Menifee parents apathetic?

I saw this article about Menifee parents (of Bell Mountain Middle School students) and felt immediately defensive, however it is a topic wor...

I saw this article about Menifee parents (of Bell Mountain Middle School students) and felt immediately defensive, however it is a topic worth considering...

The 'Head in the Sand' award

A raspberry to apathetic parents in the Menifee Union School District.Educators recently organized a presentation on Internet safety for parents at Bell Mountain Middle School in Menifee.
The seminar was spurred, at least in part, by at least three recent incidents of local middle school students posting video clips on the Internet of kids fighting each other.To publicize the event, the school district sent out fliers, posted information on its Web site and sent automated phone calls to families across the city.
Despite these efforts, on the night of the big event, only three parents showed up. Among them were a school board member and a teacher. They were far outnumbered by the one lieutenant, three sheriff's deputies and nine local school district administrators who were there to host the meeting.
We all have busy lives, but parents in Menifee and elsewhere should be a little more interested in some of the pitfalls waiting for kids, in both the real world and online.
By The Californian Opinion staff Monday, May 4, 2009 12:10 AM PDT


I for one would agree that the Youtube craze and other such internet sites, popularly used for, shall we say "personal expression," are places that can be of great danger to our kids. In addition, I recently read an article while sitting in the doctors waiting room. (It was a very long article, however, my wait was even longer so I read the entire thing) It referred to the number of kids (ages 10 to 16) that are actually sending pornographic pictures of themselves via cell phones, to other kids. Mostly boyfriends or girlfriends etc...

Now, given the level of e-danger to our kids that is out there, I am curious about the determination that it was "apathy" that made parents skip this event. I would love to hear from local parents on this...

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  1. Lack of concern or "who is the school to tell me what to do" attitude? If you check the post we see plenty of comments from parents about kids etc. It is to bad the district felt compelled to hold a seminar to inform parents and no one shows up. Don't complain when your kids have to goto perris for school if no one supports our district.

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  2. This is typical government bureaucrats taking the actions of a few bad apples and trying to scare the general population in a lame attempt to justify their existence. I'm almost at a point where I can homeschool my kids and get them out of this corrupt and failing school system. I'm glad no one showed up to their little meeting. The kids were probably sending pornographic pictures of themselves at school where they are not properly supervised rather than at home where the parents can watch them.

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  3. Don't you dare blame the teachers. They are perfect.

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  4. I have two children in the Menifee school district one of which is at Bell. I never recieved any notice of this meeting. No papers were brought home and no phone calls were recieved. Also I am an employee of the Menifee school district. I cant imagine something like this happening and not hearing about it. I would like to know how many parents did or didnt know about this meeting?

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  5. Never heard a word about it until I got on this site. I also have a child at Bell and my wife works for the district. They didn't try very hard to contact parents.

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  6. It is this wonderful school system that we have here in Menifee.. Elementary schools are good but the 2 middle schools we have here are awful. Do people really know what is going on @ Menifee Middle? They punish all the kids for he few bad apples ie; all the fights that go on there they have no control I am so sick of that place..But all the unions want to protect the bad teachers and the liberals in this country don't want school choice. UGHHHHHHH

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  7. It is amazing that people blame everyone but themselves. It isn't the teachers, police, or anyone else's job to teach your kids wrong from right. parents are apathetic. Schools do their best to get info out to parents through pone calls flyers that students are expected to bring home to mom and dad. If you didn't get the info, talk to your kids. Bad teachers and Unions? What are you talking about? Rotten parents produce rotten kids. My parents taught me right from wrong. My parents weren't my best friends and I knew my place. Good parents aren't apathetic, and there are lots of us. If you think the unions and teachers and the schools are to balme for "those kids" then you are part of the issue. You need a license to drive, own a gun, go fishing etc..., but you don't need oneto become a parent. Lucky thing for some of you.

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  8. Sadly, I’d have to agree that apathy infects the parents in Menifee. This link is for an Op-Ed piece from the Press Enterprise.

    http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/localviews/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_S_op_anderson_15_loc.3c7b35f.html

    All the observations in the article were made at Menifee playgrounds, watching parents completely ignore their children as they are too wrapped up in their own personal online lives. Why do we have higher expectations for our children when the parents Twitter, update their Myspace pages, and sent text messages when they should be parenting. Many young parents in Menifee are just iphoning it in.

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  9. Link cut off

    http://www.pe.com/localnews/
    opinion/localviews/stories/
    PE_OpEd_Opinion_S_op_anderson_
    15_loc.3c7b35f.html

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  10. Parents these days are more concerned with instilling a postive self-esteem than actually raising kids. Kids today curse like fools, disrespect adults and others in society, etc... But has anyone else noticed that manyof the parents in our area act like children themselves. Men dress and act like teenagers. Where is the self respect. How do you expect kids to have respect for others when their parents lack respect. Many students act up in school because their parents are push overs who fall for anything. Schools make mistakes, no doubt, as all humans do, but the blame for the attitudes of many teens today falls directly on the parents and nobody else.

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  11. No one ever fought when I was in school. We were all good kids.

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  12. I am a parent of a Bell student, I am a stay at home mother and NEVER got any information regarding this presentation. It is a shame there wasn't a better turn out...knowledge is power, anything can help! As for some of the previous comments: I have this to say, while I realize it may seem fun to parent like Britney Spears and clearly Menifee has a large population of these completely imprudent beings...it is not in the best interest of our children. Since when did teaching your child to have Honor, Character and Integrity become the responsibility of anyone but PARENTS. Check your state standards folks thats what they are taught and the rest is up to you! Let me leave you with a tip of the day: if you have a cell phone and a computer you can access your cell phone account and discover anything you want to know about any cell phones on your account...yes,anything. While discovering this you can also put many different types of blocks on cell phones. Try it sometime you will be amazed!

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  13. Even if the calls did go out what's not to say the child couldn't erase the message...cousin erases messages from his grandmothers phone kids aren't stupid...they live in Orange Co.

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  14. Raise your kids right. Someday they will be in charge of you.

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  15. I never recieved a phone call about the event. I have a student who goes to BMMS. I never recieved any flyer either. I agree with poster that said there are blocks you can add to cell phones!! My child has no internet access and is not able to text. Also my home computer is in plain view where I can see what she is doing. It our job as parents to raise our kids not teachers.

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  16. Once again teachers pointing the finger at parents and lumping the super majority of good kids in with the few trouble makers. If all kids were respectful anyone could be a teacher. Unfortunately today’s teachers are teaching for a paycheck, not to develop the kids into adults, like they did in the past.

    “watching parents completely ignore their children as they are too wrapped up in their own personal online lives”: There are a number of teachers that sit on their cell phones and on the computers in class while the kids teach themselves. So maybe the teachers need to start looking inward instead of blaming parents all of the time.

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  17. STOP YOUR CRYING. Instead of waiting for phone calls and flyers be PRO-ACTIVE in your childs life and school. If you don't like free education then pay for private school. then you will have something else to bitch about.

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  18. Anonymous at 7:17am, May 7.

    You are part of the problem. What dreamland do you live in. Yes their are some horrible teachers, just as their are horrible cops, cashiers, bricklayers, etc... but teacher shouldn't be all about disciplining your children. No you couldn't teach, nor can just anybody. A teacher's job should be to teach. Our children should have been taught the skills needed to act properly in a classroom/social setting. The fact that many students these days can't function in a social setting reflects less on a teacher's inability to teach than a parent's inability to properly raise their children. If you actually believe it is the teachers responsibility to teach kids social skills rather than academic content, then do our society a favor and neuter yourself. We don't need anymore irresponsible parents raising kids in our society. Leave it to the parents who understand their responsibilities.

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  19. From a parent--
    I think their are fabulous teachers, lousy teachers, fabulous parents, lousy parents, good kids and bad kids, and their is not a one size fits all answer everything. A parent may not have attended because they never heard of the event, or perhaps they had other commitments, or perhaps they have already addressed these issues with their children (which many of us have already done). Parental controls on the computer along with enforced rules (in other words parental supervision) go a long way in helping children make good choices. Admittedly, sometimes kids will still get into trouble, even with parental involvement, but most of the time it can make a big difference. Jumping to conclusions that all Menifee parents are apathetic simply because they did not attend a particular meeting is rediculous.

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  20. Wow...shocking...parents not giving their time to interact in their children's school life...surprising...NOT! Amazing...schools not communicating effectively with parents...shocking...NOT! That's why I home school.

    Blame, blame, blame...where is the parent who takes responsibility for their child? Where is the teacher who takes responsibility for his students? Oh yeah! At home giving that child an education.

    You won't see my kids YouTubing fights and sending naked pix on their cell phones. They have busy lives filled with family field trips, learning opportunities, sports, and tons of enrichment activities. It's called "parental involvement".

    I understand not everybody can home school, but at least make an effort to see what is happening at your child's school, and more importantly, what is happening in your child's life!

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  21. Nice points Draven

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  22. Randall FreemanMay 08, 2009 12:23 PM

    I sent this letter to the Californian yesterday...

    "It is unfortunate that the Californian editors chose to determine that the small number of parents at our Internet meeting at Bell Mountain Middle School had to be solely due to parent apathy (Californian Roses & Raspberries, May 4th). The facts were true in reporting the small number of people in attendance. I was disappointed that more didn't show but didn't automatically determine that it was due to apathy. Was the Californian aware of the massive power outage that occurred at that time? This and many other reasonable factors could explain what happened."

    Randall Freeman
    Member, Governing Board
    Menifee Union School District

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  23. MENIFEE MIDDLE SCHOOL IS A JOKE. I WENT THERE 12 YEARS AGO; they have RADICALLY CHANGED; They won't even let kids wear plain WHITE T-SHIRTS, HATS that don't have the MVMS logo on them; the staff treats the kids like CRIMNALS; They think all kids are in a gang.. they are FRICKIN' 12 year olds for christ sakes; They can't hang out in groups larger then 5 people, no wonder there is so much tension they treat the school LIKE A PRISON! Joke!

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  24. to post above


    LOL, the joke is you! If it was so bad why are you repeating the mistake again? Maybe in the future you keep your criminal kids at home so the school is safer. Funny how the guilty always react in the manner you did!!!

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  25. This is really sad. Reading all these comments they sound like they came from our children instead of the parents. We need to help each other, remember the saying "it takes a village". We all want the best for our kids, granted we may all have different ideas of what our best is. My kids have been in the Menifee school district since 1995. I have dealt with the good and the bad, trust there is both. I dont want the teachers raising my kids, thats our job. We talk to them, we teach them right from wrong and in the end we pray every time they are out of our sight that they make the right decision. I allow my kids on the internet and I tell them the rules. If you take the ability of choice away from them then how to expect them to learn how to make the right choices? Thats part of learning. Yes as parents we have to be involved, but we also have to step back and give them the chance to fail and succeed. I have known to many parents that make all the decisions for their children, then they go off to college and have no idea what to do. That makes life difficult for those poor kids. We need to stop blaming and start helping and caring about all our kids.

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  26. "I have known to (sic) many parents that make all the decisions for their children, then they go off to college and have no idea what to do."

    Maybe those parents shouldn't go off to college.

    What I find sad about this post are the comments that include a vast array of errors: grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc. SAD!

    Mr. Freeman, with all due respect, if the members of law enforcement and the panel of board members were able to take the time to work with parents to solve the problem, don't you think the parents could have spent a few minutes of their time to hear and share their ideas? What is to blame, if not apathy?

    A power outage? How is that truly an excuse? Outages happen all the time in Southern California. Outages are more prevalent than earthquakes. I hardly think that could be considered a reasonable excuse to not show up to an important school meeting concerning student safety.

    Finally, I want to say to Kevin Anderson, "THANK YOU for your article on detached parenting at the park." I am saddened when I see Menifee parents ignoring their children at parks. These are the parents who will later decide not to attend school meetings concerning student safety.

    There is a line in the movie Hook where Moira tells her husband, Peter (Pan), "Your children love you. They want to play with you. How long do you think that lasts? Soon Jack may not even want you to come to his games. We have a few special years with our children, when they're the ones that want us around. After that you're going to be running after them for a bit of attention. It's so fast Peter. It's a few years, and it's over. And you are not being careful. And you are missing it."

    We could ALL use that advice.

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  27. I understand the irritation of many parents when their parenting is placed under scrutiny. Apathy is a very strong word to use, and it is a very lofty position to take. Kids get angry, like adults, and fight. It happens. How many of Menifee's populous pays to watch people fight? If I were to take a pole, I'm guessing it would be something like 80% (or more) of Menifee pay money to watch people fight in some capacity. Who doesn't like DRAMA? Guess what? Kids, especially adolescents, like DRAMA as well.

    The fights are over. Let us teach the kids how to deal with a situation of high tension. Many people (parents, teachers and administration included) don't know how to deal with high tension situations. Who referees an e-mail fight between co-workers? What about a bully supervisor or boss? What about politically charged statements? Just because the fight is not physical doesn't make it more "civilized."

    What do you think you were doing, "Mr. or Mrs. author of the infamous article"? You were picking a fight. We don't need finger pointing.

    No one knows what their kids are doing when Mommy and Daddy are not looking. Everyone has made and will make mistakes. We all have issues, be it behavioral, emotional, academic, socioeconomic, or what ever else. When you stick a bunch of people (much less kids) in a big pot (like public school), skirmishes are eventual. Deal with the situation and move on. Where the parents of the kids in the situation notified? Where the kids involved dealt with?

    Okay it was tossed up on for more eyes to see. There is a solution to that. Parents, teachers, administration come up with one that works if one isn't out there.

    No need for name calling and fight picking. We are really all in this together whether you have children or not.

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  28. First off, I never received a single notice (whether it be flyer or phone call) about this meeting and I have two children in the district. Both of whom are VERY good at bringing me every bit of info they are ever given.

    Also, some of us are already well schooled on the ways of the internet and the dangers they pose for our children. For me to have shown up at the meeting would've been a complete waste of my time-that does NOT make me an apathetic parent.

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  29. PASS FAIL NOT AN OPTION

    (5/7) The difference between propositions 1A-1F passing or failing on May 19 would mean the difference of $23 billion in funding over the next four years. It would mean having or losing (not gaining) an additional $6 billion to $11 billion in education funding. That translates to $48,729 cut to each currently existing classroom.

    If parents go to the polls on May 19th and bring one person with them to vote YES we can avoid a devastating hit to our schools. Please vote on May 19. Failure is not an option.

    Vote YES because we dont want bigger classroom sizes. They can go up to 42/1. We dont want that!

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  30. Instead of always raising our taxes to fund programs, how about the state attempt to make some cuts. Vote No on 1A-1F.

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  31. Don't worry, the parents (and teachers/staff) at Paloma are just as bad. Drug use and drug dealing is RAMPANT at Paloma, no one bats an eyelash....EVER. 1st period PE is a bong fest, kids do drugs in class, RX pills are everywhere. No one cares.

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  32. "1st period PE is a bong fest, kids do drugs in class, RX pills are everywhere. No one cares."

    Maybe Councilman Twyman can "chime" in and let us know how true these allegations are.

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  33. Also, some of us are already well schooled on the ways of the internet and the dangers they pose for our children. For me to have shown up at the meeting would've been a complete waste of my time-that does NOT make me an apathetic parent.

    By Catrina, at May 11, 2009 8:29 AM


    Your right, your not apathetic YOU ARE SELFISH! Not everyone is "schooled" like you and guess what? Your kids are light years ahead of your "schooled" intert expertise

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  34. Proof in writing regarding Paloma...just go check out your child's MySpace. Read the comments, click on each one of the friends, read their pages, comments and screen names, read your own kid's messages, comments and profile. Check your kid's texts and look for any mention of red whales, e, pink diamonds, a pen cap? Whatever you need is readily available there at the school from the students. We need to all start counting and hiding (or disposing of) our prescription medications including vicodin types of meds and even our other kids' ritalin.

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  35. A1 - 1F does not raise taxes ! As a concerned parent and for the welfare of my children. Im voting YES on May 19th !!!

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  36. Anytime a union tells you to vote yes on a prop it means to vote NO!!!!

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  37. Sorry, 1A is an extension of the largest tax increase ever.

    Which in my book is a tax increase.

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  38. Ok then - watch your children's classroom sizes go from 30 to 42. Then you will see who is regretting it. Sad for your all children :(
    For those who care - vote YES !!!

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  39. The previous poster sort of missed it, so let me repeat. 1A is an extension, not a new tax. Really is beside the point though. You can cut all you want, but their still isn't enough money. It is due to a combination of things, including Prop 13, spending happy politicians, and bond measures that the voters approved, apparently expecting money to just appear out of thin air. There is alot of whining about taxes, spending/cuts, etc..., but when push comes to shove the voters are to blame. Democrats spent money. Republicans spent money. Taxes are high but sporadic. You can approve 1A or not, but you will pay one way or another.

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  40. One pays taxes to receive services in return. Taxes keep going up, but services do not. Why is that?

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  41. You pay taxes, cost of services rises but your tax lvl stays the same unitl you vote to change it. Be an informed voter. Read the subjects and make a informed choice. if you base your vote off of TV or print don't even waste your time as you are not truly concerned. P.S. The population is only going to increase = more students= larger class size=less education time spent on your child= you be involved.

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  42. "your tax lvl stays the same unitl you vote to change it."

    I don't remember voting to increase my sales tax. I don’t remember voting to increase my vehicle license fee. I don’t remember voting to increase my income tax. I must have been watching TV earlier this year when everyone voted for these.

    “The population is only going to increase”

    Doesn’t that mean more taxpayers?

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  43. Tisk Tisk...Blame game..bottom line...I don't agree with Menifee Middle Schools 20% of the time..but fact is..they would not have all these officials here if they did not put out information out...Yes the teachers are big whinners except for 3 teachers and a counselor..(Bell Mountain I am speaking of) But just watch the Rec. Center next to the school..look at the culture hanging out..cursing and doing what they want during school hours. Still parents in Menifee are not apathetic put pathetic..They complain about what happens down in Perris not realizing the heading down that same slippery slope...Parents just want to have FUN FUN..and be their kids Pal...Good parents keep doing what you are doing..The rest won't just expand the jails.

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  44. This economy has brought so much riff raff in here it is ridiculous..section 8 families, gang banger girlfriends fronting for their boyfriends...Crime is rising and we are not keeping up..because greedy people are renting homes to Thugs just to cover the mortgage and live elsewhere. The parents moving in here don't care and will cause more problem. Teacher's are struggling with all these cultural influxes.

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  45. Greedy landlords? Oh brother...Next you'll be blaming the hotel for the riff raff.....

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  46. A1 - 1F does not raise taxes it just extends the new tax rate for the next two years! As a concerned parent and for the welfare of my children, Im voting NO on May 19th !!! HEAD ON A STICK, HEAD ON A STICK!!!

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  47. YES YES YES - We need to vote YES on May 19th. Didnt anyone read the paper this morning???
    If we dont vote YES - Our Menifee District will increat class sizes from 30/1 to 42/1. Thats 40 students to one teacher !!! Also, they are thinking about going to a 4 day school week because the State wont have enough funding! Where will our kids go? I dont have that extra cash to pay $$$$ for full time day care !!!! They also will reduce the school year by 2 weeks.
    Its not an option - we have to vote YESSSSSSSSSSS !!!!!! Call the district office to inform yourself. I did. ITS SCARY!!!

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  48. Instead of increasing class size, how about MUSD "employees" take a cut in pay?

    The Board just approved new contracts that included Raises. Why are they getting raises when the rest of the Country's employees are losing their jobs?

    Vote No.

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  49. Its clear after reading the newspaper this morning - Im voting YES. Those who dont obviously dont know how to read or have children in this district.
    Lets not make our children suffer with overcrowded classroom or short school weeks/years. They need all the education they can get.

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  50. It's clear that after reading the comments on this site, I am voting No. Those who vote Yes obviously are employed by the school district and only care about themselves.

    If it were Truly about the kids, there would be little to change in class size when the propositions fail.

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  51. Anonymous at 12:12. Climb back into the crib and let the big people talk.

    Those who supportted Arnold back 8in the beginning should be happy as can be right now. The Measures will fail and 22 billion will need to be cut. Health care for the poor and indigant, after school programs, infrastructure, funds to hospitals, child welfare services will be cut by 10%, even though it is already underfunded, at least 23,000 prisoners will find their ways back on to the streets, public safety cuts etc... will all ocuur after Tuesday. This is exactly what smoe of you wanted. Yes, California politicians are spending freaks, with Repubs being just as bad as Dems, but your lives are about to get significantly harder. Spending cuts will be made, and life in Calififornia will get worse for you and our children. Look on the brightside, at least we won't have to pay anymore of those evil taxes.

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  52. Noting but scare tactics. i am so sick of paying higher taxes to fund illegal Aliens (that's what they are)health care. Maybe if we send them all back where they belong the schools and state services would not be drained paying for people who do not pay taxes, but then again the most highest one is paying back all his union buddies for getting him elected. I know there is corruption on both sides BUT WAKE UP people. Higher taxes does not mean better education if those in power truley believed ina better education they would pass the voucher programs to help those who cannot afford Private schools. Has anybody looked around lately who can afford to pay higher taxes people are loosing their jobs and if they still have one they are not making as much as they once did. WE are not a socialist country we were founded on the principles of hard work will get you to to the top and now we have this president telling people that it's not Ok to want a better living. UGHHH. No new tax increase until the unions stop sticking their hands out I want to see it go to the children not teachers union and lazy teachers. I am not saying they are ll lazy and God forbid I say something politically incorrect they might come after me. We need to stand up to the tax and spend tactics from all sides and elect people based on doing what's best for the people. So go ahead and scare me I guess you think that some people will be scared enough to vote the way you want them to. This once great state is starting to look more like a overflowing toilet and the only ones paying for it are the hard working middle class and the wealthy this is not what America or California should be I am so sick of the spread the wealth you know more and more people might just stop working so they don't have to pay for their neighbors. THen where are you going to get money from.

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  53. To May 15, 2009 1:11 PM:

    Hey Arnold,

    Even though we pay some of the highest taxes in the country please raise them more. I don’t want the state to burn to the ground because you are going to fire all of the firefighters. Please raise our taxes higher so all of the criminals you are going to let out of prison won’t take control of our cities. Please don’t cut health care for the illegal immigrants. I assume that is who you meant when you said indigant, spelled indigent.

    You win, I will vote Yes, so the unions in this state won’t have to make any scarifies as the rest of the people in the State struggle just to keep their jobs.

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  54. It is easy...whatever the teachers vote for...you vote against...This district is non-parents...it is always scare tactics class room sizes will increase...let them..because the teaching stinks with a few or more...They get a raise in this economy...Vote NO NO NO NO NO Make them cut and clean...No way you lobbying self centered people will ever get my vote or my family or friends. You tricked the parents last time not this time..It is all about you not our kids. We know it now.

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  55. These posts are so much fun. If one more person wants to add more money to the current system, please make it a non-profit organization and raise money like other legitimate charities do. Stop stealing from the community and the parents as if the money would actually help our kids.

    The answer isn't always more money. I think the existing system will fail no matter how much money they steal from taxpayers.

    How can you live with a system where union membership is coerced and money never makes it to the classroom. It's obvious that the number of degrees one has doesn't qualify you as a better teacher or administrator, just a bigger sheeple willing to use guilt and coercion to take more money.

    Just say NO 1A-1F, or there won't be anyone left in the state to pay the taxes.

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  56. I don't believe for a minute that Menifee parents do not care about their children, or about parent events that a Menifee School organizes. The organizers need to evaluate what went wrong with their organizing efforts. I don't have any grandchildren at Bell Mountain so if that was the extent of your announcements then I can't speak on that, but why not take advantage of sites like this or menifeelive.com or cityofmenifee.com to post events and announcements. I'm pretty sure the district personnel aren't ignorant of the impact of these local websites. I'm sorry that the Californian Opinion staff drew such a conclusion about parents. Did they investigate wheter the event was mentioned in the paper or online sites BEFORE the event?

    I wonder what the automated message said? Come to a meeting about internet safety, or did they mention the recent incidents?

    And since money for schools was mentioned by so many posters... my two cents..// STARVE the BEAST //.
    Cities, counties, states and SCHOOL DISTRICTS must find more creative solutions than new taxes. Absolutely NO. If you want more details about the proposals... come to Tom's Farms today.

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  57. The ignorance by posters has no bounds. Meike, if you like to get your political info from John and Ken, so be it, starve the beast, feel free, you are no different than many in society who get their info from idiotic radio hosts, local news, Faux news, etc.... That mean teachers union is the problem, right. No teacher is foeced to join the union. They are asked to join the union or donate the money that would be used to another educational organization. Obama is the problem, whatever. Consevative and Liberals have their issues. Conservatives have controlled the highest office for all but eight of the last thirty years, and Clinton was practically a Conservative. The philosophy doesn't work. That is why the Conservative movement is in shambles. Not because America is lost, but because many Conservatives offer nothing. The Conservatives that do speak up are shunned by their own party. America is looking for something different. Obama represents that for many. He isn't Socialist, he isn't leading the country into ruin. Conservatives lost. Deal with it, move on, regroup and in eight years, offer a stronger, more realistic Social Conservatism. This financial mess isn't the result of Conservatives or Liberals, but both. We all have contributed to the problem. How many bond measures have voters passsed in the last ten years? How many of you cashed in the "housing boom", even though you knew it was a man made sham. Did you invest your money? Pay for pools, SUV's etc... When your house was worth 400, 500, 600 thousand, were you paying property taxes for a house of that price? Did you refinance and spend the money on toys or on your own retirement? Your kids future college tuition? Do you complain when firefighters and policeman earn over six figures because of the overtime they work? Feel free to join up. Put your money where your mouth is. If you can do it better for cheaper, than go for it. If you can teach, then go back to cllege earn your degrees and credentials and do it. "Be the change you want to see in others". Have you written your Senators, Congressman, Politicians of all ilk, Judges, etc... complaining about all of the money that education HAS to be spent because of court orders, NCLB, etc...without Fed. support? Over 50% of the school budgets go to Special Ed Services, which school districts have to provide from age 3 to 25? Should we cut that funding? It would open up a substantial amount of money for the majority of students.There are bad teachers, just like there are bad cops, businessmen, doctors, etc... Parenting, as many have posted earlier, does have issues in massive proportion. If you don't think so, you don't spend enough time watching, observing, interacting with the world around you. There are some great parents out there, but parenting is the toughest job in the world, and many in our community don't realize that and prefer to raise their children as friends. No one likes high taxes, but our system is broke. From Prop 13 to the constant special elections and bond measures. I hope the Props fail on Tuesday. I want people to feel this. I want people to realize how idiotic we have been over the past thirty years or so. I want the teacher's union to gain a dose of reality. I want taxes to go up, so that Meike and all those other no tax conservatives can complain as society crumbles around them. Let hospitals close down. Let firefighters, police, and teachers get laid off. Let the poor take care of themselves, let our streets deteriorate, let our parks die off. No more small business tax cuts, no more disability, no more in house care for the elderly, No more free lunches for poor kids, No more public funded pools, sporting programs, etc... No more small business loans, farm subsidies, or prenatal care for those who can't afford it. Get rid of Prop 13. We pay on the worth of our homes. If you can't afford the tax payment, you can't afford the house, etc, etc, etc... If you believe all of the "scare" tactics is a ruse, vote no on everything. See what happens. Now is the time for tough decisions. Make your choice, and deal with the consequences of it. Higher taxes? Program cuts? Layoffs? A California rebirth? We will all find out soon enough.

    ReplyDelete
  58. To May 18, 2009 9:03 AM

    "Over 50% of the school budgets go to Special Ed Services, which school districts have to provide from age 3 to 25?"

    I would like to see where your facts for this statement come from.

    If teacher’s compensation makes up 80-90+% of a school district’s budget, then almost every other teacher teaches special ed? I did not realize that.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I have two children at Freedom Crest and while I frequently receive phone message from the school and district offices, I did not get one regarding the internet safety meeting. I did receive a note which was sent home with my kids on the day of the meeting. I would have attended the meeting, but could not change my plans last-minute. I am very involved with my children both at home and at school. We keep our kids active in sports and art programs, eat dinner as a family and spend weekends together. Our goal is to teach our kids as much as we can, prepare them to be responsible adults and to have fun with family and friends along the way. Even though many of their friends do, my children do not have cell phones since my they are with me most of the time. If I give in to that peer pressure and give my kids phones, what is that teaching them? That if everyone else is doing it, it must be okay, so we'll do it too?! How can I expect my kids to say "NO" to anything else if I give them phones or let them have a myspace or facebook page just because everyone else is doing it? My kids do not go on the internet unless we are in the room. These are adult luxuries that have no place in the hands of children! Parents need to stop acting like their kids' friends and learn to say "NO" just like our parents did. Stop using TV, computers and video game systems as baby sitters and do your job as a parent. I do agree that the schools need to deal with problems on an individual basis and not punish all for the bad behavior of a few. There should be zero tolerance of drugs, violence, or sexual behavior at our schools. Nip the problems in the bud & come down hard on even first-time offenders. I don't have my head in the sand, I treat my children age-approriately, giving them more responsibility as they learn and earn it.

    ReplyDelete
  60. 80-90% of budgets got to teacher salaries? Where did you get that. Check the education budget with the state. You will find what you need. Don't be lazy. Do your own research.

    ReplyDelete
  61. ou guys are right. Teachers make way too much money. 80-90% of a budget. Wow it only takes 10% to run the day in/ day out operations of a district. Wow. Districts are more efficient than most Fortune 500 companies. Teachers are the problem. Pay them less. Why do they need to earn more than 40 thousand a year. Parents are the ones who teach their kids most of what they need to know. Besides anyone can teach, right? Such a sham. Teachers make all that money for teaching our children and they complain about everything. They call me when my child doesn't do homework? Well what do they expect? My kid has very little time outside of soccer practice and choir practice. They need some downtime, you know. Plus those teachers are just mean. They keep calling me when my kid makes a mistake and acts up in class. Why is that my problem? He is at school! Teachers should deal with it. You really expect to discipline my kid, when he tells me one thing and a teacher tells me another? Why would my kid lie? It just shows how overpaid those teachers are.

    ReplyDelete
  62. "80-90% of a budget. Wow it only takes 10% to run the day in/ day out operations of a district."

    Wow. That means less than than 10% actually makes it to the classroom for the kids in Menifee. The teacher's compensation there is more than 90% of the budget. Recently estimated at ~93%.

    ReplyDelete
  63. "The teacher's compensation there is more than 90% of the budget. Recently estimated at ~93%."

    To clarify: It is all employees compensation that makes up the ~93%.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Non-classroom and teacher salaries and benefits account for 82.9% of the ed. budget.

    39.5% Teachers
    24% Counselors, Principals, Secretaries.

    19% Retiree Benefits

    5.5% Books and Supplemental material

    11.7% Operational spending

    The Funds set up for classroom spending is as follows:

    77.1% General Ed.
    19.9% Special Ed and Bilingual
    2.3% Other k-12"s
    .6% Vocational Ed.

    Some ignorants keep claiming that money spent on teachers takes away from the classroom. How illogical is that. The quality teachers that enter our childrens classrooms are more important than overhead projectors, white boards etc... Good teachers will teach with what they have, but our teachers and students shouldn't struggle for the technical aspects of modern ed. When you spend money on a teacher's salary, YOU ARE SPENDING MONEY IN THE CLASSROOM. Let's face it, like most aspects of life and business, if you want quality candidates, you will have to pay for them.

    ReplyDelete
  65. "if you want quality candidates, you will have to pay for them"

    So the more you pay a teacher, the better they are at teaching?

    I didn’t think the teachers wanted to be evaluated on a performance? They prefer to be paid on time served.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Do you pay attention or are you just used to rhetoric. If you know absolutely anything about the concept of merit pay, you also understand it's inherent faults. Teachers in places like Temecula, La Jolla, etc...would benefit from merit pay whether they were great teachers or not. Teachers in places like South Central LA, Westside Long Beach, Perris, etc... would be unfairly paid, regardless of whether they are a great, mediocre, or poor teacher. Until the disparities are ironed out, merit pay is a half baked idea. But that is a whole other discussion. What I stated earlier is fact, whether you are in the Insurance, Financial, Technological realm, etc... If you want the best candidates for any job, you have to pay them at an acceptable rate. Has nothing to do with merit pay or any political ideology. I am a registered Conservative, but I don't follow party lines. Why? If you look at the most successful educational systems around the world, they all ahve a few things in common: High Standards for students and teachers, equity, opportunities in both academics and vocations. They do not emphasize yearly standardized testing, but all students who take the academic track must pass he national test. Teaching is as prestigious as being a doctor or lawyer and admittance to teaching programs in colleges is competitive. Parents actually believe that a child's conduct is a reflection of themselves, so children have much more discipline than in the States, where teachers spend too much time on discipline. Less time spent on discipline, more time on important content. Teachers are given standards, National in most countries, and then given the freedom to teach as they do best. And by the way. None of the top nations emphasize private education. NONE. We have an opportunity to take our current system, which has flaws and turn it into the best in the world. Claiming that teachers are overpaid or make too much isn't the place to start, nor should it be considered. Successful educational systems are not cheap, nor will they ever be. But, education needs to be emphasized by parents, educators, and society around us. Teachers must hold students to high standards and districts need to allow teachers to use the standards to create curriculum, not teach the standards as curriculum. We must create two paths for students, academic and vocational. Bring back auto shop, wood shop, metal shop, and expanding into other vocational areas will cost money and will be worth every penny. Our society needs to understand that some kids are college material and some aren't. There is no shame, nor should there be, when a student takes the vocational path over academics. By the way, in most of the top academic nations, universities and vocational schools were publicly funded, "free" to citizens, but that is a whole other discussion.

    ReplyDelete
  67. "Bring back auto shop, wood shop, metal shop, and expanding into other vocational areas will cost money and will be worth every penny."

    In other States the public schools still offer these programs. Why doesn't California? Why do other states have the money and not us?

    ReplyDelete
  68. We don't have those programs because we spend 15-25% of our educational dollars (not to mention time $$$) dealing with those that do not speak English.

    ReplyDelete
  69. "We don't have those programs because we spend 15-25% of our educational dollars (not to mention time $$$) dealing with those that do not speak English."

    Not to mention the 35% higher teacher's salaries.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Without ctaking into account cost of living, California teachers are the highest paid, but of course even an idiot knows that cost of living is significant when it comes to calculating salary. When cost of living comes into play, California lags behind the national average.

    About 5% of the Ed budget is specifically for bilingual students. More money is spent on Special Ed than bilingual ed.

    Why can't we afford Auto shop, metal shop, etc... because California has the largest student population in the US. Education costs money. The smaller the population, the less money has to be spent. The lower your level of poor students, where free lunches and other needs are supplied by the state, the more money you have to spend on other things. It is misleading to say that other states have them. There are a few who still run bare bones programs, but they are fewer and fewer. The money saved on books, manpower, special ed, etc... can be used to fund other things. Unfortunately, the reality is, education is expensive and there are too many people, especially in California, who want to continue to believe that it can be run on the cheap. I am not saying that many of our state politicians don't have serious issues, but reality just hasn't hit Californians yet. Maybe we spent too much time listening to John and ken or the Jarvis tax group, who are absolutely misguided and wrong in many of their assumptions, yet they communicate their view well and with passion. If you think California is hurting now, just wait people. The storm is on the horizon,and each of us is about to be hit like you haven't been hit before. Your lives will change. I am not one for stoking fear, so all I can say is just wait and see. Wait and see. This is what many of you wanted and voted for. Now you are about to get everything you asked for.

    ReplyDelete
  71. The Governor has come out and said that Sate Revenues are at 1999 levels. I am waiting to see if public employees are willing to turn back their salaries just the private sector is having to do.

    My guess is they would rather lay people off than compromise. We’ll see.

    ReplyDelete
  72. I was the one and only parent at this presentation that wasn't affiliated with the school or the district. I didn't really feel that it was a good learning experience. I could have picked up the same information on a 10-minute segment on a TV news show. Actually, about halfway through the program I wanted to get up an leave because the two gentlemen that were making the presentation seemed to be getting a little too much enjoyment out of it. That offended me. I honestly didn't feel that the evening was warranted - and probably a lot of other parents didn't show up becaue they felt the same way.

    ReplyDelete

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