Lakota Cuts Busing: Announcement made at Monday’s School Board meeting.
Completely on queue and as predictable as tears at a funeral, the school board announced that it was going to cut busing to students grades 9 through 12 including private and parochial schools, and students kindergarten through eighth-grade who live within a two-mile driving distance. This will affect 9,100 students and will put a serious burden on parents all across the district.
Parents showed up at the board meeting and expressed their concerns about the safety of their children, but they might as well of saved their breath. The wheels were already in motion, because cutting busing is one of the OSBA’s methods of getting a levy passed.
Mike Taylor announced that “Transportation is something that we have offered beyond state requirements, and we can’t afford it any longer.”
The No Lakota Group demonstrated how Lakota could work within their budget without hurting parents. See that plan here.
Cutting busing will only save $800,000 for the duration of the school year of 2011, and 2.8 million next year. Lakota is spending over $31 million dollars on teachers and administrators making over $65K per year. Yet, instead of making reductions at the top of their pay scale, like most companies would, they resort to the relatively small amounts of money that will put the community at an inconvenience and actually put the children in danger.
So this isn’t a cut to save money. This is a cut purely based on politics and protecting the top wage earners. It is nothing more than that.
How does that make you feel as a resident? See the history of the last levy attempt and follow the pattern. Cutting busing is part of the politics of the next levy attempt. It’s all about money and greed. Nothing else, otherwise the union would come to the table and offer to help instead of putting children in danger and parents under duress.
For perspective, here is some real numbers by one of our No Lakota people. This has been sent to the school board, so they have this information.
What this shows is that the financial situation does not show a need to cut busing, and in fact does not require such drastic measures until next year.
I will post more on this to show what a poor decision this is.
The freedom fighter, Cliffhanger battles the assassin, R.L. Justice and his Dark Knights of Order as sinister plots unfold upon the seemingly unimportant town of Fort Seven Mile. Inspired by Cliffhanger’s writing and heroic actions council members, Mary Lawson, Misty Finnegan, and the gunsmith, Ben Carter plant the seeds of rebellion as powerful forces set their sights on a secret project called, “The Veil of Knowledge,” a form of mind control being conducted as an experiment soon to be unleashed upon the world.
Plot to The Symposium of Justice, 2004 Rich Hoffman
One thing that is hard to come up with in a campaign is money, especially in a tax initiative. People are reluctant or just can’t give especially when they don’t see any direct result from the money they’ve given.
When you have a situation like we have in Lakota, and now that we’re talking about legislative movement where a very entrenched teachers union has invested millions of dollars lobbying to protect the initiatives that created the legislation that has embroiled itself in this whole education mess, it is apparent that money will be needed to take the fight even further.
If you look at just the idea of a third levy attempt within a year’s period of time, it will typically be the same three or four people that will give money to defeat the levy. And for them, the cost will be over three to four thousand each during that span, and that’s a lot of money for anybody.
Unlike the Pro Levy campaign, which has direct access to over 18,000 students and their parents through direct flyers, and many PTO organizations that contribute large sums of money, it is difficult to generate enough money to combat a tax initiative.
There is also an additional problem, it is apparent that virtually all school systems violate Ohio Revised Code 3315.07 (C)(1) which states:
Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this section, no board of education shall use public funds to support or oppose the passage of a school levy or bond issue or to compensate any school district employee for time spent on any activity intended to influence the outcome of a school levy or bond issue election.
What this basically says is that schools cannot use school resources to pass a levy. And what is happening is that virtually every school system openly violates this because prosecutors turn away from it. What is required for enforcement is a legal precedent to put the issue on the table, and that will cost money as well.
I personally don’t have the financial resources to continue to throw money at these issues, and even the most well off people that contribute to our campaigns can’t as well. It just doesn’t make economic sense. So what we need is a revenue stream, a fundraiser of some kind so we can fund the legal activities of fighting school levies and standing up to the politics that have built fortunes off education.
That puts my mind on a book I wrote back in 2004 called The Symposium of Justice, based loosely on timeless storybook heroes such as Zorro. The lead character and vigilante, Cliffhanger prevents the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in the book’s opening chapter and leaves behind the Symposium of Justice, a manifesto that includes Cliffhanger’s 10 rules that read like Moses’ Ten Commandments, and a series of stories that are intended to justify his vigilante behavior.
Henceforth, the main character becomes an avenger of evil while walking the thin line of the law. The local authorities and criminals alike come to despise him.
Woven into the novel are stories of political conspiracies, horror, romance, science fiction and a legal drama that are deliciously vivid in their depictions.
I was very happy to publish this book in 2004, and I accomplished what I set out to do, which was let the book teach my kids some things about life that I wanted them to know. Some of the things I wanted to teach them had more potency coming from a book then if I just sat down and told them. So writing the book helped me introduce them to some very complicated issues in the form of a story. I knew the lessons would sink in, because they both did book reports for school on their dad’s book, which made them proud, and they therefore remembered the material because for a few months they were minor celebrities.
Further sales, although nice, and may contribute to a vacation fund, isn’t the most important thing in the world to me. This leads me to put the book to new use. Any future sales of The Symposium of Justice will go to add a PAC fund starting with the Lakota School Levy, and depending on how much money the book generates, extending to statewide education issues.
So what I’m saying is that starting on November 1st of 2010, I will donate all profit I would otherwise receive from sales coming from The Symposium of Justice and use that money to continue to fight education issues at Lakota and hopefully across the state of Ohio.
Using The Symposium of Justice as a fundraiser option at least gives the donor something back instead of having the feeling of contributing money and not getting anything back as a result, although, we will still take donations the traditional way at the NoLakotaLevy Website, emailing your intentions to NoLakota@roadrunner.com.
If you’re looking for something to read, or a gift to give at Christmas or somebody’s birthday, and you want to know that the money the author is making off the book is going to fight an important issue, then I will make that pledge now, and for the duration of time it takes to get the State of Ohio to fulfill its constitutional obligation, and so long as I continue to work with the original publisher which looks to continue well into the future, the profit I make will go straight to education reform issues.
The book is available at Amazon.com in a traditional format, or it can be purchased as a Kindle version for a much reduced price. Click here to buy the book at Amazon.com
I wrote this book to bring a sense of justice to my kids in a world that seemed to be going mad at a young and impressionable age. It would give me a lot of pride to know that The Symposium of Justice could extend that influence to others not only in the written word, but also as a financial resource to combat education reform resistance.
This was sent to me, and it made so much sense that I thought it would get more exposure if I put it up here. If you have any questions as to the validity of this proposal, think of these people.
12 years only, one of the possible options below..
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms
2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.
4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s),then go home and back to work.
Sounds great to me. Makes you wonder how it ever bacame a career goal? Yet another example of a government out of control, the fact that we even have to write things like this, because congress was never intended to be a career.
I’ve spent the last four months reading the Federalist Papers, and the Anti-Federalist Papers, and nothing in those fine books showed any inclination that we’d ever have congressman like the people shown in these videos.
I’m not the only one saying that government is spending too easy the money that we gave them as tax payers. It’s far too easy to spend other people’s money.
I can’t think of a time in my lifetime when this many different people spoke about the spending problems of government. The problem is at all levels and its each and every person’s responsibility, if you’re a teacher, it’s time to start rearranging your life to something more manageable, because things will not stay the way they have forever. If you’re a superintendent, you need to do the same. In fact if you work for the government in any fashion, you need to make those adjustments now. Get your financial obligations down so you can endure the change.
The tax payers want to pay you well for the service you provide. But the days of blind foolish spending are gone.
Rich Hoffman
Chris Christie is doing now what governors should have been doing for an entire century. He has guts and is willing to address tough subjects. Here is a recent video where he challenges a superintendent from his home district and the money that superintendent expects to be paid in salary. For perspective, keep in mind that Chris Christie, who is running an entire state only makes $175,000.
This is not a problem regulated to New Jersey. In Ohio, Kevin Bright Superintendent of the Mason School System was paid $146,728 in 2005, and now makes over $218,000 in 2010. Is he doing work more valuable than the Governor of a state?
This is how these budgets the schools are working with gets all out of control. Nobody is asking these people to work for free, but over 200K? To be paid more than a governor of a state?
Education can never be discussed realistically in a funding sense as long as there are people in the system that are willing to abuse the system and use children to do it. And as long as there are people who are willing to look the other way and not discuss the value of a position, or to assert that the value of something is based on emotional concerns, all involved act with reckless irresponsibility.
On the picture to the right, the highest paid governor of a state is California and is just over $200K a year. Quite a few of them are making under 100K.
So how do we fix it? You have to tell them no, and what is acceptable. You have to not allow them to manipulate you like children throwing a fit trying to embarrass you in a store, because they aren’t getting what they want.
One thing you’ll find, whether it’s Arnold Engle of Fairfield, or Jennifer Miller from Mason, if you speak out against a school levy, you will be labeled and ridiculed to no end. This is exclusively due to a process of manipulation invented by Saul Alinsky’s Delphi Technique which is used by large organizations such as teachers unions to manipulate a community’s desire to the goals of the union leadership. They may not call it The Delphi Technique officially, but may only be some variation of it. But the strategy is just the same.
Now most people, such as Tony ‘Ambrosio and Leslie Renneker who addressed me in the Pulse Journal directly, are obviously only concerned about their individual situations. People like them want naturally what’s best for their children, and their neighborhood. They don’t look too deeply into things and are quiet happy to keep it that way.
When this Levy started at Lakota, I had no real intention of saying much. I do have my value system, and I think the public education system doesn’t do enough. I see it as vastly insufficient to producing American citizens. But I generally leave it to the public to make up their own minds in the election. However, I was reading the forums on The Pulse Journal web site, and noticed that a “facilitator” or “change agent” was working the board on behalf of the Pro Levy Campaign, as far back as August. When I left a comment that I thought was thoughtful and constructive the facilitator called directly attacked me calling me pathetic for my comment. Now I didn’t bring up the car issue. Somone else did. People never use their real names for these things, so who knows. I do, but for some reason people feel they can only have courage when their discreet. Anyway, all I did was point out that people were sensitive, and that the pro side should take that into consideration. I highlighted my comments in bold.
It was on that day that I decided to call up Mark and the rest of the people from the last campaign and join forces with them. Because I realized that if there were people like “think” working these forums, they were doing the same thing to voters in other ways as well. And that sent my blood boiling. It was the very next day after my last comment on this forum that The No Lakota Levy group was officially formed. And it was one month later that we went on WLW with the wage release information.
So as far as me looking for a fight, this fight found me. And when a fight comes to me, and I see clearly that there are people being hurt, and manipulated, and lied to, I will stand up to meet that fight.
I already had my commercial activities with bullwhips, books, and a few film projects here and there before any of this started. And this activity has been distracting from my usual passions. But the more you dig into it, the more wrong you find.
Read below how the Pro Levy Group was working in August, and if left unchecked, they would have continued with the intimidation and name calling because that is the way The Delphi Technique works. Pay particular attention to the posts left by “THINK.” There are other “professional” facilitator’s on these posts and they are obvious as well. Their goal is to control the flow of the discussion. If you speak against them, they resort to name calling in an attempt to keep those opinions off the board. It’s that simple.
11:35 PM, 8/18/2010
NO-VEMBER. Vote no on tax levy issue. NO-VEMBER. For those who want a private education, go pay for one. Lakota is a fine public school being run like a university. Go back to the basics and regroup. Lakota needs to cut like many families are doing throughout the country. Cuts always smart, but today requires it.
Daniel Moorman
2:07 PM, 8/27/2010
Still looking for a good deal on a house. Mark or Carlos are too busy with all the foreclosures that they are getting to fool with a peon like me. They want to deal with “professional” types. Don’t they know that they are the ones losing their homes and crying over 700 extra a year in taxes. Mark and Carlos are going to be making big money again….it is just a lucrative cycle for them.
HouseHunter
9:41 PM, 8/28/2010
I noticed the girls golf coach at LE driving aroung in a nice red Jag. Must be nice!
But the all one
2:54 PM, 8/29/2010
Are you really worrying about what car teachers/coaches are driving? LOL…is your life that pathetic and full of jealousy? What is her thermostat set on in her house? Does she shop at Wal-mart or Macy’s? Please go ahead and vote no, but stop showing how ignorant your thoughts are!
Are you kidding?
3:03 PM, 8/29/2010
Is the jealousy so rampant in West Chester that they are looking at what kind of car teachers drive? I think that is so typical of the snooty people that are in reality just getting by in the “Chester.” Maybe they should cut back on their own spending and then they wouldn’t be so jealous when they see others doing OKAY. For the record I know a teacher that drives a ten year old Jag that is worth about 4 grand….What should she drive?
Wow….
6:24 PM, 8/29/2010
Of course people are looking at what kind of cars teachers are driving. Most people have been on a wage freeze for over a year now. And many would love to average 51K a year. Tenured teachers are pretty secure in their jobs, unlike many of the voters out there, people will be jealous….of course.
Shame the kids suffer because of politics. Out of space, read more here:
9:24 PM, 8/29/2010
Hey Rich, I was going to eat at Wendy’s and guess what I saw? I saw a teacher going in to eat at APPLEBEE’S! Can you believe that? I think they were driving a 2010 Chevy. I could not believe it. How many of us out here in West Chester would love to be able to eat at Applebee’s? Teacher’s should be ashamed for flaunting their wealth in our faces. Some think you are pathetic Rich, but I admire you for standing up for us beaten down West Chesters!
Lakotian
12:27 PM, 8/31/2010
What parking lot have you been stalking today Rich? You see any expensive cars in the lot? Did they belong to teachers, administrators or parents? Let us know what you find out. I thought Bob was pathetic but I think you might give him a run for the title.
Where you at Rich?
1:05 PM, 8/31/2010
Pathetic…..there’s that word again. Name calling? Intimidation?
4:00 PM, 9/1/2010
All I did was point out that it was logical that people would draw conclusions about the type of car people drive. If you can’t handle that, you are out of touch. No wonder things cost so much money if you can’t understand that basic concept.
I can see what we are dealing with. Bad move on your part……..
I was very happy to have a civil debate and let the public decide. You decided to make it personal. Rich Hoffman
7:19 PM, 8/31/2010 And to those of you that think calling someone pathetic will somehow make money magically appear from thin air, and maintain the status quo, I prepared this little blog just for you.
Look at your own life and then consider if you have a right to call anyone names because they don’t agree with you, or simply brought up a valid point.
Pathetic……..????? That’s cute. Rich Hoffman
Rich, I don’t think pathetic was a proper term to call someone, but I think it is sad if you think it is “mature” to bring up what kind of car a teacher/coach drives. What does that have to do with anything? Pathetic? No! Sad? Yes! Just my opinion, but everyone has their own likes, and I don’t give a hoot what someone drives. Not sure why is would bother you. Oh and Rich I am not a teacher, but I do drive an Audi TT, hope that is alright and acceptable.
Maria
11:28 PM, 9/1/2010
Went to the “manwarrior” site and wasn’t too imressed…lol. My two cents would be that if you think it is appropiate to make commments about what type of car a teachers drives then I would have to agree that you have a big problem. It seems pretty silly with all the problems going on in the world. Hey what would I know though, because I am not a “manwarrior”? Whatever that is?…..Vote your conscience and if it is NO, then so be it….life will go on.
Lakotian
Stinks,
You have very slow reaction time since my note to Brenda was sent a long time ago. You must be getting old…go back to your rocking chair on the porch and stop yelling at the kids for walking across your yard.
Think
9:16 AM, 9/2/2010
Stinks,
First of all, many would argue that SS and Medicare are not American. I’m not in that camp: yet, I think it is arrogant to suggest you shouldn’t have to pay taxes to support the kids because your kids are no longer participating and out of the other side of your mouth say pay for my SS and medicare.
Do your part! Own up to your responsibilities. If you can’t afford it, get a job!
Think
9:11 AM, 9/2/2010
1:19 PM, 9/2/2010
Stinks,
What poor Brenda doesn’t get is that it’s not the government that will give her the 3% increase in her SS check, it’s not her too low past contributions either, it’s me!
She want’s everything for herself; but, somehow thinks its unfair that she has to pay into school taxes. If she can’t afford it, she needs to get a job to make up for her poor planning.
Think
4:37 PM, 9/4/2010
Avg,
Would it be right to say, “I never call the fire department…set a user fee up for that. I never drive on Tylersville road…set up a toll booth”?
What do you think? I don’t believe there are any state mandates for local roads or fire departments. Let’s go back to the old days…if you want to buy fire department insurance so be it. If you don’t so be it.
Geeze you guys are stupid
Think
11:00 AM, 9/5/2010
Most people already have their minds made up and some have been made up my lies that were told on blogs like this. That is okay because that is why this country is so great. Freedom! So let’s get the vote on and if it is no, that is fine, because the majority will decide. I will continue to call out liars as I see them.
Minds Made up!
10:39 AM, 9/7/2010
My dear “Making Stuff Up”….
My view of government’s purpose and yours are vastly different.
You try to draw a comparason between basic government services…. roads(infrastructure), police & fire, etc…. and having the property owners pay for extra-cirricular activities for little Johnny.
That assinine approach is why your side is behind 75% – 25% .(based on your side’s own polling)
10:41 AM, 9/7/2010
Dear below average,
Your view of basic government services that we should “all” pay for encompasses services that “you” use. As a society we’ve greatly expanded the services you consider “basic”. You don’t have to look that far back into our history to find that these services were considered private responsibility.
Think
2:16 PM, 9/7/2010
Dear below average,
Our country/community has a long tradition of considering sports programs as a part of the education system. Only now those such as yourself who’ve squandered your savings and haven’t planned for your future are crying poor. You are rejects from the 60’s me gen. who only think of yourselves. You might wish to change your name to “below average loser”.
Why should we eliminate these basic services that encourage kids development now? Because you are a loser? NO.
Think
4:55 PM, 9/7/2010
Below average,
That’s how you end up with a below average community filled with below average people.
Who wants to move to a backward place like what we’ll likely end up being? Answer…you and your loser family/friends.
I’m embarrassed for our community. How is it that Mason seems to be able to support their kids? The difference is in the make up of the community. We have too many losers here.
Think
Avg Taxpayer
8:07 PM, 9/7/2010
Thinky Boy….
My company told the workforce…15% are going to be laid of (fired), the remainder of you, in order for you to keep your job and for us to stay in business, have to work harder for less money.
I have yet to hear that from ANYONE at Lakota. All I hear is that the teachers have have bigger classroom rosters…
Translated… they need to work harder and they don’t like it. And before you hand me that “it’s all about education” garbage…….
If it was really about educating the kids, no teacher would ever consider walking a picket line.
75-25……
Signed,
Your favorite Loser…..
P.S. when you are out of facts, always call your opponent names… works every time….
It may seem like a small comment to send the word “pathetic” in my direction, but I know it means more than just a name.
And that’s the problem with the people that end up standing against school levies, like Engle, Mrs. Miller and Sharon Poe. They get labeled as radical because they bring up a valid point. And because they may in their private lives be history buffs, or avid readers of various subjects, they are aware that something isn’t right, and they fight back.
Here’s my buddy Jennifer from Mason. I like her fighting attitude.
When a person tries to help, and they get involved, they are singled out as a threat. It happens in every organization. Think of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer if it helps. Only people like Mr. Engle, and Mrs. Miller along with myself don’t require peer acceptance, so peer pressure doesn’t work, much to the frustration of those that wish to keep the status quo in line.
Here’s Jennifer again after she had been ridiculed by teachers and other members of the board trying to defend herself.
The reason for me that peer pressure doesn’t work is that my best friends in the whole world are my wife, my kids and my books, in that order. As long as I can read, I could care less what the rest of the world thinks of me. And that leaves me free to think about a subject without caring of whether people will judge me poorly.
Here’s my other buddy Sharon Poe also from Mason
It isn’t my fault if people like Mr. D’Ambrosio can’t understand the larger game going on. They just want their home values to stay stable, and for their kids to have decent lives. Before I ever became involved in Lakota’s issues, my research had led me to a place of understanding that many people would feel uncomfortable with. But without question, there are elements to public education that are undesirable for the proper assistance of teaching American boys and girls to become American men and women. And much of this happened because people like D’Ambrosio are too busy paying attention to the values of society instead of thinking about the world around them.
Most people like D’Ambrosio wouldn’t think much about these videos. I see this as radical. But to most, this is normal.
I like the song, but if that was my daughter in that crowd there’d be big trouble for her. Again, this is considered in our society as normal.
My wife and I have been to Cancun. I see this kind of thing and I simply don’t get it. I felt like I was from some other planet. But again, to many people, this is normal behavior.
This is how I spend my time with my family. And this is what is “normal” to me. All the videos below were done by my daughters. Because as a parent, you are judged by the kids you raise. And I’m proud of them. They have brains, and tons of guts.
This is my oldest daughter, and her then fiancé, along with her younger sister an best friend as I drug them all over the United States going to whip shows.
This is my family stuck at home during a heavy snow storm.
And here was a ghost hunt in the rugged hills of Ohio and West Virginia.
Becoming a pilot, at 16.
And this is from my youngest daughter
We spend a lot of time talking about paranormal stuff. But she has never lost her perspective on reality. Science is always first.
The reason I put all these videos up here are because I have never left it to a teacher, or an institution to do what is my responsibility as a parent. And I do look at people who do so with sad contempt at what they are missing. I leave it to society to make decisions in life for themselves. But don’t ask me to pay extraordinary amounts of money for a social experiment that doesn’t live up to my personal standards, which I admit are very high, too high for most people to be comfortable with. Just don’t try and scam me with smoke screens, and intimidation. That will make me very angry, very, very angry.
Because whether you want to admit it or not, this is what has happened in public education.
So before you guys try to paint me as some radical have a look in the mirror and the life you’re living. I’m living my life and I love every day of it. And that love of life gets passed on to the people around me especially my children. I have no sympathy to most of the parents that are using public education as a day care, and wanting the public to help foot the bill, because you’re not trying to teach your child. You’re hiring a teacher to do what you should be doing while you pursue a selfish agenda of your own. So judge me, and you’ll get it right back. If you ask me for money, you’re going to get the wrath of my questions and judgment.
NOTICE: THE FOLLOWING LETTER WAS PUBLISHED JUST AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE LAKOTA SCHOOL LEVY IN NOVEMBER OF 2010. IT IS BEING PUT ON THIS SITE BECAUSE I NOW HAVE PERMISSION FROM THE PERSON THAT GAVE ME THE LETTER TO MAKE IT PUBLIC. THERE ARE OTHER SUCH LETTERS LIKE THIS THAT COME TO US FROM PEOPLE WORKING FOR THE SCHOOL, BUT FEAR OF GETTING CAUGHT BY THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR PASSING US THIS INFORMATION, MAKES PEOPLE RELUCTANT TO LET US DISCUSS IT. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PROTECT THOSE PEOPLE UNTIL THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE IN DISCLOSING THEIR INFORMATION, SUCH IS THE CASE OF THE LETTER BELOW.
Michael Holbrook is number 11 on the top 434 Teachers at Lakota list. He is a principal at Plains Elementary. On the first Monday after the election of the second school levy attempt, this is what he sent out to everyone that would listen working directly for him at the school. Remember when reading this that Mr. Holbrook is the direct supervisor in that particular school, and his email was sent to his entire staff. This letter says much about not only his political affiliation but also where his loyalties reside.
Dear Students and Parents:Welcome to the Lakota Plains Junior School web page. We hope this page is a source of information for you and anyone considering Lakota Local Schools.Lakota Plains Junior School is a proud and enthusiastic school community of life-long learners where every staff member contributes to a positive learning atmosphere in which students can flourish. The mission of every staff member at Plains Junior is to promote a supportive and positive learning environment which encourages personal growth, academic achievement, and social learning.Every staff member at Lakota Plains is dedicated to lifelong learning, productivity, and enlightened citizenship. Students at Lakota Plains will be in an environment that promotes acceptance of personal responsibility, respect for self, and respect for others. The Lakota Plains school community is committed to exemplify the following virtues: caring, courage, honesty, justice, self-discipline, and wisdom.The Junior School years can be challenging and filled with anxiety for students. In addition to our excellent academic program and outstanding staff, we offer numerous extra-curricular opportunities, including but not limited to the following: band, choir, athletics, school dances, and numerous additional programs sponsored by our Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). We encourage all students to take advantage of these opportunities and experiences.With the combination of engaged students, supportive parents, and a caring and talented staff, we will achieve educational excellence and look forward to a successful 2007-08 school.Sincerely,
I have two children in Lakota schools and one recent graduate. My wife and I both voted no on the levy and will continue to do so. I’d like to offer my assistance to proactively prevent the next levy from passing. In my opinion, the reason the gap narrowed this time was that the teachers union mounted an incredibly successful campaign that worked well. My children and all of their friends passionately pressured us to vote yes because their teaches, the very educators we hired and pay, spent the last few months brainwashing our children to come home and pressure us. My oldest, a freshman in college was sent emails as an alumnus of Lakota and asked to vote absentee for the levy. Wednesday morning, the day after election day my fifteen year old daughter was told by a teacher that the homework assignment handout was printed on a piece of paper one-quarter the size of the normal handout because the teacher had to cut costs to save teachers jobs! I suggested that my daughter ask that teach why he hadn’t been that cost conscience the day before Election Day but just got a dirty look. My children are mad at me because they were told by their teachers that Lakota will lose its rating and they will not be able to get a quality education because we voted down a levy that is hurting them and their teachers. When this approach is done again and coupled with the bus reductions and sports cuts the next levy will pass, and the union will have another 10 years of sacrifice free-living.
I think it is time to put pressure on the teachers union and school leadership by putting them into a position that will expose their shallow attempts to make any meaningful cuts in sacred cows such as teacher pensions, salaries, Cadillac medical plans and other extravagant benefits. My idea is if we can’t beat them doing what you and others were brave enough to do to date, let’s join them. I’d like to collect a bi-partisan group of business leaders to offer free consultation on how to run the district as a business and not a bottomless pit of money. I’d like to publicly suggest that the district not only consult with business leaders who make these cost reduction decisions daily but also ask that the district set up an advisory board consisting of charter and private schools to help objectively evaluate Lakota costs and consider ways to reduce cost. Every time a levy fails the only costs cut seem to be those designed to intentionally hurt students and parents, while preserving the union. If/when the district refuses to work toward a business based solution and refuses to at least talk to charter school professionals; I suggest we mount a publicity effort that exposes the union’s true intention to protect them regardless of how it impacts the community.
I love the Lakota schools. I own a home and business in Liberty Township. I don’t want anything to negatively impact the quality of education or property values. I therefore want to volunteer to help Lakota to help themselves to become a more efficient and cost-effective business that doesn’t over pay and protect the union at the expense of the children, parents and tax payers. If you think this has any merit or I can help you to prevent yet another levy assault by the teachers union, please let me know how I can help.
On October 20th at the Miami University branch in the VOA Park of West Chester, Mike Taylor, superintendent of Lakota Schools along with several other representatives of tax initiatives for the November 2nd ballot made their case for why people should vote for their issue.
The Lakota Levy was defeated. However, because we know that Lakota will attempt to place the issue back on the ballot, I recorded the comments Taylor made and answered his comments with the No Lakota Levy response.
The questions asked came from a panel of journalist made up of Lindsey Hilty of the Pulse Journal, and Debbra Silberman of 9 News.
Notes from October 20, 2010 Meeting:
Opening comments: Mike Taylor stated that this levy is a lean request. Lakota has 9 years of excellence; they turn out great students, maintain 22 buildings and in order to avoid making harmful cuts the community needs to pass this levy which will generate 21 million per year. This levy approach is new for Lakota in that this is a 10 year operating levy. It is not forever but will have to be voted on to be renewed. 70% of the residents do not have children in the school system. 30% of the residents do have children in the school. And he added that the Lakota operates in a fiscal responsible manner.
There was a question about what the state standards are, and he reported they are reading, writing, and science, with a minimum of art, music, and physical education. Lakota goes beyond the state guidelines. If the levy fails, there will be a reduction in art, music, and physical education. There will also be an increase in class size and extra curricular activities.
Lakota could avoid its problems with a simple freeze of step increases. The average Lakota teacher salary is over $60,000 for working 184 days a year. They have 15 paid sick days, and are required to work 37 hours per week. They get a 14% contribution to their retirement plan and have a great medical plan. The average cost per hour worked by a teacher at Lakota is $47 per hour. The step increases will cost an additional $2.7 million each year which makes up a considerable part of their budget deficit projections.
2. Increase in spending outpaced inflation. Why didn’t the school system deal with that trend? Answer was that because of the lack of state funding, and the fact that they opened three new buildings, this caused the spending to escalate. He danced around the issue and did not directly answer.
Lakota has made 3 different five year financial forecasts in the last 11 months. The deficit projects started at over $28 million, and then were at $10 million, and most recently have been at $4.5 million, considerably less than the catastrophic amount originally announced. If the school system had taken measures back in 2005, 2006 and again when the teachers threatened to strike in 2008, they could have avoided the situation they are currently in and could save jobs instead of protecting the top wage earners.
3. During the summer of 2005 the district was aware of the flat funding coming from the state, why weren’t there measures to save money before now? Answer was that Lakota opened 3 new buildings, and in 2008 the district went into reduction mode. They added 400 new students in 2005 and 500 in 2006. Again, he did not directly answer the question. And he did not answer as to why it took 3 years to react.
There was a levy that took three times to pass in late 2005 and those funds started kicking in around 2006. It appears the school district got caught not addressing the issue because they had a renewed revenue stream.
4. There was a question as to why this levy was listed for 10 years when in fact the forecast shows that we’ll be out of money in 2014. Taylor says Lakota has a history of reduction and that they will basically figure it out. He didn’t know why such statements would be made. And at the end of 10 years, we can decide if we want to renew it.
The fact is, when the May levy failed; the school system just took off the second part of that attempt. They knew all along that with the $21 million per year generated with the school levy they’d be broke again in 2014. This due to the step increase formula that would push wages into the average of $65 to $70 K per year range.
5. Why can’t we have elimination of the step increases, because the savings could prevent the cuts to busing? Taylor blamed all of Ohio on the wage structure and collective bargaining. The union has worked with administration on two issues to help. 1st is the compensation structure. Second are the health care benefits. He also cited that the importance of teachers dictate that Lakota have the ability to purchase the best teachers. Then he blamed state law that dictates the funding system.
These are union talking points. Taylor was a member of the union for many years, and can’t turn his back on it now. Saying that the union is working with the administration is too little too late. With the wages in the range they are now, the revenue stream coming into Lakota cannot sustain the current contract, and nobody is suggesting a renegotiation. The union shows no inclination of giving up ground it made in the 2008 threatened strike.
6. Next question is that if the state takes over, do levies go away? His answer, is no. The state puts together plans to generate revenue, and can only generate funds with property tax.
The fact of the matter on this is that once the state steps in, and determines what the financial situation is, they can renegotiate the teacher’s contract or at least elements of it. It’s the only way to get out of that obligation that the poorly negotiated contract Lakota is bound to can be reversed.
7. Have administrators had raises? His answer was, no administrators have had a raise in 2 years. Also health care benefits have been cut.
When it was noticed that they spent themselves into a financial problem, the administrators did go on a pay freeze. But their current financial obligations are part of what I causing the trouble when many of those positions are over $70K per year. To balance their budget, they need to reduce their burden to the school system by at least 30%.
8. How does the move to a 6 period day save money? Cutting the extra period will cut 140 electives out of the day across the district and will result in a savings by shortening the day in this way.
The humorous issue here is that they are either stating that to provide a proper education we only need 6 periods, or that the teachers are going to get paid for a free hour per day because they won’t be working. How is this efficient? Completely irresponsible and short-sighted. This statement shows why Lakota is in trouble. They think a shorter day means less money. But they will still pay their entire staff, except for the position eliminated their full pay.
9. What effect does an excellent rating have on communities? Lakota has 9 years of excellence and distinction. 18,500 students get an individualized education. Lakota has award winning art programs, music and athletics. That’s why people move to Lakota. A struggling school system shows a struggling community.
Lakota is not a great school by happenstance. The children attending have parents that are involved in their lives, and that is a direct correlation to the quality of the student bodies. The school system is great because the community is great. Not the other way around. Making statements like the one Mike Taylor made is pretentious. Again, they are trying to sell their services to the community so of course they are going to attempt to inflate the value. But that has to be understood by the community. Teachers could come and go and the students would still succeed because the families sending their kids to school are involved. The value of a teacher is important. But does cost alone determine value? No. The teachers just in education for the money could leave for schools that are also drowning in the same type of wage structure. There are lots of teachers that would like to work at Lakota even if for less money, because the community is wonderful, the environment is successful, and the parents are easy to deal with. Lakota will continue to have those benefits to offer potential employees to the school system.
10. How do you arrive at the calculation of student to teacher ratio? How is it made? How is Lakota’s student teacher ratio in relation to the State needs? Answer was an obscure one; he said Lakota makes use of specialized teachers which helps reduce class sizes.
Class size is something to the teachers benefit. In colleges, many classes have more than 30 people per class, so as a college prep issue, larger class sizes will prepare students for education at the next level, which won’t be able to provide such specialized treatment.
11. Are the teachers being let go associated with electives? Enrollment trends dictated reductions so far. He did not answer part of the question related to the failure of the levy.
We know that the teachers being cut will not come out of the top wage earners. And if the classes offered are not essential to education needs, then levy or no levy, Lakota should cut the electives that are not necessary to keep costs down.
12. Where do people get the money to pay for the levy? He said that Lakota is caught in a perfect storm, with the state cap, and then reduced funding by 3% over the last 2 years. The state system is broken. Spending at Lakota is less per pupil. Strong schools can help make a strong community.
Without the levy they will not be able to increase their budget for the 2012 per the planned $13 million increase, and have to operate on the same dollars as in 2011. What they are going through is the same thing the community is going through.
Closing statement; fate of our community is at stake. State ratings are not what are important. The value to the community is Lakota can help each child no matter what their level. It will protect real estate values of the community. A struggling community is reflective of a struggling school system.
We voted for this levy in May, and in that election 65% voted it down. All the election ballots had not even been counted yet before the superintendent announced that the issue would be back on the ballot in November. Now the purpose of that election was not to have another election 6 months later, and to keep holding elections until it passes. That kind of behavior is disrespectful to the voters.
When you look at the numbers, at what they are spending their money on, you will find that they are spending just over 75% on wages and benefits. So they should have some control over their budget problems. They are working with a budget of $160,547,327.00 and that is more than generous. So when they say they are going to dismantle the school system, or that parents can’t expect the same kind of service from the school, they are being deceitful, which is a very serious situation, because they are making a decision to hurt the district.
As I was looking at why they are in so much trouble what becomes obvious is that they have over 434 teachers and administrators making over $65,000 per year, with quite a few making between $80,000 and $100,000.
Now, I’m all for people making a good wage. But when that money is funded off tax payer support, and it is obvious that the administration at Lakota did not behave responsibly when they negotiated contracts with the union in the past, because they have spent themselves into a corner, and now the budget is unsustainable. The wages they are making are at least 30% more than the private sector jobs of comparable positions of those in the community that are paying the taxes.
Employee wages and benefits
$120,758,911.00
Purchased services
$26,431,714.00
Supplies and Materials
$4,206,669.00
Capital Outlay
$3,394,834.00
Debt Service
$1,225,781.00
Transfers and Advances
$1,996,206.00
Other Uses
$2,533,212.00
When Lakota says that if they don’t get the money they will:
Cut an additional 103+ teachers and staff
Two thirds of the athletics budget including elimination of Jr. High athletics.
Eliminating additional academic programs and extracurricular programs.
Reducing bus service for High School students and those students within a two mile radius
Drastic cuts in gifted education and other student services.
What this says is that the administrators would rather dismantle the school district than attempt to re-negotiate with the union in order to bring wages into more sustainable amounts. With a quick calculation, if the Lakota school system took a 30% pay cut, they wouldn’t have to diminish anything. They could generate $27 million right away. That means someone like the superintendant who makes $147,505 and reduces it to $103,253, or a teacher that is making $78,426 and put them at $54,898. And everyone could keep their jobs; get paid fairly, and more importantly, the kids come out on top with full community support. But there isn’t any desire for something like that, and that tells you where their real thoughts are.
Lakota like many school systems over time have allowed the teaching profession to migrate into a wage rate comparable to doctors and lawyers. They justify this by citing that the cost of obtaining the education, for a master’s degree, or a doctorate is similar, so in turn they should be paid the same.
And that leaves us with the true tragedy of modern public education, where an institution that is generally trusted by the residents of a community, have lost their credibility. On the surface, people know there is waste. They see the new buildings, the see the elaborate sports facilities, and they shake their head. But come levy voting time, they tend to reluctantly vote in favor of them because they either have a child going to school or they know one that does. And because people stay very busy making livings for themselves, they want desperately to trust that the school system has the interest of the community as a first priority.
It doesn’t take much however to pull back the curtain and see what’s really going on. And anyone with just a bit of business sense can see the problem. Wages for teachers and administrators are just too high. In the state of Ohio, based on the website Indeed.com the average attorney makes $57,000, and a doctor, $73,000. A Plant Manager typically makes $72,000. The average for a teacher in the state of Ohio is $54,000. And the average for a teacher at Lakota is $59,000. There are currently 1,137 teachers working in Lakota, and based on a report from the Pulse Journal which came out in March 18th of 2010 in their Insight 2010 Edition, Lakota has 434 teachers that make over $65,000 per year.
Now when you look at the pie chart of their operating costs, and you see that easily over 75% of their cost of doing business is wrapped up in wages and benefits for the employees of the School, not to busing, not to construction, not to power supply and other usages, yet you hear that if the levy doesn’t pass, they are going to cut busing, they are going to force a pay to play policy in sports, and they are going to lay-off 130 plus teachers and administrators which will increase class sizes, it leaves you scratching your head. That is until you realize that they are attempting to scam you.
Those types of coercion are union strategies that have successfully hindered many sectors of our economy, and it is particularly ruthless to use children to manipulate parents. Yet the people involved will swear they are putting the children first. Yet when it comes time to pass a levy, they point to other districts that are equally in trouble and say they are operating at a savings, as Lakota proclaims. But they never deal with what causes the excessive costs. It’s the weight of their wages and benefits packages, exclusively. And rather than explore other options, they resort to the formula, the same formula being used at Little Miami, at Edgewood, or Mason, and that is to protect the top by sacrificing the bottom and put the parents between a rock and a hard place to secure funding.
Once you figure out that you’ve been lied to and manipulated, you tend to get angry about it. It’s one thing when it happens at the state level, which is far away from us. It’s another when it happens in the Federal government, where we look at it, talk about it, and shake our heads, but do little about it, because that situation is even further away. But when it’s a school system, an institution that you invested your hopes and dreams for your children into, it’s a bit harder to swallow. Yet it’s right in front of our face.
Government jobs on average pay 45% higher than private sector jobs, and this is why we all know that government is failing. Their costs do not reflect reality.
Lakota is trying to raise 21.75 million in this levy, and if they don’t get the money, they are threatening to completely dismantle the school system, with a massive layoff, losing our excellent rating, which will adversely destroy property values. All those threats are very serious, for a group of people making 45% more than the tax payers funding their activity, and that is a real problem, because they haven’t even looked at any other options.
The NoLevy group was talking in one of our meetings, and we approached the problem the same way we would in one of our businesses, and we came up with an option that I think is particularly attractive and that is that they take a universal pay cut of 30%. That would allow everyone to still keep their jobs, allow the school system to operate as it has. The only reason they wouldn’t do it is complete selfishness. If it was really about the kids, they would have done something like that already. A thirty percent cut in wages would simply put someone like Mike Taylor, who is the superintendent making $147,505 a year and bring him down to $103,253.50 per year. A wage many would love to have even with his responsibility level. A thirty percent reduction would put that teacher making $78,600 and lower them to only $55,020, hardly a measly amount of pay.
Now of course nobody at the top will talk about doing anything like this. So as far as the NoLakota people and the Pro Lakota people talking, there isn’t anything to discuss. We’ve seen all the charts and stats they’ve thrown up, and we know its all smoke screen to this more serious problem that nobody wants to deal with. So we’re going to deny them the funding and make them deal with it. If they want to earn over 100K a year, they will be working hard for it. And I’m sure Mike Taylor, who isn’t a bad guy by any means, I’m sure he’d look to Mason and say it’s not fair for me to reduce my wages because Kevin Bright over there is making $218,315 for being a superintendent. Well, Mason is in trouble too, for all the same reasons. Somebody needs to be the leader.
But there are options and they are certainly fair options. The people see through this. Some of the younger residents that have kids in the system don’t want to apply the same principles they may use in their jobs because it’s personally painful to them. Most young professionals rely on the school system to handle their children during the day, so they are willing to put up with some of the obvious waste. But during the last levy 65% voted against the levy, and of that 65% many are business leaders and mangers themselves, and senior citizens that have been around and seen a lot, and know they are being taken advantage of, and it makes them angry.
And Lakota did hold out the branch, and wanted to give a presentation to our group, because they were hoping to take the edge off this election early. The trouble with that is they did probably the worst thing they could have done before holding out that branch. In May when we voted for this the first time, we flat out rejected it. And on election night, Mike Taylor announced that the levy would be back on the ballot. What he really said was that he did not respect the opinion of the voters, and that for this next election, they would work harder, raise more money, print more signs, and get more kids to go home and strong arm their parents instead of doing the right thing, and bringing all the wages into a reasonable amount and being the first in the state of Ohio to do it, showing the expected leadership of such a powerful school system. That’s what the voters wanted after the last election. They ignored us and preceded on to put the levy on the ballot again, and again, and again, until people just give up and pass it, and their livelihoods can be secured in comfort for the foreseeable future.
So make no mistake. They are not putting the kids or the community first, only their own self interest.
From my own college experience, I understand clearly what the problem is. Education can only give you some of what you need. Most of the work of starting something from nothing can’t be taught, and if your goal is success, that inspiration has to come from someplace deep inside. Is there a teacher out there that can teach someone to be Richard Branson, George Lucas, or Bill Gates? If they could they would. But they can’t, in fact, a lot of the time, the teacher teaches because they aren’t good at actually doing things in the real world.
So that leaves me to question the validity of the entire institutional system. Now that the Lakota Levy is over, at least this time around, I think it’s time to bring to question what the value of education actually is.
The difficulty in determining the value of education is that so many have built secure incomes off education. What brought the whole issue to my mind was the book Forbidden Archeology which showed to what extremes universities suppressed scientific evidence discovered in the field of archeology and anthropology. The reason for the suppression was to protect their previous scientific finds and the legacy of those revelations, so new evidence was a threat to the security built on those reputations.
To keep it clear sports is the best explanation. Consider what the NFL would be like if great teams were always allowed to draft first in each years draft class. The NFL to keep things competitive and entertaining, created salary caps, so teams would have to make decisions on who they could keep on their teams, and who’d be let go. And they came up with the idea of letting teams with the worst record draft first in the following year’s draft. That way, new teams are always emerging as good teams and competition is always evolving. And we all benefit from the entertainment value.
But in education, we are still teaching kids the same way we did at the turn of the century, even though new methods and computer technology allow for other options. We still have schools shutting down in the summer even though that concept was started to let young men help their fathers on the family farms during harvest season. But, teachers unions have kept that going for the sake of benefits.
I would argue that a teacher standing in the front of a room and teaching as an authoritarian on the given subject is an archaic method long outdated. I would say that teaching children to stand in line at lunch, to stand in line when they walk down the hall to go to recess, to walk in line to go to an assembly, to stand in line for attendance in gym class, and so on and so on are psychologically bad for the development of young people. Because what it teaches them is to follow orders. In the education system we currently have, following orders is the emphasis, and I would argue that mentality is completely wrong for American society.
I can hear you groaning right now dear reader. I can hear your questions. But understand something in my explanation here, I am questioning the very foundation upon which everything is built, because to my eyes it is not perfect, and does not produce the type of individuals American society needs, so it is subject to ridicule. It is quite probable that you as the reader are a victim to a lifetime of acceptance to this established system, so to question it will be difficult for you. I understand.
But, for the sake of this article, forget everything you ever learned, and suspend your belief system and look with the eyes of a person new to the culture you exist in, and enjoy the revelations that befall you.
Consider for a moment how idiotic the hazing rituals of college are. The drinking games, the insults from your peers, the ridiculous dares that take place, the structure of those rituals are technically insane. But is it a mystery as to why those belonging to a fraternity have a network from which to launch their careers? Isn’t it strange the rituals of the bachelor party which seem to be important to many males, especially those belonging to fraternities where their “brotherhood” reflects a deep bond that exceeds or equals the bond with the wife to be. And to the sorority sisters the same mentality holds true. The night before their weddings is inundated with penis worship. The women, particularly sorority sisters gather and bond among rituals of drinking and male strippers. But why? What is to be accomplished in these ceremonies? If you are an employer, and are looking for a nice obedient employee that will know their place and not challenge the authority structure, a frat boy is an attractive option, because they know their place. And in the scope of these rituals as the participants emerge into marriage, the brothers and sisters have a shared secret that bonds them, and ensures the continuation of the bond in respect to the new marriage. Secrets create a bond.
With fraternities and sororities, which serve basically the same role as the military soldier that gets off the bus and is yelled at by a drill sergeant prior to getting their hair cut, which is the beginning of a mental transformation as an individual and into the collective identity of a soldier. And thus, are the two primary paths that young people take after high school. Now during high school and grade school there are many smaller rituals that occur. By the time a youngster is a senior in high school, they know their peer groups. They know where they fit into the social stratus, and this seems to be the number one goal of grade school. The athletes achieve the top social order. The other students that participate in the extracurricular activities to a lesser degree make up the next. Then you have the scholastically strong, and then you have all the rest to varying degrees down to the rejects that fall through the cracks for various reasons turning to drugs and alcohol earlier than the rest of the young people. The goal of all discussed in this paragraph is to allow the individual to find out where they fit into the peaking order of society.
Now be honest with yourself. What is the greatest concern you had in grade school, or college? How about now? When your neighbor buys a new grill, do you feel the urge to get a new one as well? Do you feel that the car you drive is a display to your neighbors, friends and family to the status of your placement in society? Or your house? Or the wife or husband that you’ve obtained for yourself? What are the true values that you hold dear?
If the values were healthy ones, and you were happy with yourself and your life, then you wouldn’t over-eat and carry around that huge stomach, or that giant caboose, or you wouldn’t be divorced, or on your second or third marriage. You wouldn’t be taking high blood pressure medicine, or taking drugs to deal with depression. If you were happy with your life you would never desire to become drunk, because such a state is an escape from yourself, if only for a short time.
My point is not to lecture you. But it is to point out that if the system worked, then people wouldn’t be broken all around us. It’s not necessarily their fault. They’ve been taught to be broken. They’ve been taught to be only a fraction of themselves. There is an old saying that it is “not good to be too good.” The reason why is that being good, being exceptional, are threats to the animalistic peaking order of our social structure.
I received over the Lakota Levy Campaign letter after letter from angry teachers and parents who want to overlook all the obvious problems of the current system in favor of keeping the system intact. They have completely bought into much of this nonsense, and the prospect that it is all meaningless is just simply too much for them to fathom. They come across sounding like children still developing their emotional states, but the danger is that they are actually parents themselves, passing on to children the same neurotic states they are currently professing.
And I’d be lying if I said I was surprised when the Lakota Levy failed, and there were tears from the people supporting the whole thing. They simply cannot see the phantoms that dictate the funding model. They cannot through their training see beyond the patriotism of their alter mater.
Do you know what alter mater means? It was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses. In modern times, it is often a school, college, or university attended during one’s formative years. So throughout the lives of many, their alter mater will always be important to them, a ground for which to place their footing. However, it is tragic that such beliefs do not allow one to see the faults of the system of their upbringing. To see faults for such people is to literally see the faults of ones parents.
Now such a thing does happen when young people move into their teens. They cast off the garb of their parents and move into some of the various paths of institutionalism. Many schools are literally many people’s second mother experience.
I once watched football players reciting the Ohio State song during the conclusion of a football game. And the crowd in the stands was noticeably emotional, so the whole experience was a ceremonial one. The collectivism displayed to me was very disconcerting. To the participants, it was comforting, like a mother’s hug. To me, it was a disgusting display of childlike behavior from what should be grown adults.
So what many of these blind patriots clinging to their alter mater share is that they cannot see what cancers inhabit these mothers, because they are unable to digest the criticism toward a loved one.
What permeates these institutions is a level of socialist thought designed to undermine American society. Such thoughts are foreign to these lovers of their second mothers because to their frail minds, war is always fought with guns and in far away lands. But some wars do not involved physical domination. And they don’t involve guns. But they are psychological warfare initiated during the Cold War to dismantle American society. And it is so subtle that even the people within the system can not see it, because they are too close to see.
And this is the problem with education as an occupation. Through collective bargaining, socialist have dominated organized unions and they have made it very lucrative through their use of Saul Alinskey to drive wages up to levels that caused people not to question their methods, because the money they offer brings a level of comfort to the participants of the union. But what is really happening is that in exchange for that income, teachers and administrators are willing to sacrifice their personal freedoms in exchange for that secure middle class income. And that is the strategy of socialists, is to bring down the top level achievers to create a collective middle class. And they have established themselves in our education systems.
I read a book called the Frontiersman several years ago by the great author Alan Eckart and I was shocked that the first time I ran into that material I was as a grown man, because honestly I should have been given that book when I studied Ohio History in the fourth grade. The book may be a bit too hard of a read for a fourth grader, but it certainly should have been recommended reading by 8th grade. The book chronicles the life of Simon Kenton and his battles with the Indian leaders such as Tecumseh and Blue Jacket. It features Daniel Boone, George Washington, and many other characters critical to life on the frontier in 1750 on. It is action packed and shows Indians eating settlers. It has graphic battles and shows the treachery capable between the French and the English. It is a marvelous book.
But in school, I was taught that Indians were Native Americans with an emphasis on the encroachment of the white man upon Native American land. I was taught that slavery was all important instead of one part of the history of the United States. I was taught the merits of feminism. The merits of tolerance, and on and on along those lines. It was dreadfully boring. In fact I remember asking my eight grade English teacher why we had to read Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. I asked the same question to my ninth grade teacher, where we read the same material again. It wasn’t till I was in my thirties that I read for the first time Titus Andronicus. And I asked, “Why did I not read this in the eighth grade!” I would have read all of Shakespeare by the conclusion of my eighth grade year for fun if I had known that Titus was such a great play! But I had to discover that on my own, away from schools unfortunately.
On of the times I went to college, on the first day of school in my philosophy class the professor instructed us that we would begin a study of Tao Te Ching, a book I had read on my own over a weekend a couple of years earlier. I took three classes and realized I was wasting my time. I already had developed leadership skills at the time that companies would be willing to hire me for. I thought a degree would help me in some way, but I found that to not be the case once I had started working and developed a network to work within, because companies always need leadership. But what did I need out of a college that spent three weeks studying a book that the students should read over the weekend? I saw the same blank looks on my class mates in college that I saw in high school; the “I have to be here” look “so I can get a certification,” so I can get a good job. I decided in that philosophy class that the instructor was just going through the motions. He was just studying what had come, and he had no ambition to produce something for the future. He was just collecting a paycheck, like the rest of the professors. It looked like a big scam to me, all three times that I went, I always came back to the same conclusion.
I also have recollections of a high school party that I once went to where I sat in the living room of a nice Lakota home where the parents were out of town, and the kid that lived their had a party where most of the senior and junior class showed up. MTV was a rather new thing back then, and was on in the living room and a bunch of kids were watching a video of Pink Floyd’s The Wall playing. Most of the room was smoking pot and drinking voracious amounts of alcohol. I sat stunned even then at the herd like mentality of the kids. I did not participate in their drunken splendor or the mind numbing drugs. I was happy to talk to a girl that wanted some male company, but that’s all I wanted from such events. The social aspect of those events meant nothing.
I saw the same kind of mentality from the college kids at Miami University where I went to see a girl I knew at the time there. She was in a massive sorority party that took up an entire apartment complex. Every room I’d go in had kids smoking pot. Some of the rooms were the size of a large closet and might have 20 to 50 people packed into them all passing around a joint. The girl I went to see had given oral sex to at least two guys that I knew of that night. One of the guys was engaged to be married to a girl that was in the other room with a room full of guys passed completely out and had lost every bit of her cloths. Nobody cared. I see these type of events glorified in films like Hangover, which I thought was funny, but if you think about it, we’ve all come to accept the term, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” We don’t bat an eye at such despicable behavior. Rather, it is common now. We send our daughters to school, and pay small fortunes to do so. And we watch secretly those same girls our daughter’s age stripping off their tops and going topless in spring break activity which we endorse with our barbaric lust. And we tell our sons to take all the women they can while they still can, before they reduce themselves to the marriage to one woman for the rest of their lives.
I went to such events completely sober and watched with distance. Later that same night the friends I went to the party with, who were drunk got into a fight with the football team for the university. It was comical and easy to win a fight against a mob of drunken fools. But my friends ended up in jail while I had the presence of mind to leave the scene while police cleaned up the bodies like they were shoveling snow. The university covered for the football players, who actually started the fight. My friends were released once they sobered up. While that was going on, I sat in a Wendy’s by myself and watched late into the early morning the foolish college kids, many of which were older than me at the time, living a life style of complete recklessness, and I sat there reading my book, Yeager, which was about the life of Chuck Yeager, a person I greatly admire.
I could literally tell you thousands of such stories, because for a time in my late teens and into my early twenties, when the world told me to be one way, and that I had to travel down this college path, or that military path, I rejected both. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with either system. Actually, I became something of an outlaw in the eyes of society, until I meant my wife just before one of the worst car wrecks I had ever been in, the second car crash that had taken place at over 100 mph in a year. Neither time was I the driver. At that time I married her, and retired to a life of reading, which I have done ever since. And I have found that college was breeding sheep. I craved to live the life of a lion. You have to decide in life whether you’re going to be the hammer or the nail. The education system like any good factory is producing millions and millions of nails. But only the hand crafted craftsman is making hammers. And my becoming a hammer was forged with much pain, but it has been a journey well worth taking.
So my opinions come from a source of personal observation where I looked at the facts, and asked the question as to where this was going. And I rejected it in favor of my own education. And I will say that at the time, Chuck Yeager had more to do with that than anyone.
Yeager had shot down more enemies in a single day than anyone else in the European theater during World War II in his Mustang and he wasn’t a college trained pilot. He had raw instinct that always gave him an edge over everyone else. I shared with Chuck lightning reflexes that I used when driving and racing cars illegally, and a raw nerve that helped me in many circumstances. Yeager had those traits and that is why he developed into a world class test pilot for the Air Force. He developed a great relationship with engineers who lacked Chuck’s natural ingenuity. And it was because Chuck was a rare breed of man even for that time that allowed him to break the sound barrier in the X-1 over the civilian pilot Slick Goodlin who demanded $150,000 to fly the X-1. Chuck did it because he just wanted to do it. So he was in it for the right reasons.
I can relate.
Such images had a powerful impact on me that I carried all my life. I am proud to report that I have always taken that stance even when the temptation of powerful politics and business influence dangled the carrot in front of my face. I decided that I’d rather be my own man; self made that no alter mater could take credit for. And if society didn’t like it, to hell with them! At the end of my life, I’d have a clean soul and I’d be proud of it.
Of course taking such a stance will get you into a lot of trouble, and it has. One notable time that involved a labor union that I was actually in, yet I refused to pay dues to them, didn’t like the idea that I was asked to work the weekend at a company I worked for, because union rules said the foreman should have asked the employees with more seniority first, caused a massive stink, which caused four of the shop stewards to corner me in the bathroom for a fight. I had a reputation of fighting one on one, so they decided that four of them might intimidate me. It didn’t.
We agreed to meet after work so none of us would get fired. I went to the agreed upon vacant lot to meet these guys for a fight. And guess what, they didn’t show up. I was there by myself watching these tough union stewards driving up and down the road revving up their engines trying to intimidate me like some silly animal making noise to frighten their pry. Only they didn’t know what to do when I wasn’t frightened by their actions.
It is clear to me where civilization fails, and when good people trade away their freedoms for a bit of security, something dies in them. And you can see it on their faces. Their skin is dying prematurely. Their health is usually bad, or is going bad. They usually can’t endure much by way of stress. In men, they suffer from erectile dysfunction, in women a lack of desire for the act. And all this starts with the values we give to ourselves through our education system which clearly extends beyond reading, writing and arithmetic.
So when those carcasses of living flesh proclaim to me that I cannot teach a class-room, or that I did not get a college degree, or that I did not follow down a path that they understand, and therefore cannot understand their situation, they are like children asking me to explain something that they do not have the life experience yet to understand, because they have not yet lived life. And in many cases, that includes those that are ready to retire from a life they consider hard work, and they are ready to collect that pension they worked hard to preserve. I can not explain to them the sound of the wind, or the heat of the sun, when they have lived their whole lives confined to the controlled circumstances of academia, and the powers that perpetuate political influence from that platform.
To say that in this day an age education is a must for success and that no longer can people do as Chuck Yeager did, because these days you must have college. Those are only the rules of established society, and companies that continue to advocate such beliefs will continue to find that the employees they take out of the education system are watered down products not quite up to the tasks they are looking for. The exceptional find such restraints too confining and the best of the best reject it all together willing to suffer the lack of security for the clear vision being free of obligation to alter maters provides.
I would dare say that the success of Glenn Beck is a modern example of just such a philosophy. He stays ahead of the curve and is clear in his outlooks because he does not have the burden of being educated not to see. How many people have come along like Walt Disney, a guy with only a high school education, much like Glenn Beck? Steven Spielberg also didn’t have a college education when he was doing his best stuff. And now that he’s bought in to some of the progressive philosophies, his ability to wield the magic of the past is gone. It’s gone from him as a filmmaker.
So what conclusion can we make? Are the most successful among us freaks of nature, beyond the scope of normal mankind? Is it impossible to think that the kid living next door to you may not be the next Walt Disney? I would say that our education system as it currently is dotted with a socialist mentality from grade one to the doctorate in college, is teaching us not to reach for the stars, and to settle for the muddy middle where a strong middle class promises a life of few lows in life, but also few highs either. And a rather eventless story at the end of one’s personal book only to be lost in the annuals of time, where much bolder and action packed stories will reside in the memory of the human race.
And do not think that the conventional path taken is the path of purity, and do not subject those that reject your choice with additional taxes. I respect your decision to live a life as described in this article. But don’t ask me to fund such a despicable existence.
There are some things that established thinking in politics will never understand, because their culture is relative to their emotional states established before their 15th birthdays. It is well known that many people don’t evolve much emotionally beyond their middle to late teen years. That means that the values established in those years become the final touches of a psyche that will travel with that person all their lives.
And that is where a major gap exists between those adults that grew up prior to the computer revolution, and the adults that grew up after. And the teens that are now spending much of their development participating in online games, such as Medal of Honor, World of WarCraft, Gears of War, Halo, and Madden Football are having a different emotional experience than those that currently sit in the halls of power. And that is why those who analyze the Tea Party movement are completely lost, because there are elements emerging that defy the old powers that have controlled the human mind for thousands of years.
Well, I’m a man that grew up after this computer revolution. But what I’ve done personally is that I did not stop my development at age 15. I have continued a youthful mindset well into my adulthood. So as the computer age has emerged, I have enjoyed the benefit of the interactive gaming industry, and how they have now moved into a marketplace that rivals Hollywood movies. And I enjoy playing them and with each new game I find the experience beneficial.
With that said, my top game experience of 2010 was Red Dead Redemption.
Red Dead is a spaghetti western style game that allows you to do anything anytime, and anywhere in a vast western era style environment. It is the best western produced since Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider back in the 80’s, but what this western has going for it is that you get to play the part of the lead character. And that is a dramatic new element that I find infinitely fascinating.
The music is the best western style soundtrack since Ennio Morricone’s soundtracks for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, and For a Few Dollars More. The style of direction is undeniably Sergio Leone, which again is a very welcome site.
The story of the game is about the evils of politics, which has particular appeal to me. Younger players may not get so much out of that story line, but I found it particularly potent. It’s about the encroachment of civilized, European style government over the rugged individualism of the western settler. But the story also deals with the deception of those same individuals that resort to the pack mentality of cattle rustlers, and Mexican revolutionaries.
One of the greatest thrills in the game are the one on one duals that you get to be in, where you have to quick drawl another gunman like we’ve all seen in hundreds of westerns. It is quite an experience to do it through the character of the game.
The game for me was a great relief from the reality of modern life where people have evolved into very soft and fragile versions of European ideology. I found the characters surviving the Wild West to be refreshing versions of the overly padded people we all have to deal with on a daily basis. In Red Dead, people get shot, they die, they fight with boldness and honor, and they don’t do a whole lot of complaining.
And that was the best part of the game.
The established portion of society hasn’t picked up on it yet, but the story to games like Red Dead Redemption is very sophisticated and politically significant if not entirely successful of recreating history both accurately and mythically. And it was a great pleasure to play.
And for Halloween, they released this! What great fun!
What this shows is that the financial situation does not show a need to cut busing, and in fact does not require such drastic measures until next year. 
Dear Students and Parents:Welcome to the Lakota Plains Junior School web page. We hope this page is a source of information for you and anyone considering Lakota Local Schools.
The Overmanwarrior 
