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Peter_Puget

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So, to get back to my question - you're saying there is double-entry book-keeping going on - that the union really is not keeping track of the local money and the PAC money separately? Kinda like the Teamsters?

 

Interesting air argument. Any facts to back it up?

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Interesting that you bring up that subject. And again, my experience is limited to what it is - but the teachers where I volunteer have noticed a shift in the past 10 years. For instance - the mean seems to have shifted regarding the ability to write a coherent 5 page paper in middle school. Sure there were always the tails of the bell curve, but ITO the bell has moved. Today the kids can write a decent paragraph or several - but being able to string together a few big thoughts into a stepwise progression of an essay seems more challenging for them. Maybe Ivan has insights over his tenure.

 

My son was recently unable to finish a book he chose to read and write a report on (the Fellowship of the Ring). Just no attention span. In the end I worked it out that he could read the Old Man and the Sea instead. At 125 pages, and with very simple language I figured he could wrap that up in a couple of days. It took more like 12 and was like pulling teeth.

 

I read the entire Lord of the Rings series in 5th grade. He's in 9th. I definitely see a shift in the ability of kids to read, focus and sit still. But then again doesn't the older generation always say the younger one is lazy and lost? :0)

in fairness, though I was a voracious reader as a kid, I tried and failed to get through the fellowship I think 3 times before the first movie came out and prompted me to just move on to the second book, which was much more readable :)

 

meh, kids are kids. they never were crazy big into books when I was one of them, and they don't seem to have changed much since I became a grown-up.

 

the point of education is to get you the skills relevant to your daily life - sure, kids are crap at putting together more than a couple sound-bits worth of info, but then how long can one of my posts go on before EVERYONE stops reading? :)

 

ours is an epoch of extremely short messages

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the point of education is to get you the skills relevant to your daily life

 

I'm not so sure I agree with that. I think the purpose of education is to train your mind and habits, to learn about your outside world, and about the species homo sapiens. Some stuff you learn will have little effect on "skills" relevant to daily life, but they all should add to one's quiver as a functioning, thinking human being.

 

 

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So, to get back to my question - you're saying there is double-entry book-keeping going on - that the union really is not keeping track of the local money and the PAC money separately? Kinda like the Teamsters?

 

Interesting air argument. Any facts to back it up?

he seems to be missing the basic point, and I'm stumped as to how to make it simpler

 

about 2$ a month is deducted from my paycheck and goes to a state-based organization called WEA-PAC - they use that to pay lobbyists, interview candidates, issue recommendations (political action as commonly understood) - I have no access to that money and limited ability to say what it'll be used for.

 

about 14$ goes to my local union. I have complete access to that money (as a member of our executive board) and can do a great many things with it, non of which involve political action as it would commonly be understand. it funds scholarships, pays officer stipends, buys snacks for rep council meetings, pays for social events, etc. none of that 14$ gets punted up to the state-level.

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the point of education is to get you the skills relevant to your daily life

 

I'm not so sure I agree with that. I think the purpose of education is to train your mind and habits, to learn about your outside world, and about the species homo sapiens. Some stuff you learn will have little effect on "skills" relevant to daily life, but they all should add to one's quiver as a functioning, thinking human being.

 

as a teacher of a subject easily throw on the cutting room floor (social studies and humanities) I of course agree :)

 

education has a pretty big portfolio of responsibilities, from the sublime and ethereal to the nitty-gritty and easily-measured.

 

my educational philosophy is thoroughly Jeffersonian :)

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So, to get back to my question - you're saying there is double-entry book-keeping going on - that the union really is not keeping track of the local money and the PAC money separately? Kinda like the Teamsters?

 

Interesting air argument. Any facts to back it up?

he seems to be missing the basic point, and I'm stumped as to how to make it simpler

 

about 2$ a month is deducted from my paycheck and goes to a state-based organization called WEA-PAC - they use that to pay lobbyists, interview candidates, issue recommendations (political action as commonly understood) - I have no access to that money and limited ability to say what it'll be used for.

 

about 14$ goes to my local union. I have complete access to that money (as a member of our executive board) and can do a great many things with it, non of which involve political action as it would commonly be understand. it funds scholarships, pays officer stipends, buys snacks for rep council meetings, pays for social events, etc. none of that 14$ gets punted up to the state-level.

 

I understand this because I'm simple. :crazy:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd love to teach, and taught courses all the way through UW, with another course at Seattle U. To some degree I teach now, only to more junior engineers.

 

If teaching salary at any level (BS, MS, PhD) were even close to competitive with private industry I'd be doing it in heartbeat.

 

Compensation levels are high enough to keep people with a true calling to it and thank you to everyone doing it! But they are not high enough to attract people who are on the fence about going into other well respected, well compensated fields.

 

Otherwise I'd be teaching right now, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

 

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So, to get back to my question - you're saying there is double-entry book-keeping going on - that the union really is not keeping track of the local money and the PAC money separately? Kinda like the Teamsters?

 

Interesting air argument. Any facts to back it up?

 

Ok I've been busy but I am back. Apparently Ive been a bit unclear as well. That said you are very clearly saying that I am claiming there is double-entry book keeping going on. (Kinda like the teamsters!?!?!?!?)

 

That reinforces the fact that I have not been simple enough. Here is the definition of double entry bookkeeping:

 

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/double-entry.asp

 

Peace

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So, to get back to my question - you're saying there is double-entry book-keeping going on - that the union really is not keeping track of the local money and the PAC money separately? Kinda like the Teamsters?

 

Interesting air argument. Any facts to back it up?

he seems to be missing the basic point, and I'm stumped as to how to make it simpler

 

about 2$ a month is deducted from my paycheck and goes to a state-based organization called WEA-PAC - they use that to pay lobbyists, interview candidates, issue recommendations (political action as commonly understood) - I have no access to that money and limited ability to say what it'll be used for.

 

about 14$ goes to my local union. I have complete access to that money (as a member of our executive board) and can do a great many things with it, non of which involve political action as it would commonly be understand. it funds scholarships, pays officer stipends, buys snacks for rep council meetings, pays for social events, etc. none of that 14$ gets punted up to the state-level.

 

Ivan I assume youre on the lookout for double entry bookkeeping. Keep up the good work.

 

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