Teachers

Success at school starts with respect

Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County Register Oh, some good old Aretha Franklin ... R.E.S.P.E.C.T. I am a producer for PBS Television, so when we received an invitation to see a screening of "Waiting For Superman," my husband and I jumped on it! We have an 11-year-old in school and we really wanted to see what this Superman business was all about. After the screening, we both had opposite views on the issue. I was shocked! I thought for sure we would spend our drive home bashing the school system together and enjoying every bit of it, since the documentary exposed the flaws...

Saddleback school district imposes 13.5% pay cut

Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register The Saddleback Valley Unified School District unilaterally imposed an average 13.5 percent pay cut on all of its non-teaching, classified employees Tuesday, after nearly a year of failed contract negotiations with union leaders. All 1,286 district employees who are members of the California School Employees Association union will take a 2.8 percent salary cut, 10 to 15 mandatory days of unpaid leave, freezes to their longevity raises and increased costs for health insurance. The two-year plan, retroactive to July 1, was approved in a unanimous school board vote...

Facing an uncertain future

Column: Nicholas Wishek, The Orange County Register The upcoming election will make or break America. I am now one of over 28 million Americans who are retired. For some, ex-congressmen, for instance, their financial future is as secure. For most of the rest of us who aren't in the same fiscal neighborhood as Warren Buffett, the economic future is anything but secure. This is especially true for the 11 million Americans on Social Security. Everyone, retirees and future retirees, should be deathly concerned about what the future holds for us economically...

Reader Rebuttal: Teacher retirement

Letters: Charlie Fry, The Orange County Register I am a teacher in the same school district as Nicholas Wishek, last week's writer ["Why I'm retiring early," Commentary, June 6] … Are you serious? We have the greatest job in the world! We go to work each day and are surrounded by kids who want us to teach them about ... everything. Our job is to teach children academics and life skills and help prepare them for their future. It doesn't matter if it's fun all the time because we are being paid by the citizens of this state and nation to work at it, to the best of our abilities. This is by no means personal, Mr. Wishek, it's just a difference of opinion…