Teachers Union Flunks 4th Grade Math – in their attacks on Ballot Question 3

Is $2.5 billion really 50% of $12.4 billion?

Is $12.6 billion really less than $11.6 billion?

“Yes,” says the Massachusetts Teachers Union Ads, Fact Sheets, and Spokespersons. (1)

Is $2.5 billion really 50% of $12.4 billion?

Teachers Union writes: Ballot Question 3 to Roll Back the Sales Tax from 6.25% to 3% will “cut state government revenues by $2.5 billion…How much is $2.5 billion? It equals one-half of all state spending for our 1,900 public schools.” (1)

FACT: 2010 Massachusetts spending for public schooling (K-12) is $12.4 billion (2)

Math Test: $2.5 billion is what percentage of $12.4 billion?
Teacher’s Union Answer: 50% – Wrong! Flunk!
Correct Answer: 19%

Is $12.6 billion really less than $11.6 billion?

Teachers Union writes“billions of dollars in spending cuts have already been made during this recession.”

FACT: 2010 Massachusetts spending for public schooling (K-12) is $12.4 billion. 2008 Massachusetts spending for public schooling (K-12) was $11.6 billion.(2)

Math Test: Which number is lower? $12.4 billion in 2010 or $11.6 billion in 2008?

Teacher’s Union Answer: $12.4 billion is lower – after “billions in spending cuts” – Wrong! Flunk!

Correct Answer: $11.6 billion is lower than $12.4.

During this Recession (2008-2010) politicians and the Teachers Unions increased public school spending: $729 million – nearly 3/4 of a billion dollars higher!

The Teachers Union flunks 4^th grade math.

Are you holding them publicly accountable? Will you check their claims – numbers, figures, facts – and call them on their falsehoods? Will you report the true numbers and facts to voters – before Nov. 2nd?

NOTE: Teachers Unions founded and are bankrolling 97% of the $4.5 million in opposition (to date) to Question 3, rolling back the sales tax to 3%.

4 Responses to “Teachers Union Flunks 4th Grade Math – in their attacks on Ballot Question 3”

1. R Mclean says:

   October 25, 2010 at 7:33 am

   Though every community is different, someone should let the public know that PROPERTY TAXES pay for the majority of school funding, not the Sales Tax. To cut the sales tax back will not leave the schools without funding.

2. David Yett says:

   October 25, 2010 at 10:13 am

   I have been fighting this battle for years. I don’t know the details of Mass., haven’t been there since my college days at MIT (certainly not a favorable impression, BTW), but in my home state of Oregon, the public employee unions have essentially enslaved the entire population to their greedy demands (e.g., some public employees have retired with pensions as much as 105% of their last wage!)

   These criminal enterprises have essentially negotiated with themselves–or by using pros to negotiate with completely untrained citizen committees–for wages and “benefits.” They have maintained the fiction that they were deserving to be compensated at least as well (and in fact considerably better than) their “equivalents” in private enterprise. But, of course, they always compare themselves with workers in productive business. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that governmental compensation should be compared with wages and benefits in private, non-profit organizations, where dedicated workers typically work for minimum-wag–or effectively much less–without any “benefits” at all!

   I have a step-daughter who is a schoolteacher in Colorado. She is an avowed Communist, fully-convinced that the productive taxpayers of Colorado owe her Cadillac wages and benefits! Gag me with a spoon!

   It is clear that public employee unions are antithetical to operation of government in the public interest–if indeed such a thing would ever be possible–and should be banned in the public interest. There is absolutely no comparison between a public employee union and an industrial union. Think about it!

3. Art O. says:

   October 25, 2010 at 10:14 am

   “It equals one-half of all state spending for our 1,900 public schools.” sounds like the school’s budget will be cut in half. Your correction of their math sounds like their budget will be cut by 19%. That’s not true, is it?

4. Kal Skirata says:

   October 30, 2010 at 12:58 pm

   David what did you do for a living. unless you were a cop, fire fighter, emt, or some other job of that sort i doubt you made as substantial contribution to society as you step-daughter has. that’s the difference…productive tax payer????teaching is unproductive then…my Music Ed Major GF would be very interested to hear that you think her job choice is a waste of money and time, glad to hear you think that teachers are payed to much…most people i know would disagree with you and think that maybe ceos, and others who do little to REALLY contribute to our future should be paid less and teachers paid more…