Bake Sale!
I have an idea and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. But, with 
all this talk of dropping the fourth grade music program and cutting this and that and teacher pink slips, etc. it hurled me into a problem solver mood. I won’t bother to elaborate on the importance of music as part of one’s early education because only a daft and cultureless merry Andrew would benefit from such redundancy and surely none of the Post readers fall into that category. So, to the point: A bake sale! That’s right, The PUSD Administrative Bake Sale! Rather than cut anymore programs or send out the usual distress call to Piedmont’s altruistic parent volunteers for fundraising to save the threatened programs, let’s help the six figure fellas of PUSD organize a bake sale to make up for their very own salary cuts. Ya’ see, by shaving just a titch off those top five or six salaries we could put that money back into the classrooms. Naturally, it wouldn’t be fair or decent to leave the Admin. team stranded in the five-figure range, so we’d have to help them. No worries there because if anyone knows how to raise funds it’s the parents of Piedmont. But, if I may digress for just a moment, does no one find it odd that for the past three years people all over the world have taken salary cuts just to keep their jobs? Is there anyone, even here in Piedmont, who hasn’t tightened their belt or made adjustments to their lifestyle in response to a collapsed economy? Most of us have, haven’t we? Why are the children of our community expected to rely on bake sales and other fundraisers to get an education when six figure salaries abound at the top? And, why are teachers plagued with uncertainty waiting for the next round of pink slips? Has no one in the district heard of re-structuring? Or, are they just confident, pure and simple, that parents will “write another check?” Why in the world would we take things away from the kids before eliminating the excess at the top?!? This isn’t Walll Street or Washington, for Pete’s sake! This is a small town and as taxpayers we should be able to have a little more influence and exert a little more pressure to ensure that our K-12 crowd is being properly served. O.K., back to my idea...so, let’s cut a third or so from those five or six administrative salaries and they can then do what parents are so often expected to do… make up the difference. Yep…it’s time for a bake sale! Be strong Administrators, because you’re gonna have to market the heck outta this thing and you’ll have to start planning now for next year. Oh, I know, it’ll be lotsa hard work for very little return which is why you’ll have to do several of them throughout the year. Let’s see, if we cut a third from each salary that’s about $35,000 each, give or take a few. So, yep…you better get right to it because at 75 cents a piece, that’s over 46,000 brownies you’ll have to sell. Each! Good Lord, that’s a lot of brownies and my heart goes out to you, really it does. But, times are tough and we have to make cuts somewhere and since historically the kids have had to bear the brunt, it’s the only fair and decent thing to do. Because to sit back with those salaries, in this economy, and make a conscious decision to toss the kids out of the life raft so a few administrators can stay warm and dry would be abhorrent. Don’t worry, Administrative Team, the parents of Piedmont will be there every step of the way to offer you moral support and guidance. You can do it! Now, dust off your recipes and put on those aprons…you folks have some baking to do!!
all this talk of dropping the fourth grade music program and cutting this and that and teacher pink slips, etc. it hurled me into a problem solver mood. I won’t bother to elaborate on the importance of music as part of one’s early education because only a daft and cultureless merry Andrew would benefit from such redundancy and surely none of the Post readers fall into that category. So, to the point: A bake sale! That’s right, The PUSD Administrative Bake Sale! Rather than cut anymore programs or send out the usual distress call to Piedmont’s altruistic parent volunteers for fundraising to save the threatened programs, let’s help the six figure fellas of PUSD organize a bake sale to make up for their very own salary cuts. Ya’ see, by shaving just a titch off those top five or six salaries we could put that money back into the classrooms. Naturally, it wouldn’t be fair or decent to leave the Admin. team stranded in the five-figure range, so we’d have to help them. No worries there because if anyone knows how to raise funds it’s the parents of Piedmont. But, if I may digress for just a moment, does no one find it odd that for the past three years people all over the world have taken salary cuts just to keep their jobs? Is there anyone, even here in Piedmont, who hasn’t tightened their belt or made adjustments to their lifestyle in response to a collapsed economy? Most of us have, haven’t we? Why are the children of our community expected to rely on bake sales and other fundraisers to get an education when six figure salaries abound at the top? And, why are teachers plagued with uncertainty waiting for the next round of pink slips? Has no one in the district heard of re-structuring? Or, are they just confident, pure and simple, that parents will “write another check?” Why in the world would we take things away from the kids before eliminating the excess at the top?!? This isn’t Walll Street or Washington, for Pete’s sake! This is a small town and as taxpayers we should be able to have a little more influence and exert a little more pressure to ensure that our K-12 crowd is being properly served. O.K., back to my idea...so, let’s cut a third or so from those five or six administrative salaries and they can then do what parents are so often expected to do… make up the difference. Yep…it’s time for a bake sale! Be strong Administrators, because you’re gonna have to market the heck outta this thing and you’ll have to start planning now for next year. Oh, I know, it’ll be lotsa hard work for very little return which is why you’ll have to do several of them throughout the year. Let’s see, if we cut a third from each salary that’s about $35,000 each, give or take a few. So, yep…you better get right to it because at 75 cents a piece, that’s over 46,000 brownies you’ll have to sell. Each! Good Lord, that’s a lot of brownies and my heart goes out to you, really it does. But, times are tough and we have to make cuts somewhere and since historically the kids have had to bear the brunt, it’s the only fair and decent thing to do. Because to sit back with those salaries, in this economy, and make a conscious decision to toss the kids out of the life raft so a few administrators can stay warm and dry would be abhorrent. Don’t worry, Administrative Team, the parents of Piedmont will be there every step of the way to offer you moral support and guidance. You can do it! Now, dust off your recipes and put on those aprons…you folks have some baking to do!!
