Stan Geiger

Crisis? What Crisis?

I rarely watch KTUL at 4:30, but I thought I would see if the station was going to make any mention of ABC's findings about "stimulus" money going to congressional districts that don't exist. And what was the lead story I encountered? It was a report that said Tulsa Public Schools teachers just got a raise. That's right, a raise!

The report said there are 3,100 teachers on the payroll, and they are getting raises of $400-$500. If you do the math, the raises just issued will cost between $1.24 million and $1.55 million per year---excluding the ancillary costs associated with higher payroll.

Just last night, it was announced TPS will do away with paid substitutes for the rest of the year. There was talk of furloughs and layoffs and not being able to afford supplies. It's a budget crisis of enormous proportions, educators say. Yet, somehow, miraculously, the very day after Chicken Little's rant, teachers were given pay raises.

Un-freakin'-believable.

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