Category: Government

Government: who rules us.

218 Claudius Drive, Aptos, CA to house 1,116 “unduplicated visitors” a year due to federal grant with no prior notice or input from public.

Why not a tent city rather than top dollar cost to rent a three bedroom house for $4 thousand a month to house only 8 persons at any one time in Aptos, CA.

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Cameron Jackson, Ph.D. DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

A peer-staffed crises residential program located in a three bedroom residence in a toney area of Aptos is slated to open March, 2011 to assit persons with major mental illness. These clients, without a high level of support, would require hospitalization.

The federal government dangles moeny and Santa Cruz County accepts — without prior consultation from the neighborhood or public at large and no imput by taxpayers who pay the bill.

Why did our local Santa Cruz County government representatives purchase 5 years of top of the market residential housing in one of the most expensive areas in Santa Cruz County ($3,900 for a 3 bedroom house with ocean view and two jacuzzis) to provide mental health housing for 1,116 visitors a year? (Someone should find out whether the 5 year lease agreement with the owner picks up the costs of utilities and taxes as well.)

Supervisor Pirie who represents Aptos states that she did not know. So who did decide?

How about some belt tightening by local Santa Cruz government? Did the results of the November, 2009 elections sink in here in Santa Cruz County — that the public wants to cut government costs?

Approximately 1,116 visitors at risk of psychiatric hospitalization due to symptoms of hallucinations (e.g., hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there), delusions (false beliefs), agitation and impaired functional abilities will be housed at the proposed peer-staffed crises residential program.

At any one time, up to 8 persons will be at 218 Claudius with staff of 7.35 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). So there will be almost a one to one staff to patient ratio at 218 Claudius on a 24 hour 7 day a week basis.

Why 218 Claudius? Well, yes indeed, 218 Claudius in Aptos, CA has a magnificent view of Monterey Bay. It is a quiet, residential neighborhood. A resident at 218 Claudius can readily walk to Rio del Mar Beach which is only a few blocks down the hill. Likewise, it is a short 15 minute walk to Deluxe Market located on Rio del Mar Blvd. Should there be some life endangering situation — some resident goes out of control — the Fire Department is about a mile away and there are no speed bumps in between.

Public transportation to and from 218 Claudius is a bit iffy however. Say a person wanted to get from the River Street shelter in Santa Cruz, CA to 218 Claudius in Aptos, CA using public transportation. The last bus from Santa Cruz to Cabrillo College (#71) leaves at 4:00 pm and a person must catch the 4:45 pm #55 bus to get to Rio del Mar near Claudius. That is the last bus. Thus, people must drive their car or be driven if arriving after 5 pm. And there are few street lights in Aptos.

The Santa Cruz Metro bus telephone number is 831 425-8600. Expect a 15 minute wait if calling as I did around 3:30 pm. That kind of wait is not good for persons suffering from mental illness and seeking immediate crises assistance.

As there is no bus after 5 pm, persons in crises coming to 218 Caudius must either drive, be driven or walk. There are no street lights. And parking is quite skimpy. Will the 7.3 Full Time Equivalent persons working drive their vehicles? Probably.

How well thought out was this decision? Who were the key players making the decision?

written by Cameorn Jackson DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
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Below are two articles from local papers about the new mental health facility.

Rio Del Mar residents fighting County Mental Health Department

Group home for mental health patients being opened without notice

Residents are up in arms about a mental health facility being placed without notice in the middle of their neighborhood on Claudius Drive in Rio Del Mar by the County’s Mental Health Department. More than a dozen residents have lodged complaints with county Supervisor Ellen Pirie over the County’s plans. Pirie claims she didn’t learn about the facility until recently.

After receiving numerous complaints from residents, Pirie scheduled a neighborhood meeting to allow residents to ask questions and air concerns to county health officials, and for county officials to explain details of the program.

The community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday Feb 16, 2011 in the meeting room at the Rio Sands Motel on Aptos Beach Drive. Pirie will not be attending the meeting due to another commitment in Washington DC.

County health officials claim they weren’t legally required to provide notification to neighbors. They had intended to contact residents but just hadn’t gotten around to it.

The County plans to begin moving in patients by the end of March.
One of the residents, Cindy Jewell, said, “It was discovered last week by our neighborhood in Rio Del Mar that an eight-bed mental health crisis respite house is being opened at 218 Claudius Drive in Rio Del Mar. Beds and office equipment have been moved in and there was no advance notification to anyone in the neighborhood or the community of Aptos.”

After contacting Pirie, the neighbors were informed that as this crisis respite house was unlicensed and staffed by peers, no notification or zoning requirements were necessary. Further research into the origin of the $3.5 million 5-year federal grant by the County Mental Health Services Department revealed that this program is still being tested. This will only be the seventh facility initiated in the United States and the only one in the state of California. The County has chosen a location, on a cul-de-sac, with little privacy for the mentally ill staying at this crisis house.

It has been reported that County health officials have signed a 5-year lease in February to rent the 3,000-square-foot with ocean views for $3,900 a month. According to the county health department, the facility is to provide transitional housing for people suffering various forms of mental illness, including severe depression, hallucinations and other issues that impair daily living.

The County Mental Health Department received the federal grant in September to operate and innovative treatment facility for those going through a particularly stressful time to prevent an actual mental health crisis. It is to be a voluntary early intervention on the part of the patient, not an alternative to a hospital commitment.

A one-hour program posted last April ran on Santa Cruz CTV with Yana Jacobs, Program Manager of Adult Mental Health Services, stating they wanted to find a ‘pretty’ location that ‘feels like a respite’ for their clients to enjoy.

The neighbors point out that even though this type of facility may be necessary and the program may prove to be a viable option for the future based on results gained in their community, they claim that this location is not the appropriate place for what the county is trying to achieve with success in really helping the mentally ill.

Residents say that the facility selected should have much more separation from its residential neighbors, access to seven-day per week public transportation, more parking, be closer to community services and the home should be located in a mixed use neighborhood versus an area zoned as single family residential posing a possible security threat to kids and adults and it’s an inappropriate facility for the neighborhood.

Jewell said that over 30 neighbors made contact to Supervisor Ellen Pirie with limited response. However, Pirie finally scheduled a community meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 at the Rio Sands Motel meeting room.

According to Jewell the concerns they would like addressed include:

•Why did the County of Santa Cruz purposely avoid a public hearing or public notice before establishing this crisis respite house?

•With a minimum 320 people going through this home per year, why was their not some sort of Environmental Impact Report (EIR) conducted?

•If this facility is not a residential use and is a medical facility, why was there no notice?

•Why was this house selected?

•Who is responsible if something goes wrong as the staff consists of “peers” and not professionals?

At a time when dollars are being conserved throughout our county, state and federal government, those opposing the facility, “have grave concerns about the cavalier attitude of the county employees that are treating this $3.6 million grant as free money.”

Yana Jacobs said on CTV that there was still uncertainty as to whether or not the crisis respite house needed to be licensed. Ellen Pirie stated that the house is unlicensed but no documentation has been shared with the community demonstrating that it was not necessary even though its paid employees – consisting of management, counselors, data collectors and 24/7 staff – will be ‘peers’ with no medical professionals on site.

According to county health officials it is planned to have patients rotating in and out of the eight-bed respite program every 3-10 days, with approximately 320 patients each year. The program will be staffed and managed by on-site peer counselors, people who have suffered from the same mental conditions.

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The house is on a cul-de-sac where the homes are close enough that neighbors can hear each another from their houses despite the grant specification that the location should be where houses are “not too close” and neighbors won’t “care much about the goings on inside” the facility. The house is not ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliant as specified in the grant. There is no street parking available due to the narrow street, no sidewalks or streetlights. The bus service only runs on weekdays during the daytime hours with no weekend or night services. Additionally, it was reported just last week that local bus services would be reduced by 30 percent due to budget constraints.

However, the house does have a full panoramic view of the Monterey Bay.

Community meeting with county health officials and residents concerning respite group home: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Rio Sands Motel, 116 Aptos Beach Drive, Aptos. Information: 566-2202

Santa Cruz County to open new residential psychiatric center
By Kurtis Alexander
Posted: 09/18/2010 01:30:03 AM PDT

SANTA CRUZ — People who may be suffering a mental health problem will soon have another option for treatment — a 24-hour crisis center to help nip small psychiatric issues before they get out of hand.

The new county-run residential facility, scheduled to open before the end of the year, is being funded by a $3.6 million federal grant and will come with the distinction of being staffed not by hospital employees, but by people who have had and have overcome mental health issues themselves.

“The whole idea is to catch the problem early and ratchet it down before people have to go to the hospital,” said Yana Jacobs, county director of adult mental outpatient services, who has been planning the new center. “The story here is that people with mental illness are taking charge and helping one another.”

This week’s news of five years worth of funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has county health officials scurrying to find a site and staffing for the new center. Officials have not figured out where they want to be located, only that they’d like a centralized site near a bus line.

Plans for the new center come as county health officials reconfigure services for the mentally ill. Last year, Dominican Hospital announced the closing of its longtime psychiatric center, prompting the county to draw up plans for its own 16-bed acute-care psychiatric unit.

The new peer-run center will work in concert with the acute unit, health
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officials say, allowing them to steer people with bigger issues to the acute unit while still providing help for those with lesser problems.

“Our plans depend on us having a whole healthy network of services,” said Leslie Tremaine, county mental health and substance abuse director.

The peer-run center, according to the terms of the federal grant, will accommodate about 225 patients each year, offering care to the public seven days a week, all day for such problems as mood swings and depression. Stays will average eight days.

“People are going to come for respite. They’re coming here for a break,” said Jacobs, who hopes the care will prevent patients from getting more sick and showing the problems that come with more advanced stages of mental illness, like losing a job or home.

Mental health experts estimate one in five people has suffered from a mental health problem at some point in their life.

To inquire about the new center, suggest a site or apply for a job, call 454-4539.

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NPR calls Tea Party supporters racist. President Obama blames racism for large drop in public’s view of his job performance. Has racism become the ultimate put down by liberals/ progressives?

NPR claims Tea Party supporters are racist.

Have you listened to National Public Radio (NPR) in your area? Do you find that NPR is biased towards the left? Seems to be.

Should tax payer money support an organization such as NPR that has a bias for only one side — the liberal/ progressive side — of the political spectrum?

Now it appears that NPR thinks that Tea Party supporters — people who want to shrink the government deficit — are racists.

Who is a racist these days? President Obama has said that he has lost support because of racists.

Could it be that the public increasingly does not support President Obama’s policies and find that the results of his policies leads to unfortunate consequences? Perhaps President Obama’s drop in job approval has nothing to do with the color of President Obama’s skin?

Take Libya for example. Probably most Americans support humanitarian aid for the rebels so that they are not killed by their government. Two countries — France and Portugal — have recognized the rebels as a legitimate government.

Yet President Obama has done nothing as the leader of the free world to support freedom and liberty in Libya. Why? Maybe he will answer that question in a press conference — but don’t hold your breath. Meanwhile, a lot of poor people with dark skin are losing their lives and asking for help from former President Bush — since no help is forthcoming from the first President of the U.S. who is part black.

See the following article:

“The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental Christian,” said NPR’s Ron Schiller to two undercover reporters. “I wouldn’t even call it Christian; it’s this weird evangelical kind of [movement].”

Not knowing he was being videoed, Schiller continued: “The current Republican Party is not really the Republican Party, it’s been hijacked by this group; that is, not just Islamo-phobic but really xenophobic. I mean, basically, they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-American, gun toting—I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist, racist people.” (Click here for transcript and here for video.)

Schiller is being heavily criticized for these comments, as is NPR and elite liberal thinking in general. Schiller, NPR Foundation president and vice president for development (until these comments), is the Left’s latest exhibit in smearing the Tea Party movement as bigots, racists, fascists, Hitler-ites, followers of Attila the Hun, Torquemada, Genghis Khan, or whatever other handy demon.

Yet, what’s telling about Schiller’s comments is their lack of factual basis, an even greater sin from a man whose business, and erstwhile employer, is the reporting of facts. His comments are a PR problem for NPR, furthering the perception that NPR is not about unbiased reporting but primarily about opinion—a leftist opinion camouflaged as objective news.

As evidence for my perspective, I’d like to share some statistical information on the Tea Party movement. This information was widely published and is easily available to anyone, least of all a major news organization like NPR.
In March 2010, Gallup did a comprehensive survey of the Tea Party (click here). Gallup is the most respected polling firm on the planet, and not conservative. The headline Gallup chose to highlight its study speaks for itself, “Tea Partiers Are Fairly Mainstream in Their Demographics.”

That study found that 49 percent of “Tea Party identifiers” are Republicans while 43 percent are independents and 8 percent are Democrats. The majority are not Republicans.

As to Schiller’s strange “evangelical” comment, the study found that a little over a quarter of Tea Partiers describe themselves as “pro-choice” on abortion, suggesting a stronger libertarian presence than a uniform “evangelical” movement. That’s no surprise to anyone who has observed the Tea Party even casually.

The Tea Party movement was inspired by the breathtakingly reckless spending by the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Democratic leadership that took power in 2009. Its issues are far more economic/fiscal than religious/moral. There’s a more discernible Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged” element than a Jerry Falwell “Moral Majority” feel—and Rand was no evangelical.

Generally, Gallup’s survey indeed found that the Tea Party was “fairly mainstream” in its demographics.

At the same time as Gallup’s study, another survey was released, by Rasmussen. Particularly interesting about this survey was that it gauged public opinion—i.e., how others viewed the Tea Party. Overwhelmingly, by 62 percent to 12 percent, Rasmussen found that “Mainstream Americans” judged the Tea Party “closer to their views” than the Democratic Congress. By 68 percent to 16 percent, Americans deemed Tea Party members “better informed” than members of Congress.

This suggests, as a matter of statistical fact, that NPR’s Ron Schiller is the extremist when it comes to Tea Party views. That’s a claim I can make from data—which Schiller never offered.

This information is out there, and has been for a while. I know it because, I, too, work in a field where reporting and analysis must be based on information. Anytime I talk to someone who has been to a Tea Party rally, I ask questions. Before I form or adjust an opinion, I want to hear actual experiences. And beyond anecdotal examples, I’d like some hard data.

How could an NPR person—the pinnacle of the liberal news profession—ignore such information?

The answer is more psychological-political than logical. Many liberals despise the Tea Party movement because of its roots in opposition to Obama-Pelosi-Reid. Really, though, the Tea Party was inadvertently created by liberals—or, at least, by their reckless spending policies in Washington.

Yet, for many Obama supporters, that kind of careful analysis of opponents is jettisoned. They’d rather transmogrify their detractors into devils and gargoyles than try to understand them and perhaps even answer them.

In Ron Schiller’s take on the Tea Party, we have a member of the liberal elite constructing a reality of his own making, one that flies in the face of evidentiary experience, of thoughtful inspection.

Unfortunately, Schiller is far from alone. And isn’t it ironic that he, NPR, his former boss at NPR, Vivian Schiller (no relation), are losing—actually, resigning? They are losing to perceptions of NPR—correct perceptions of NPR’s bias, perceptions that are grounded in reality, in actual examination.

Americans are gathering facts on the folks at NPR, and they don’t like what they’re hearing.

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Imagine a discussion between Dr. Jasser and Rep. Keith Ellison concerning the process whereby Keith Ellison evolved into an Islamic extremist & supporter of the Nation of Islam

King hearings on radicalism of Islamic youth in America had Dr. Jasser as star witness. Currently there are two Muslim Representatives in the house — one of which is a radical Islamist. Does the people in his district know? What kind of conversation might occur betwen this Representative and Dr. Jasser?

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Imagine a forum discussion between Dr. M. Zundi Jasser, star witness for King’s hearings on the radicalization of Islamic youth in America, and Rep. Keith Ellison, supporter of Minister Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam and multiple radical Islamic organizations.

Dr. Jasser thinks that Muslims alone must face and solve the problem of radical Islam. Dr. Jasser wants the separation of church and state. He wants freedom to worship as a Muslim in a nation that promotes freedom of religion and free speech.

Having read the following article about Representative Keith Ellison, one of two Muslim persons in Congress, it appears — assuming it is legitimate — that the process of Islamic radicalization of which Dr. Jasser speaks is personified in Representative Keith Ellison.

If the facts below are correct 1) do the voters know who Representative Keith Ellison really is? And 2) Do they want an Islamic extremeist to represent them?

Read the following article:

“Just who is Representative Keith Ellison (Democrat, MN-05)?

“Is he one of two Muslim Congressmen?

“Is he the heel to Rep. Peter King (R-NY), whose Homeland Security hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims have been smeared as a “witch hunt”?

“Is he the Congressman who—in his best Joseph Welch impression—recounted a tale (of which some are questioning the veracity) of Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old Pakistan-born American who sacrificed his life saving civilians from the 2001 Islamic terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings

Or is he a radical himself, with ties to radical Islam himself?
Yes, yes, yes, and unfortunately, yes.

Our story starts in 1963, when Keith Maurice Ellison was born into a God-fearing, all-American Roman Catholic family in Detroit, Michigan. While attending Wayne State University for an economics degree, Ellison converted to Islam at the age of 19. Ellison later enrolled at the University of Minnesota’s law school.

In an interview with Middle East media outlet Al-Jazeera, he explained that his conversion to Islam was political in nature:I had begun to really look around and ask myself about the social circumstances of the country, issues of justice, issues of change. When I looked at my spiritual life, and I looked at what might inform social change, justice in society… I found Islam.

As a law student, Ellison began to write of his adulation for the “Minister Louis Farrakhan,” and the Nation of Islam. In 1990, Ellison helped arrange racial separatist—and inventor of the anti-Caucasian slur “honkey”—Stokley Carmichael’s speech at Minnesota, on the topic of “Zionism: Imperialism, White Supremacy, or Both?”

Ellison graduated with a Juris Doctorate that same year, going on to work as the executive director of the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis, which specialized in the pro bono defense of “low-income people and people of color.” After that, he took a job with the law firm Hassan & Reed Ltd.

For eight years, Ellison also “forgot” to pay his federal taxes, prompting the IRS to place liens against his house. He also ignored so many parking and speeding tickets issued to him that his driver’s license was suspended, multiple times.

In 1992, Ellison defended Sharif Willis—a previously convicted murderer—charged with helping a group of gangsters calling themselves the “Vice Lords” to kill a local cop named Jerry Haaf. What was Ellison’s argument for Wilis’s innocence? Ellison organized public protests against the Minneapolis police, claiming that the police department was waging “a campaign of slander,” in order to scare white people into having the city hire more police officers.

One year later, Ellison protested outside Willis’ trial, screaming, “we don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace.”

Ellison may have gotten away with his butchering of the English language’s grammatical rules, but his client Willis did not get away with murder. He was sent to federal prison for 20 years, on several counts of gun- and drug-related charges.

Other cop-killers that Ellison has promoted and defended over the years include Mumia Abu Jamal and Assata Shakur.Having failed to free Sharif Willis from the clutches of the white man’s “campaign of slander,” Ellison became involved with the Nation of Islam, promoting Louis Farrakhan’s “Million Man March” and appearing on stage for the “thundering, racist diatribe” stylings of Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

Ellison campaigned on behalf of Malcom X’s daughter, arguing publicly that Qubilah Shabazz was innocent of murder, and that the FBI was trying to kill Farrakhan.

Two years later, Ellison added the surname “Muhammed” to his repertoire, serving as a local Nation of Islam spokesman. During a brief controversy regarding Minnesota Initiative Against Racism official Joanne Jackson’s comment that “Jews are among the most racist white people [she] knew,” Ellison declared that “we stand by the truth contained in the remarks attributed to [Ms. Jackson], and by her right to express her views without sanction.”

Over the years, Ellison has held or appeared at fundraisers and speaking engagements for multiple organizations associated with Islamic extremists, including the Council for American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim American Society, the Islamic Circle of America, the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and so on.

Just as a sampler, it should be noted that the founders of CAIR, Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad, were former officers in the Islamic Association of Palestine, a group linked directly to terrorist group Hamas. Awad is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee; in 1998, Ahmad told a group of California Muslims that:

“Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.”

The Islamic Society of North America has been described as the “one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes into the United States,” “[giving] Islamic militants a platform to incite violence and promote hatred.”

I could go on and on about Keith Ellison’s ties to radical Islam, as his entire history has been one sordid love affair with the hatred and strife that his ideology offers.

Ellison’s crocodile tears over the “young lad” Hamdani belie his true allegiances.

“However, whereas Welch was a tool of the Soviet nation, Crybaby Keith Ellison is a tool of the Nation of Islam. One wonders if, like Welch did after turning on the waterworks for the cameras, Ellison rounded a corner to cheerily ask a friend, “well, how did it go?”

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Trojan Horse of $115 BILLION hidden in ObamaCare already loosed! Ah, Obama is consistent in how he treats the other two branches of govt and the American public. He does what he wants…

Trojan Horse of $115 Billion Hidden in Obama-Care

President Obama is consistent: President Obama does what he wants dispite what the other two branches of government do or the American public wants. Did you know that inside ObamaCare — the crown jewel of Obama’s administration — a Trojan Horse hides?

First some examples of how Obama just does what he wants and keeps on walking and talking with the same smile: remember the oil fiasco in the Gulf? Obama slapped a moratorium on drilling. And when judicial system said the moratorium must be lifted Obama’s administration refused to issue any permits. Even though held in contempt only one permit has been issued. Overall effect? No drilling in the Gulf so far.

Remember when Obama wanted a particular person to run the newly created consumer protection agency and could not get the person accepted by Congress? No problem for Obama — he had the person report directly to him and to Tim Geithner. That was a nice, simple end-run around Congress. That is the person who wants the big banks to eat 20+ BILLION by lowering the value of home mortgages.

Then there was President Obama who made 59 speeches to the American public about ObamaCare. His message: you can keep your doctor, costs will go down and 30 million people can be added to the system. And he and the Democratic Party rammed ObamaCare through.

What you did not know is that ObamaCare contains a Trojan horse. [For those unacquainted with the term it refers to a large hollow wooden figure of a horse (filled with Greek soldiers) left by the Greeks outside Troy during the Trojan War.]

Though the Democrats could not get a budget passed in 2010 they did appropriate 115 BILLION for ObamaCare last year. And that money is already available for bureaucrats to spend.

The Dirty Little Secret About De-Funding Obamacare
Several members of Congress, like Rep. Denny Rehberg (R, MT) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R.-Wash.) are offering amendments that would prevent any new spending from being used to implement Obamacare. Good for them. Those are important additions to the big spending bill pending in Congress.

But here’s the dirty little secret: Much of Obamacare is being implemented with money that was already appropriated last year. These billions are already available for bureaucrats to put Obamacare into force.

Denying additional funding for Obamacare does not de-fund the huge amounts it already is using for implementation. That requires additional action.

Even though the last Congress failed to pass other appropriations bills (creating the need for the currently-pending spending measure), that former Congress DID provide billions to get Obamacare launched. The money was directly appropriated as part of the health care legislation, rather than included in a separate appropriations bill as is the normal practice.

The details are in a Congressional Research Service report issued last October, “Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” CRS devotes seven pages to describing the billions of dollars already appropriated and which the Obama Administration even now is spending to promote that law.
Conservatives agree with the American people that Obamacare should be repealed. Short of outright repeal, leaders from 32 conservative groups in the Conservative Action Project have unitedly stated that the next-best strategy is defunding. As their report states, “The safest route for legislatively combating Obamacare is to defund it. Now that the statute has been declared unconstitutional, Congress should use the power of the purse to deny funding for the individual mandate, employer mandates, and writing the 100s of regulations need to impose Obamacare. Such legislation will not in any way jeopardize the ongoing litigation efforts.”

It’s good that a federal judge has declared Obamacare unconstitutional, but the White House insists it’s going forward anyway. It’s good that the House may cut off any new money to implement Obamacare. But unless Congress deals with the pot of money already provided, we won’t meet the goal of defunding Obamacare.

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Aptos, CA psychologist: Does nature (genes) and nurture (enviornment) account for why lots of Palo Alto, CA and Mountain View, CA students excel? Or do they excel because they have the highest paid teachers in California? Does highest paid teachers = best teachers? Think of Wisconsin where 2 out of 3 students in 8th grade are not proficient in reading although the highest paid in that area of U.S.

DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

Why might the teachers in the Mountain View – Aptos High School district be paid the most in California?

Might it have anything to do with private Stanford University which is located in the heart of Palo Alto, California? Berkeley has CAL but apparently the teachers in Berkeley, California are not as good as those in the Palo Alto-Aptos District since Berkeley, California teachers make less money.

Palo Alto, California is OLD money… not like Berkeley. Mountain View, California is filled with Asians from all over the world. They are attracted to the Silicon Valley and the computer industry in that area.

The Aptos – Mountain View are the best — so they say — and hence are paid the highest wages. What say you?

Just thinking about the teachers that have been on strike in Wisconsin. The teachers in Wisconsin are the highest paid int that region of the U.S. Yet, only 1 in 3 8th grade students in Wisconsin can read proficiently Which means that two out of three (two-thirds) of students in Wisconsin cannot read proficiently — even though they have the highest paid teachers. And Wisconsin teachers/ public sector employees spent 2 weeks of protesting that they be asked to contribute to their health care and retirement.

As a tax payer, what percent of health benefits do Mountain View – Aptos High School teachers pay? And what do they have to pay into their retirement fund? The first day that Jerry Brown was on the job as governor in California he replaced 6-7 persons on the board that permits charter schools. Charter schools in California are competition for the public school system.

Obviously Gov. Brown wants to gut charter schools which means kill competition for the public schools. It appears that Gov. Brown wants the California teacher unions to keep on dong what they have been doing — turning out mediocre students at a high price to the tax payer.

On the other hand, some high schools in California graduate a lot of smart, able to compete anywhere students. Is it because of the public school teachers or is it because of the home life and general environment wherein these high school students live?

Do students in the Palo Alto – Mountain View excel because they have the highest paid California public school teachers? Doubtful. My guess is that nature (genetics) and nurture (family environment) account for more than 75 to 80 percent of why the Palo Alto – Mountain View students excel. New from the Voice, Express

“According to data released by the state Department of Education this month and compiled by the Sacramento Bee, teachers in the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District are the highest paid in the state.“We have the best teachers in the state and they deserve to be paid well,” said Superintendent Barry Groves.

The Bee’s report, which examined districts with more than 100 teachers, said MVLA pays an average of $95,365 a year, with the lowest earning $61,184 and the highest $115,616.“We value our beginning teachers,” Groves said in regards to the starting salary, adding that they are an “investment.”

He said one reason for the high pay scale is that the district attracts and retains experienced teachers.

According to 2008-09 data from Ed Data, a collaborative Web site that analyzes data provided by the state, MVLA teachers averaged 11.2 years of teaching experience and 9.3 years with the district. Twenty-three of the district’s 193 teachers, or about 12 percent, were first or second year teachers.

But when compared to county and state figures, it appears that in terms of teacher experience and longevity with a district, MVLA is only comparable, rather than noticeably higher.

Joe White, associate superintendent of business, said another factor is the cost of living in the area.

“When you put a blanket across the state or various parts of Northern California it makes it look like, ‘Wow there’s a huge difference,'” White said. “But there’s a huge cost of living here.” He added that many employees, including himself, commute from other areas to work in the district.
For Superintendent Groves, the chief issue was teacher quality.

“I believe that MVLA has a cadre of professional, highly qualified teachers in every academic discipline,” Groves wrote in an e-mail. “As we have high standards for achieving tenure in our district, we believe that our teaching staff is second to none. Our students and their families profit by this incredible group of professionals.”

According to the state data, teachers in the Mountain View Whisman School District make an average of $61,147 annually. The lowest pay offered in that district is $44,609, while the highest is $82,315.

In the Los Altos School District, teachers earn between $44,832 and $86,924, with an average salary of $73,569.
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Comments
Posted by Ted, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 3, 2010 at 6:45 pm

The side-by-side comparisons are misleading. You compare the HS district against the elementary districts, suggesting there is some correlation.

MVWSD are among the lowest paid teachers while their administrators are among the higher paid! Compare their salaries to other local elementary salaries.

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Posted by Jess, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 3, 2010 at 7:15 pm

and on top of Ted’s comment…. Los Altos School Disitrict (K-8) is amoung the LOWEST paid in Santa Clara County!

They have one been in the top 10 elementary school districts in the entire state yet they are one of the lowest paying in the county! Doesn’t make sense. Poor teachers (literally)

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Posted by Scot Lee, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 10:32 am

I live in Mt. View but teach High School in San Jose. Based on averages (I’m an eleven year teacher) MVLA High School District teachers are making in excess of 25K more a year than teachers in Eastside Union High School District. I hope we all keep that in mind before pushing another parcel tax for schools down home owners throats/.

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Posted by Neighbor, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 2:31 pm

@Ted – I’m confused. Which is the high school district and which is the elementary school district? (and why are they different?)

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Posted by Anonymous, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 2:43 pm

As a teacher in the Mountain View High School district I must say that the level of professionlism in the district is very high. MVHS is ranked among the top 3% of schools in the entire country and we have a very hard working, dedicated staff. Many teachers are at work before 7am and do not leave until well after 4pm. We come in on the weekends, work on lessons at night, and collaborate during the summer. Compared to many other professionals in other industries we make less money and have to deal with more scrutiny. I am thankful that my salary allows me to live and help to support my family in this community and I only wish that hard working teachers in other districts could be paid what they deserve for committing their lives to such a challenging profession.

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Posted by parent, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 2:50 pm

In response to Jess – “Los Altos School Disitrict (K-8) is amoung the LOWEST paid in Santa Clara County!”

According to the story, LASD’s average is $73,569. The low is $44,832 and the high is $86,924. Whereas, MVWSD’s average is $61,147. The low is $77,609, and the high is $82,315. The number clearly shows LASD’s pay is higher than the MVWSD by over $4,000 on the high end. Let’s stick to the facts.

One of the reason the pay is lower in wealthy districts such as LASD, and Cupertino is because the school demographic is made up of more educated families; thereby, allowing teachers to focus on teaching and not on non-educational related issues. Bottom line is that their work load is less than other districts.

LASD has several parcel taxes which the money goes to providing student related programs.

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Posted by jane, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Teachers by and large are so dedicated and hard-working — I am thankful that there is a district that can pay them close to what they are worth!

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Posted by KD, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 3:26 pm

Salary is only a portion of a teacher’s compensation.

A 65 year old male teacher in California, earning $100,000 a year retires after 30 years service with a (taxpayer guaranteed) pension of $75,000 a year.

Web Link

What is that worth?

Well, at current rates, it costs $1,000,000 to purchase a $75,000 life annuity with survivor benefits (assume he has a 60 year old wife).

Web Link

It would take $1,400,000 (before tax) to build up a $1,000,000 401k nest egg. Over 30 years that’s $46,000 a year (ignoring the impact of present valuing, etc)

Think about it.

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Posted by Bob, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Anonymous:

Wow you guys work from before 7 to after 4!. Isn’t that just a standard 8 hour day? And you collaborate in the summer (when you’re not working!). …hardly matches the work load of professionals in other fields.

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Posted by CHW, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 4:01 pm

Besides good pension, teachers do not work 12 months a year. They get the summer off.

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Posted by Ann, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 8:21 pm

Dear Anonymous – your account of working from 7am to past 4pm, and even during the summer – undermines the veracity of any claim you have tried to put forth about going an extra mile.

The truth is that most folks work 8-hour days, through the summer, and make less than MVLAHS teachers.

I agree with Scot Lee: I am not at all inclined to support another parcel tax.

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Posted by huh?, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 10:50 pm

parent-

the salaries are all over the map and if anything, it looks like the MORE educated the parents, the higher the salary… look at the ‘bachelors + 60’ salary for what appears to be the closest to apples-to-apples comparison. I highly doubt teachers in the Palo Alto ($82k), Menlo City ($82k), Hillsborough ($86k) and Las Lomitas ($101k) districts have a more difficult caseload than San Jose ($71k), San Francisco ($64k), Ravenswood City ($62k), South San Francisco ($62k) and Oakland ($54k) districts. It is unbelievable that Oakland pays half the salary of Las Lomitas for what appears to be the same level of education. I would offer that compared to similar communities up and down the peninsula, the Los Altos Elementary district underpays by quite a bit.

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Posted by huh?, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Feb 4, 2010 at 10:55 pm

I do not doubt for a moment that teachers work long hours (my sister-in-law is a teacher and brings her work home almost every night and often on weekends). I’ll withhold judgement on future parcel taxes until I read the language of the proposal.

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Posted by Anonymous, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 5, 2010 at 7:25 am

In response to the number of hours I wrote before 7-4, I would like to clarify a few things: I said before 7am and well after 4pm. Many days I leave work at 5pm or later, I have only one or two free lunch times a week where I can get some work done, but most of the time I am helping students. This makes for a 9+ hour day almost every single day with no breaks. In addition, I also stated that “we come in on the weekends, work on lessons at night, and collaborate during the summer.” I can’t remember a single weekend during the school year or the summer that I didn’t do lesson planning, grading, collaboration, or some other form of professional growth. Most weekends, I work on Saturday AND Sunday. Most evenings, after dinner, I am lesson planning and grading. Also, many of my colleagues have a second job in the summer or teach summer school to make ends meet… and most of them still can’t afford a house in Mountain View.

Please be respectful of how hard teachers work and don’t think that we just collect a paycheck and lay about in the summertime.

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Posted by Castro Mom, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Feb 6, 2010 at 5:21 pm

I love the teachers at my daughter’s school! They work hard, the principal is available to talk with, even if only for a moment, as she is usually so busy. We have a faculty and staff who seem to do their best to put the students first. These people earn every penny they get!! As for the summers off, I don’t think so!! I know many who work other jobs, and teach summer school–although even that perk for our students has pretty much gone by the wayside. Anyone who thinks a teacher in the MVWSD sits idly by in the summer, is out of touch!!

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Posted by I’m a mom, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Feb 7, 2010 at 9:12 am

Teachers work amazingly hard. Don’t let anyone fool you! They take their work home nightly and worry about their students daily. On the weekends, they are in their classrooms on the weekend. Sitting around in the summer? Most of the teachers need to take classes and workshops and plan for the coming year. Their class sizes are getting bigger and parents are getting much more demanding. Classes are full of children with special needs (thank you no child left behind) and teachers are struggling to teach to the wide range of students who are entering elementary school. The Mountain View and Los Altos School District teachers should be compensated equally to the high school teachers. The elementary school’s are the building blocks for those successful students down the road. It is too bad the Superintendents and School Boards of both those district’s don’t value their teachers like the MVLA high school district. It’s a shame!

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Posted by DCS, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 7, 2010 at 9:20 am

Anonymous:

I worked 15 hour days/weekends/summers in a technical profession and still did not receive this type of compensation. Your compensation is extremely good. Be thanful for what you have.

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Posted by InTheKnow, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Feb 7, 2010 at 3:50 pm

Teachers’ summers are WITHOUT PAY, as are vacations! Teachers may opt to draw their salaries over 10 or 12 months, giving the impression that we are paid during the summer, but we are not. We do not have three months off during the summer; that it a common misconception. We are unpaid when we continue to work in our classrooms at year’s end, and we are unpaid for the days, often weeks, we come in to set up our rooms to make them a pleasing place in which to be. We plan as grade level partners and as individuals. As an elementary school teacher, I typically put in a 60 – 80 hour work week. I spend hundreds of dollars of my own money every year on classroom supplies, materials, and books for my students. Fortunately, I love teaching. But the disparity between the pay between elementary and high school is not right. Nor is our salary adequate.

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Posted by another teacher, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 8, 2010 at 5:17 pm

About the misconceptions I hear everyday regarding teacher’s retirement pensions,…. a large portion of my monthly salary is sent to STRS, and it is not matched by the school district. It’s similar to buying an annuity, and the payout is determined in part by the option I choose (less money in order to provide monthly income to a spouse if I pass on first.) Otherwise my survivor receives a very small final sum. If I outlive the average person, it’s a good deal, but if I die younger, it’s not. That’s the way insurance works. If teachers have good pensions, it’s because they are required to save not because the public is gifting them undeserved largess.

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Posted by Evan, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 9, 2010 at 6:28 am

another teacher:

that’s why you should “spike your salary” right before retiring like past supe and assist supe did in MVWSD! Roll in everything you can (cost of health insurance, travel expences, ect into your final high three).

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Posted by D. Morton, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Feb 9, 2010 at 2:11 pm

I am a father of a first grade teacher in Butte county and I can tell you it is one of the hardest and mentally demanding jobs one can have. Parents expect the teacher not only to teach their children, but to do the things that they as parents should be doing at home, such as discipline, respect for peers and elders, accountabiliy, etc. Teachers also put in extra hours nightly and on weekends preparing lessons and grading papers, etc. Yet even with this, the rewards of being a teacher are enormous, for they are the teachers and mentors of the next generation.

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Posted by Parent at MVHS, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2010 at 5:29 pm

Neighbor asked: “Which is the high school district and which is the elementary school district? (and why are they different?)” School districts in California are not set up like in other places. Where I grew up, each city/town had its own school district; sometimes small towns were combined into one district. Here, the districts were each created separately, at different times over the last century and a half, and the districts overlap. Sometimes you have Unified districts (like Palo Alto, where all the schools in K-12 are one district) but more often you have separate elementary districts and high school districts. For ours, Mountain View Whisman School District(MVWSD) (encompassing most of Mountain View and a handful of Palo Alto addresses) and Los Altos School District (LASD)(encompassing most of Los Altos, part of Mountain View, and a bit of Palo Alto) both feed into the Mountain View Los Altos High School District. Half of the kids in each high school are from MVWSD, half from LASD. Separate district, separate funding, separate administration. This is just “how it is” in California.

Now, about parcel taxes. The High School District has never assesed a parcel tas. Both elementary districts have them, and property owners who live within the respective district’s boundaries pay the parcel tax accordingly, to either LASD or MVWSD. Parcel tax revenues can be used for teacher’s salaries and other programs.

The High School district is placing a BOND measure on the ballot. Bond measures cannot pay for salaries, they pay for facilities improvements. A short way to remember this is Parcel taxes=People, Bonds=Buildings.

From what I can tell, in general teachers’ salaries are commensurate with how much money a school district has. I agree with the earlier poster who demonstrated that the communities with higher-educated parents have higher-paid teachers. More property tax revenue could account for some of this (higher education=higher income=nicer homes and high test scores=higher property values in the district=more property tax revenue), if the districts are basic aid (if you don’t know what “basic aid” is, Google California Education Funding, then prepare to read a lot and still be confused!), but also because parents in those districts are able to support educational foundations and parcel taxes, providing supplemental funding to districts and freeing up funding for salaries.

Mountain View Los Altos High School District is a Basic Aid district, and is relatively well-funded compared to many California School Districts. They are not rolling in dough, and are experiencing cutbacks due to the funding crisis, but to a lesser degree than many other districts. Hence, they have been able to pay their teachers more. I think they are fortunate that they have been able to compensate the teachers so well, at least so far. I will say that I think they have excellent teachers. And, High School Teachers all need specialized teaching credentials rather than general credentials. You do want your Calculus or Physics AP teachers to really know their stuff. So these are people who could probably make more money in industry, but their calling is teaching. I don’t have a problem with how much they are paid. I’m glad we have high caliber instructors preparing our kids for top-notch colleges.

Those who complain that teachers have cushy jobs must not have any friends or family who are teachers. Lots of fun to go on a vacation weekend with one and watch them spend hours correcting homework. Teachers work a lot more hours outside of the school day and calendar.

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Posted by former teacher, a resident of another community, on Nov 11, 2010 at 7:44 am

I have been both a high school teacher and a tech professional.

Which pays more? Tech, by a long shot! Which is more demanding?

Engineering for me requires long hours and often missed vacations, but there was always an ebb and flow to the work, both long term and short term. If I’m not feeling well, or just having a slow morning, it is usually manageable. I spend long hours in the cube, but at least for me, when I go home I leave work at work.

Teaching is brutal in comparison. Teachers are ALWAYS “on”. Not feeling great, or just having a hard time getting going in the morning? Too bad. There are students expecting a creative, energetic, and sharp person to lead their class. And when I went home at the end of the day? Plenty of work came with me. Feeling like you need to miss a day due to illness or family matters? Better think twice, because catching up is really, really tough.

Summer? Nearly every summer I had was spent working an average of 10 to 20 hours a week. I frequently attended week long all day seminars without pay, and was usually overhauling or creating lesson plans throughout. I often was prepping for a new to me course for the next school year. I laughed at the comments containing “3 months off for summer”. It’s not nearly “off”, and mine were much closer to two.

I know there are engineers and other professionals who are “on” throughout the day. I’m just sharing my own experience.

Side thought? Superintendant Groves needs to give more thought to whether his teachers are indeed second to none. Most of them are quite good, but he is still paying top dollar to a significant percentage of clunkers.

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