Hanline is not hurting in his contract
Editor, Ceres Courier,
Walt Hanline, the superintendent of Ceres Unified, is selling the students, parents, and the entire community of Ceres short. He pretends everything he does is what is best for kids and the community, while those selfish teachers "don't know how good they got it." How dare the teachers want a fair and equitable contract.
Let's see how tough Hanline has it during this financial crises: He gets a $650 per month car allowance, a $350 a month expense account, one extra week of paid vacation (for a total of eight weeks), one less week of work, reimbursement for incidental expense, $21,000 retirement contribution on top of his $189,000 salary, in which he received a $3,000 raise this year. Now, that's what's best for kids? Now, that's having it rough?
All of this comes at the expense of Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. Meanwhile, the morale among teachers is the lowest it has ever been. Walt Hanline is doing irreparable damage to the hard-working community and teachers of Ceres.
Kristina Acosta
* * * * * * *
Teachers feel 8.5 percent cut is not fair given chiefs' perks
Editor, Ceres Courier,
I am writing in response to all of the one-sided and biased articles and letters that have been printed in the past weeks bashing Ceres teachers. Everyone needs to know what is really going on in Ceres. It is not about our children (as the administration claims), it is about a superintendent who was brought to Ceres Unified for one reason, and one reason only, as a union buster. As a taxpaying member of this community with several close family and friends who are teachers, it is about time someone starts setting the record straight and standing up for our educators.
Yes, the Ceres Unified Teachers Association has refused the district's one and only solution for fixing the current budget crisis. The teachers in Ceres understand that the school district, like the rest of the country and the state, is facing budget problems and they are more than willing to make their fair share of sacrifices. They know, and accept, that there will be a pay cut. However, they feel the 8.5 percent permanent pay cut proposed by the district is not fair.
I know several of these teachers and they are willing to sacrifice, and in fact they do for students. Did you know that the Ceres teachers have given up their COLA (cost of living allowance from the state) for the past three years to help with the budget woes? All while the top administrators continued, and still continue, to get raises. Did you know that last year the teachers in Ceres gave up one percent of their pay already to ease the budget crisis? So the 8.5 percent cut would really be closer to a 10 percent cut for teachers. I know several teachers who are now paying thousands - not hundreds any more - of dollars out of their own pockets each year for classroom supplies, because their classroom budgets keep getting slashed. All the while the Ceres School Board has spared no expense on its administrators; of which there is a huge surplus. Now in Ceres there is one administrator for every eight teachers.
Ceres now has the highest administrator to teacher ratio in the area. Did you know the superintendent continues to receive raises in our current state of financial crisis now bringing his earnings to more than $189,000? Also he and the other administrators continue to receive monthly car allowances, expense accounts, business trips and other perks - all paid for by us, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. If Ceres claims, "they want the cuts as far away from the students as possible" this should mean re-examining the number of administrators and getting rid of their lucrative compensation packages.
As taxpayers, we need to educate ourselves with the facts, and as parents we need to stand up for our children's educators. Come on all of you people out there who have friends and family members who are teachers. All of you who get dragged in on weekends, and summer vacations to help in their classrooms, all of you who see them grading papers late at night in front of the TV, we need to stand up and fight with our teachers.
Cindy Heald,
Turlock
* * * * * * *
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY
Letters to the editor will be considered for publication but must be signed with the author's name, address and telephone number. Letters should contain 250 words or less and be void of libelous statements. Letters may be sent to The Ceres Courier, P.O. Box 7, Ceres, CA 95307, or emailed to jeffb@cerescourier.com
Editor, Ceres Courier,
Walt Hanline, the superintendent of Ceres Unified, is selling the students, parents, and the entire community of Ceres short. He pretends everything he does is what is best for kids and the community, while those selfish teachers "don't know how good they got it." How dare the teachers want a fair and equitable contract.
Let's see how tough Hanline has it during this financial crises: He gets a $650 per month car allowance, a $350 a month expense account, one extra week of paid vacation (for a total of eight weeks), one less week of work, reimbursement for incidental expense, $21,000 retirement contribution on top of his $189,000 salary, in which he received a $3,000 raise this year. Now, that's what's best for kids? Now, that's having it rough?
All of this comes at the expense of Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. Meanwhile, the morale among teachers is the lowest it has ever been. Walt Hanline is doing irreparable damage to the hard-working community and teachers of Ceres.
Kristina Acosta
* * * * * * *
Teachers feel 8.5 percent cut is not fair given chiefs' perks
Editor, Ceres Courier,
I am writing in response to all of the one-sided and biased articles and letters that have been printed in the past weeks bashing Ceres teachers. Everyone needs to know what is really going on in Ceres. It is not about our children (as the administration claims), it is about a superintendent who was brought to Ceres Unified for one reason, and one reason only, as a union buster. As a taxpaying member of this community with several close family and friends who are teachers, it is about time someone starts setting the record straight and standing up for our educators.
Yes, the Ceres Unified Teachers Association has refused the district's one and only solution for fixing the current budget crisis. The teachers in Ceres understand that the school district, like the rest of the country and the state, is facing budget problems and they are more than willing to make their fair share of sacrifices. They know, and accept, that there will be a pay cut. However, they feel the 8.5 percent permanent pay cut proposed by the district is not fair.
I know several of these teachers and they are willing to sacrifice, and in fact they do for students. Did you know that the Ceres teachers have given up their COLA (cost of living allowance from the state) for the past three years to help with the budget woes? All while the top administrators continued, and still continue, to get raises. Did you know that last year the teachers in Ceres gave up one percent of their pay already to ease the budget crisis? So the 8.5 percent cut would really be closer to a 10 percent cut for teachers. I know several teachers who are now paying thousands - not hundreds any more - of dollars out of their own pockets each year for classroom supplies, because their classroom budgets keep getting slashed. All the while the Ceres School Board has spared no expense on its administrators; of which there is a huge surplus. Now in Ceres there is one administrator for every eight teachers.
Ceres now has the highest administrator to teacher ratio in the area. Did you know the superintendent continues to receive raises in our current state of financial crisis now bringing his earnings to more than $189,000? Also he and the other administrators continue to receive monthly car allowances, expense accounts, business trips and other perks - all paid for by us, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. If Ceres claims, "they want the cuts as far away from the students as possible" this should mean re-examining the number of administrators and getting rid of their lucrative compensation packages.
As taxpayers, we need to educate ourselves with the facts, and as parents we need to stand up for our children's educators. Come on all of you people out there who have friends and family members who are teachers. All of you who get dragged in on weekends, and summer vacations to help in their classrooms, all of you who see them grading papers late at night in front of the TV, we need to stand up and fight with our teachers.
Cindy Heald,
Turlock
* * * * * * *
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY
Letters to the editor will be considered for publication but must be signed with the author's name, address and telephone number. Letters should contain 250 words or less and be void of libelous statements. Letters may be sent to The Ceres Courier, P.O. Box 7, Ceres, CA 95307, or emailed to jeffb@cerescourier.com
