Remember, it's the shareholders that pay these fines. And no one in the bank corporation is held accountable.

Even worse, they got bonuses for their behaviour.

"Private vendors will provide drivers with small digital devices to track miles"

My car doesn't have a 12V outlet, you insensitive clod (and if it did, the polaritity would be reversed) -- car built in '57, with positive ground wiring.

These two are done. They're not going to work as cops ever again.

They may not work for a police department again, but there are probably many places where they can be hired as a sherriff's deputy. Even working as a police officer isn't beyond the realm of possiblity -- none of them was fired.

I wonder if the initial model for long-distance trucks will be trucks that runs 24 hours per day, while an attendant rides the truck for the few remaining manual task. Heck, you could have an outsourced programmer working 2 jobs at the same time: programming and baby-sitting the truck!. Increasing the number of hours per day that the truck runs is a significant increase in productivity.

Just like postal voting, Internet voting is a bad idea.

In a family group, you simply don't know who is really voting. Yes, the correct person may be marking the postal ballot, or clicking the votes, but a dominant family member can be looking over the voter's shoulder, making sure the vote corresponds to the dominant family member's preferences.

One would also need to admit that the US spends more per pupil than all but a small handful of countries

... and then compare the cost of living between those countries. Also (as you acknowledge), spending per pupil isn't the same as teacher salaries. Perhaps the overhead involved at the district, county and state levels needs to be looked at very carefully. Ask yourself, where are the nicest premises that any school district has? Probably it's the district offices.

Well which is it? Either you can hire other company's employees or you can't.

I hate to break it to you, but, in the USA, different states have different laws. In this case, the legality of non-compete agreements is different between CA and MA.

(sees parent modded up to 5, thinks: mods, you are idiots!)

There are lots of young unemployed people with education degrees, looking for an opportunity to teach.

Bullsh*t. Show me some reliable numbers. And not just of people who want to be teachers, but people who are qualified.

At least, here in California, to be a qualified teacher, you need a "Credential" in addition to a bachelor's degree, not an "education degree". From the experience of family members, I can tell you that there is no large pool of *good*, qualified teachers available.

You, like others, want to claim that there are good teachers available because you don't want to deal with the alternative -- admitting that teachers are underpaid.

Yes, but if you get rid of tenure first you can start increasing teacher pay for the BEST teachers instead of the ones who have been there the longest.

If you get rid of tenure, then you start firing teachers, how are you going to replace them? Do you imagine that there is a large pool of excellent and qualified teachers just waiting for the opportunity of a teaching job? You need to attract better people into the profession and for that, you need higher pay.

Can't or wont really address anything I said

Exaggeration much? What about my comment about teacher pay?

When you toss in the value of their benefits, many are incredibly well paid. Want them to have more pay? Have them pay for some of their health insurance. Have them contribute to their own pensions.

I can't comment about other states, but in California, teachers do contribute to heath insurance, teachers contribute a lot to their own pensions. A new teacher in California has a bachelor's degree, plus half the credits that would be required for a Master's, yet cannot afford to rent an apartment without sharing and run a car. In what other profession is this true?

The rest of your comments amount to victim blaming ("then they shouldn't have kids"). As for your comment about it not being so bad in the past: 1. Wasn't it? Do you have any stats on that? and 2: Could this be related to increasing wealth disparity? Perhaps those parents did not have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to put food on the table.

Alot of it is based on union tenure in many districts.

To get rid of tenure, teacher pay would need to be increased.

...there was less..
Alot

Apparently you did not benefit from education as much as you think you did...

Umm, sorry to disturb your "conservatives are evil" rant, but then how do you explain the epically failing schools of many american inner cities? Cities that have been run top to bottom, city council to school district by liberals.

Explaining that is so simple:
1. Parents either don't have the skills or the time to assist their kids in succeeding.
2. Less resources in inner-city schools.
3. Poor attitudes towards learning amongst the kids (see item 1).
4. Poor teachers: Because teachers in these inner-city areas do not get paid more than their colleagues in good districts, only the worst teachers will teach there. Also, as a teacher, where pay is determined by test results, would you work in an area where the dice are stacked against you (see items 1, 2 and 3 above)?

However, this is not a "throw money at" sort of problem.

Actually, it is. Want better teachers? Increase pay and better teachers will enter the profession.

"On call" means she's always on the clock and therefore has a billing claim against her employers. At least, that's how it theoretically works in England (RCN V London NHS,

Most likely, she is an "exempt" employee. In this context, "exempt" means that a lot of employee protections don't apply. Specifically, exempt employees normally don't have specific hours of work, so the employer can claim that they are paying her for 24/7 work.

back when middle class meant being a butcher, policeman or other lower skilled worker or tradesman.

Middle class never meant that. It's only modern usage that has extended the usage of the term towards working-class families.