Government and the people
This is the kind of stuff that gives government a bad name:
A member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, Gonzalez-Shaw said, “Our contract guarantees modest wage increases of between 8 and 15 cents for employees like teachers, teacher’s assistants and bus drivers, many of whom earn between $6 and $8 per hour.
“To date, PCI has refused to honor these modest pay increases, arguing that Head Start regulations prevent them from paying ’significantly higher than the average wage.’ “
Interesting. An agency that refuses to reduce the above-average-market salaries of administrators refuses to grant an 8-cent raise for low-level employees.
If this was happening in some of the stronger union states, there probably wouldn’t be much anyone could do about. It would be perfect fodder for complaints about not being able to change anything because of bureaucrats.
However, for better or worst, we don’t live in one of those states and the people who run PCI should be held accountable. There is nothing to prevent the city council from finding a better provider.
And now on a rather tangential note, I would like to point out that I don’t always agree with Ken Rodriguez, the columnist who has been publicizing this story. But that doesn’t mean I think he lacks any redeemable qualities or is evil incarnate. Yet listening to Clinton and Obama supporters go at each other, you would think the two candidates were from different parties, like maybe the Communist and Nazi.
Supporters of one claim that there is no way they can support the other should he or she be the Democratic candidate in the general election. And more than likely, they can’t tell you why.
Let’s face it folks, once either gets into office, the policies won’t look a whole different from each other. Each has their own set of warts and blemishes. Neither is “unqualified” in terms of ideology or experience. If you can’t even articulate specifics as to why you couldn’t possible vote for the other candidate over John McCain, your threat to take your vote else where appears to be little more than sour grapes.
Get over it. I support Obama (for now–I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me why he can’t beat McCain) but I can certainly vote for Clinton if necessary. If we can’t take the time to objectively look at our candidates and issues and compromise as necessary, then what can we expect from our president?
Technorati Tags: Ken Rodriguez, Head Start, PCI, Sharon Small
Filed under: Head Start, Ken Rodriguez, PCI, Sharon Small
