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posted by martyb on Monday April 16 2018, @01:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the going-nationwide dept.

Common Dreams reports

Colorado's teachers' union expects more than 400 teachers at a rally that's planned for Monday at the state's Capitol in Denver.

[...] Englewood School District, outside the capital city, announced on Sunday that schools would be closed the following day as 70 percent of its teachers had indicated they wouldn't be working Monday. It was unclear on Sunday whether more school districts would be closing.

"We are calling Monday, April 16th a day of action", Kerrie Dallman, president of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), told KDVR in Denver.

[...] According to[1] KMGH in Denver, "The CEA estimates that teachers spend on average $656 of their own money for school supplies for students." The state's teacher salaries rank 46th out of 50, with educators making an average of $46,000 per year.

Public schools are underfunded by $828 million this year, Dallman told the Post, and lawmakers have said they could inject at least $100 million more into schools--but they have yet to do so.

[...] The planned protest follows a trend that was seen in West Virginia and Kentucky before moving west this month to Oklahoma and Arizona as well as Colorado. In all the states where teachers have walked out and rallied at their Capitols, teachers have reported paying for school supplies out of pocket, working second and third jobs to make ends meet, and coping with funding shortages while their legislators hand out tax cuts to corporations.

[1] For a laugh (or perhaps a deep sigh), check out all the whitespace in the source code of the page.


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @02:11PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @02:11PM (#667630)

    If housing costs so much, then clearly the problem is that pay is not enough. Our money is basically funny money and backed by nothing scarce. It shouldn't be a surprise that housing costs more dollars. Dollars aren't worth what they used to be. Don't be distracted by the fact that things like electronics have become extremely cheap. Compared to housing, the price of everything keeps going down.

    The real question to ask is where all this money comes from to continuously fight wars. Why do we have money for meddling in the affairs of other countries? Why don't we have money to pay people enough that they can afford housing?

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @02:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @02:16PM (#667631)

    No, what you're missing is that the rise in the cost of housing has outpaced most other things, especially food, another extremely essential item, and also transportation (cars and gas are more expensive than 30 years ago, but not nearly as much more as housing).

    This is a regulatory problem. It's too easy for speculators and foreign investors to buy up real estate here and drive up the cost of house, and also, local governments are doing a poor job in encouraging better land use (like by having older housing in urban areas replaced by denser housing like high-rise condos). This last one is especially evident in the SanFran area, but it exists almost everywhere I'm sure.