Tom called for the elimination of school buses due to high gas prices. He also went on to say that it’s the parents responsibility to be better parents and make sacrifices for their children. What type of sacrifices would we make Tom? Change jobs and go in later? Then tell your kids that they can’t have the normal lifestyle that they have become accustomed to because their mom or dad had to changes jobs making less money because a talk show host had their school buses eliminated!

Let me ask Tom a question, “How’s the view from the cheap seats?” It must be rough being able to set your hours, or have an assistant pick up your kids. Maybe I’ll just hire a nanny!

I am sure that tomorrow I will go right back to listening, but for now I’ll just be grumpy…

Elk Grove teachers won’t have the guidance of experienced teaching coaches next fall. A gleaming new school in Natomas will sit empty. And in Sacramento, middle schools will have fewer music classes and high school teachers will have less time to run special programs like athletics and honors academics.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May budget proposal gives more money to schools than he suggested in January, and meets the minimum guarantee schools are owed under state law. And his latest proposal increases school spending next year by $200 million over this year – but it’s an amount education advocates say is paltry compared with their needs.

The governor’s latest budget proposal doesn’t cover the higher costs schools will face next year for things such as gasoline, health care and raises for teachers as they advance in experience, said David Gordon, superintendent of Sacramento County schools. So districts are trimming other parts of their budgets to keep up.

“That is a big cut when you’re not kept even with the inflationary factors,” Gordon said. “You have to cut other things to keep marching in place.”

…Natomas Unified has managed to trim its budget without laying off any teachers. Instead, the district is putting off opening the new H. Allen Hight Middle School that has already been built, for a savings of $1.2 million.

Natomas is also trying to save money on school lunches by improving the food it offers at its high schools. The hope is that with tastier choices, more kids will buy lunch and offset the money the district now spends to keep cafeterias afloat. The district is looking at opening Mexican or Italian food stations at Natomas High.

“More students will simply buy lunch,” said Superintendent Steve Farrar. “We’re hoping (they) will not bring lunch from home.”

California spends only $7,127 a year per student (according to 2006 data from the National Center for Education Statistics). Where does the rest of the money go? ADMINISTRATION!

We need to start from the top and work our way down. Eliminate all of the dead weight in the administration and start holding non-performing teachers accountable. My daughter is in grade school, one teacher. The teacher does a great job. My son is in middle school with 6 teachers. One or two of which actually seem to care about the students. the others seem to be treading water. These teachers need to be held accountable.

Accountability is the key. If these teachers are simply not performing, then place them under review and deal with the situation. This should go for the school Principals as well. My daughters Principal does a great job and is very involved. My sons Principal is just the opposite! I have spoken to him (my sons Principal) on numerous occasions and each time I find it amazing that he is charged with running a school.

Bottom line, throwing more money at education, is not the answer. Refine the system, eliminate the dead weight, hold the teachers accountable and then fund it.

“At this point it’s peaceful,” Jones said from a county emergency operations center activated to monitor the rallies scattered around the city. “Our concern is strictly public safety and to allow them to assemble peacefully.”

“It’s an organized protest in that they all knew about it, but it’s disorganized in that they don’t all have one place to go,” Jones said.

Students left as the school day began at campuses in Las Vegas and Henderson, Clark County school spokesman Dave Sheehan said.

“It’s all about the immigration issue,” Sheehan said. “It’s in protest of what they consider to be their complaints with the immigration legislation.”

“Thank goodness there’s no violence reported,” Sheehan said. “But the district is adamant: Kids should stay in school and not get it on their record that they’re truant.”

If my children would have cut school to join this protest, the ole ATM machine (Dad), would be closed. It’s one thing to protest about something you believe in, but there is an appropriate way to do it. This shows just how immature they really are.

I think that we as parents must play a role in teaching our children what is acceptable and what is not. There is not a day that goes by that you or I will not see a person wearing a t-shirt that is two or three times too big. Then there’s the pants. Hanging down around the cracks of their @ss with a belt cranked down just to kepp them on. Buy pants and shirts that actually fit YOU and not the person 3 sizes bigger.

While I still do not like the idea of uniforms, I would not oppose a stricter code.

With all of the violence in our schools today, this video supports my reason for a stricter dress code…

School Video (Media Player Required)