Reply #173: Why are so many people who just want a reasonable salary?

[AnArmyVeteran]

Teachers are not very well paid considering what they have to endure. In Texas, the average teacher takes $1,000 out of their pockets just to get the things needed to teach. And they aren't reimbursed. When my wife was a teacher under Bush there were teacher shortages of 45,000 because Bush destroyed the educational system in Texas. While campaigning for governor he promised to eliminate the top-down TEA, Texas Education Agency. But instead, Bush lied and stacked it with anti-teacher business cronies.

Because of the horrible morale caused by Bush's top down education system and forcing teachers to just teach the answers to the state mandated TAAS test 50% of Texas teachers said they wanted to leave teaching within 3 years. Bush didn't give a damn. He was against teachers. During that same period I ran for school board. I live in a very, very conservative area, but the school administration spent millions on a new administration building that was not needed and only stoked the egos of the superintendent and other members of his administration. Everyone's taxes went up. So I ran against the incumbent republican and lost. I was going to tighten the belt of the administration and GIVE TEACHERS A VOICE. But the dumb right wing rednecks just vote republican no matter what. During the campaign I kept getting asked, "Do you favor public prayer in school?" I said I have prayed more in schools during my life than anywhere else. I got a few laughs, but I refused to tell them what they wanted to hear. They wanted me to say I was for FORCED PRAYER in school. It didn't occur to them that if the area became primarily Hindu or Muslim then their children would be forced to pray the prayers of the majority religion. But right wingers NEVER think things through.

Consequently, I lost for that reason and because I limited the amount I spent on the campaign to $500. I made my own signs and used my own money. But my opponent was an insider, a conservative (who supported spending millions on an unneeded administration building), and he worked for a company that was part owner of the bank where the school district kept its money (a huge conflict of interest!). In all district business that involved money his judgement would be tainted or corrupted because he had direct ties and a financial stake in the bank his company owned.

Oh well, most people just count yard signs and vote for the person with the most signs. So even though I made all my signs by hand using my own money, I lost to a guy who was for sale. And conservatives around me are still complaining because now they closed down a perfectly good school to build another one.

Has anyone noticed that local conservatives are not conservative at all? They yell and scream about higher income taxes (even when it applies only to the super rich, but they say nothing about conservatives raising state taxes, fees, licenses and every other way they can gouge the poor and middle class. Why aren't democratic leaders pointing out how hypocritical conservatives are on the state and local levels?