How Conservatives Would Reform Education

The biggest obstacle to education reform is the existence of teachers unions. Unions act to protect the interests of teachers at any cost, even at the expense of students. Unions often work to minimize teacher accountability, protect low-quality teachers, and support the unsustainable expansion of retirement and health benefits. Labor unions once played a crucial role in ensuring fairness in the workplace. Unions were initially formed to protect workers against brutal employers who abused laborers, refused adequate breaks and time off, and did not ensure safe working conditions. Labor unions were never really intended for government workers or employees. For the most part, private labor union membership continues to fall as right-to-work reforms grow in strength in many states. When it comes to public sector unions, and specifically teachers unions, conservatives favor putting students needs first once again and ending the union-dominated culture that has prevented educational reforms in public education. As American students continue to lag in key areas and drop-out rates in major cities remain at unacceptable levels, it’s clear that the policies of the past have failed. Teachers have long enjoyed being portrayed as overworked and underpaid public servants who only go into the teaching field â€Å"for the children.† While that may have once been very true, union dominance has changed the this and, perhaps, the chief motivation for entering the profession. Unions have little to do with helping children. When teacher’s strike, it usually hurts the children they claim to have entered the profession for. Teachers arent in education for the money, they will tell us. In reality, unionized teachers typically strike for pay, preventing accountability, and enhancing already generous (and publicly paid) benefits. Support Merit Pay and Promote Standards Conservatives support ending the union-dominated contracts that oppose merit pay and advancement and places longevity of teaching over the quality of teaching. Conservatives support a merit-based system for public school teachers, and holding teachers accountable has been one of the most difficult things to do. Unions oppose most measures to determine whether teachers are effective and work to make it impossible to get rid of those who are not. Education is one of the few fields where a lack of results has no consequences, and length of teaching is of greater importance than the quality of teaching. In general, conservatives would support a bottom-up approach, and these standards would be local and statewide based. Applying the concepts of  federalism should apply to education, just as it should for most government-related agencies. Local school districts should have the greatest power to determine effective and acceptable standards without interference from the heavy hand of either a large bureaucratic federal government or unions. Common Core is designed to be a national standards program but is disguised as a voluntary program. Support School Choice Not surprisingly, the biggest obstacle in enacting favorable school-choice legislation has been the opposition of well-funded labor unions. Polls have consistently shown that parents and communities overwhelmingly support school choice. Parents should have the ability to select the school that is the best fit for their child. Unfortunately, protecting the jobs and salaries of government teachers - no matter how ineffective they may be - is the main goal of unions. Unions rightly fear that an open and competitive atmosphere would deplete the ranks of people who would voluntarily send their children to public schools, thus reducing the need for public teachers, and the need for unions themselves. Recent History: The 2012 Chicago Teachers Union Strike In 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike over pay and accountability. As they forced the cancellation of classes for hundreds of thousands of students – leaving families in a bind – they took to the streets carrying signs about how the strike was for the sake of the kids. While this was untrue, continuing the myth of the abused, underpaid public school teacher is of utmost importance. Hiding behind children is an unique advantage teachers have over other â€Å"public servants† like DMV processors or meter maids. (Imagine the amount of sympathy the drivers license clerk would get over a strike about increasing pay and benefits).​ With an average salary of $76,000, the typical Chicago teacher makes more money than roughly 3/4 of the country. Citing such teacher benefits as weekends off, nights off, long summers, and extended holidays are usually met with cries of â€Å"burnout.† Most jobs have a pretty big degree of burnout and teachers aren’t the only ones who get tired of their jobs and leave for something else. But teachers are special. They work with children. This supposedly makes teachers free from criticism. The major problem with the unions is that it becomes hard to find out who teaches for the children and who is there for the high-end government benefits. Unions have ensured teachers are among the most well-compensated, vacationed, and job-protected workforces in the country, all without true concern for what best helps students.

Financial Analysis Synovus Financial Corporation

Synovus Synovus Financial Corporation is a financial services company with approximately $29 billion in assets. Synovus is – and always has been – a place where business is personal. While they have different names in different places, they are one company – Synovus. They have the strength of a major financial institution while maintaining the personal relationships you’d expect from your bank around the corner. From everyday banking to corporate services, Synovus is the bank of here. This bank is based in Columbus, Georgia. Synovus different divisions provide commercial and retail banking, investment, and mortgage services to customers through 28 locally branded divisions, 253 branches in five states, and more than 335 ATMs in Georgia,†¦show more content†¦The total assets for Synovus as of 2015 is $28,529,226,000. From 2012-2015 it has decreased to $25,878,030,000, increased to $26,777,424,000, and increased to the final $28,529,226,000 again. Total deposits for Synovus has been a steady increase over the past four years. That steady increase describes the securities, which started at $2,978,264,000 and ended at $3,578,793,000 as well as the net loans and leases which started at $19,335,118,000 and ended at $2,233,600,000 Looking at the excel ‘selected data’ page we can see what percentage of certain components make up the total assets. We also can see that same percentage for the banks in its peer group. Starting with the balance sheet, Cash and due from depository institutions, securities, net loans and leases, and other assets make up the total assets on the balance sheet. For cash and due from depository institutions, the percentage of assets has decreased, increased a little, and then decreased from 2012-2015. For securities it has increased, decreased, and then increased. Net loans and leases have increased, increased, increase, and then decreased. As for the other assets it has just decreased from 2012 -2015 each year. When comparing each of these percentages to the peer group percentages, we can see that the bank has performed lower for each component except net loans and leases. Net loans and leases had a much higher percentage of the assets than its peer

Long Term Academic Goals Free Essays

My long term academic goal is obtain a bachelor’s degree. That goal is first broken down into semesters in which I take two courses at a time. I am currently taking two courses, and this is my first semester. We will write a custom essay sample on Long Term Academic Goals or any similar topic only for you Order Now I break down the semester into weeks, doing work on a weekly basis. At the beginning of the week, which for me is Monday, I estimate how long it will take me to complete that weeks reading assignment. I divide that time by five days, as I prefer not to read on the weekend, and I read that many hours each day. So, for example, if I estimate that I have five hours’ worth of reading or the week, I would read for an hour each day. In regard to priorities, I establish them by due date of assignments, and amount of work due each class. I try to do the heaviest work load first. My support group consists of my family and friends. I usually talk to them on a daily basis on my commute to work, and I tell them about the work I am doing for each class each week. They listen attentively, and offer advice on how to complete the work in a timely fashion, such as setting aside time each day for school work. My brother is particularly supportive, as both he and I started college when we were both young, and he is Curious as to the changes that have happened over the years. My backup plan in case my computer goes down is twofold. First, I have my laptop on which I can access the internet. On the laptop, I have MS Word, so I can do my assignments. If both my main computer and my laptop go down, I have access to my brother’s laptop, which has MS Word on It as well. I also have access to the internet via my local public library. Finally, I keep track of my assignments and due dates via a paper desktop calendar and my Blackberry. The desktop calendar Is on my work desk. I write every assignment on the date that It Is due on the calendar. When I complete an assignment, I check It off with a purple highlighter. I also put the assignment Into my Blackberry calendar, and set an alarm to go off at 10:00 AM of the date the assignment Is due. Since assignments are not due until midnight of the day they are due, If the assignment Is still outstanding, I have fourteen hours to complete It. This gives me adequate time to still complete the assignment. How to cite Long Term Academic Goals, Papers