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Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the government spending cuts scheduled to take effect on March 1 have already resulted in teachers being laid off.
“There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices that they can’t come back this fall,” Duncan said.
But is this true? The Washington Post (WaPo) doesn’t think so.
“When he was pressed in a White House briefing Wednesday to come up with an example, Duncan named a single county in West Virginia and acknowledged, ‘whether it’s all sequester-related, I don’t know,’” reads the reports.
Yeah, it’s not sequester-related.
“Officials in Kanawha County, West Virginia say that the ‘transfer notices’ sent to at least 104 educators had more to do with a separate matter that involves a change in the way West Virginia allocates federal dollars designated for poor children,” the report notes.
“The transfer notices are required by state law and give teachers a warning that they may be moved to a different position next school year. They don’t necessarily mean a teacher has been laid off,” the report adds,
“It’s not like we’re cutting people’s jobs at this point,” Pam Padon, director of federal programs and Title 1 for the Kanawha County public schools, told the Washington newspaper.
She added that of the 104 notices sent out, probably only five or six teachers will be fired — and none of it has to do with the sequester.
“The major impact is not so much sequestration,” Padon said. “Those five or six jobs would already be gone regardless of sequestration.”
But here’s the kicker: Head Start teachers were notified of possible layoffs not because of sequester, but because the Obama administration had labeled the Kanawha County program “deficient.”
“The county is assuming that it will not operate a Head Start program next year,” the report adds, citing an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Bikkiboo
Feb. 28, 2013 at 6:45pmOf course teachers are getting pink slips now. Most teacher groups have a rule that teachers MUST be notified by March of the current year if it’s even possible that they might not have the same job next year. That gives teachers a chance to look for something else, etc. I knew of teachers who were the newest hires and got pink slips 10 years in a row before they had enough seniority to not get them anymore. It had little to do with their performance, but was about CYA for the school system, about budgets, student enrollment, etc. Nearly all had jobs the next year.
It is interesting that the sequestration hullabaloo is backfiring on Obama and his cronies. He oversold it to his people wanting them to strike fear in believer’s hearts, so they could pressure the House to pass what he wanted. The House has called his bluff, and now as his former pastor said, “his chickens are coming home to roost!” Sounds more like he’s cried wolf once too often to me!
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NewMedia
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:56pmExactly! The boy who cried wolf is at it again!
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RamonPreston
Feb. 28, 2013 at 6:16pmAbout 12 teachers are loosing their jobs at the school down the road 2 miles. What? Right! They’re closing the school.
Keep aborting those babies and there is less need of teachers.
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fangster
Feb. 28, 2013 at 5:04pmwhy do the teachers/policeand fire fighters support these idiots, when ever there is a crisise they are the ones who they threanten to cut?
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Ghandi was a Republican
Feb. 28, 2013 at 2:09pmThe entire premise of alinsky is to LIE, Lie and lie again. “by any means” – Lying is just par for the course.
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Moliminous
Feb. 28, 2013 at 12:17pmThe pathology of lying permeates every crack and crevice of this administration. This is a perfect example of why the Founders did NOT include any federal role in education. None. Zero. Arne Duncan is getting paid big bucks to head an agency whose role doesn’t exist, whose very existence is unconstitutional, and whose proclamations and edicts are nefarious at best. Headstart has failed. No Child Left Behind is a very expensive failure. The government’s intrusion into the Pell Grant program has precipitated extraordinary costs for college-bound students.
But at the heart of all of this is one big LIE.
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carbonyes
Feb. 28, 2013 at 1:19pmAs been said, Obama is a prolific liar. In fact nearly every time he opens his mouth and drivel pours out, it is saturated with lies. To say that this fragment of man is a disgrace to both the office of the Presidency and the nation is an understatement. He has no character, integrity or honor.
In stark reality he has lied, deceived and used every form of trickery and falsehood available to prepare and sustain his pathway to the Presidency. He is an imposter and a traitor to American values and the Constitution itself. The fools that have supported him financially and through the coverups in the media are part and parcel to the lies and deception and the treachery that has been foisted upon the American people.
Never in the history of this nation has a greater tragic and damaging event occurred nor been perpetrated upon this country and its people than the egregious, wicked, conspiratorial cabal been instituted against this nation resulting in the elevating and catapulting of this fraud and imposter into the office of the Presidency.
This “man” Obama has been managed, protected, lied about and covered up by some of the most powerful and evil people upon this earth. As Obama himself said, “I am the One that you’ve been waiting for.” Is Obama here by divine providence? May well be. If he is, he is there for a judgement upon the land for the turning away from God and promoting all hellish, immoral unregenerate lifestyles within our nation.
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zoro51
Feb. 28, 2013 at 11:20amthe SOCIALIST education sect. is following ORDERS form the FAKE DICTATOR OBAMA to SCARE ALL into more SOCIALIST LIES …. FIRE OBAMA NOW END AMERICAS RAPE
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sbenard
Feb. 28, 2013 at 11:13amObama’s people do this because 1) the know that low-info voters don’t care, and 2) the propaganda press is complicit in covering up for them.
Deceit isn’t just their tactic. It’s their STRATEGY! Obama is the Deceiver in Chief!
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gramma b
Feb. 28, 2013 at 10:37amEven if this were true, I would say, “Good.” Think about it. School teachers are supposed to be paid by local governments. If they are being paid by federal dollars, then they are in districts benefiting from the federal redistribution of income from taxpayers in districts which are responsible enough to pay their own bills.
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naughtycal
Feb. 28, 2013 at 11:15amExactly too many districts are using the districts that are paying taxes as HOST.
More over the federal government has no Constitutional rights to regulate education as it is a conflict of interest to the health of the Republic
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fastfacts
Feb. 28, 2013 at 10:15amCATO came out with a great video on the myths that make up Obama’s rhetoric on sequester. A MUST SEE VIDEO: http://www.thedailycandidate.com/video/2013/feb/cato_myth_sequestration.html
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RNM
Feb. 28, 2013 at 10:00amAgreed… a lot of drama and theatrics are involved in this… BUT, isn’t Beck and The Blaze guilty of doing the same? All I’ve heard for years now is “the end is near” type rhetoric from Glenn. The extremes in any argument aren’t valid IMO… 95% of what we fear never comes to fruition.
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bandi9
Feb. 28, 2013 at 11:01amthe difference being that pretty much every thing Glenn said would happen has/is/trending that way. Glenn did wear me out, but he was one of the few that would talk about the 500 lb elephant in the room. at his own risk i maight add
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jrcess
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:46amAme Duncan is a LIAR. A prerequisite to be in the OBAMA Administration.
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oneshiner
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:59amThis administration is only trying to scare the illiterate. The cut isn’t a cut, it’s simply not allowing the 2% extra to be raised and spent. The 2% isn’t even coming out of the budget, it’s simply saying we will not give them this much more to spend on soup and nuts that won’t do anything to help this Country one way or another. Don’t understand it? Think about it.
This gov’t wants to keep blowing money we don’t have. If there are any who lose jobs, it’s almost nil.
This whole thing is a Saul Alinsky scare, only the stupid can’t reason this out. Pretend it’s your own home, and you have to cut some unnecessary spending to keep from going broke and losing it all.
And………this is the story……we might get a scratch now, but it’s better than a broken body when it all hits the fan when we overspend per obama’s program.
I’d rather give up a few minor things now, rather than losing EVERYTHING later under his plan to break us.
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Zipit
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:43amThe arguments are the same as the have always been! The participants, as well as the victims are essentially the same! The “REICH” has issued the talking points, the marching orders! The media has wholly bought into the stream of propaganda, and is committed to its perpetuation! They are in “lockstep” with the administration to play on the fears of the uninformed, that so needfully follow them! SIEG HEIL! “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x0MrxahZ0cA
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perry1980
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:40amCall their bluffs Make the cuts
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Tigress1
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:26amEnd Head Start. I’m tired of paying for your daycare! That’s what it really is – a free daycare. Parents can and should teach their own preschoolers the names of the colors and how to count to 10. You don’t need a teacher for that.
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redfish52
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:34am@Tigress….remember hon…it takes a village of idiots to raise a child….
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rbolt
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:26amGood, if the federal funding of education is cut, maybe the states can have more say in running their own schools.
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ninja
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:19amGo ahead. Fire teachers, cops, everyone who gets a paycheck from the government. It’s okay. We’ll handle it. We got it covered. really. go home & leave us the f#$k alone.
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Cavallo
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:28amMy thoughts exactly. We don’t need them. They’re scared others might figure that out as well, and realize their emperor has no clothes.
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13th Imam
Feb. 28, 2013 at 10:09amMy wife is teacher. Federal Money (Taxpayers Money) adds NOTHING to her salary. Local property taxes pay ALL teachers salary’s in CT. Except in the DEMOCRAT progressive cities where it pays for lunches and breakfast’s that the parents can’t seem to find money to pay for. Cig’s and liquor are more impotent for these takers.
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Gonzo
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:14amHow can these weasels not understand that you can’t spend more than you make? This isn’t even a cut!
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progressiveslayer
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:20amLogic is something the masses and our one party system have no knowledge of.
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naughtycal
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:08amThe way the kenyan is acting you would think the 85,000,000,000 funded our entire system. Where’s the 1.4 trillion going if 85 billion is funding everything.
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progressiveslayer
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:07amIf everybody at the DOE got pink slips that would be a step in the right direction.
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starman70
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:29amAdd the “Department of Energy” a bureaucratic insane asylun which the Carter administration formed to limit our dependance on foreign oil. It has been a TOTAL waste of money, as is the case with almost everything the government runs.
Just closing these 2 departments alone would save the taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars.
PINK SLIPS FOR ALL IN BOTH DEPARTMENTS!!!
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progressiveslayer
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:43amYes indeed they should be closed down and many more agencies should follow suit. Hell this government wastes more money than most countries produce. 86 the IRS,DHS,HUD,TSA and I’m sure there’s many more redundant and unconstitutional agencies that should be terminated.
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RJJinGadsden
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:05amAs Rush has been putting it this week so accurately, SEQUESTERIA. Something to ponder, while every week we hear the report of how many people have lost their jobs. This is something that has steadily happened since shortly before 0bama entered office. All through his presidency this has happened with no let up. The spin doctors’ only declared victories occur only when on a certain week there were fewer. And, for 0bama those weeks are becoming fewer and further between. When all around them are loosing their jobs why would it be teachers who become a protected class amongst all else? No, this is not an attack on teachers, but rather it is just more of the same when the Dems and left in general continue their campaigns to flog the average tax payer with even more fear. What have they always and I mean always done? When they are not getting their way to raise even more taxes they scare the public into believing they are about to loose their most basic of services. Education, fire, and police. Ever hear of any do nothing expensive advisers, or of any top heavy jobs that will be done away with in an effort to save funds? Hell no! Yet, our lib trolls here fall for this bait every time and scream how we conservatives are heartless. I say that all of our jobs are in danger, everybody. And, this government wants it that way. Inner turmoil will keep us all from seeing the actual truth.
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redfish52
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:17amYou know what’s funny that I just thought of…the Liberal left is in a panic over the story that teachers “might” be laid off over the sequester…I said “might” and that the poor little children will go without an education and the really poor children will miss that morning break fast they can’t get at home…oh those Republican’s are animals. But….when the same “Union” teachers went on strike last year the only people talking about the children and their plight where the conservative right…hmmm….something is a miss…
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Cavallo
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:46amPublic funded teachers are a disaster. Our public system continues to produce sub-par results, and the more money we throw at it the worse it seems to get. It must be the quality of the employees. Unions always turn out expensive items of poor quality. Teachers are no different. They’re lazy, their incompetent, they feel they are entitled. Unfortunately those that have been the worst the longest will likely keep their jobs, and staff will be chosen not on performance but on who has been abusing children the longest.
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RJJinGadsden
Feb. 28, 2013 at 10:11amCAVALLO, You have a great point. The more money that is literally thrown at education rarely results in pay increases for the teachers. Otherwise as often as it has been done, they would be the wealthiest teachers in the world. The money goes to high level administrators with the bureaucracy that doles the money out, along with education internal administrators, followed by union heads who likely account for the greater majority of the funds.
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SpankDaMonkey
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:04am.
I wish they would fire the current crop of teachers. Then we could hire some that will teach the kids something…..
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leftcoastslut
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:01amdivide and conquer
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biohazard23
Feb. 28, 2013 at 8:57am“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!!!” Chicken Little-in-Chief said so therefore it MUST be true, right?
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RJJinGadsden
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:08amBIOHAZARD, I will be 60 in mere weeks, and this is the very same thing that I have observed all of my life. My father told me the same thing, as well as one of my grandfathers. When will the people stop falling for the same old worn out shtick?
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biohazard23
Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:28amGood morning, RJ! I’m a little behind you in the birthday department (happy early birthday, BTW!) and I’ve noticed the same thing myself. My daddy would point these things out to me, too, when I was a little girl. I didn’t understand it way back then but I certainly do now. I’ve been bringing things like this to my own kids’ attention just as my father did. It gives me great pleasure to know that they are better informed than their teachers at school. I won’t allow my children to become gullible low information Obama voters.
As for the rest of the population falling for the same political garbage, I’m afraid that’s gonna keep happening until they decide to watch something besides Entertainment Tonight, TMZ, and any of the network news channels. I realize that’s asking for an awful lot, but it could happen, even if it is by accident. :)
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RJJinGadsden
Feb. 28, 2013 at 10:18amBIOHAZARD, Good job with the kids. I’m glad that my son has turned out the way he has. We obviously influenced him, but my wife and I agreed to not and try and indoctrinate him one way or the other. You may have seen some of his posts here. If not yet, you will spot the obvious site name when you see them. He has attends college full time, while also holding down a near full time job. Busts his ass all of the time too, then does what he can to help others. Because of that you will not see many of his posts here for his lack of time. Anyway, we all need to hang in there for this continuing roller coaster ride.
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biohazard23
Feb. 28, 2013 at 11:42amCongratulations for raising such a fine young man! I pray that we will be able to inform and educate our children and, like you said, refrain from “indoctrinating” them. They’ve already had a small taste of what govt overreach can do when a certain Mooch decided that their lunch choices should be changed to some not-so-popular options. We’re talking to them about these things and explaining the benefits of conservatism and self-reliance over the culture of perpetual victimhood. Trust me, these kids DO NOT want to be told that they’re incapable of doing or choosing something because some lib tu rd says they know better. Small steps, but I think we have them on the right track. :)
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starman70
Feb. 28, 2013 at 8:56amJust ANOTHER blatant lie fostered by the regime to try to scare Americans!
WELL FOLKS, IT DIDN’T WORK!!! Americans have seen through the smokescreen and know that all thei talk from Washington is BS!!!
Rudy Gullani explaned it well last nite. You earn $100,000 per year and last summer your boss told you you would ger a reise to$110,000. Later he came back and said that you would only get a raise to $107,000. You still ahve the same money but with only a smaller increase. This is what’s happening with the “Sequester”. The regime tried to convince everyone that the government would shut down. THAT WAS TOTAL BS!!!
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RayOne
Feb. 28, 2013 at 8:50amThe WhiteHouse/Nancy/Reid has been priming the pump for violence in the streets with every ‘deadline’.
This FiscalCliff may become the bump in the road and it will be, ‘They’ who lose big.
The WhiteHouse holds the pain button on this issue, and it is his choice to make the voters bleed.
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