Speak Out 11/10/04

Teacher's pay

YES, A beginning teacher has low pay. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in education in 1990. That degree cost me about $20,000. My starting pay was $18,000. In 1996 I earned a master's while working a full-time teaching job at a cost of approximately $25,000. I was making about $27,000 a year. I am working on a specialist degree at a cost of about $450 per class, if I include books. It takes about 12 classes to obtain the degree. I am making $35,000 a year. Remember also that I don't work in the summer, but neither do I get paid. I can get a part time-job, but I'm usually in school or working to have things prepared for the next school year. I spend a lot of money o n my students during the school year.

Unsafe voter parking

WHEN I went to a local church to vote, I found the parking lot full of mud because it was badly in need of gravel. The only parking places not muddy were the handicapped spaces that appeared to have a fresh layer of gravel. These spaces were taken by voters trying to avoid getting stuck or falling. Several people were sliding or jumping through the mud. Why doesn't the county inspect these locations and require changes be made or find new locations?

Doesn't always work

I AM a devout Catholic and have two beautiful children, both of whom were conceived while I was practicing natural birth control. Everybody is not the same, and some people cannot rely on that method. It is not just as effective as medical birth control. I am living proof of that, along with many others.

Feel-good religion

THIS PASSAGE from a C.S. Lewis essay is a response to the countless Speak Out comments and letters from Christians who seem to think they have all the answers: "How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshiping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound's worth of Pride towards their fellowmen. I suppose it was of those people Christ was thinking when He said that some would preach about Him and cast out devils in His name, only to be told at the end of the world that He had never known them. And any of us may at any moment be in this death-trap. Luckily, we have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good -- above all, that we are better than someone else -- I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil."

Still on the road

DO YOU remember when people used to praise the United States? You'd hear things like "USA all the way" and "Buy U.S." Now it seems that everybody says how much better Japanese and German cars are then our American cars. After working on all of them for a living, I don't find this to be true. How many Japanese or German cars do you see around after 60 years or more? I think that's one way to show that we have always built a quality car in this country.

Tax illustration

THIS ILLUSTRATION will give people a better understanding of our current tax system: 100 people each representing 1 percent of our population go to a buffet dinner. The total bill is $1,000, or an average of $10 each. The richest guy , who makes more than $300,000, gets his check, and his bill is $330. He pays the bill and leaves a nice tip. The next richest 19 people, those making $86,000 to $300,000, get their checks. The total of the checks is $470 or about $25 each. Most leave a nice tip. The next 36 people are the middle class. The total of their checks is $200 or about $5.50 each. Some leave a small tip. The next 44 people are the low-income or no-income people. Nine of these people got appetizers that no one else got in addition to the buffet. Their checks all say free. This is exactly how our tax system works. Who is really not paying his fair share? By the way, the tips were like gifts to charity. The appetizers are like welfare.