Comments on: In it for the Money: $150 Cash

By: Chris R

Chris R — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:09:56 +0000

Dave,
Loved it!
Regarding your greedy (albeit cute)wife’s condition–don’t let anyone rope you into taking or paying for needless tests.
Your class’s valedictorian was born when I was 39. Unless you’re considering an abortion or have reason to think there might be a correctable problem decline the tests! The odds just don’t support the recommendations for healthy, well-cared for intelligent women.
aside–Bill Tozier bought his house from Jim & I

By: David Erik Nelson

David Erik Nelson — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:24:37 +0000

Great points from Scott and Patti (and Jim, wrt my usage of blockade). The condition of the facilities of many of our public schools is maybe the biggest bummer of all; sure, there's some debate as to the degree to which architecture influences how we comport and evaluate ourselves, but it doesn't take the most sensitive teen in the world to say "Folks refuse to spend a dime on maintaing the place I spend 8 hours per day, let alone making it beautiful or inspiring. Not hard to guess what they think I'm worth." As for colorblindness, I appreciate the tips. Specifically to Cosmo, it isn't the diagnosis I'm concerned about, but the *lack* of a diagnosis. The uncle in question (who is an engineer today, so it all came out OK in the end) went undiagnosed at an early age, which was what caused trouble for him in early elementary. Thanks for all the kind words, folks. FYI, I need to credit Bill Tozier (who I met through Workantile, and concisely self-summarizes here) first turning me on to using notions of risk to understand human economic interactions.

By: Scott Rosencrans

Scott Rosencrans — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:45:44 +0000

You are in very good company, if that is any solace. It is important to know that teachers, though experiencing valid hardships, and their families are not the only ones suffering from this mess. I wonder how many parents know that the school system has elected to not turn on the heat until November. Temperatures in “E-Wing” classrooms at Pioneer hover around 50 degrees this week. That’s 18 degrees below what an energy conscious household would consider a level of comfort. Is this how we want our kids, and the people responsible for their care, to be treated? Is this even remotely acceptable?

By: Jim Rees

Jim Rees — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:42:44 +0000

I believe you would normally blockade a port or an entire country but besiege a city.

By: Edward Vielmetti

Edward Vielmetti — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:24:57 +0000

Regarding color blindness, take a look at DanKam [link] which is what you get when you set a programmer at the task of color blindness, not a doctor.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:38:54 +0000

I detect a distinct whiff of sarcasm at various points in this column.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:05:26 +0000

David: Somehow a diagnosis of red/green color blindness did not keep me from acing color class in art school, or getting a reputation as an expert color matcher among prepress & color separation specialists I’ve worked with.

You say “Potato,” I say “Tomato.” It’s all a matter of perception versus experience versus conformity. Don’t pay money just so they can tell you you are screwed if you aren’t just like them.

Meanwhile, I look forward to reading you every month.

By: schoolsmuse

schoolsmuse — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:05:20 +0000

I really enjoyed this column and I’ll look forward to more!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:53:32 +0000

Absolutely delighted to have another place to read Mr. Nelson’s work. It is a gain for us to which no dollar value can be attached.

By: TeacherPatti

TeacherPatti — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:12:45 +0000

I feel her (your) pain. I teach in Detroit Public Schools and we got hit with a 10% pay cut, plus the increase in health care and no step increases. I am making $10,000 less (gross) than I should be. Over a 10 month pay period, that’s about $1000 (gross) less. I also make about 1/2 as the top grossing teacher in the suburbs (i.e. esp. Oakland County). I have no idea why they are targeting K-12 teachers, except that there seems to be a perception that we are just the girls, working for pin money. I’ve also heard that I’ve had the “Cadillac” of pay packages for “too long”…I certainly haven’t, but I’ve only been teaching 7 years.

Nevertheless, I love my job (well, not today because I’m just proctoring MEAP and that is very boring and don’t want to leave it for “greener pastures”. I mean for God’s sake, two of my kids with learning disabilities just drew me pumpkin “valentine” cards…you don’t get that in an office :) :)

So I guess what I’m saying is if the Chronicle needs another columnist…. ;)