Tuesday, May 13, 2014

What Makes News?

What Makes It News?
San Jose Mercury News writers tackled “Gov. Jerry Brown unveils ‘good news’ budget revision” this week.  Part of the coverage revealed that Gov. Brown negotiated with both sides of the alley before he recut the state’s January budget. But this time, Democrats were angered that their efforts to strengthen certain educational programs landed on the threshing floor.  

Governor Brown plans for education included leaving pre-K programs at same levels; and advancing the state’s contribution to the retirement system for teachers and also demand that the educators funding increases to 35 percent of their payroll. It would be interesting to focus on the teacher’s retirement system, mostly after California large cities Stockton and Vallejo de-funded retirement plans after filling bankruptcy.  


News value
Impact: The news impacts the entire region: families with kids, the recruitment of future teachers and the level of education taught in public schools; plus employers seeking educated local applicants  will decide if staying in the region is good for there future growth.

Conflict: Teachers salaries in Santa Clara County travels the scale from the top in the state at $103, 000 in Mountain View-Los Altos to San Jose Unified at $67,100.  This shift will determine how much a threat that a 35 percent bite out of their paychecks for the state’s retirement program will change their lifestyles or  their desire to remain in the county. ( source: Sacramento Bee)

Local Angle: A report might reach out to local teachers to discuss how they will manage a change in their take-home pay and  how they think it might impact hiring new educators in the future.  Education News shows California sitting at a grade C and it might be interesting to review how this cut and other educational shifts might impact that grade.


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