Longevity factor is problem in many school district pacts

Longevity factor is problemin many school district pacts
EDITOR:
I'm not surprised that the schools as well as Mahoning County have financial problems. The system needs to be revised. The two major problems are:
1. The teachers' pay structure and longevity
2. Hospitalization, prescriptions, etc.
I am very familiar with the basic construction of school contracts. As the editor of The Vindicator, you should maintain the policy that the public has a right to know what these basic contracts contain and publish the most recent contracts showing the basic longevity scale, and the medical costs, so the public can see what the root of the problems are.
I haven't seen the Austintown Schools contract, but a wage freeze won't solve the problem. Each teacher will receive a longevity increase each year, despite the wage freeze. The normal longevity ranges from 4 percent to 6 percent each year. An average teacher with 10 years' experience makes roughly $47,000 a year. Even with a wage freeze with a three-year contract, the teacher will receive an average of 4 percent longevity, costing the school system $1,380 a year. In three years, the remainder of the contract, the total increase per average teacher would be $8,280. A school having 100 teachers would incur an added cost of $828,000 over three years from longevity alone.
The taxpayers are the only ones who can stop this by voting down any tax renewal or increase, until the school boards, cities and counties revamp the longevity problem. A 3 percent longevity, with a maximum of 10 years would stabilize the present runaway costs. This type of increase would put the schools in a good position financially as well as allow a starting teacher a pay increase each year for 10 years.
NAZ FRAZZINI
Youngstown
Cutting funds to office on aging is a cut to seniors
EDITOR:
Could someone please explain to me why, when there is a deficit in the budget, be it federal, state, city or county, that the first place that is attacked is the assistance to the elderly?
Our two county commissioners, who are leaving office, have put their stamp of approval on axing the agency on aging. They do not foresee its ever being re-implemented in the future.
Our federal government spokesperson states that Social Security is in jeopardy. It sure is when we have innumerable IOUs sitting there from the government's borrowing from this fund! We, who have worked hard for many years, retire and find that our income from retirement benefits and Social Security barely keep us from the poverty level.
At every turn in the road, our income is sliced into -- from property taxes increasing, drug and health benefits escalating, gas prices on the rise and food prices increasing. When does it end? We do not receive yearly increases in our wages as do many in the government and working field.
There are fewer and fewer jobs in our Valley, so the tax base is decreasing. Businesses are not locating in our Valley, so we lose that tax base also. The population of our Valley is elderly, so does local government think that it is OK to tax us to death and take away any assistance we need?
They wondered why the tax renewal failed. Maybe it's because we say enough is enough. Maybe our elected officials should take a good look at how they can cut some of the expenses that they seem to feel are their right --higher and higher salaries, perks of office, etc. Each and every one of them will be in the same boat as we are in the not too distant future. The only difference being that they have voted themselves very high retirement benefits! Also a decent medical plan to help them as senior citizens.
It's been touted that families should be responsible for their own retirement fund. It sounds good on paper, but when a family worker is making minimum wage and trying to pay rent, utilities and food, there isn't much left over to put into a retirement fund plus a medical plan. It would be nice if the companies that outsource their jobs would not be so greedy for their profit and keep their products as Made In America. I, for one, would pay a higher price for what I need if I could see the Made In America label on the product. I wonder if they will rename the American Flyer wagon to Asian, China, Korean or Japanese Flyer?
MARGARET MULLEN
Youngstown
The rich keep getting richer;the veterans get snubbed
EDITOR:
Recently, I watched as the Republican-controlled Senate defeated an amendment by Sen. John Corzine, D-N.J., to add about $1.5 billion to the budget for veterans health care. Corzine is a self-made millionaire who proposed restoring things like $60 million for mental health services for veterans that had been cut in the Bush budget.
Corzine proposed paying for the services by restoring the tax rate for people making more than $1 million a year to the year 2000 level (before Bush's tax cuts). Sen. Don Nickles, R-OK., said that raising the tax rate would discourage additional investment and work by those who make more than $1 million (about half of 1 percent of the U.S. population).
Corzine responded by pointing out that the former rate for millionaires was in effect all through the 90s and didn't seem to discourage investment or work. In fact, he pointed out, the U.S. economy experienced unparalleled growth with the previous tax rates in place.
The Republicans were unmoved. Better to let those making more than $1 million keep a few thousand more dollars a year (more pocket change for campaign contributions?) than to provide mental health counseling for the soldiers wounded and scarred in Iraq.
BILL ADAMS
Austintown
More parents need to teachchildren, not paddle them
EDITOR:
I am disgusted by & quot;good decent Christian people & quot; who think that hitting their children is good parenting. The & quot;spare the rod & quot; Bible story was told to shepherds. Shepherds do not use their rod to beat the sheep! They use it to guide them down the right path. Disciplining a child means guiding them along so that when you are not there they will know how to make the right decisions [i.e. choices]. Being a good parent involves a lot more time than spanking. It is my contention that parents need to spend more time teaching their children and preparing them for life and less time paddling them.
We send people to jail for beating dogs. And what do you think would happen if a victim walked into a courtroom and spanked the criminal with a paddle? We need to start treating our children better than dogs and criminals!
VERONICA FOSTER, Coordinator
Youngstown Weed & amp; Seed
Youngstown
Keep God in the pledgeand prayer in the schools
EDITOR:
What's happening to the world today that some want to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance, take prayer out of the schools, which most kids need, and take God out of Christmas? What else are they finding so wrong?
Was it OK that he was crucified for us, and is this the way we repay him for all the times he's watched over us? Isn't it funny they ask for help when something happens to them like sickness, then you hear them ask, "Oh God, please help me."
And yet you don't want to recognize him when it comes to prayer. You wonder why all over the world there are wars, hate, young people into drugs, killing with no respect for life.
God has given us a beautiful world in which to live, and we are destroying it. Wake up! We are all God's children. Don't let these few take God away from all the good he represents. Remember, there are no atheists in foxholes.
MARY LOU COSIC
Poland