrested. Buildings got burned. Property was destroyed, cars were overturned, crowds threw rocks and objects at police and fire personnel. You likely saw the video on Saturday. From Yahoo news:

Neighbors were divided about the city allowing the march. “They don’t have the right to bring hate to my front yard,” said Terrance Anderson, who lives near a bar that was destroyed. Other neighbors said the group had a right to have their say. “Too bad the people couldn’t ignore them,” said Dee Huntley.

I don’t get it. Maybe I’m just thick. A bunch of idiots come to your neighborhood and you decide to participate in a riot that ends up destroying businesses and infrastructure where you live.

And apparently Terrance Anderson doesn’t get it either — rioters burned his neighborhood bar. What’s the upside of that?

Lawfully, the First Amendment (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.) still applies — like it or not.

Organize your own march. Keep it peaceful. Keep your neighborhood intact. But trash your own backyard? To borrow a phrase from a General I admire: those folks are “stuck on stupid.”

So there I was. I had just taken my 85-year-old father to Wells Fargo to conduct some banking and, on the way out, I held the door open for a woman who breezed through, said nothing, and disappeared as though it was expected.

This really pissed me off. I got no “thank you,” no “thanks,” not even a grunt. If she were 10 years old I might expect that. This lady was obviously in her mid-30’s, well dressed, not a dirtbag, and had all her teeth. She wasn’t on crank to the best of my knowledge.

I told Dad: “You know, that’s the last damned time I hold the door for anyone. I’m tired of doing that for nothing. People are plain rude so screw ’em.”

My Dad had to agree.

I hold the door for anyone; it doesn’t matter, male or female. I look upon it as simple courtesy. At 24 Hour Fitness, when I go to work out, I open the door for anyone close. I open the car door for my girlfriends, hold the door at restaurants. When I order something in a store, on the phone, in person, I say lots of “please” and “thank you.”

More and more, in response to “thank you,” I get: “no problem.” It’s like everyone’s forgotten the proper response is: “you’re welcome.”

Hello? Thank you = you’re welcome.

I’m at the point in my “career” on this planet where I can go either way and not lose sleep: do I keep doing what my gut tells me to do, or do I open a door, let it close behind me, and communicate to those in the service industry with grunts, clicks, or absolute silence — as I see most others do?

This is apparently an issue in Britain as well:

The British are nowhere near as rude as Americans. Americans are loud, crude and inconsiderate. I see a British people that are chivalrous towards people who are disabled or elderly. In stores or restaurants to be unfailing polite and courteous as well as highly professional and competent. The British are very direct and say exactly what they mean – they are honest, but they are never mean. I have found, on my numerous visits to Britain, the people to be polite, helpful and competent, yet more brisk and impersonal than Americans. Jeff, USA

Or some more comments from Britain:

People all over the world, in my opinion, are today getting more impatient and in the process, ruder too. In today’s highly materialistic society there is the inner urge to compete and do better in life than one’s neighbour come what may. This often leads to rude behaviour. Gone are the days when people had the time and were in a mood to listen and accommodate the other person’s point of view.
Albert Devakaram, India

And:

I love France but if there is one thing that I hate about the place, then it’s their level of customer service. Without exaggerating, I can honestly say that they haven’t a clue how to treat customers. I have rarely been satisfied when purchasing goods in French shops, and can tell you that the UK’s standards in customer service are much, much higher than those in France. James, France

Not an issue. Everyone hates the French anyway. No loss there. This next comment may have hit the nail on the proverbial head:

I’m ashamed to admit that I’m getting ruder. If you’re polite these days, many people perceive it as a weakness and exploit your “better nature.” As a result, I think that the nation as a whole is getting angrier. Raymond, United Kingdom

So I posit this question: what should I do? I can roll either way. Do I continue to be as polite as, I must admit, I tend to be or — do I “go with the flow” and shirk what I consider to be my general public resposibility?

In the process of blogreading members of the Western Alliance, adding links to my website and checking out local (read: Sacramento Valley) opinions on the SCOTUS nomination, I came across this from Sacto Dan:

Many Conservatives, myself included, have supported President Bush on key issues while scratching our heads on the others. Yet there has been no action beyond lipservice on the southern border, and Federal spending is making even Democrats blush.

Is Bush a conservative? We think so, but then comes Harriet Miers and our confidence is shaken. We expected Bush to take advantage of an historic opportunity to restore some sanity to the Supreme Court, and he blinked.

Dan, I must say I concur completely. Fetching Jen takes the other tack:

I am growing weary hearing the flapping jaws from conservatives about President Bush’s most recent nomination to the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers.

This is the weak link in our party. It is embarassing and frankly, shameful. The behavior smacks of elitism from the left; the “I’m smarter than you” attitude we usually see from our leftie brothers and sisters. Your bewailing is only nourishing the MSM.

Dissension and disparate views. I gotta tell ya: try that in China. Or Russia. Or North Korea. Or much of the Middle East.

That’s why I love this country!

This just in:

The average price of a home in Fornicalia is $500,000.

The average price of a home in Sacramento, Fornicalia is $400,000.

To qualify for a $400,000 home, you need to have an income of $120,000.

From the Washington Post:

According to a new survey of average home prices in 319 U.S. markets by real estate firm Coldwell Banker, you’ve got to be a millionaire to be middle-class in the Golden State.

Of the top 10 most expensive places to buy a relatively basic, 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom, two-car garage house, nine are in California, with the priciest town being La Jolla, where that kind of home costs $1.88 million. It would cost $1.77 million in Santa Monica and $1.27 million in San Jose, No. 9 on the list. In Greenwich, Conn., the only town outside California to make the top 10, it would cost just under $1.27 million.

My question:

Who in the hell is buying homes in Fornicalia? I bought my 1200sf mountain home in 1993 for $117,000. It was last appraised at $300,000 — new deck, new paint, etc. At that price, I honestly couldn’t afford to buy back my own house at its appraised value! How soon will everyone regret their Trick Mortgage?

Where are the least expensive homes? From the WT:

Rock bottom in Killeen, Tex., where the average price is $131,328, according to Coldwell Banker.

So: is the US housing market going to crash?

The United Kingdom is experiencing its own concerns in the housing market.