I am curious to know how many of the people that voted "NO" have children that attend the Batavia schools. FYI...voting "No" will probably not change the tax increase, but it will result in the cutting of programs such as ACE. ACE is a program that provides academic challenges to the "above average" kids. In a time when the academic goal of the state is to get everyone to "pass", the focus of teachers is usually on the weakest kids in the class and making sure that they meet the standards. It was really nice to see that Batavia had a program that was geared towards meeting the needs of the gifted kids. All students deserve to have their academic needs met. What does the future of our nation look like when we start neglecting the best and the brightest?
Sarah instead of asking the people who voted no if they have children in the Batavia schools why not ask Ms.Puzio why she won't cut out a few of the highly paid administrators Batavia has to save such programs as you want...Maybe the vote is more about we have had enough of a bloated overstaff school system that needs to be trimmed down to size to fit the need of a shrinking population here in the city of Batavia...In last ten years Batavia has lost almost 1000 people who have left the area..
I haven't added my vote, however, I do have one child in Batavia public schools and two that are a few years off from starting.
I think that voting no out of spite of the highly paid administrators is not going to help resolve that issue.
I think that as parents who want the best for our kids it is our responsibility to put pressure on Ms. Puzio to get her to address the issue of staffing and how it effects the budget.
I think losing a program like ACE would screw my kids over. Because I have no doubt that once it is gone we will never see it again.
We need to be the squeaky wheel when it comes to getting Ms. Puzio to address the staffing issue. I don't think that the budget vote is the right way to do that. Because programs will get cut and not the jobs. That is just the way it goes.
I guess my question should have been "How many of you that voted "no" went to the BOE meetings to contribute to the decision making?" Jeremiah is correct, voting "no" out of spite will not eliminate any administrators' jobs, it will cut programs.
Out of curiosity, which administrators' jobs does everyone want cut? Who will do their jobs? If we paid less to our administrators than other schools, who would want to work at Batavia? Is there any industry that doesn't pay the people at the top more? Are we just sore that administrators make more money than us? It is easy to say that we should cut administrative positions, but is it plausible?
Sarah ....Let cut out the position that was created for the principal that was taken off the job and given a job as Student assessment at a salary of 110,000 dollars.Hows that....So the way you and Jeremiah want it just vote yes and forget about it..How much property do you two own..how much more will this cost you two a year..
We own a home that is worth more than the mean home value in the city of Batavia, so yes, a tax increase will affect us,but education is not an area worth sacrificing. We are punishing our local schools for the mistakes of our state government. Anyway a vote of no will most likely not affect the tax increase. Maybe the assessment administrator is a position that could be cut. I can't make that decision without understanding the job description or who would pick up the slack etc. The problem is that voting no will not eliminate that position, it is already in the budget to cut equipment and programs.
Sarah maybe by voting no they will take out a job like that ...They can put up any budget they want ..For the school board to tell us all that if you vote this down ,by law we will just pass a budget just like it is ,and so there for you better take what we offer you or else. To me seems very arrogant on their part..What is the sense of voting then..So voting no might get them to wake up and see that we the tax paying public will not take it anymore..And that we do want to see some real cuts to all the administrators in the system .If it was up to them we would have an astroturf field at VanDetta going in right now ,but the people said no..
Mark, I understand what you say about the budget, and agree. But again, it's the vote for the Board seats that is most important. We need new people on that Board or nothing will change
I am not a resident, so it doesn't affect me. However, I find it ridiculous that the proposed budget and the contingency budget are virtually the same. Why put it to a vote?
It's Albany's laws. Once again, we see how Albany politicians -- over decades -- have built a system virtually guaranteed to spend taxpayer money.
Rather than require a school board to keep proposing budgets until voters approve one, contingency budget provisions take the pressure off of school districts to make painful cuts.
Again, nothing against Batavia Schools. They were handed a screwed-up system -- look at all the mandated costs and reliance on an inequitable state aid program -- but Albany is the real problem.
Until people are willing to elect representatives at both the state and national levels who will take radical steps to devolve power to localities, taxpayers will continue to get screwed.
Howard, you better beat that local govt drum- loud. The demise of local efficacy is on the horizon. Check out the Wisconsin plan to declare municipalities bankrupt, dis-incorporate municipalities and appoint substitute leadership...
One of the things that worries me about the whole "consolidation" movement is that it's being pushed by people who think bigger is better, that government should be consolidated upward.
The extra layers of government aren't the cities, towns and school districts. They're the state and federal bureaucracies. That's what killing taxpayers.
That's not to say, exactly, that all consolidation is bad, but it shouldn't come at the expense of local representation.
VOTE? When..omg...Yea im voting no...no kid in school ..wy should i pay for urs...still waiting for parents who send thier kid to Notre Dame to get tax cuts...some candidate mentioned that..must have forgotten what they said when they got elected in
Howard - The whole 'consolidation' movement is being pushed by people who believe in efficiency, transparency and cost savings. There is no reason for many of these villages governments to exist, so the people who live in those governments can pay an extra tax and have parallel services provided when a town could provide them at a big savings in cost. There is no reason why the City and the Town of Batavia, who are essentially the same community (shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, go to the same churches and hospital) should be two separate entities.
Yes, the state and federal bureaucracies have to be downsized and consolidated themselves (plans to combine several state agencies in Albany for example), but the sting of over-layered local government is also hurting taxpayers. More layers doesn't always mean more effective.
Smoke and mirrors, Dan. Consolidation of local governments leads to higher taxes, more inefficiency, less accountability, dissolution of community spirit, and on and on.
Not that all consolidation is bad. I'm not, per se, opposed to consolidation of city and town of Batavia. Everything needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
But a blanket statement that all towns and villages should be eliminated is just beyond reasonable and would be bad for taxpayers, bad for democracy and bad for people.
The smaller the unit of government, the more accountable, the more transparent, the more efficient, the less costly.
The proponents of consolidation across the board are big government lovers who just can't get enough of bureaucracy and the high taxes that go with it.
I am curious to know how many
I am curious to know how many of the people that voted "NO" have children that attend the Batavia schools. FYI...voting "No" will probably not change the tax increase, but it will result in the cutting of programs such as ACE. ACE is a program that provides academic challenges to the "above average" kids. In a time when the academic goal of the state is to get everyone to "pass", the focus of teachers is usually on the weakest kids in the class and making sure that they meet the standards. It was really nice to see that Batavia had a program that was geared towards meeting the needs of the gifted kids. All students deserve to have their academic needs met. What does the future of our nation look like when we start neglecting the best and the brightest?
Sarah instead of asking the
Sarah instead of asking the people who voted no if they have children in the Batavia schools why not ask Ms.Puzio why she won't cut out a few of the highly paid administrators Batavia has to save such programs as you want...Maybe the vote is more about we have had enough of a bloated overstaff school system that needs to be trimmed down to size to fit the need of a shrinking population here in the city of Batavia...In last ten years Batavia has lost almost 1000 people who have left the area..
I haven't added my vote,
I haven't added my vote, however, I do have one child in Batavia public schools and two that are a few years off from starting.
I think that voting no out of spite of the highly paid administrators is not going to help resolve that issue.
I think that as parents who want the best for our kids it is our responsibility to put pressure on Ms. Puzio to get her to address the issue of staffing and how it effects the budget.
I think losing a program like ACE would screw my kids over. Because I have no doubt that once it is gone we will never see it again.
We need to be the squeaky wheel when it comes to getting Ms. Puzio to address the staffing issue. I don't think that the budget vote is the right way to do that. Because programs will get cut and not the jobs. That is just the way it goes.
I guess my question should
I guess my question should have been "How many of you that voted "no" went to the BOE meetings to contribute to the decision making?" Jeremiah is correct, voting "no" out of spite will not eliminate any administrators' jobs, it will cut programs.
Out of curiosity, which administrators' jobs does everyone want cut? Who will do their jobs? If we paid less to our administrators than other schools, who would want to work at Batavia? Is there any industry that doesn't pay the people at the top more? Are we just sore that administrators make more money than us? It is easy to say that we should cut administrative positions, but is it plausible?
Sarah ....Let cut out the
Sarah ....Let cut out the position that was created for the principal that was taken off the job and given a job as Student assessment at a salary of 110,000 dollars.Hows that....So the way you and Jeremiah want it just vote yes and forget about it..How much property do you two own..how much more will this cost you two a year..
We own a home that is worth
We own a home that is worth more than the mean home value in the city of Batavia, so yes, a tax increase will affect us,but education is not an area worth sacrificing. We are punishing our local schools for the mistakes of our state government. Anyway a vote of no will most likely not affect the tax increase. Maybe the assessment administrator is a position that could be cut. I can't make that decision without understanding the job description or who would pick up the slack etc. The problem is that voting no will not eliminate that position, it is already in the budget to cut equipment and programs.
Sarah maybe by voting no they
Sarah maybe by voting no they will take out a job like that ...They can put up any budget they want ..For the school board to tell us all that if you vote this down ,by law we will just pass a budget just like it is ,and so there for you better take what we offer you or else. To me seems very arrogant on their part..What is the sense of voting then..So voting no might get them to wake up and see that we the tax paying public will not take it anymore..And that we do want to see some real cuts to all the administrators in the system .If it was up to them we would have an astroturf field at VanDetta going in right now ,but the people said no..
Mark, I understand what you
Mark, I understand what you say about the budget, and agree. But again, it's the vote for the Board seats that is most important. We need new people on that Board or nothing will change
I am not a resident, so it
I am not a resident, so it doesn't affect me. However, I find it ridiculous that the proposed budget and the contingency budget are virtually the same. Why put it to a vote?
It's Albany's laws. Once
It's Albany's laws. Once again, we see how Albany politicians -- over decades -- have built a system virtually guaranteed to spend taxpayer money.
Rather than require a school board to keep proposing budgets until voters approve one, contingency budget provisions take the pressure off of school districts to make painful cuts.
Again, nothing against Batavia Schools. They were handed a screwed-up system -- look at all the mandated costs and reliance on an inequitable state aid program -- but Albany is the real problem.
Until people are willing to elect representatives at both the state and national levels who will take radical steps to devolve power to localities, taxpayers will continue to get screwed.
Howard, you better beat that
Howard, you better beat that local govt drum- loud. The demise of local efficacy is on the horizon. Check out the Wisconsin plan to declare municipalities bankrupt, dis-incorporate municipalities and appoint substitute leadership...
One of the things that
One of the things that worries me about the whole "consolidation" movement is that it's being pushed by people who think bigger is better, that government should be consolidated upward.
The extra layers of government aren't the cities, towns and school districts. They're the state and federal bureaucracies. That's what killing taxpayers.
That's not to say, exactly, that all consolidation is bad, but it shouldn't come at the expense of local representation.
VOTE? When..omg...Yea im
VOTE? When..omg...Yea im voting no...no kid in school ..wy should i pay for urs...still waiting for parents who send thier kid to Notre Dame to get tax cuts...some candidate mentioned that..must have forgotten what they said when they got elected in
Howard - The whole
Howard - The whole 'consolidation' movement is being pushed by people who believe in efficiency, transparency and cost savings. There is no reason for many of these villages governments to exist, so the people who live in those governments can pay an extra tax and have parallel services provided when a town could provide them at a big savings in cost. There is no reason why the City and the Town of Batavia, who are essentially the same community (shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, go to the same churches and hospital) should be two separate entities.
Yes, the state and federal bureaucracies have to be downsized and consolidated themselves (plans to combine several state agencies in Albany for example), but the sting of over-layered local government is also hurting taxpayers. More layers doesn't always mean more effective.
Smoke and mirrors, Dan.
Smoke and mirrors, Dan. Consolidation of local governments leads to higher taxes, more inefficiency, less accountability, dissolution of community spirit, and on and on.
Not that all consolidation is bad. I'm not, per se, opposed to consolidation of city and town of Batavia. Everything needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
But a blanket statement that all towns and villages should be eliminated is just beyond reasonable and would be bad for taxpayers, bad for democracy and bad for people.
The smaller the unit of government, the more accountable, the more transparent, the more efficient, the less costly.
The proponents of consolidation across the board are big government lovers who just can't get enough of bureaucracy and the high taxes that go with it.