Lying Is The New Norm
Although, lying has been around forever, it is now becoming a common practice by propagandists and pundits wanting to promote individual, or collective agendas.
Straight-out lying has been destigmatized if it advances a certain propaganda that leads to what might be considered a worthy, or important goal. Whether the goal, or objective pursued is objectively beneficial is not an important consideration. Justification for lying to the public through a belief that the propagandist occupies some intellectual or moral high ground is often meant to disguise an ulterior motive, self-interest, or arrogance.
Another common practice is lying by omission, also known as a continuing misrepresentation or quote mining, occurs when an important fact is left out in order to foster a misconception. Lying by omission includes the failure to correct pre-existing misconceptions.
A person doesn’t have to look much further than the Great Falls Public School District to see implementation of these strategies.
GFPS and their pundits continue to tell us that we need to pass their $1.3 million operational levy in May because it’s “for the kids. The truth is that it is again 100% for pre-negotiated salary and health insurance premium increases for employees.
The money from this proposed levy will not buy one textbook, not one added program to benefit students, and not even one piece of chalk.
The bloated administrator salaries totaling millions will also be increased because every time the district staff receives a raise so do the administrators, many of whom are already making six digits.
Keep in mind that the administrators, the ones negotiating the contracts, are also benefiting from the raises which they negotiate for staff.
An almost identical operational levy was defeated last year, and now that taxpayers have felt the pain of the $98 million bond a few years ago, the District will be putting on a full court press to get this year’s levy passed. Their pundits are even soliciting canvassers at $15 and hour to go door to door to repeat the spiel.
All property taxpayers should be aware that operational levies never retire, they go on forever and pile on top of past approved levies. Renters should also know that their monthly rents will no doubt increase due to the passage of another levy.
Is there something wrong with paying teachers more? And why would we need to buy chalk? Who even are you? What?
Gabriel, Who are you? I am the editor of
E-City beat, and yes, I have been a teacher.
The reason the operational levy is not going to add anything is because the system is already suffering from overcrowded classrooms and not enough aids or therapy workers to name a few.
The levy will be to KEEP what they currently have. If the levy is not passed it will negatively impact the students.
Great Falls is one of the only major cities in Montana that does not pass the levies year after year. This shows when they are having trouble hiring teaching positions and keeping the teachers they already have.
Blake, First of all, Great Falls is no longer a major city in Montana. According to the latest census figures, GF grew a whopping 320 over 10 years, while Bozeman grew 22,000 for the same period. Even Butte grew more than GF. GF has a completely different demographic than the major cities in Montana. We have an aging population with many people living on fixed incomes . At this point, the GFPS needs a new paradigm that reflects the community. Great Falls cannot afford the District’s vision of entitlement and bloated administrator salaries. The average school principal salary in Montana is $77,000, we pay them in the 90’s.
Just a quick search:
https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/school-principal-salary/mt
“How much does a School Principal make in Montana? The average School Principal salary in Montana is $97,088 as of February 26, 2020, but the range typically falls between $85,754 and $109,218. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on the city and many other important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession.” Only 10% are at $75,435.