How much have you donated? If you don't have the means to give money, you can volunteer your time. Have you done that?

$1,500 and volunteering time will not pay the teachers

Screw you Drexel!!!! Don't judge me because your buddies who voted for the tax have not given money. I'm saving my money becuase taxes/govt fees are skyrocketing, the HNIC and them Dems are trying to pass cap/trade and the Heath reform bill. Inflation is going is about to take off so I will need every cent I have.

Big Poppa,

Calm down BP! Ask your doctor for some Clonopin next time you see him/her, before you blow a gasket.

The big question is why all of those who voted yes on "G for Greed" have not put up their money. If all of the yes voters paid up their $233 per year the total would be in the millions of dollars. Not so fast to spen your own money, eh? Teachers who refused to put aside their greed killed this one.

Big Poppa - if you need to save every cent, I am not holding it against you. My wife and I made a decision to save money and not go out to eat; every time we go out it is $60-$80; our donation after tax deduction; is basically 10 dinners out. We gave, because we could, and I know more people here can donate but did not. Personally, I understand what the auctions and other fundraisers are trying to do; but the only ones making out are the hopyard and round table guys; personally, the people that "went out for fundraiser" should have stayed home, and donated $100 to ppie; rather than spend $100 on pizza and only $10 go to save our schools. My opinion, but every penny counts.

As for all that upsets you and making you poorer; I am in the same boat; I told my wife in November, this election will cost us big time; and we are not rich or anything like that, we are middle class, but the taxes passed on to us as consumer; will sting.

Resident - there are more of us than there are teachers; why should teachers give up; they are there for our kids' benefit; we as parents, should pay, not the teachers. I want the best teachers, and if it means salaries need to be highest in nation, so be it, lets pay it.

What makes me real sick are morons like you wanting more and more money from hard working folks like me. I probably pay 10x more property and state taxes than you do and here I am being asked to pony up more? In you dream!!!

Parent of 4 - What is your number one reason for living in Pleasanton? Mine is schools

My wife, has asked me to move to Alamo for the last two years; I said no; after all this fiasco, my wife might have been right after all..

as for paying more, if San Ramon, of all cities, passed their parcel tax; that puts Pleasanton to shame; if anything, raising the $2.8mil would be a good sign that the people of Pleasanton still have their priorities straight...

as for paying 10x more property taxes...that is a very silly comment to make and irrelevant, because, if you did as you say you do, then you are more than able as I am to donate..only people you are hurting are your own two kids...

The people you should be lecturing are the people that voted "yes", not the entire community. The way I see it, the people that voted "no" have pretty much told you they don't want anything to do with any increase in funding, for whatever purpose, until changes have been made.

and once again the yes voters or teachers prove to be hypocrites.

I think it is because of the fact that Obama is not a US citizen, and was born in Kenya and that is where he got his terrorist training. Why would any American donate to this government.

I voted Yes on G but have not donated. Maybe a 25:1 student/teacher ratio won't be so bad. I have faith in our top notch teachers that there will not be a drop off. Let's see how this goes...if there is a consensus that our schools are suffering, let's go back to work on raising money. That's the way I see it.

When estimating the amount that could be donated by the number of people that voted in favor of the parcel tax, remember that there are often two voters per household (therefore only one parcel tax payment of $233 per home not per voter.) That is what we were willing to commit to for the next 5 years when we voted for the parcel tax and will donate out of our budget.

More money is not the answer and never has been. The Calif state budget is about to be signed with no tax increases. Cut the waste, run things efficiently and stop trying to throw other peoples money at the situation.
Raising more taxes is a stupid and lazy way to try to solve a problem that's been in the making for the past 40 years.

Throwing money at this won't solve the issue. Besides San Ramon School District IS the better school district. The best thing PUSD does is pat themselves on the back and say how great they are. I would throw Management out and start over in building a right-sized district. Teachers would receive decent wages comparable to like sized districts and there would be less managers. They Managers left would receive like sized district wages. And no more home loans for the "Big Shot".

PLEASE get a clue!

My kid's school test scores are 933 for 2009!

Go to city-data.com and compare that to other locals...

Drexl -- if you choose to insult people by implying that they cannot afford the money, fine. Just to open your eyes a bit -- I voted NO to the senseless greed and refusal to give up anything although I could have easily afforded to pay the money. In fact, I could most likely afford to max out the 2.8 million on my own from sales of stocks today. That is not said to brag but to let you know that it is NOT always a money issue, it is a matter of throwing good money after bad with no guarantees that the waste will stop. The car allowances, the home loans, the seminar travel, the excessive teacher wages, it just does not end. When changes are made, I will put up my money, never until that time.
Schools are not even close to the reason that I moved to Pleasanton. I have no kids and never plan to sell this house so I really don't care about the argument that good schools keep up home values. It is just not relevant to me.

@ Drexl: No, I did not move to Ptown for its schools nor its ghetto downtown. I moved here because of the affordable housing and the well-maintained parks. I get a bigger bang for the buck in Ptown than I did at Los Altos.

All of my children attend private school so I am already paying my fair share. PUSD education is substandard with or without that $2.8M.

PLEASE get a clue!

API scores only reflect which schools teach to the test, nothing more!

That is why the majority of our grads who even makes it to college end up in community colleges and CSU.

When actually given the choice of voluntarily coughing up the $233 or saddling the rest of the citizenry with this debt the supporters of Measure G have now finally shown their true self. They are selfish, entitled & arrogant in their attitudes & opinions & simply two-faced in their resulting actions. $252,000?? I thought EVERY Measure G supporter was willing to pay twice that amount?

You ought to be ashamed of yourselves you hypocrites!

This is about Obama and his partners in crime in congress. He is a non-citizen foreign trained terrorist. I will not give my money for any government program, much less this. Why can't he salute the flag or even say the pledge of allegiance? I didn't vote for the Marxist. Why do you people hate America so much?

So why won't Obama produce a birth certificate? Why won't he say what he was doing in Pakistan for all those years? Isn't all this grounds for impeachment? Why is he not being impeached?

PUSD sent out an email today noting that their donations have come from a total of 510 individuals. That is significantly less than the number of people who voted yes on g, and even if a thousand of the yes voters now find themselves unable to make a donation, there are still thousands more who apparently have not donated.
I agree that it's hypocritical to vote for a tax and claim that it's important to support the schools, but then not contribute.
I did not support G because the measure's language did not include anything that would limit administrative pay increases so I was concerned that tax money would be used to support the programs the measure stated, but money freed up by measure g funds would then be spent in ways not in keeping with the current economy.
That is still the case with funds given to PPIE and PSEE. I do believe these funds will be used as these groups stated, but once again, the problem is that funds would be freed up in the general fund, an area where taxpayers have no control and the Board (see the last meeting when positions slated to be cut from the get go were reinstated until the individuals retirement date) hasn't shown they are able to make decisions that are in line with their constituents' beliefs if those decisions run contrary to what Dr. Casey wants.
But do I support Pleasanton schools and teachers? Absolutely. I gave my donation directly to the school, earmarked for a school program.
If you're not comfortable donating to the school district, please consider this option.

So you are saying that cutting $12 million from PUSD's budget, many teachers, and 33% of the District office staff is still not enough? How is giving to the schools any different, the schools are PUSD.

I see it as hypocritical for you to say you don't have to pay because you voted no, yet you can complain and demand services as if nothing has changed in the district. $12 million in reductions is going to be felt this year. Will you be the first to post your complaints then?

Posted by Ram, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, 3 hours ago

So why won't Obama produce a birth certificate? Why won't he say what he was doing in Pakistan for all those years? Isn't all this grounds for impeachment? Why is he not being impeached?


RAM,

Do YOUR homework, the birthers are insane! Obama was vetted by CIA and Congressional Lawyers and his Birth Certificate and origin of Birth IS what it IS!

I strongly suggest you focus on something you can do, or ad to some positive cause that you CAN change, that you believe in, that is REAL and stops focusing on Radical Right Wing Propaganda.

I have children in the district and I hope that we break the plate of this union at the end of this next fiscal year when there is no money and no contract.

CTA has money GALORE to give to any election where they perceive they will get more influence if their candidate wins. Funny how they shut their mouths now...same goes for APT.

I hope this Union here in town cracks. I think we should ban a teaching union in town. We don't need one. They apparently just want our money and don't know how to handle it - we can handle any staff issues a Union claims they need protection from with a simple policy. Lose the union and lose the issues.

THEN I'll gladly give money when control is reestablished.

Drexl,

I agree with you. These people who believe they are punishing the CTA are really punishing the children of Pleasanton. I also see that quite a few of the negative posters here don't even have children in PUSD.

Maybe a class size of 25:1 isn't so bad, as one poster puts it, but consider that San Ramon has a class size ratio of 20:1, Dublin had a class size ratio of 20:1 but is going up to 21:1 because of budget reasons, and Livermore Charter School also has a ratio of 20:1. 5 extra children per teacher IS going to make a difference.

So where does that put Pleasanton's schools? At the WORST CSR of the Valley. And Pleasanton's teachers aren't even the highest paid in the Valley.

The experience children have in their early years of school sets the standard for the rest of their school years. And think about the children who won't have access to counselors? There are long-term repercussions to that, too. I don't understand the mindset that we'd rather the children suffer than pay $200 to the district? Or even $100 or $50?

I moved here because of the schools, too, but now it looks as though I'll be moving out because of the schools. I know I'm going to get the "don't let the door hit you on the way out" treatment here, but don't worry: I'll be happier than you to get to a place that's civilized.

I think there are a lot of things going on here and some are as follows. Many people are hurting financially and some more than others. The ones who do have jobs are concerned about keeping them and with everything else going on that needs money they are just conserving cash for a contingency. Whether the teachers teach 20 or 25 is really not a big deal in the overall scheme of things.

This is about Obama vs. America and ILPS is just one more Obama thing. It is time to choose sides. Taxes are never the answer and I'm against this "tax" too. Why do you people hate America so much?

If you deduct the apartment dwellers (who wouldn’t have had to pay for the measure G tax assessment) from the yes votes for G you start to get a much clearer picture of the support for greater taxation. I am afraid the schools are going to have to do the same thing that the rest of us are doing – make do with less.

The schools should not make do with less. Some posters said it is not the schools that keep the property values high; well let's remind ourselves about the Ruby Hill development; it was within Livermore city limits; they changed the city border just so that Ruby Hills would be part of the "Pleasanton Schools" district, not Livermore. You still want to tell me it is not about schools? And with us being 25:1 ratio when all other districts are at 20:1; families will move out; or more less likely move in. So even property owners trying to save $200 will lose thousands when you sell your home; talk about getting a great return on your investment.

FYI this year I pulled both my kids out of PUSD. I received my kids STAR results today!!! For those of you who think PUSD has the best teachers hear is one for you.... my kids each scored an average of 105 points higher in both LA and Math. PUSD is good but not as great as they should be. Money does not make schools great.

Government services must expand and contract with available resources. So far it has only proven to be capable of half of the equation. Borrowing against the future and accounting tricks are foolish and irresponsible methods of avoiding reality until the eventual collapse can be blamed on someone else.

Have you made a donation? Remember that if you cannot contribute money, volunteering your time is a great way to help. Helping out in classrooms or tutoring are both rewarding ways to get involved. Remember that the kids need your help now more than before.

"Money does not make schools great."

You can volunteer your time if you don't want to make a donation. Maybe you would like to volunteer in classrooms? Maybe you could help a kid who is having trouble with reading or math.

I'm giving my donation directly to our PTSA at Amador, it will go to programs and materials that matter to the high school immediately in this crisis time. Let the families who want music lessons pay for those, I want a safe campus, paper,computers, ink, books and more for my high school student and encourage all other AVHS families to do the same.

How does giving to the school directly make it safer? What about the other issues like CSR?

If the administration of the school finds it needed they can request a grant from the PTSA for funds for just about anything including safety issues. CSR is only utilized in Freshman English and math classes, it is important too try to maintain as well but, basics such as computers and books are more important. Having a clean campus could be considered safety, with the current cutbacks in custodial services our schools all around town will not be as clean as they should be. It will be a real test when the H1N1 flu virus spreads all through the schools. CSR and music are fabulous but basic sanitary issues are also going to effect all students and staff. CRS will not be funded by a PTSA, it's all in where an individual wants to put their donation, directly to the schools, the parent groups or the PPIE/PSEE fundraising efforts.

The lack of contributions to ILPS does not surprise me. All along I felt that the majority of YES votes on G were from citizens who were not paying the tax....apartment renters, senior citizens and others who were exempt from the charge. When I voted I saw mainly seniors who were voting YES (according to what they were saying) and they were exempt from paying the tax. I still think the overall NO vote was a message to the school district that taxpayers want to see change. It's obvious that citizens feel that more money will not solve the bigger issue....

If you don't feel that you should help monetarily, you can volunteer your time in the schools. Are you aware of the different ways that you can volunteer your services?