I am so mad at Rick Perry. I just saw a commercial touting his dedication to public education. He also praised himself for giving a merit pay raise and a $2000.00 raise to all TX teachers.

But did you know...

They raised the retirement age for teachers, because they want to keep qualified teachers in the profession longer. They decreased retirement payments by taking our highest 5 years and dividing that to find out our retirement payments. (They did take the highest 3.)

They gave teachers a $1000.00 pay raise a few years ago... then took away half... then took the other half away. So that pay raise he is bragging about just replaced the $1000.00 they took away and gave us another $1000.00. (Remember 8 years ago when they promised a $6000.00 pay raise to be paid in two years? They gave the first $3000.00, but the next year they decided not to give the other half.) The public hears about the raises, but does not know about the times they take things back...

Then the merit pay raise only goes towards teachers in core subjects and only IF the administration deems it necessary. They are not required to do it... so it is worthless to non-core teachers, and pretty much everyone.

This makes me want to quit teaching. With the Social Security offset, the government giving and taking our money away, increasing retirement age, less retirement benefits, and low wages to begin with... why would anyone want to come into this profession OR stay???????????? (Oh yeah... the kids.) But with discipline problems on the rise, how long with that be a benefit???

GOVERNOR PERRY HAS DONE NOTHING FOR ME or TEXAS STUDENTS.

Oh yeah... don't even get me started on that damn TAKS test. Worthless.

Voting results are pouring in tonight. Perry's a shoo-in. Sure wish so many people hadn't voted for Strayhorn. What a waste. Sigh.

On the other hand in the national elections things are looking good for getting a more evenly balanced House and maybe even Senate.

Jodie we probably just sound harsh to you because we are of the age that we no longer work as hard at not upsetting anyone. We're just finally speaking our minds and not worrying so much about what everyone else thinks.

In that regard you're way ahead of the game. You are obviously a thinker and that's a really good thing. People are probably not picking on you at all in a personal way - they're just taking issue with your point of view. A lot of people can't take having someone disagree with them so openly. They are too insecure. They think it is all personal. So you're undoubtedly a sharp kid. Just keep studying and enjoying learning and being proud of who you are and what you believe in.

And tonight in the elections, as usual, we win some and we lose some. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years.

I am super excited about the results, Ive been calling it as Perry for Gov, and right now thats the way the vote looks! Life experience is important, but why let us vote if you dont believe we have enough experience to do so? I have life experience, I do my part as much as possible...Ive been repsonsible for the well-being of others, Ive paid my own bills, I live life, I just still have the ability to have freedom because Im not married or have kids (which is a looooooooooooooong ways down the road). I know they are not picking on me at a personal level, thats how debate works, its not the person its the opinion, the point-of-view. But when is enough life experience. Why doesnt a 50 year old pick on a 30 year old, surely their life experience can not be deemed equal? And if so, how so? I am little baffled by the logic, but what is scary is that it does make sense to me somewhat...

Jodie- With regard to voting... you are very well-qualified to vote. Most kids at 18 who are interested in politics should vote. In fact anyone of age who is registered and wants to, should vote. I wish everyone in the U.S. who is eligible to vote would register and show up for every election. If we took voting more seriously then we could make a difference and we would exercise some of the powers that the founding fathers gave us.

And as for experience... some people never learn from their life experiences and their chonological age doesn't mean a whole lot. They just never will get it. Other people are very wise for their years. So age can be an indicator of maturity, but it sure isn't always an indicator of maturity or wisdom. Anyone who discriminates against you because of your age just may not be all that bright themselves

Frankly I'm surprised that you and I are sharing this dialogue. From some of your earlier posts I thought you were being very intolerant of many of the other peoples' posts. I didn't think that you were willing to truly listen to people with differing views from yours. I'm glad we got further along and we had this chance to clear that up.

Thats all I wanted was tolerance to my POV, not even understanding. Ofcourse I can tolerate other people's opinions, I deal with them ALLLLl the time. I definately lean conservative at the polls, but Im in COLLEGE and very few ppl my age are conservatives. I deal with it alll the time in class discussions and all that is needed it for someone to make VALID points, even if they are opinion based, rather than something totally off the wall. I dont believe that most of the ppl on this poll are tolerant of me or my opinion. I think its quite funny how people get so mad on here. Ive been laughing so hard for like a week now, I try to write calmy and with sobriety and with maturity as much as I can so as not to stoop to that level of ignorance and intolerance. To get mad over something like this is crazy, or to actually care. Quite frankly it gives me something to do during class.

Oh cool. So you can learn something while you're learning something.

Well, even though I am officially surrounded by idiots in TX, there is hope for the nation. Too bad the three running against Perry could not team up. Then he would have lost for sure.

My only hope is that he SEES how many votes he had against him and takes that to heart, but I doubt it.

Well, even though I am officially surrounded by idiots in TX, there is hope for the nation. Too bad the three running against Perry could not team up. Then he would have lost for sure.

My only hope is that he SEES how many votes he had against him and takes that to heart, but I doubt it.

I am extremely worried about Perry running for President in 2008. God help us.