No Money for Retirees

This year for the state and teacher retirees there will be n0 $500 one time check going to these people retiring this year. The Attorney General Greg Abbott said yes to the bill passing but the legislature created an " unusual and virtually insurmountable legal standard for making the proposed payment by requiring that this office issue a ' conclusive opinion' that such one-time payments are constitutionally and statutorily permissible". The $500 payment was to be made using general state revenue rather than money from the trust funds, which is the normal route for providing additional benefits.

This is unfair to the people retiring this year because many people are counting on this money for their needs and expenses they may have. A lot of people right now are struggling to get by and with the money it could potentially help them with whatever they need it for. Retiree groups were disappointed with the ruling and are going to continue fighting for the additional help for the retirees in the next legistative session which will start in 2011. For these retirees this year, all their hard work all these years, will now lose their retirement bonus from the state. The teachers, which are hard to come by now, are no longer being rewarded for the hard work they put in. Teaching all those years and having to deal with thousands of kids, they can't get a small check of $500 for the time and effort they put in all the years they taught. For the state workers, they work hard and having to deal with all the state business and the government, they no longer get their check either. These people work hard for many years and now the government takes away from them what they had worked so hard for.

H1N1 Vaccine for Everyone

I am commenting on Hector's editorial on the prisoners of the Texas prisons getting the vaccination for the H1N1 virus. I agree with Hector on everyone, even prisoners, should get the vaccination for the H1N1 virus. Everyone is capable of getting the virus, even though they are in prisons, the guards are able to bring it to them from the outside. When the virus is brought in from the outside, you are risking the chance of infecting the whole prison and everyone in it. Just because they are convicts too, it doesn't mean that they are no longer people. They are people just like you and me. The state should vaccinate the prisons across Texas and prevent what could be over 200,000 deaths. The prisoners are confined to small areas and are able to infect more people since they are so close. I also agree with Hector about vaccinating the prisoners who are about to get out and those who are close to getting out from their prison sentences. They are getting out and ready to live their lives, without trying to catch the virus. They are newly exposed to the virus since they have been living in a tiny cell for years. It is the right thing to do, vaccinating the prisoners, they are people too and deserve to be given the shot just like everyone else in the free world. With the vaccination going to everyone in the state, it will make it less likely for others to get it.

Charters Schools need help

The public charter schools in Austin are in quite a predicament. Since the schools are not funded by the state, they are having problems financially. The schools are having to stretch less money farther to make sure rent is paid for the building the school is in and have the proper materials needed for teaching the students. The public charter schools get money for the students attendance but far less then a regular public school would. The regular public schools get $1,000 dollars per student that attends. Since charter schools are a lot smaller and the student population is also a lot smaller they get less money.
The State Board of Education should help the public charter schools out and give them part of the $22 billion Permanent School Fund. It wouldn’t being investing in all public charter schools. Only 215 of them have earned investment-grade bond ratings to borrow money at lower interest rates to construct classrooms and other buildings. With the help of the Permanent School fund charter schools would be able get better classrooms and get more supplies for the students. They won’t have to stretch the little money they have so far. Public charter schools are just important as regular public schools and other schools in Texas. Yet in a way, it is a risky investment because they don’t get as much return for the Board investing in the schools. The Board should make the risky investment and help out the schools in need of their help.