Curmudgeon's Corner - All Comments

re: Village Buzz - December 1st...

Dave Magill — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:36:01 GMT

taxed,

I haven't heard specifically why the schools were closed, but Riteway usually has a lot of input on that decision. We have quite a few rural routes, and the blowing and drifting was expected to last well into the day. Additionally, if Riteway feels that their drivers will experience problems getting to work, they'll lobby for closure. Of course I'm just speculating because I haven't heard anything official.

re: Village Buzz - December 1st...

Al Campbell — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:30:34 GMT

Thanks Pete.

We'll keep Officer Bosco in our thoughts and prayers. He is too young to hang up his 'gun belt'; he has a lot more bad guys to round up!

re: Village Buzz - December 1st...

Chief Peter Hoell — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:57:57 GMT

Update:

I have optimistic news to report.

Today, Bosco was examined by three doctors of different disciplines; all three believe the mass is not cancerous. No surgery was conducted today. However tomorrow Bosco will have minor surgery and they will take a biopsy so as to confirm the status of the mass. The biopsy results will take a couple days to receive.

re: Village Buzz - December 1st...

taxedtothemax — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:50:02 GMT

I was out at lunch time today and all the roads were free of snow. Driving into work this morning - the roads were in excellent shape for just having received 8" inches of snow. And the schools were closed today because??

re: Village Buzz - December 1st...

BigTimeBad — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:33:48 GMT

All the best to Bosco...

re: Village Buzz - December 1st...

Chief Peter Hoell — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:34:16 GMT

Al,

Bosco is in surgery as I type this. I will update you and your readers as soon as I hear anything.

Pete Hoell

re: Naked Dancing Girls...

Al Campbell — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:21:06 GMT

Ozricale & GTownGuy,

Employers got into the employee benefits equation during WWII when we had wage & price controls. The only way an employer could vie for employees during the war 'boom' was by offering benefits since wages were locked down by the government. Remember that employees were very hard to find due to the numbers in the batttles across both oceans.

We are the only country in the world, to my knowledge, that has such a system in place. The problem is how we would go about dismantling this system with all the implications involved. Our tax code is full of rules and regs that govern this anomoly; employees are all used to this approach; insurers could go in either direction, but underwriting issues would need to be addressed to assure that individuals could obtain insurance, etc.

The most significant problem with regard to health care is the cost of that care, and not the financing mechanism for providing the care.

re: Happy Thanksgiving...

ozricale — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:51:48 GMT

Thank you Al, for your valuable contribution to civilized dialogue on issues both local and national. I wish there were more people with your common sense facilitating discussions.

re: Mumbai Attacks...

ozricale — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:40:10 GMT

Al, of course you are right. But it amazes me that much of the world is not willing to do what is necessary to defeat this evil. I believe it will take a cataclysmic event akin to World War Two before we can muster enough indignation to eliminate Islamic Fascism. We are in grave peril and the world is not taking it seriously. The lessons of Nazi Germany have not been learned.

re: Naked Dancing Girls...

GtownGuy — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:55:41 GMT

I have often wondered why is health insurance something that should be offered by employers at all? Why doesn't my employer pay for part of my auto insurance as well?

re: Schools & Education, Part Three...

lhavas — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:28:48 GMT

Karen123, I will second CMS' point about districts paying for master's degrees. It simply isn't done in most districts. Plus, in order to maintain their licensure, teachers must take additional coursework and pay for it on their own. Health care professional must do so as well.

re: Winners & Losers...

lhavas — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:36:18 GMT

CMS makes an excellent point with regard to class sizes. I tend to look at all data with a critical eye, and my guess is that the "classes of less than 20" figures are skewed. I wonder whether those are in fact the teacher-to-student ratio, a number which would be lower by virtue of the specialists in the building (reading specialists, special education, etc.)

CPL CACHE: I'm not a Germantown teacher, but I'm not sure what kind of an axe you have to grind by stating this: "all schools are equipped with very nice computer labs (don't forget the teachers have ridiculously expensive leased laptops)" -- but would you really, truly want your child going to a school without any computer access whatsoever? Like it or not, computers are here to stay. They are just some of the teaching tools that are being used in schools today. In the 1800's, it was a slateboard. During my youth we had purple mimeographed worksheets. Technology is a part of education today and Germantown would be doing its students a disservice if they were not providing these tools to the students. (And I would be very interested to know whether the labs might have been partially covered by a grant whose funds could not have been diverted elsewhere.)

The teachers' laptops are undoubtedly used in part for them to maintain open lines of communication between home and school. I use my own personal computer so that I can reply to emails from parents, often as early as 4:30 in the morning. Now, you might argue that that's my choice - but if a parent is notifying me that their child is ill and I have a worksheet stored at home on my computer, I now have a golden opportunity to help a student stay ahead of the game by emailing that worksheet to his/her home. With every teacher having a laptop, every teacher is now capable of doing the same thing. Better, more efficient and uniform communication between home and school is just one benefit of those laptops.

If the referendum had passed, yes, your taxes would have increased. But isn't your child worth it?

www.doe.in.gov/.../fulldaykbenefits.html

re: Happy Thanksgiving...

triveraguy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:31:42 GMT

Amen!

re: Winners & Losers...

GTownie — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:35:09 GMT

The only point I have been trying to make is that now that building a new school is off the table, we should pursue smaller-scale alternatives that may be better than doing nothing. Whether expanding Rockfield, leasing space, or converting the District Offices would be better or worse than building a new school is irrelevant, because the voters have spoken and said there will be no new school for the foreseeable future. But would these ideas be better than doing nothing? Does anyone else have any suggestions?

re: Winners & Losers...

CMS — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:11:52 GMT

Well, it appears as though I have hit a few nerves. The first point I would like to make here is that in both MacArthur and Rockfield schools the average class size is over 20. They are 21.1 and 20.6 respectively. These numbers in and of themselves are of little value, however, with the growth of Germantown even these above 20 average sizes are likely to rise. As of right now these two schools are unable to accommodate added classes should the numbers require it. For example, at MacArthur there are 76 students who will be in first grade next year. There are only 3 first grade teachers. I, for one, wonder how any teacher as talented and first rate as they may be can handle 25 or 26 six year old students. Perhaps the board was thinking of this very issue when they discontinued full day kindergarten for next year. One of the classrooms dedicated to that program will/may be a first grade room next year. And then what if the numbers are similar for the following year? I myself do not know these numbers, but they must be available to the board.

Don't get me wrong, I was not and am not excited about any new taxes but I also realize that my taxes went down last year about the same amount they would have gone up next year. I live near the near empty business park on Mequon Road. I wonder how much more appealing our village would be to potential business owners had we voted to build a new school to accommodate their children and the children already waiting in our homes. These businesses would make our village an even "better" place to live.

re: Winners & Losers...

Goldenboy75 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:42:55 GMT

More creative solutions you say? Such as?

re: Winners & Losers...

GTownie — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:37:22 GMT

There will only be any “losers” resulting from the school referendum failure if we don’t move forward with any of the alternatives available to increase both space and state funding, including expanding Rockfield, leasing space either from Menomonee Falls (which is considering closing a school due to declining enrollment) or in one of the many vacant retail developments and business parks in Germantown, or utilizing the School District Offices building which appears to be languishing on the market just a mile or so away from the site of the proposed new school. Anyone who would refuse to compromise, to the detriment of both the children and the taxpayers, would really be a loser in my book! But I know the school board has the best interests of the community at heart at all times, so I am confident they will lead us to the next best solution.

re: Winners & Losers...

CPL CACHE — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:31:13 GMT

CMS,

My children are not losers, they still recieve a first rate education at the hands of the districts capable teachers. Please explain to me how having a new building is going to provide a better education? The average class size is under 20 students and all schools are equipped with very nice computer labs (don't forget the teachers have ridiculously expensive leased laptops). As a parent of a child who would be in what would have been all-day Kindergarten, I am bothered by the school board's tactics to try to force the passing of the referendum. Also, the security needs of the district should be calculated into the operating budget and not piled onto a referendum. You and the school board need to stop trying to keep up with the Elmbrook school districts of the state at the taxpayer's expense. There are more creative solutions to this problem than building a new "Extreme Makeover" school.

re: Schools & Education, Part Five...

CMS — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:37:21 GMT

So... you have spent 5 postings analyzing the salaries and benefits of teachers. I now challenge you to do the same for firemen, police, pharmacists, grocers, etc!

re: Winners & Losers...

CMS — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:34:34 GMT

Let us not forget that the other "losers" in Germantown were the kids who missed the chance to have a better education with better technology, smaller class sizes, full day kindergarten, and more security!