Did David Williams Lose the Election?

Of all the stupid political plays I have seen, David Williams throwing down the gauntlet on the budget with cuts to education among other things is near the top of the list. I don't see any way he is going to be able to spin this during the election to look good. IMO he just handed the election to Beshear. Surely some viable Republican candidate will look at this bonehead move and jump into the battle? I know it is late but opportunity is there!

It always amazing me that when cuts need to be made education is usually first on the chopping block.

It always amazing me that when cuts need to be made education is usually first on the chopping block.

Don't you know that teachers make WAY too much money for the little work that they do?

What is the average teacher salary in KY and how many days do they work? Not trying to start anything negative just wondering?

What is the average teacher salary in KY and how many days do they work? Not trying to start anything negative just wondering?

Average teacher salary I am not sure of. Teachers start out in the mid $30,000 range and then get increases based on experience, gaining their masters degree, etc. I would guess the average public school teacher makes around $45-50K. That is purely a guess.

Here is another factor people often aren't aware of. Most teachers spend part of their income on supplies for their class room. I was very surprised when I heard that. I assumed the school system covered all those costs.

Some of the teachers on here will probably correct me on some of this but those figures are in the ball park.

There appears to be a movement afoot to get budgets under control. The difficulty is where do you cut. So far the Republicans appear to be attempting to break the unions by doing away with collective bargaining. It appears from yesterdays address by the governor of Ohio that funding was increased slightly for education. I think what they are ultimately shooting for is to lower some of the other expenditures-like health care and pensions as these are quite a load for state to cover...also for the Republican governors to try to break the unions is smart for them. The unions almost always support the Democratic candidates.

It has turned into the Replublicans going after unions to stop that influx of cash going to the Dems, and the Dems going after Wall Street as that flow of money tends to head towards the Republicans.

Average teacher salary I am not sure of. Teachers start out in the mid $30,000 range and then get increases based on experience, gaining their masters degree, etc. I would guess the average public school teacher makes around $45-50K. That is purely a guess.

 

Here is another factor people often aren't aware of. Most teachers spend part of their income on supplies for their class room. I was very surprised when I heard that. I assumed the school system covered all those costs.

 

Some of the teachers on here will probably correct me on some of this but those figures are in the ball park.

Thanks!

It always amazing me that when cuts need to be made education is usually first on the chopping block.

What's the states largest expense? If it's education I can see why it's first in line.

What's the states largest expense? If it's education I can see why it's first in line.

Actually, I would bet payroll as a total expense would be the largest, and teachers should not have to bear the brunt of the cuts. There are plenty of areas of waste and the cuts should be broad, not centered in one area. Make it as painless as possible by spreading the cuts around, not targeting one sector.

What's the states largest expense? If it's education I can see why it's first in line.

It seems like the medicaid expense is the one drawing the most attention. It just goes to show how big an expense health care already is to the government before Obamacare ever goes into place. An exec of an area hospital pointed that out to me during the healthcare debate. His point was we already have government healthcare because of all the money spent on medicare/medicaid.

What is the average teacher salary in KY and how many days do they work? Not trying to start anything negative just wondering?

I have no idea on salary but I believe one of our teachers on here stated once that their contacts are for 180 days.

What's the states largest expense? If it's education I can see why it's first in line.

Good point. I didn't know the answer to that question so I went a looking.

2010-2012 Total Revenue - $18.1 Billion

45.1% - Education

13.5% - Post Secondary Education

12.6% - Medicaid

10.9% - Criminal Justice

10.8% - All Other

7.1% - Human Services

It's pretty easy to see after looking at the numbers why education is usually the first on the Block.

Good point. I didn't know the answer to that question so I went a looking.

 

2010-2012 Total Revenue - $18.1 Billion

45.1% - Education

13.5% - Post Secondary Education

12.6% - Medicaid

10.9% - Criminal Justice

10.8% - All Other

7.1% - Human Services

 

It's pretty easy to see after looking at the numbers why education is usually the first on the Block.

I'm curious, how many employees make up each of the above listed category? How many citizens are served in each?

For example: If there are more employees that have to be paid in the education portion, they will naturally have the larger part of the budget. But what is the cost per employee average out to and the same with Human Services, Criminal Justice, et al. :idunno:

I'm curious, how many employees make up each of the above listed category? How many citizens are served in each?

 

For example: If there are more employees that have to be paid in the education portion, they will naturally have the larger part of the budget. But what is the cost per employee average out to and the same with Human Services, Criminal Justice, et al. :idunno:

No clue. I got the numbers I posted from here http://www.osbd.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E1DC6EC1-D432-4BD1-B844-80E2120F0C76/0/1012BOCBudInBrief.pdf

After looking at it again I'm not sure what I posted is correct. There are two pie charts on pages 10 and 11 of the document for the link above. The numbers I posted came from the chart titled Distribution of General Fund Appropriations. The second pie chart is titled Distribution of All Funds Appropriations. Those numbers are quite different.

Total - $60.3 Billion

Medicaid - 19.7%

Postsecondary Education - 19.4%

Education - 17%

All Other - 16.2%

Transportation - 8.6%

Capital Projects - 7.7%

Human Services - 7.1%

Criminal Justice Services - 4.3%

You realize that the cuts that Williams is calling for is just a fraction of a percentage of the total education budget, correct?

I'm in no way shape or form a supporter of Williams but I refuse to believe that there is any place where the state spends money that couldn't be streamlined and made more efficient. I also don't see education as some sacred cow that shouldn't face the same bugetary scrutiny that any other state agency does.