Remember the most popular song to come out of the 2010 season of American Idol, "Pants on the Ground". The lyrics went, "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground. Lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground...". My daughter and I used to watch American Idol together but over the past few years we've gravitated towards watching only the wildly hilarious tryouts during the first few weeks of the show, which is where this little ditty, written and sung by retired Army General Larry Platt came from. It instantly went viral which was predicted by Idol curmudgeon Simon Cowell, but the thrust of this article has little to do with American Idol and everything to do with a medical phenomena which is sweeping teenagers into my office with complaints of low back pain.
The human spine is not straight when visualized sagitally (from the side). A straight spine would require an enormous bulk of muscles in order to stay erect, it would be substantially less shock absorbent and would be injured far more frequently. Our spines are not located in the center of our bodies but in the immediate posterior (the back). You can feel the bones of your spine when you touch anywhere along the center of your rear torso. Because of this arrangement the human spine has adapted to provide a more efficient position/shape. This maximal position results in three continuous curves called lordoses and kyphoses. One's neck should have a curve in it such that the apex of the curve is closer to their anterior (front). The upper and middle back create a long curve called the thoracic kyphosis, which begins just below where the neck meets the shoulders and continues to the end of the posterior rib cage. Finally, the lumbar lordosis is a curve with the same direction as the neck's. It begins where the thoracic kyphosis ends (at the bottom of the posterior ribcage) and extends to the sacrum. The sacrum and the coccyx form a fourth curve which is kyphotic but it is rarely discussed because it is non-functional, meaning the joints are generally non-mobile and not subject to change because of any external forces.
So, what does this have to General Larry Platt's catchy little song. Well, anyone who has visited a middle or high school or a mall or any other place where teenagers frequent has undoubtedly noticed that they wear their pants in a unusual way. They wear the back side of the pants not up along the waistline, but in the middle of or below their butts, exposing their boxers. In so doing, the bottoms of their pants drag on the ground, hence the song. Withstanding the urge to comment on the social appropriateness of this fashion oddity, I will discuss its ill effects on teenage health.
It turns out that in order to prevent their trousers from dropping to their knees, choking off their stride and sending them tumbling into an exposed heap on the floor, they must rotate their pelvis posteriorly. This means that they thrust the lower portion of the pelvis forward, not unlike the Billy Crystal character from Saturday Night Live or Erkel. By doing this the ASIS (anterior superior iliac spine), the bones at the top front of one's pelvis, rotate backwards creating a shelf with a slight upward protuberance. By assuming this position, they can use the ASISs as a hook upon which to hold the front portion of their pants up, while the back of the pants sag downward. Poor seated posture, where the individual sits far back on their buttocks posteriorly rotating their pelvis and creating a full spine 'C' curve further aggravates the problem. This type of posture is promoted by long periods of gaming and computer use.
By adopting this artificially modified pelvic position with the rear of their pants hanging low, they unknowingly flatten the lumbar lordosis; the curve which should be present in every upright human being's lower back. Now here's where the problems start to arise. When one posteriorly rotates the pelvis, the back of the pelvis travels in an inferior (downward) direction. This causes an elongation of ligaments at the base of the lumbar spine and of the long muscles which travel parallel to the spine on either side, putting them in a strained position. Imagine taking a hunter's bow and attaching a flexible string to it. Then imagine what would happen to that string if you could take that curved bow and forcibly straighten it out. The string would either become severely tight and strained or it would tear. These same things can happen to the muscles and ligaments of the spine when the natural lordotic lumbar curve is flattened.
In addition to the strain that is put on the soft tissues of the low back, there is an opposite but reinforcing action occurring in the muscles of the posterior thigh. When the teenager adopts the posterior pelvic tilt and the rear portion of the pelvis effectively rotates downward, the hamstring muscles which attach on the lower portion of the pelvis slacken. In a growing teenager this can have serious effects. Muscles only grow in response to the stress put on them by lengthening bones. Bones grow which causes the muscles to stretch which then causes the muscles to grow. The net effect in the "pants on the ground" posterior pelvic tilting is that with growth, the femurs lengthen, ultimately retightening the hamstrings which are attached to the lower pelvis. This retightening of the hamstrings locks the posterior pelvic tilt in place. Functionally, this appears to be overly tight hamstrings due to rapid long bone growth, another problem suffered by teenagers, but in fact the pelvis was tilted before the hamstrings tightened as opposed to the hamstrings tightening and then the pelvis rotating. Essentially, both conditions appear the same but one is due to a conscious lifestyle adaptation and the other is due to rapid growth, an uncontrollable phenomenom. The final result is the possibility of a lifetime of chronic low back pain and inflexibility with the pelvis locked into a posterior pelvic tilt due to hamstrings that are short relative to the femurs and constantly overstretched muscles and ligaments at the base of the spine. Finally, the flattening of the curve itself translates more weight onto the intervertebral discs subjecting them to increased forces and increased risk of annular tear with rotation and herniation with loading.
So what do you do? Clearly, educating teenagers is first and foremost. I have explained this to several teenagers and their parents when the teens (mostly boys) enter my office with this problem and they understand it. Nearly all of them stop wearing their pants in this anatomically deliterious way. You say you know teenagers and perhaps you are thinking that I am overstating the powers of telling teenagers the truth because you are thinking that for teenagers image and fashion trump anything I might tell them but alas I have an ace in the hole; pain. Pain is the ultimate motivator. Even teenagers can be motivated to make changes by pain.
Usually, by the time they have entered my office, this cascade of cause and effect has reached a point where they require treatment of some kind to remedy the pain. Altering their pant location is at this point insufficient to reverse the anatomical changes their rebellious fashion statement has rendered. After careful evaluation to ensure the correct diagnosis, some passive therapy is initially indicated to loosen the soft tissues. In my office, electric muscle stimulation applied to the lower back and sometimes hamstrings with simultaneous moist heat is utilized. This is followed by massage to the lower back, gluteal area, and hamstrings. Adjustments are made based on palpatory findings in the thoracic area which would undoubtedly be experiencing secondary causal changes. Posterior to anterior pressure is applied into the natural lordosis in the lumbar spine and finally adjustments to the sacroiliac region are made with PSIS contacts and anterior rotation of the pelvis. Also, PNF (proprioceptive neurofacilitation) is applied to the hamstrings bilaterally to lengthen them.
The teenage patients are assigned stretches which lengthen the hamstrings and encourage restoration of the lumbar lordosis and are again educated as to how their fashion and postural choice has resulted in their current painful situation. The typical teen who has had pain for about 1 to 2 months prior to coming into my office requires approximately 4-6 visits over a 2-3 week period to achieve a postural modification that produces sustained relief. More chronic patients who have undergone significant growing in the midst of their induced posterior pelvic tilting take more time and can sometimes seem recalcitrant though persistence typically pays off. Of course, no treatment can be effective without a change in the behavior that is causing the dysfunction. And so, I offer General Larry Platt these additional lyrics, "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, you gonna hurt your back with those pants on the ground."
Friday, December 17, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Spicy Turkey Recipe
Spiced Turkey...........Michael Raucci
I have been working on this recipe for awhile now and I think I have finally perfected it. I made it up though I wouldn't be surprised if its been done before.
Turkey is a staple food for Americans. Its large size, ability to be domesticated, low fat content, and mild flavor have guaranteed its place in American cuisine. Its claim as the food that the Pilgrims and the Indians shared on the first Thanksgiving have made it the traditional favorite on that holiday. Unfortunately, if not properly prepared it often does not live up to its hype as a national culinary favorite.
The following recipe will spice the turkey up and help keep it moist (a sometimes difficult feat). Once you have procured a bird and defrosted it (if it was frozen), you must remove the giblets from both the front and rear cavities. Place those in a pot with some onions, celery, salt and pepper and water to prepare gravy. I use an inexpensive gravy packet and mix it in along with turkey drippings to make gravy. Cook this for about one hour. Wash the bird by rinsing it under a faucet.
Now its time to prepare the bird. Start with the bird breast side down in a large roasting pan so that you can spice the bottom side of the turkey as well as the underside of the wings and arms. First rub some olive oil onto the skin. For spices I like to use Season All; coating the skin liberally. I also add additional pepper and parsley. You don't need more salt because the Season All already contains plenty of salt. Next tip the bird up so that the large body cavity is open to the ceiling. Sprinkle some Season All inside the cavity. It is usually necessary to put some on your fingers and then rub it inside the cavity on the underside of the breasts. Finally, rest the turkey in the pan with the breasts' side up and spice that side with the Season All, pepper and parsley. If you would like a little extra kick then also sprinkle on some dried red pepper. If you use red pepper, keep in mind that much of it will ultimately end up in the drippings making the gravy spicy.
Next, stuff the cavity with any of the four options listed below:
1) Roasted red peppers
2) Hot cherry peppers
3) Pepperoncini
4) Jalapeno peppers
If using red peppers, make sure they are sliced so that the some of the pulpy interior is making contact with the turkey cavity. With the other types of pepper (the hot cherry peppers are my favorite) you can either leave them whole for a milder spice or for some extreme kick cut them up before putting them in the cavity.
Next is the tricky but crucial part. You are going to gently lift the skin on the breast by pushing your finger under the breast skin at the top of the opening of the body cavity. Once you gotten it started, you'll be able to work the entire breast skin up. Do both sides. Now take large flattened slices of roasted red peppers (use ones that have been jarred in olive oil) and slide them under the skin so that the pulpy side is in contact with the breast muscle. When you are lifting the skin try to maintain some of the connection at the center, in between the two breasts. This will help keep the roasted red peppers more secure under the skin. Do the same to the thighs and if you would like to the drumsticks. Doing the drumsticks will require you to make a slit in the skin in order to insert the peppers .
Add some water to the pan and some onions and celery to that water.
Place the turkey into a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and cover the now browned top with tin foil. Follow the cooking instructions for a stuffed turkey. The peppers in the cavity will slow the cooking process. Baste the top of the turkey occasionally.
When the deep muscle temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees remove it from the oven. The preferred location to take the temperature is between the leg and breast with the probe midway into the thigh. When the turkey has reached its temperature and the juices are all clear, remove it from the oven and place it on the counter to rest for 15 minutes. Do not cut it immediately upon removing it from the oven. The resting time allows the juices to be reabsorbed by the muscles so that when the bird is carved the juices stay in the meat and don't run out onto the cutting board.
While the bird rests, pour some drippings into the gravy and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the giblets, onions and celery so that there is nothing but liquid in the gravy. The gravy will be spicier than you are accustomed to especially if you dressed the turkey with dried red pepper earlier. Remove the peppers from the cavity and place them in a separate bowl for those people who might want to eat them with the meal.
DON'T STOP READING YET.
This recipe requires a particular carving method. Remove the drumstick/thigh combination from both sides and then separate the drumstick from the thigh. Next remove the entire breast from both sides of the turkey. This is done by running the knife down along the breast bone (at the center, between the breasts). Once you reach the breast plate, take a fork and insert it along the breast bone, tines down and with the concave portion of the fork facing the meat. Pull with the fork a little at a time as simultaneously pull the breast away with your other hand. Once the breast starts to move away from the breast plate switch back to the knife and carve down on a diagonal to remove the entire breast. Do this to the other side as well. Now remove the wings. Finally you must carve the breasts. You will need an exquisitely sharp knife. Hold the breast to the carving board with your left hand and carve across the short distance of the breast, starting at one side and progressing toward the other side. Use your pointer and middle finger on your left hand to hold the skin while you carve 1/4 inch slices with your right. Use long strokes to guarantee that the skin, pepper, and meat all stay together.
I like to keep the breast slices right where they are, completing the entire breast before sliding the knife under the entire breast to place it on the platter. I place both sliced breasts side by side on the platter, flanked on the outside by the drumsticks, thighs and wings. Finally take some of the cooked peppers from the bowl and place them in various places on the platter. This makes for a wonderful presentation. You should have some extra drippings. Drizzle them over the breast meat.
Serve with the remaining peppers in a bowl with the gravy also on the side. Either mashed potatoes or mashed or whole sweet potatoes make a wonderful accompaniment along with some greens (swiss chard and spinach fried in a pan with olive oil, garlic and cannelloni beans are perfect). This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Buon Appetito.
I have been working on this recipe for awhile now and I think I have finally perfected it. I made it up though I wouldn't be surprised if its been done before.
Turkey is a staple food for Americans. Its large size, ability to be domesticated, low fat content, and mild flavor have guaranteed its place in American cuisine. Its claim as the food that the Pilgrims and the Indians shared on the first Thanksgiving have made it the traditional favorite on that holiday. Unfortunately, if not properly prepared it often does not live up to its hype as a national culinary favorite.
The following recipe will spice the turkey up and help keep it moist (a sometimes difficult feat). Once you have procured a bird and defrosted it (if it was frozen), you must remove the giblets from both the front and rear cavities. Place those in a pot with some onions, celery, salt and pepper and water to prepare gravy. I use an inexpensive gravy packet and mix it in along with turkey drippings to make gravy. Cook this for about one hour. Wash the bird by rinsing it under a faucet.
Now its time to prepare the bird. Start with the bird breast side down in a large roasting pan so that you can spice the bottom side of the turkey as well as the underside of the wings and arms. First rub some olive oil onto the skin. For spices I like to use Season All; coating the skin liberally. I also add additional pepper and parsley. You don't need more salt because the Season All already contains plenty of salt. Next tip the bird up so that the large body cavity is open to the ceiling. Sprinkle some Season All inside the cavity. It is usually necessary to put some on your fingers and then rub it inside the cavity on the underside of the breasts. Finally, rest the turkey in the pan with the breasts' side up and spice that side with the Season All, pepper and parsley. If you would like a little extra kick then also sprinkle on some dried red pepper. If you use red pepper, keep in mind that much of it will ultimately end up in the drippings making the gravy spicy.
Next, stuff the cavity with any of the four options listed below:
1) Roasted red peppers
2) Hot cherry peppers
3) Pepperoncini
4) Jalapeno peppers
If using red peppers, make sure they are sliced so that the some of the pulpy interior is making contact with the turkey cavity. With the other types of pepper (the hot cherry peppers are my favorite) you can either leave them whole for a milder spice or for some extreme kick cut them up before putting them in the cavity.
Next is the tricky but crucial part. You are going to gently lift the skin on the breast by pushing your finger under the breast skin at the top of the opening of the body cavity. Once you gotten it started, you'll be able to work the entire breast skin up. Do both sides. Now take large flattened slices of roasted red peppers (use ones that have been jarred in olive oil) and slide them under the skin so that the pulpy side is in contact with the breast muscle. When you are lifting the skin try to maintain some of the connection at the center, in between the two breasts. This will help keep the roasted red peppers more secure under the skin. Do the same to the thighs and if you would like to the drumsticks. Doing the drumsticks will require you to make a slit in the skin in order to insert the peppers .
Add some water to the pan and some onions and celery to that water.
Place the turkey into a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and cover the now browned top with tin foil. Follow the cooking instructions for a stuffed turkey. The peppers in the cavity will slow the cooking process. Baste the top of the turkey occasionally.
When the deep muscle temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees remove it from the oven. The preferred location to take the temperature is between the leg and breast with the probe midway into the thigh. When the turkey has reached its temperature and the juices are all clear, remove it from the oven and place it on the counter to rest for 15 minutes. Do not cut it immediately upon removing it from the oven. The resting time allows the juices to be reabsorbed by the muscles so that when the bird is carved the juices stay in the meat and don't run out onto the cutting board.
While the bird rests, pour some drippings into the gravy and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the giblets, onions and celery so that there is nothing but liquid in the gravy. The gravy will be spicier than you are accustomed to especially if you dressed the turkey with dried red pepper earlier. Remove the peppers from the cavity and place them in a separate bowl for those people who might want to eat them with the meal.
DON'T STOP READING YET.
This recipe requires a particular carving method. Remove the drumstick/thigh combination from both sides and then separate the drumstick from the thigh. Next remove the entire breast from both sides of the turkey. This is done by running the knife down along the breast bone (at the center, between the breasts). Once you reach the breast plate, take a fork and insert it along the breast bone, tines down and with the concave portion of the fork facing the meat. Pull with the fork a little at a time as simultaneously pull the breast away with your other hand. Once the breast starts to move away from the breast plate switch back to the knife and carve down on a diagonal to remove the entire breast. Do this to the other side as well. Now remove the wings. Finally you must carve the breasts. You will need an exquisitely sharp knife. Hold the breast to the carving board with your left hand and carve across the short distance of the breast, starting at one side and progressing toward the other side. Use your pointer and middle finger on your left hand to hold the skin while you carve 1/4 inch slices with your right. Use long strokes to guarantee that the skin, pepper, and meat all stay together.
I like to keep the breast slices right where they are, completing the entire breast before sliding the knife under the entire breast to place it on the platter. I place both sliced breasts side by side on the platter, flanked on the outside by the drumsticks, thighs and wings. Finally take some of the cooked peppers from the bowl and place them in various places on the platter. This makes for a wonderful presentation. You should have some extra drippings. Drizzle them over the breast meat.
Serve with the remaining peppers in a bowl with the gravy also on the side. Either mashed potatoes or mashed or whole sweet potatoes make a wonderful accompaniment along with some greens (swiss chard and spinach fried in a pan with olive oil, garlic and cannelloni beans are perfect). This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Buon Appetito.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Green and Blue
This song is about how mankind is failing as the steward of the Earth's resources.
Green and Blue © ..................................Michael Raucci
From the chimneys come black and gray
What once was forests is charred today
Oil spills on oceans black
Furs they fill a burlap sack
Landfills piled up so high
Through darkened lungs our children cry
The sun shines through and burns my skin
The Earth she bears mankind’s sin
Children who shan’t be fed
Into wars are people led
There are no fish left in the sea
Gluttons write our legacy
(chorus)
Green and Blue
The colors of life’s mystery
Green on land and blue at sea
I hope someday for me and you
That we live in Green and Blue
Our power plants make toxic waste
There’s poisons in the food we taste
The blood of sharks turns oceans red
For fin soup they are slaughtered dead
Colored Green and Blue, Earth ought to be
But brown and gray is all I see
The acid rains down from the sky
While leaders feed us hopes and lies
(chorus)
Green and Blue
The colors of life’s mystery
Green on land and blue at sea
I hope someday for me and you
That we live in Green and Blue
The polar bear hasn’t very long
The nightingale can’t sing her song
The darkness that envelopes me
Is mankind’s folly and debris
No matter what, Earth will go on
When from her plains mankind is long gone
Life will recover after many years
And Green and Blue will reappear
Green and Blue are nearly gone
Won’t you listen to this song
There’s time to change our planet’s state
Or Black and gray is our Earth’s fate
And extinction will we men await
Green and Blue © ..................................Michael Raucci
From the chimneys come black and gray
What once was forests is charred today
Oil spills on oceans black
Furs they fill a burlap sack
Landfills piled up so high
Through darkened lungs our children cry
The sun shines through and burns my skin
The Earth she bears mankind’s sin
Children who shan’t be fed
Into wars are people led
There are no fish left in the sea
Gluttons write our legacy
(chorus)
Green and Blue
The colors of life’s mystery
Green on land and blue at sea
I hope someday for me and you
That we live in Green and Blue
Our power plants make toxic waste
There’s poisons in the food we taste
The blood of sharks turns oceans red
For fin soup they are slaughtered dead
Colored Green and Blue, Earth ought to be
But brown and gray is all I see
The acid rains down from the sky
While leaders feed us hopes and lies
(chorus)
Green and Blue
The colors of life’s mystery
Green on land and blue at sea
I hope someday for me and you
That we live in Green and Blue
The polar bear hasn’t very long
The nightingale can’t sing her song
The darkness that envelopes me
Is mankind’s folly and debris
No matter what, Earth will go on
When from her plains mankind is long gone
Life will recover after many years
And Green and Blue will reappear
Green and Blue are nearly gone
Won’t you listen to this song
There’s time to change our planet’s state
Or Black and gray is our Earth’s fate
And extinction will we men await
Monday, March 15, 2010
Property Taxation and School Funding; A Flawed System
Property Taxation and School Funding; A Flawed System
Michael Raucci
"We spend so much money on the military, yet we're slashing education budgets throughout the country. No wonder we've got smart bombs and slow children.”....Jon Stewart
“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin
If there's one thing that everyone in New York agrees on, it’s that their property taxes are too high. I've never met anyone who complained because they wanted to pay more.
There are two types of property: real property and personal property. Real property includes land and any fixed improvements to that land including homes, barns, tennis courts and so on. Personal property would essentially be any other belongings. In New York State, personal property is typically not taxed after the initial consumption tax at the time of purchase. Real Property Taxes raise revenues primarily for schools and local governments while income and consumer taxes are often designated for state and federal government use, though some of that money does also filter back to schools and local governments.
In the current system, the majority of real property taxes go towards education. I propose that New York State abandon the Real Property Tax as a method of funding education. In this blog, I will expose the flaws of this tax, provide an argument for its abolition and outline a more sensible system to replace it.
First lets understand why education must be a publicly funded program and why that public funding must be distributed across the entire population. Education serves two purposes. It allows individuals to explore and expand their hopes, dreams, and potential. It also serves a greater communal good which I will describe later. All Americans contribute towards the educational system because it benefits us all. We all were products of it at some point in our lives and its continuous production of skilled and intelligent graduates creates a society that is capable of sustaining and funding a high quality of life for all citizens. Some people feel that because they do not have children or because their children go to private schools for which they pay an additional tuition they should not have to pay school taxes. This is a faulty argument. What many people don't understand, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow, is that you do not pay taxes to send YOUR children to school. You pay taxes to support the public school system, which exists to educate all American children regardless of race, color, creed, religion or socioeconomic status. If the government builds a new bridge or a new highway you pay for it in your taxes whether you use it or not. It’s a tax that everyone (or in the case of school taxes property owners) pays; people with 10 kids and people with no kids, native Americans and immigrants. It’s a public benefit program which ultimately benefits all of us because an educated public possesses the skills to work, contribute to society and pay taxes which assist in sustaining our culture and society.
Below are some of the flaws and negative effects of the current system of funding public K-12 education:
1) The current Real Property Taxation system pits the old against the young. Because Real Property Taxes are primarily utilized to fund grade schools (K-12), the money that is collected benefits children and adolescents (5-18 years of age). They however, do not pay these taxes. The people who own homes, farms, land, and businesses do. When taxes become an excessive burden to members of the community, they seek to redress the situation. The only recourse they have is to vote NO represent a system gone wrong, wasted tax dollars, and wasted lives. Of course, this isn’t an accurate representation in most cases, but when people are struggling to save their homes, their savings, or their livelihoods it is hard to differentiate. Young people begin to feel similar misgivings about the older taxpayers in the community when budgets are voted down and programs are cut from the schools. Not only can palpable acrimonious divisions develop within the community but the respect and understanding between generations is lost. Communities are torn. A good example of this misunderstanding and acrimony took place in the Pine Bush School District last year. The school board and superintendent presented a budget of approximately 99 million. This budget was approximately the same as the prior years and included many cuts including staff reductions. If this budget did not pass then a state mandated contingency budget would be put in place. Utilizing state formulas the contingency would be more than the proposed budget. In other words, if the budget were not passed the taxpayers would have to pay more. This vote was a no-brainer. No one should have voted NO and yet in the final tally more than 800 people voted NO; they voted to have their taxes increased for no reason.
2) The Real Property Taxation system creates animosity between educators and taxpayers. When taxpayers complain of the financial strain of property taxes the focus of their ire is often the teachers. Why? Because teacher salaries and benefits comprise the bulk of the cost of education and consequently of the school budget. Some community members begin to visualize that money is being taken from their pockets and put into the teachers’. In most European and Asian nations, where educational standards and achievement often exceed those in the United States, teachers are highly respected and revered members of the community. Paying teachers well makes perfect sense if one wishes to live in an advanced high quality of life country. The problem is that the communal payoff for those teacher salaries is not realized for many years later when those well-educated students become productive members of the society. Most people do not have the foresight to understand that the securing of the best and brightest to teach today’s youth costs money, money enough to lure them away from even higher paying industrial or private sector jobs. Better teachers yield better students, which yield a better society with a higher quality of life. But when the money to fund students’ education (via teachers) comes from their neighbors and when there is financial pain associated with this, anger sets in towards the recipient of the money. That recipient is seen as the teachers.
3) The Real Property Taxation system acts as a disincentive to home and business owners to improve their property. If someone improves their property then their assessment goes up and they pay more taxes. Because of this many people refrain from improving their homes or even worse avoid utilizing the building inspector when making changes to their homes in an effort to limit their property tax exposure. When buildings are erected, electrical wiring and plumbing modified, etcetera without the building inspectors approval process, the assessors re-evaluation of the property is not engaged and the assessment remains the same, but because the building inspector is not involved, shoddy and hazardous workmanship can result in dangerous living and working environments. I have also heard home and business owners lament that though they had the means to improve their homes and business facilities they would not do so because of the lifetime of tax increases it would mean. We should want our town to look good and for our homes to look good and for our neighbors’ homes to look good. There should be nothing that stands to make someone feel otherwise, but that is what the real property taxation system does. Instead, there should be incentives for people to improve their properties because when a neighbor improves their property it raises the value of all the homes around them and when a neighbor leaves their home in disrepair it reduces the value of all the homes around them and of the community in general. Improving ones homes, business and community imparts a sense of pride and beauty. Why would we deny ourselves this by retaining a system that disincentivizes property improvement.
4) Property taxes which fund schools are anti-family. Families with school aged children who move into the community are viewed as new financial burdens by the existing community. It costs an average of about $10,000 to educate one child. Imagine a family with four school aged children moves into a community and into a home whose assessed value results in $10,000 in school taxes. Their tax dollars only cover the expenses of one of their children’s schooling. The other three children’s educational expenses must be picked up by the community at large. In effect, that one family causes everyone else’s taxes to increase. The current system causes dissention between people with children and people without children or people whose children are grown. Quite simply the people without children may view those with children as increasing their financial hardship. In some localities, town boards have enacted laws whose hidden purpose is to limit the number of school aged children entering the community and the school district because each additional family with children rarely contributes more in property taxes than the additional tax levy their children create. These laws often focus on reducing multi-family dwellings and non-senior rental properties because they attract lower income families with school age children.
5) The current system pits neighbor against neighbor. If one believes their taxes are too high they can grieve their assessment. In order to properly grieve one’s assessment, they must find comparable homes usually in the same or a similar neighborhood whose assessments are lower. This should justify their desire to have their own assessment lowered. This process can result in confrontation between the griever and the owners of the homes the griever uses as comps because the assessor can either grant a reduction or decide that the griever’s assessment is in fact correct and that the comps' assessments are too low, resulting in future assessment increases for the owners of those homes. This unfortunate tax increase for the comp owners is a direct result of the original griever pointing their homes out to the assessor. Some places fortunately have laws, which restrict assessors from increasing an assessment to only when improvements are made, a sale takes place, or a town wide Re-Val is undertaken.
6) The Real Property Taxation system acts as a deterrent to industrial and commercial growth. This could be the most important reason for dismantling the current system. High school taxes act as a deterrent to commercial enterprise setting up their businesses in New York State. A purely ends motivated business will go to the location that allows it the least expenses, which is often out of the state or country. A lack of business results in a lack of jobs, which results in a reduced ability to pay property taxes, which do not go down with a person’s income. When businesses are seeking to locate in New York there is extreme competition between communities that are willing to offer incentives in the form of reduced tax burden causing communities to sacrifice tax dollars for the prospect of local job creation.
7) A Property tax is a regressive tax that impacts the poor more than the rich. A regressive tax is one whose effective rate decreases as the amount to be taxed increases. Regressive taxes impact lower income families more because the tax accounts for a higher percentage of those peoples’ income than higher income families (Progressive taxes escalate along with the income of the payee). Typically, a middle class person with a family ties up their wealth in a home. If a person’s entire net worth is tied to their home and that home is assessed at $300,000 and the real property tax rate is 5%, then they must pay $15,000 in taxes. This accounts for 5% of their net worth, which must come from minimal liquid assets. A wealthier person who owns a $600,000 home but whose net worth of $6,000,000 (which is primarily secured in interest bearing vehicles) pays the same 5% property tax rate. If they were to pay the same 5% tax on their property then they would pay $30,000 which is only 0.5% of their net worth and which comes from their sizeable interest bearing liquid accounts. In this realistic scenario, the poor person who lives in a home with half the value of the wealthier person pays property taxes at a rate 10 times as high when measured as a function of net worth. To add to the insult, the rich person’s home is valued at twice that of the poor person’s. According to itepnet.org low income families paid 3.0% of their income in property taxes in 2002, while middle-income families paid 2.4% of their income and the wealthiest taxpayers paid 0.8%. A fairer system would be income based which is progressive.
8) The Real Property Taxation system causes inequity between school districts. Communities in which wealthier people have congregated will raise more money for their schools than those in poorer communities. Why should poor and middle-income families have to sacrifice more in order to provide an education for the children in their community? This problem is worsened when one considers the long-term effect of this funding disparity. Wealthier districts will be able to pay teachers more and therefore are likely to attract the most qualified applicants. School facilities at wealthier schools can far out weigh those of cash strapped districts, boasting science classrooms that rival pharmaceutical laboratories or computer labs with the newest technologies. This disparity often allows those students in the wealthier districts to excel academically beyond the students in the poorer districts. Taken one step further, this can increase the societal gaps between low, middle and high income families as those that receive the more privileged education from the wealthier schools will frequently outstrip the less privileged in college admissions and ultimately job acquisition. The system maintains, even solidifies the class hierarchy.
9) The current system promotes cronyism. The valuation of land, homes, and other improvements is not an exact science. There is much latitude in an assessment and whether consciously or not assessors are effected by their friendships, biases, social and financial debts, and political affiliation. Anyone who has ever attended a grievance hearing is well aware of this.
10) Localities that host significant numbers of large tax exempt organizations are at a disadvantage. Properties used for religious purposes, parks, military facilities, and government buildings are at a great disadvantage in school funding with large tracts of land and property removed from their tax rolls.
11) Property taxes are not responsive to variations in income. A person who loses their job will come home and still be responsible for the same unchanged property taxes despite a significantly reduced ability to pay them. If the school taxes were income based then when the person lost their job and their income was reduced so too would their school taxes be reduced. Income taxes are much more sensitive to a person's ability to pay. They are progressive. Property taxes are especially difficult on the elderly who after retirement find themselves property rich but cash poor.
The Real Property Taxation system came into existence in the United States when the country was still essentially a feudal society. There were few land owners and they were all rich. With farming and burgeoning industrialization, land could and often was used for profit. Taxing land made sense at the time as land and other property values were a good reflection of a person’s wealth. Nowadays, property ownership is by no means limited to the rich. In fact, the foundation of the American Dream is homeownership. Many Americans currently make mortgage and property tax payments, which exceed 50% of their net income leaving very little for other bills, food, and other necessities. We no longer live in an agrarian society and it is rare for people today to generate income from their residential property. Raising a person’s taxes as the value of the property increases makes no sense because as the value of the property increases, there is no increased income realized by the owner. An income increase is only created when the property is sold and it would be sensible to tax that profit. As property taxes increase there is no guarantee of a commensurate income increase to offset the money lost. In a bad economy, the real property taxpayer is hit with a double whammy. As the economy goes down so do alternate funds for public operations, therefore property taxes go up despite the property owners decreasing ability to pay them.
Recommendations:
1) Abolish the property tax as a means to fund education. In fact, all property taxes should be limited to sales or should be based upon a linearly increasing rate above a certain threshold (e.g. The property tax wouldn’t be engaged until a property value exceeded $500,000. At the threshold it would be a minimal tax defined by a small percentage, lets arbitrarily say 0.1%. As the value of the home increased so too would the property tax percentage. At a value of $1,000,000 perhaps the tax would raise to .2%. There would be prorated percentages in between.)
2) Institute a new state income tax whose sole purpose is to replace property tax revenue for the funding of schools. I do not have the data to determine what that income tax rate increase would be but I have heard that a 1.0-2.0% state income tax increase would negate the contribution that currently comes from property taxes. This would be far fairer because the amount paid would increase with increasing net wealth; a progressive tax. It would make sense if this tax were applied prior to any deductions or at least prior to most deductions. This would eliminate the common and unscrupulous tactic of large corporations utilizing tax law loopholes to avoid taxation. Finally, I would recommend that this money be in a lock box fund. This School Funding Money should be treated just like money collected for social security, which cannot, by law, be touched by Congress and utilized for any other purpose.
3) Another state income source could be a point of purchase Internet sales tax. Anyone who makes a purchase on the Internet from New York State would pay the typical New York State sales tax. The tax would have to be on the New York based consumer so that they paid the tax no matter where the product was coming from. If you only taxed products that originated in New York it would make New York businesses less competitive.
4) The state needs to stop playing games with lottery money. When the lottery was introduced it was touted as the savior of education. All the additional money would be funneled into the state's education budget offsetting rising property taxes. This is not exactly what occurred. Albany bureaucrats pulled a bait and switch. When lottery money started to roll in, they began to pull money that was originally budgeted for education away. The net effect was that education saw no increase in funding. The same amount of money simply came from a different source. Education needs to be budgeted for properly. Lottery income should be nothing but gravy. No more bait and switch.
5) Superintendents of Schools, School Boards, and Town and City Government officials need to band together and demand these changes. The Association of Towns which takes place every year in NYC would be an excellent venue to begin the process.
6) As part of state revenue collection modification, the state will need to create a formula whose implementation would be overseen by an independent committee to determine how money will be distributed to school districts. This will result in a more equitable distribution of education funds than the current system. There will be a cascade of changes that will occur, some of which might not initially be apparent. One change will be in how teacher’s unions negotiate their contracts. I would recommend that individual teacher’s union unite under the umbrella organization NYSUT. Under this system NYSUT would negotiate on behalf of all teachers in the state. Variances in salaries would be required to make up for differences in cost of living. These would be based upon formulaic multipliers much like the ones in place for doctors who bill the NYS Workers Compensation System. In this system different areas of the state are rated based upon cost of living differentials and assigned a multiplier. A base fee is established and different multipliers are used to determine the fee to be received by doctors from different areas (e.g. The base fee for a physical therapy office visit might be $50. If the multiplier for Orange County was 0.9 and the multiplier for Manhattan was 1.2 then the Orange County therapist would receive $45 and the therapist from Manhattan would receive $60). A similar system could be set up to determine teacher salaries for various locations in the state.
Of course these proposals are a skeleton of what would ultimately need to take place but they are talking points upon which a new, fairer, less odious policy for education funding can be formulated.
Finally, some people have chided me for proposing such sweeping changes. They believe that this system is so entrenched that it would be impossible to scrap. Perhaps I am naïve or idealistic but I know a better system can be created and implemented. I know that there would be problems initially and that it would take some time to work out the kinks. I do not believe that because it would be difficult that we should not do it. That kind of thinking would have thwarted most advances in human society, science and technology.
In my next blog entry I will explain how a well designed curriculum is a better way of assessing whether state standards are being met than endless standardized tesing.
Michael Raucci
"We spend so much money on the military, yet we're slashing education budgets throughout the country. No wonder we've got smart bombs and slow children.”....Jon Stewart
“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin
If there's one thing that everyone in New York agrees on, it’s that their property taxes are too high. I've never met anyone who complained because they wanted to pay more.
There are two types of property: real property and personal property. Real property includes land and any fixed improvements to that land including homes, barns, tennis courts and so on. Personal property would essentially be any other belongings. In New York State, personal property is typically not taxed after the initial consumption tax at the time of purchase. Real Property Taxes raise revenues primarily for schools and local governments while income and consumer taxes are often designated for state and federal government use, though some of that money does also filter back to schools and local governments.
In the current system, the majority of real property taxes go towards education. I propose that New York State abandon the Real Property Tax as a method of funding education. In this blog, I will expose the flaws of this tax, provide an argument for its abolition and outline a more sensible system to replace it.
First lets understand why education must be a publicly funded program and why that public funding must be distributed across the entire population. Education serves two purposes. It allows individuals to explore and expand their hopes, dreams, and potential. It also serves a greater communal good which I will describe later. All Americans contribute towards the educational system because it benefits us all. We all were products of it at some point in our lives and its continuous production of skilled and intelligent graduates creates a society that is capable of sustaining and funding a high quality of life for all citizens. Some people feel that because they do not have children or because their children go to private schools for which they pay an additional tuition they should not have to pay school taxes. This is a faulty argument. What many people don't understand, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow, is that you do not pay taxes to send YOUR children to school. You pay taxes to support the public school system, which exists to educate all American children regardless of race, color, creed, religion or socioeconomic status. If the government builds a new bridge or a new highway you pay for it in your taxes whether you use it or not. It’s a tax that everyone (or in the case of school taxes property owners) pays; people with 10 kids and people with no kids, native Americans and immigrants. It’s a public benefit program which ultimately benefits all of us because an educated public possesses the skills to work, contribute to society and pay taxes which assist in sustaining our culture and society.
Below are some of the flaws and negative effects of the current system of funding public K-12 education:
1) The current Real Property Taxation system pits the old against the young. Because Real Property Taxes are primarily utilized to fund grade schools (K-12), the money that is collected benefits children and adolescents (5-18 years of age). They however, do not pay these taxes. The people who own homes, farms, land, and businesses do. When taxes become an excessive burden to members of the community, they seek to redress the situation. The only recourse they have is to vote NO represent a system gone wrong, wasted tax dollars, and wasted lives. Of course, this isn’t an accurate representation in most cases, but when people are struggling to save their homes, their savings, or their livelihoods it is hard to differentiate. Young people begin to feel similar misgivings about the older taxpayers in the community when budgets are voted down and programs are cut from the schools. Not only can palpable acrimonious divisions develop within the community but the respect and understanding between generations is lost. Communities are torn. A good example of this misunderstanding and acrimony took place in the Pine Bush School District last year. The school board and superintendent presented a budget of approximately 99 million. This budget was approximately the same as the prior years and included many cuts including staff reductions. If this budget did not pass then a state mandated contingency budget would be put in place. Utilizing state formulas the contingency would be more than the proposed budget. In other words, if the budget were not passed the taxpayers would have to pay more. This vote was a no-brainer. No one should have voted NO and yet in the final tally more than 800 people voted NO; they voted to have their taxes increased for no reason.
2) The Real Property Taxation system creates animosity between educators and taxpayers. When taxpayers complain of the financial strain of property taxes the focus of their ire is often the teachers. Why? Because teacher salaries and benefits comprise the bulk of the cost of education and consequently of the school budget. Some community members begin to visualize that money is being taken from their pockets and put into the teachers’. In most European and Asian nations, where educational standards and achievement often exceed those in the United States, teachers are highly respected and revered members of the community. Paying teachers well makes perfect sense if one wishes to live in an advanced high quality of life country. The problem is that the communal payoff for those teacher salaries is not realized for many years later when those well-educated students become productive members of the society. Most people do not have the foresight to understand that the securing of the best and brightest to teach today’s youth costs money, money enough to lure them away from even higher paying industrial or private sector jobs. Better teachers yield better students, which yield a better society with a higher quality of life. But when the money to fund students’ education (via teachers) comes from their neighbors and when there is financial pain associated with this, anger sets in towards the recipient of the money. That recipient is seen as the teachers.
3) The Real Property Taxation system acts as a disincentive to home and business owners to improve their property. If someone improves their property then their assessment goes up and they pay more taxes. Because of this many people refrain from improving their homes or even worse avoid utilizing the building inspector when making changes to their homes in an effort to limit their property tax exposure. When buildings are erected, electrical wiring and plumbing modified, etcetera without the building inspectors approval process, the assessors re-evaluation of the property is not engaged and the assessment remains the same, but because the building inspector is not involved, shoddy and hazardous workmanship can result in dangerous living and working environments. I have also heard home and business owners lament that though they had the means to improve their homes and business facilities they would not do so because of the lifetime of tax increases it would mean. We should want our town to look good and for our homes to look good and for our neighbors’ homes to look good. There should be nothing that stands to make someone feel otherwise, but that is what the real property taxation system does. Instead, there should be incentives for people to improve their properties because when a neighbor improves their property it raises the value of all the homes around them and when a neighbor leaves their home in disrepair it reduces the value of all the homes around them and of the community in general. Improving ones homes, business and community imparts a sense of pride and beauty. Why would we deny ourselves this by retaining a system that disincentivizes property improvement.
4) Property taxes which fund schools are anti-family. Families with school aged children who move into the community are viewed as new financial burdens by the existing community. It costs an average of about $10,000 to educate one child. Imagine a family with four school aged children moves into a community and into a home whose assessed value results in $10,000 in school taxes. Their tax dollars only cover the expenses of one of their children’s schooling. The other three children’s educational expenses must be picked up by the community at large. In effect, that one family causes everyone else’s taxes to increase. The current system causes dissention between people with children and people without children or people whose children are grown. Quite simply the people without children may view those with children as increasing their financial hardship. In some localities, town boards have enacted laws whose hidden purpose is to limit the number of school aged children entering the community and the school district because each additional family with children rarely contributes more in property taxes than the additional tax levy their children create. These laws often focus on reducing multi-family dwellings and non-senior rental properties because they attract lower income families with school age children.
5) The current system pits neighbor against neighbor. If one believes their taxes are too high they can grieve their assessment. In order to properly grieve one’s assessment, they must find comparable homes usually in the same or a similar neighborhood whose assessments are lower. This should justify their desire to have their own assessment lowered. This process can result in confrontation between the griever and the owners of the homes the griever uses as comps because the assessor can either grant a reduction or decide that the griever’s assessment is in fact correct and that the comps' assessments are too low, resulting in future assessment increases for the owners of those homes. This unfortunate tax increase for the comp owners is a direct result of the original griever pointing their homes out to the assessor. Some places fortunately have laws, which restrict assessors from increasing an assessment to only when improvements are made, a sale takes place, or a town wide Re-Val is undertaken.
6) The Real Property Taxation system acts as a deterrent to industrial and commercial growth. This could be the most important reason for dismantling the current system. High school taxes act as a deterrent to commercial enterprise setting up their businesses in New York State. A purely ends motivated business will go to the location that allows it the least expenses, which is often out of the state or country. A lack of business results in a lack of jobs, which results in a reduced ability to pay property taxes, which do not go down with a person’s income. When businesses are seeking to locate in New York there is extreme competition between communities that are willing to offer incentives in the form of reduced tax burden causing communities to sacrifice tax dollars for the prospect of local job creation.
7) A Property tax is a regressive tax that impacts the poor more than the rich. A regressive tax is one whose effective rate decreases as the amount to be taxed increases. Regressive taxes impact lower income families more because the tax accounts for a higher percentage of those peoples’ income than higher income families (Progressive taxes escalate along with the income of the payee). Typically, a middle class person with a family ties up their wealth in a home. If a person’s entire net worth is tied to their home and that home is assessed at $300,000 and the real property tax rate is 5%, then they must pay $15,000 in taxes. This accounts for 5% of their net worth, which must come from minimal liquid assets. A wealthier person who owns a $600,000 home but whose net worth of $6,000,000 (which is primarily secured in interest bearing vehicles) pays the same 5% property tax rate. If they were to pay the same 5% tax on their property then they would pay $30,000 which is only 0.5% of their net worth and which comes from their sizeable interest bearing liquid accounts. In this realistic scenario, the poor person who lives in a home with half the value of the wealthier person pays property taxes at a rate 10 times as high when measured as a function of net worth. To add to the insult, the rich person’s home is valued at twice that of the poor person’s. According to itepnet.org low income families paid 3.0% of their income in property taxes in 2002, while middle-income families paid 2.4% of their income and the wealthiest taxpayers paid 0.8%. A fairer system would be income based which is progressive.
8) The Real Property Taxation system causes inequity between school districts. Communities in which wealthier people have congregated will raise more money for their schools than those in poorer communities. Why should poor and middle-income families have to sacrifice more in order to provide an education for the children in their community? This problem is worsened when one considers the long-term effect of this funding disparity. Wealthier districts will be able to pay teachers more and therefore are likely to attract the most qualified applicants. School facilities at wealthier schools can far out weigh those of cash strapped districts, boasting science classrooms that rival pharmaceutical laboratories or computer labs with the newest technologies. This disparity often allows those students in the wealthier districts to excel academically beyond the students in the poorer districts. Taken one step further, this can increase the societal gaps between low, middle and high income families as those that receive the more privileged education from the wealthier schools will frequently outstrip the less privileged in college admissions and ultimately job acquisition. The system maintains, even solidifies the class hierarchy.
9) The current system promotes cronyism. The valuation of land, homes, and other improvements is not an exact science. There is much latitude in an assessment and whether consciously or not assessors are effected by their friendships, biases, social and financial debts, and political affiliation. Anyone who has ever attended a grievance hearing is well aware of this.
10) Localities that host significant numbers of large tax exempt organizations are at a disadvantage. Properties used for religious purposes, parks, military facilities, and government buildings are at a great disadvantage in school funding with large tracts of land and property removed from their tax rolls.
11) Property taxes are not responsive to variations in income. A person who loses their job will come home and still be responsible for the same unchanged property taxes despite a significantly reduced ability to pay them. If the school taxes were income based then when the person lost their job and their income was reduced so too would their school taxes be reduced. Income taxes are much more sensitive to a person's ability to pay. They are progressive. Property taxes are especially difficult on the elderly who after retirement find themselves property rich but cash poor.
The Real Property Taxation system came into existence in the United States when the country was still essentially a feudal society. There were few land owners and they were all rich. With farming and burgeoning industrialization, land could and often was used for profit. Taxing land made sense at the time as land and other property values were a good reflection of a person’s wealth. Nowadays, property ownership is by no means limited to the rich. In fact, the foundation of the American Dream is homeownership. Many Americans currently make mortgage and property tax payments, which exceed 50% of their net income leaving very little for other bills, food, and other necessities. We no longer live in an agrarian society and it is rare for people today to generate income from their residential property. Raising a person’s taxes as the value of the property increases makes no sense because as the value of the property increases, there is no increased income realized by the owner. An income increase is only created when the property is sold and it would be sensible to tax that profit. As property taxes increase there is no guarantee of a commensurate income increase to offset the money lost. In a bad economy, the real property taxpayer is hit with a double whammy. As the economy goes down so do alternate funds for public operations, therefore property taxes go up despite the property owners decreasing ability to pay them.
Recommendations:
1) Abolish the property tax as a means to fund education. In fact, all property taxes should be limited to sales or should be based upon a linearly increasing rate above a certain threshold (e.g. The property tax wouldn’t be engaged until a property value exceeded $500,000. At the threshold it would be a minimal tax defined by a small percentage, lets arbitrarily say 0.1%. As the value of the home increased so too would the property tax percentage. At a value of $1,000,000 perhaps the tax would raise to .2%. There would be prorated percentages in between.)
2) Institute a new state income tax whose sole purpose is to replace property tax revenue for the funding of schools. I do not have the data to determine what that income tax rate increase would be but I have heard that a 1.0-2.0% state income tax increase would negate the contribution that currently comes from property taxes. This would be far fairer because the amount paid would increase with increasing net wealth; a progressive tax. It would make sense if this tax were applied prior to any deductions or at least prior to most deductions. This would eliminate the common and unscrupulous tactic of large corporations utilizing tax law loopholes to avoid taxation. Finally, I would recommend that this money be in a lock box fund. This School Funding Money should be treated just like money collected for social security, which cannot, by law, be touched by Congress and utilized for any other purpose.
3) Another state income source could be a point of purchase Internet sales tax. Anyone who makes a purchase on the Internet from New York State would pay the typical New York State sales tax. The tax would have to be on the New York based consumer so that they paid the tax no matter where the product was coming from. If you only taxed products that originated in New York it would make New York businesses less competitive.
4) The state needs to stop playing games with lottery money. When the lottery was introduced it was touted as the savior of education. All the additional money would be funneled into the state's education budget offsetting rising property taxes. This is not exactly what occurred. Albany bureaucrats pulled a bait and switch. When lottery money started to roll in, they began to pull money that was originally budgeted for education away. The net effect was that education saw no increase in funding. The same amount of money simply came from a different source. Education needs to be budgeted for properly. Lottery income should be nothing but gravy. No more bait and switch.
5) Superintendents of Schools, School Boards, and Town and City Government officials need to band together and demand these changes. The Association of Towns which takes place every year in NYC would be an excellent venue to begin the process.
6) As part of state revenue collection modification, the state will need to create a formula whose implementation would be overseen by an independent committee to determine how money will be distributed to school districts. This will result in a more equitable distribution of education funds than the current system. There will be a cascade of changes that will occur, some of which might not initially be apparent. One change will be in how teacher’s unions negotiate their contracts. I would recommend that individual teacher’s union unite under the umbrella organization NYSUT. Under this system NYSUT would negotiate on behalf of all teachers in the state. Variances in salaries would be required to make up for differences in cost of living. These would be based upon formulaic multipliers much like the ones in place for doctors who bill the NYS Workers Compensation System. In this system different areas of the state are rated based upon cost of living differentials and assigned a multiplier. A base fee is established and different multipliers are used to determine the fee to be received by doctors from different areas (e.g. The base fee for a physical therapy office visit might be $50. If the multiplier for Orange County was 0.9 and the multiplier for Manhattan was 1.2 then the Orange County therapist would receive $45 and the therapist from Manhattan would receive $60). A similar system could be set up to determine teacher salaries for various locations in the state.
Of course these proposals are a skeleton of what would ultimately need to take place but they are talking points upon which a new, fairer, less odious policy for education funding can be formulated.
Finally, some people have chided me for proposing such sweeping changes. They believe that this system is so entrenched that it would be impossible to scrap. Perhaps I am naïve or idealistic but I know a better system can be created and implemented. I know that there would be problems initially and that it would take some time to work out the kinks. I do not believe that because it would be difficult that we should not do it. That kind of thinking would have thwarted most advances in human society, science and technology.
In my next blog entry I will explain how a well designed curriculum is a better way of assessing whether state standards are being met than endless standardized tesing.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Fixing Failure
Preface
This is the first time I have addressed an educational issue in my blog. While I am not afraid to state my opinion publicly, as many of my co-workers no doubt know, it is difficult to do without alienating others that I work with or angering some I work for. My intention in this blog is not to deride any individual but to seek clarity on an issue. Finally, while my comments may seem to be those of a critic and a "know it all", I claim to be neither. I am well aware that as an educator I have faults but I do seek self-improvement and that is why I write. The process congeals my sometimes disparate thoughts into a cohesive thesis.
The suggestions herein are intended as a guide not a blueprint. Some applications will not make sense in certain settings and I do not consider my suggestions complete.
How Do We Fix Failure ...........................................Michael Raucci
Recently in a group setting, a colleague posed the following question; How do we, as teachers, help kids who are failng? Or prevent kids from failing? Admittedly, my first impression of this vague, open-ended question was that an answer was untenable and bound up in hopeless debate. I thought, "Perhaps tomorrow we will address the issue of how to attain world peace". On second look however, it is a laudable question for an educator to ask and a productive question for 'in the trenches' educators to debate.
The debate began with the question, "What percentage of students failing is acceptable?" Of course, this is a loaded question, for which the only idealistically acceptable answer is 0%. But while idealists often ask excellent questions, they rarely provide productive answers. The correct answers is, "It depends." In an honors class, the answer actually is 0% but after that, the make-up of the class will to a certain degree establish the acceptable failure rate. In addition, the class itself might dictate a certain failure rate. Harvard students taking 'Basket Weaving 101' should have a 0% failure rate while middle school students taking 'Quantum Mechanics' should expect a very high failure rate.
In my opinion, the question being posed is too ill-defined to allow for constructive analysis. A better approach is to break the question down into some component parts. What factors play into a student failing or succeeding? What commonalities do most failing students or most successful students possess? What juxtaposing factors do failing and successful students have? Are there trends? An effective way to determine this is to look at the top 10% of achievers and make a list of the reasons why they succeed. Similarly, look at the lowest 10% of achievers and make a list of the reasons why they do not succeed. In addition, look at the teachers who are the most effective at getting students to learn. Make a list of the attributes which contribute to their success. Also, look at the teachers who are the least successful and make a list of the attributes which contribute to their lack of success. There are other groupings for which this algorithm can be carried out; parents of students who succeed vs. parents of children who do not succeed or schools whose students are generally more successful vs. schools whose students are not successful. This process can be further extended to school districts, or states, or countries (the U.S. is frequently portrayed in the media countered with Japan and high scorinig European nations), etc.
Before proceeding it would seem prudent to define failure. Failure is not when an individual falls short of their full potential, for no one ever truly reaches their full potential. Its equivalent to counting to infinity. There's always something more. As vague as it may sound, failure is not achieving one's goals. In education, goals are an amalgamation of the desires of the state, the community, the district, the school, the teacher, the parents, and of course the student. The consequences of failure are primarily suffered by the student though longer term effects can carry up through the hierarchy when failure rates increase. Within this formula, the three biggest contributors to goal setting and success or failure at attaining those goals are the parents, the teachers, and the students, assuming a progressive modern society where equal opportunity for all is an ideal (A government that does not allow for equal access to education for all citizens stymies the potential of the excluded). The order I have listed the big three is important. While it can change depending on the personalities of the individuals, parents play the largest role in student goal setting and attainment, followed by teachers, and then students. Each has a significant enough role that they can unilaterally sabotage success. Some educators will undoubtedly think that students play a more significant role than teachers when it comes to success or failure but physiologically children are neurologically immature humans, who require adult supervision and guidance. Evolutionarily, the tradeoff for our giant brains is that most of our cerebral development takes place after we are born, making children helpless and dependent upon their parents. Left to their own devices, children will often make poor long term decisions because the frontal cortex which governs long term planning and the ability to forecast the future consequences of current actions does not fully develop until the mid to late twenties. For these reasons, children are afforded the special status of novices when it comes to responsibility. Don't get me wrong, students can and sometimes do wield the power to single-handedly destroy the road to success but that is rare and usually involves either the parent or teacher or both giving up on that troubled child.
Success or failure will differ from student to student just as goals will differ, therefore setting benchmark criteria upon which to judge all students is not always appropriate. This is the basis upon which special needs students are granted classroom and assessment modifications. While one student's consensus goals may be to score 85% or above for the quarter, another's may be to complete 75% of the assignments, a third's might be to attend class at least 3 out of every 5 days, while a fourth's might be to simply get through the day without getting hurt by aggressive students or adults around them. These goals are quite different from each other and clearly some of these students require interventive steps towards creating more constructive goals but the point is that each student presents with a different set of goals. Some present with the same goals everyday while others' goals change continuously.
1) Identify non-special education students in need of closer supervision (special education students have already been identified and are already working closely with a special education teacher. It is an enormous strain on a regular ed. teacher's time to deal with 10-20 special education student's needs, while simultaneously doing plans, conducting classes, grading papers, etc. for 135 students and working to provide additional assistance to the identified regular ed. students in need of assistance. )
2) Make a list of students who require assistance.
3) Divide those students into those that require the assistance of a guidance counselor, the school psychologist or social worker, and/or CAT referral or academic assistance. Notify the parents of these students.
4) The list should be dynamic and should be updated no less frequently than monthly.
5) Take special note of students who also disrupt others' education. Deal with them first. Do they require an alternate learning site, will counseling help, what about seating changes or schedule changes, could a medical evaluation be suggested? Find out why they are acting out and develop a strategy to limit their intrusions on other's learning opportunities. Meeting with these students to discuss the issue would be effective. Make it like a strategizing session where the student themself is an equal participant in hashing out a solution. I believe this would be more successful intially if the parents were notified of the intent to meet with their child but that the parent did not attend the initial meeting with their child. The initial meet should geared toward layin out the problem as the teachers see it, listening to the student's perception of the situation and then working with the student to hammer out a solution.
6) Assign all students on the list an advisor whose job will be to monitor that students progress and needs. Talking to his or her teachers about assignments, behavior and learning will fulfill the advisors obligations for data. Meeting with that student at least weekly will provide a solid relationship. It is far easier for one teacher to follow the progress of 3-6 students and interact with their parents than it is to have all teachers closely monitor 130-150 students and interact with their parents. It also allows frustrated parents to interact with only one teacher who is knowledgable about all of their child's academic and social affairs instead of with 6. This delegated network design would function best if the school was using teams. Part of team time could be used to meet with advisees.
How can individual teachers help parents and students:
1) Use the internet to post homework and grades. The technology exists and it allows concerned parents and students to be completely knowledgable of assignments, due dates, and grades. For overwhelmed teachers, it shifts some responsibility to the parents for monitoring their own child's responsibilities and development.
2) When there are lengthy assignments, particularly written ones, create check points where progress on the assignment can be verified and feedback/clarification can be provided (rough drafts on lengthy papers or having written questions be handed in in stages, etc.). A zero on a big project or paper can demolish a kids GPA and ruin what may have been an otherwise respectable average. Creating checkpoints allows the teacher to monitor students who may not be meeting the criteria of the assignment or who are having difficulty getting started.
3) Everyone has bad days. In my class, the lowest homework grade and the lowest lab/quiz grade are dropped. Those 2 grades do not count toward the quarter average. This provides a reasonable buffer for students and for myself.
4) Being in class counts for something. I believe that no student who attends class should receive a grade below 50% for a quarter. Giving grades of 25% or 31%, etc. disincentivizes the student for the remainder of the year. There is almost no way an average or below average student can recover from such a low grade. Once they realize that they have no hope of passing for the year, there is no reason for them to try anymore. Students who are not in class often enough to receive a 50% should receive an incomplete.
5) Accept late work. Remember, the goal is for them to learn what we teach. By all means, penalize them for handing things in late, but the "now or never" method is unfair, unrealsitic and incompassionate.
This is the first time I have addressed an educational issue in my blog. While I am not afraid to state my opinion publicly, as many of my co-workers no doubt know, it is difficult to do without alienating others that I work with or angering some I work for. My intention in this blog is not to deride any individual but to seek clarity on an issue. Finally, while my comments may seem to be those of a critic and a "know it all", I claim to be neither. I am well aware that as an educator I have faults but I do seek self-improvement and that is why I write. The process congeals my sometimes disparate thoughts into a cohesive thesis.
The suggestions herein are intended as a guide not a blueprint. Some applications will not make sense in certain settings and I do not consider my suggestions complete.
How Do We Fix Failure ...........................................Michael Raucci
Recently in a group setting, a colleague posed the following question; How do we, as teachers, help kids who are failng? Or prevent kids from failing? Admittedly, my first impression of this vague, open-ended question was that an answer was untenable and bound up in hopeless debate. I thought, "Perhaps tomorrow we will address the issue of how to attain world peace". On second look however, it is a laudable question for an educator to ask and a productive question for 'in the trenches' educators to debate.
The debate began with the question, "What percentage of students failing is acceptable?" Of course, this is a loaded question, for which the only idealistically acceptable answer is 0%. But while idealists often ask excellent questions, they rarely provide productive answers. The correct answers is, "It depends." In an honors class, the answer actually is 0% but after that, the make-up of the class will to a certain degree establish the acceptable failure rate. In addition, the class itself might dictate a certain failure rate. Harvard students taking 'Basket Weaving 101' should have a 0% failure rate while middle school students taking 'Quantum Mechanics' should expect a very high failure rate.
In my opinion, the question being posed is too ill-defined to allow for constructive analysis. A better approach is to break the question down into some component parts. What factors play into a student failing or succeeding? What commonalities do most failing students or most successful students possess? What juxtaposing factors do failing and successful students have? Are there trends? An effective way to determine this is to look at the top 10% of achievers and make a list of the reasons why they succeed. Similarly, look at the lowest 10% of achievers and make a list of the reasons why they do not succeed. In addition, look at the teachers who are the most effective at getting students to learn. Make a list of the attributes which contribute to their success. Also, look at the teachers who are the least successful and make a list of the attributes which contribute to their lack of success. There are other groupings for which this algorithm can be carried out; parents of students who succeed vs. parents of children who do not succeed or schools whose students are generally more successful vs. schools whose students are not successful. This process can be further extended to school districts, or states, or countries (the U.S. is frequently portrayed in the media countered with Japan and high scorinig European nations), etc.
Before proceeding it would seem prudent to define failure. Failure is not when an individual falls short of their full potential, for no one ever truly reaches their full potential. Its equivalent to counting to infinity. There's always something more. As vague as it may sound, failure is not achieving one's goals. In education, goals are an amalgamation of the desires of the state, the community, the district, the school, the teacher, the parents, and of course the student. The consequences of failure are primarily suffered by the student though longer term effects can carry up through the hierarchy when failure rates increase. Within this formula, the three biggest contributors to goal setting and success or failure at attaining those goals are the parents, the teachers, and the students, assuming a progressive modern society where equal opportunity for all is an ideal (A government that does not allow for equal access to education for all citizens stymies the potential of the excluded). The order I have listed the big three is important. While it can change depending on the personalities of the individuals, parents play the largest role in student goal setting and attainment, followed by teachers, and then students. Each has a significant enough role that they can unilaterally sabotage success. Some educators will undoubtedly think that students play a more significant role than teachers when it comes to success or failure but physiologically children are neurologically immature humans, who require adult supervision and guidance. Evolutionarily, the tradeoff for our giant brains is that most of our cerebral development takes place after we are born, making children helpless and dependent upon their parents. Left to their own devices, children will often make poor long term decisions because the frontal cortex which governs long term planning and the ability to forecast the future consequences of current actions does not fully develop until the mid to late twenties. For these reasons, children are afforded the special status of novices when it comes to responsibility. Don't get me wrong, students can and sometimes do wield the power to single-handedly destroy the road to success but that is rare and usually involves either the parent or teacher or both giving up on that troubled child.
Success or failure will differ from student to student just as goals will differ, therefore setting benchmark criteria upon which to judge all students is not always appropriate. This is the basis upon which special needs students are granted classroom and assessment modifications. While one student's consensus goals may be to score 85% or above for the quarter, another's may be to complete 75% of the assignments, a third's might be to attend class at least 3 out of every 5 days, while a fourth's might be to simply get through the day without getting hurt by aggressive students or adults around them. These goals are quite different from each other and clearly some of these students require interventive steps towards creating more constructive goals but the point is that each student presents with a different set of goals. Some present with the same goals everyday while others' goals change continuously.
The overwhelming scapegoat from the teacher's pespective when it comes to student failure is the parents. I believe that in fact the majority of the blame does in fact rest with the parents. When one examines the list of attributes of succeeding vs. failing students the glaring dissimilarity is parents who care, parents who actively supervise, parents who provide positive role modeling, parents who communicate, parents who create loving safe environments, parents who impose, parents who help versus parents who either don't do these things at all or don't do them well. Parents who completely dissociate themselves from the process until the report card arrives are never happy with the outcome.
Parental inadequacy does not however remove responsibility from educators to come up with ways to improve the lot of their students and in so doing improve themselves and their methodologies. Introspection is a difficult thing, especially if the expectation is to find things that are wrong or being done poorly. Even more difficult then introspection is taking steps to change those discovered faults and inadequacies. What can teachers do:1) Identify non-special education students in need of closer supervision (special education students have already been identified and are already working closely with a special education teacher. It is an enormous strain on a regular ed. teacher's time to deal with 10-20 special education student's needs, while simultaneously doing plans, conducting classes, grading papers, etc. for 135 students and working to provide additional assistance to the identified regular ed. students in need of assistance. )
2) Make a list of students who require assistance.
3) Divide those students into those that require the assistance of a guidance counselor, the school psychologist or social worker, and/or CAT referral or academic assistance. Notify the parents of these students.
4) The list should be dynamic and should be updated no less frequently than monthly.
5) Take special note of students who also disrupt others' education. Deal with them first. Do they require an alternate learning site, will counseling help, what about seating changes or schedule changes, could a medical evaluation be suggested? Find out why they are acting out and develop a strategy to limit their intrusions on other's learning opportunities. Meeting with these students to discuss the issue would be effective. Make it like a strategizing session where the student themself is an equal participant in hashing out a solution. I believe this would be more successful intially if the parents were notified of the intent to meet with their child but that the parent did not attend the initial meeting with their child. The initial meet should geared toward layin out the problem as the teachers see it, listening to the student's perception of the situation and then working with the student to hammer out a solution.
6) Assign all students on the list an advisor whose job will be to monitor that students progress and needs. Talking to his or her teachers about assignments, behavior and learning will fulfill the advisors obligations for data. Meeting with that student at least weekly will provide a solid relationship. It is far easier for one teacher to follow the progress of 3-6 students and interact with their parents than it is to have all teachers closely monitor 130-150 students and interact with their parents. It also allows frustrated parents to interact with only one teacher who is knowledgable about all of their child's academic and social affairs instead of with 6. This delegated network design would function best if the school was using teams. Part of team time could be used to meet with advisees.
How can individual teachers help parents and students:
1) Use the internet to post homework and grades. The technology exists and it allows concerned parents and students to be completely knowledgable of assignments, due dates, and grades. For overwhelmed teachers, it shifts some responsibility to the parents for monitoring their own child's responsibilities and development.
2) When there are lengthy assignments, particularly written ones, create check points where progress on the assignment can be verified and feedback/clarification can be provided (rough drafts on lengthy papers or having written questions be handed in in stages, etc.). A zero on a big project or paper can demolish a kids GPA and ruin what may have been an otherwise respectable average. Creating checkpoints allows the teacher to monitor students who may not be meeting the criteria of the assignment or who are having difficulty getting started.
3) Everyone has bad days. In my class, the lowest homework grade and the lowest lab/quiz grade are dropped. Those 2 grades do not count toward the quarter average. This provides a reasonable buffer for students and for myself.
4) Being in class counts for something. I believe that no student who attends class should receive a grade below 50% for a quarter. Giving grades of 25% or 31%, etc. disincentivizes the student for the remainder of the year. There is almost no way an average or below average student can recover from such a low grade. Once they realize that they have no hope of passing for the year, there is no reason for them to try anymore. Students who are not in class often enough to receive a 50% should receive an incomplete.
5) Accept late work. Remember, the goal is for them to learn what we teach. By all means, penalize them for handing things in late, but the "now or never" method is unfair, unrealsitic and incompassionate.
6) Entertain them. Some will disagree with me on this one but I feel strongly about it. The naysayers retort that it is not their job to entertain, it is their job to teach. My reply is that the rules have changed. Our children's culture is all about being entertained. It pervades all aspects of their lives. The average 8-25 year old spends 90% of their free time being entertained by some third party...Ipod, radio, TV, internet, movies, video games. Their brains have developed within this entertainment framework. They learn within the context of being entertained. If that is the only way they can learn or if that is the easiest way for them to learn then that is what we as educators must do. We must cloak our lesson within a vessel of entertainment if we want every student to be reached. There will be some students that don't require this but more and more will as time passes.
7) Finally, consider the use of authentic assessment methods. Sometimes, 2 students who are equally knowledgable about a learned topic will score remarkably different if given the same test. Authentic assessment offers students different ways of demonstrating their knowledge of a subject. It presumes that different students can express their mastery of a topic through the use of different and distinct intelligences (as defined by Gardner) and that experiential assessment allows the student to demonstrate their critical thinking skills within the context being assessed.
Finally, there are the students themselves. How do we encourage them to become intrinsically motivated and to value education and learning. We (parents, teachers, administrators, etc.) must model just that; by being involved in academic pursuits, by discussing the books we have read and the scientific breakthroughs we've encountered, by writing, by debating, by inventing, and so on. Somtimes allowing students to enter into the community and into the discussion as equals allows them to see our perspective more clearly. Establishing lines of communication between adults and children is crucial to their understanding of how learning can impact their lives. Without these communicative lines, the only message they will get is from the ever pervasive entertainment industry whose message is that you can have anything you want, it all comes easy and there are few consequences to one's inappropriate actions.
Failure is not defined by a number. It is an unattained educational goal. The student neither unillaterally dictates the goal or unilaterally succeeds or fails in achieving it. Different students require different goals and different methods by which to attain those goals. As educators we need to embrace this reality while at the same time working within the confines of the conventional numeric system of grading. In order to achieve their educational goals, some students are going to require guidance and cajoling and in some instances innovative approaches. In addition, we need to provide a framework upon which success can be built and encouraged. I have provided what I believe to be a starting point for such a framework. I welcome your comments, criticisms and additions. (doctorraucci@yahoo.com)
Since, by the way, this is my blog, I would like to comment on a pet peeve of mine; standardized testing. I do not believe that as answers are garnered through the process explained above that any right minded educator will conclude that the solution for any group or individual student is more standardized testing or more practice for standardized testing. Standardized tests evaluate superficial knowledge and are a poor indicator of future success. Practicing how to take standardized tests has limited advantages beyond providing some comfort to students who may not adapt well to a test which is organized or formatted in a way which is unfailiar to them. Beyond that, it superficially raises scores when in fact there is no increase in understanding. Finally, overutilization of standardized tests and micromanaged state-curricula have the overall effect of reducing the depth of knowledge which is explored in any particular subject and more importantly negatively impact a goal loftier than learning a 'bucket of facts'. Learning how to learn, learning to enjoy learning and learning how to integrate and apply knowledge are far more important in today's society, especially since technological innovations allow us to have all facts at our fingertips (literally) at all times. Instead of filling our student's heads with facts, we should be concentrating on developing their critical thinking skills, their curiosity and their creativity. We should be making learning fun. We can not move ahead by looking behind. Many of the methodologies of yesteryear will not work. This is why we need to stop allowing educational policy to be dictated by politicians whose last legitimate interaction with primary and secondary schooling took place in the 1960's and '70's. No Child Left Behind, The Race to the Top, merit pay and many other politician initiated salves do not serve the students. They serve political agendas, the primary of which is strumming the purse strings of the electorate who want tax relief and who are responsible for providing that politician with a well paying, prestigious, perk laden, comfortable job come election time.Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Dead Rock Stars
This is the first song I wrote. I have about 20 complete songs. I just don't know what to do with them.
Dead Rock Stars © Michael Raucci
(Chorus)
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Stevie Ray is pushin daisies
Rock and Rollers go insane
Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Holly, Valens and the Bopper, perished in a puddle-hopper
Freddie lived in luxury but Queen died with his HIV
Marvin shot down by his Dad, too much food killed Mama Cass
Lennon went before his time, another victim of gun crime
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Rock n Rollers goin fast
Rock and Roll it kicks your ass
Heroin went to Jerry’s head, now he is the Grateful Dead
The King is dead, he’s left Graceland, pop king too left Neverland
Sid Vicious lived his life so fast, Cochran killed in big car crash
Drugs ended Rick’s greatest feat, but we’re still singin Superfreak
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Stevie Ray is pushin daisies
Rock and Rollers go insane
Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Janis sang to Bob McGee in hotel Landmark she O-Ded
Peter Tosh well he got shot, he gets Reggae’s Purple Heart
Rastas Marley he would sing, “Don’t you Worry ‘bout a Thing”
He fought to end peoples strife, But cancer took that soldiers life,
Morrison, the Lizard King, without his voice, Doors could not sing
Skynyrd in a plane lost three, Ronnie, Stevie, and Cassie
The Ramones, yah they lost three as well, amongst the punkers they did dwell
Michael Hutchence lost his breath, Sam Cooke he got clubbed to death
Dead Rock Stars pushin daisies
Dead Rock Stars goin’ crazy
Dead Rock Stars they lived fast and hard
Don’t wanta be a Dead Rock Star
Don’t wanta be a dead rock star
Don’t wanta be a dead rock star
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Stevie Ray is pushin daisies
Rock and Rollers go insane
Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Yah, Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Dead Rock Stars © Michael Raucci
(Chorus)
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Stevie Ray is pushin daisies
Rock and Rollers go insane
Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Holly, Valens and the Bopper, perished in a puddle-hopper
Freddie lived in luxury but Queen died with his HIV
Marvin shot down by his Dad, too much food killed Mama Cass
Lennon went before his time, another victim of gun crime
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Rock n Rollers goin fast
Rock and Roll it kicks your ass
Heroin went to Jerry’s head, now he is the Grateful Dead
The King is dead, he’s left Graceland, pop king too left Neverland
Sid Vicious lived his life so fast, Cochran killed in big car crash
Drugs ended Rick’s greatest feat, but we’re still singin Superfreak
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Stevie Ray is pushin daisies
Rock and Rollers go insane
Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Janis sang to Bob McGee in hotel Landmark she O-Ded
Peter Tosh well he got shot, he gets Reggae’s Purple Heart
Rastas Marley he would sing, “Don’t you Worry ‘bout a Thing”
He fought to end peoples strife, But cancer took that soldiers life,
Morrison, the Lizard King, without his voice, Doors could not sing
Skynyrd in a plane lost three, Ronnie, Stevie, and Cassie
The Ramones, yah they lost three as well, amongst the punkers they did dwell
Michael Hutchence lost his breath, Sam Cooke he got clubbed to death
Dead Rock Stars pushin daisies
Dead Rock Stars goin’ crazy
Dead Rock Stars they lived fast and hard
Don’t wanta be a Dead Rock Star
Don’t wanta be a dead rock star
Don’t wanta be a dead rock star
Dead Rock Stars
Get off that plane its gonna crash
Dead Rock Stars
Poppin pills and smoking hash
Dead Rock Stars – livin crazy
Stevie Ray is pushin daisies
Rock and Rollers go insane
Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
Yah, Sex and drugs killed Kurt Cobain
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