Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Can You Afford to Retire?

Retirement is something that most people perceive to happen around the age of 65 but there has been a new trend emerging as a result of the economy and people living longer.  Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies reports that 39% of people said they will work past 70! People are saying that they can't afford to retire at 65 because their retirement and social security is not enough to live on. Another 54% said they would work until at least age 69. These are things that we must think about and plan for. We sometimes take these things for granted if we are already in a comfortable position financially. Are you planning for retirement? Do you have a backup plan?
 Your Health is your Wealth. Staying healthy should be part of your plan as to maintain your longevity to work if you had to and to decrease the amount of medical bill debt with no workable income coming in. Also create alternative income streams not just your job and savings. Wealthy people(46%) with 3 million in investment assets  said they will continue to work in retirement! These are people with millions so what happens to the average working person who does not have that. We have to "read the tea leaves" and plan accordingly. Out of those with the 3 million in assets only 49% of them said they would leave an inheritance to their children. Some feel you will need at least $250,000 in retirement savings to survive after retirement. Can you afford to Retire?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

No Teacher Left Behind

Job security was never a problem when it came to the teaching profession but in 2011 the security is not there. There has been a decrease in job security in the teaching profession due to misinterpretation of the No Child Left Behind Act, flaws and inconsistencies of that Act, budget shortfalls, etc. This has not only caused Teachers to be unstable in keeping there job but the most damaging effect is on the student who suffers from inconsistency in the classroom coupled with now overcrowding.
Let us examine some of the facets of this problem. For example, there is a formula that was used in Baltimore City Public Schools to save money by decreasing the payroll. This plan was veiled as if it was a recommendation coming from the No Child Left Behind Act. The district would say that the teachers were under performing  or did not have credentials. They would create a solution which was to import teachers in from the Philippines and pay them less. Now this created a situation in which the students were in classroom with teachers who could barely speak the language and had absolutely no classroom management skills which lead to massive classroom disruption. This equal no learning. Some of these teachers would quit under the pressure of the disruptive student. Now the district would put a long term sub in that position for the remainder of the school year thus saving even more money. The result of the student is that they did not effectively learn due to the inconsistency and the incompetency.
Another formula that is being widely used is just to hire long term subs from the beginning. For example, if there is a teacher who has been teaching 12 years and apply to work in a new system, they will not get paid at their current step. There has been a salary cap placed on new hires in systems all across the country. They would only pay up to 5 years on the salary scale although you have worked for 12 years. This means that you have now taken a pay cut. A principal told me that they could hire 2 first year teachers for the price of i veteran teacher. They then went on to say they could just hire 4 long term subs for the price of 1 veteran teacher! They would save money because there would be no benefit package for the subs and they would not get paid for the holidays. This makes the principals look good to the district officials for saving money in the budget. In some cases the principals feel that they have to do this to save their own job. All of this once again has damaging effects on our students and this spills over into our larger society. There are real dedicated teachers ho are being left behind due to these formulas of saving money. This problem must be exposed and addressed to prevent the further dismantling of our education system.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Loss and Return Of Civil Liberties

In the U.S. Constitution citizens are granted certain rights and civil liberties especially when it comes to movement at home and abroad. We also had rights of privacy through our communication but all of that came to an end on 9/11/01. The implementation of the Patriot Act allowed for people to be held without due cause but rather suspicion. You could simply be accused of being a terrorist or connected to one and you could be detained for years without any contact or phone call to family members. There were multiple ethnic groups with similar religious backgrounds and skin color now lumped together and stereotyped which made them targets of public scrutiny, humiliation, and some times violence. People who are from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, etc...were now facing scrutiny and suspicion from other American citizens. I say other because these too are American citizens and most of whom were born in America. African Americans in this country should be familiar with how that scrutiny feels. This unfair treatment was driven by fear and had serious consequences on daily life for Americans.

Air travel had changed for the worst as it related to time for travel due to heightened security. Passports are now need for travel from the U.S to places such as Jamaica, Mexico , and Canada when before all you needed was a birth certificate. People began to feel violated by the intrusive nature of the search process at the airport from aggressive groping to full body x-rays. Citizens were no longer living with the civil liberties granted to us by the U.S. Constitution. Although this was happening it was a slow process that some did not recognized because they co-signed to this because of fear and probably rightfully so. This leads us to now the recovery of these rights and liberties due to the U.S. success in killing Osama Bin Laden.

 This was a great day for the families and the world. President Obama did a great job and displayed great ingenuity and execution to accomplish this task. Where does this leaves us with getting some of these rights back? Should travel be eased as far as the security measures? Should the Patriot Act be revised, amended, or abolished? Should we remain in the same state of paralysis as far as movement about the country and abroad? Are we going to obtain our original rights and civil liberties? Should we?