SHOULD WE PUT IT IN REVERSE?

The September 9, 2005 issue of the Cornwall Local detailed how Seniors in our wonderful town can pay their ever-skyrocketing school taxes by taking out a reverse mortgage, using the proceeds of that mortgage to pay their school taxes, and literally dying debt ridden. Perish the thought of a senior leaving an inheritance to their children or grand children, or maybe just wishing to spend the final stages of life debt free.

How moral is a society that asks its elderly citizens to make their final exit burdened with debt, so that they can use the resources that gave rise to that debt to feed a bureaucracy who will not answer questions such as “what is the average annual salaries that teachers earn?” “What is the number of days that teachers fail to show up for work in any given year?” “Has there been a full accounting of the monies that the system has raised in the past?” “Why do the lights stay on, in all of our school buildings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year?” Most of our seniors can't even afford to leave their porch lights on overnight.

We can reduce taxes on our seniors and everybody else for that matter, by adopting a system that consists of part time pay for part time work. Teachers work 6 and ½ hours per day and the school year is only 180 days. This means that the total number of hours that teachers work in any given year, assuming that they are totally dedicated and never miss a day, is 1170 hours. People with traditional jobs work 8+ hour days, they get 3 weeks vacation and if they are lucky, 11 paid holidays. This means that non-teachers have to show up for work 235 days a year. Our calculators and our life experience tells us that people with real jobs put in a minimum of 1880 hours per year, whereas teachers put in a maximum of 1170 hours per year. That's a part time job no matter how you spin it and it's about time that we have serious discussions of part time pay for part time work.

Our seniors have carried the water for our teachers and administrators long enough. Let them live their final days as they see fit. On May 17, 2011, there will be a budget vote.

YOU MUST GO OUT AND VOTE “NO”
ON THE SCHOOL BUDGET VOTE