Bushwacked Again?

Elena

Apparently Corey Stewart is going to recommend that a new found “inheritance” of Prince William County money be spent on additions to the budget in lieu of lowering the tax rate.   One of the expenditures is said to be 2.3 million dollars for trails.  

The current Chairman of this County is becoming infamous for last minute “bushwhacking”, to quote the former Chair Sean Connaughton.   Let’s not forget the Land Use Chapter, Parks and Open Space, Transportation, and Environment Chapter updates.     Corey is becoming infamous for adding last minute substantive changes that make it virtually impossible for citizens to understand what those changes mean. 

Shouldn’t this new found money be an opportunity for citizens to comment on what they believe are the priorities in Prince William County?  Maybe it is trails…………, but maybe it isn’t. 

Let us not forget the redistricting maps!  Do you really think you have seen them all?

Susan J. Demas: Michigan’s New Motto: Blame It on the Teachers

MoonHowler

Reprinted with permission from Susan J. Demas whose guest opinion appeared in the Huffington Post.

Unless you are saving lives on the operating table or vaccinating children in Africa, it takes a certain kind of chutzpah to constantly insult and berate teachers.

Because chances are, your job is nowhere near as important as that of the folks responsible for shaping the young minds of tomorrow. That goes for lawmakers, lobbyists and yes, annoying reporters like myself.

Anyone who has to corral a bunch of sugar-addled kindergartners or try to break through to angry teenagers deserves hazard pay. Because if our kids don’t get the education they need in their early years, they are screwed. That didn’t used to be the case, when the auto industry was fat and happy and doled out jobs as high school graduation gifts.

But nowadays, if kids don’t earn a college degree, they are almost completely shut out of the middle class. Maybe an associate’s degree in a technical field will suffice. But that’s about it.

Teachers are critical to this process. So are parents, but most of them are too busy working 60 hours a week, often at a couple jobs, to teach their kids very much at home. And let’s face it. Once kids start bringing home algebra, most of us are hopelessly lost.

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