When will the international community comply by its own jurisprudence.

islandhopping · Jul 22, 2015

"Officials in Texas are making it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to get birth certificates for their children born in the state. The state tightened ID requirements for parents, prompting a number of lawsuits."

There are some obvious similarities between Texas implementation and the Dominican Republic's implementation of immigration control/restraint.

This shows the disingenuous positions the international community pronounces, while perpetrating exactly the same immorality among its own institutions.

Immigrants Sue Texas For Denying Birth Certificates To U.S.-Born Children : NPR

"Voters overwhelmingly approved the no-bail law as the state?s politicians were feeling pressure to take action on illegal immigration. It automatically denied bail to immigrants charged with a range of felonies that included shoplifting, aggravated identity theft, sexual assault and murder.

The number of immigrants who were denied bond hearings as a result of the law was unknown, but that number is believed to be over 1,000."

Arizona immigration law dismantled by Supreme Court

Financially, Puerto Rico experience declining revenue due to the 2008 economy and the U,S. Congress elimination of tax breaks for corporate America residing on the island. Now the island wants to wipe away years of compiling debt.

The DR is also outspending the wealth it generates, buy borrowing more than it can reasonably repay while simultaneously substation an operational budget.

PRM dice PLD ha endeudado al pa?s para financiar reelecci?n | List?n Diario

Should the DR strictly apply a solution to the national budget and debt, following the harsh examples of Puerto Rico's economic problems?

Should the DR use the same vigor toward immigration for improving housing standards, sanitation and non-tourist based revenue sources?

LindseyKaufman · Jul 22, 2015

You are asking hard questions. If there were a simple solution, wouldn't all countries use it? In the world today, my opinion is that it all boils down to simple economics. Money is now ruling the world. Not people.

Lindsey

islandhopping · Jul 24, 2015

Money does rule the world today. The greed of the monetary system is a reflection of the people who are perpetuating degradation of the environment and forcing the majority to live in poverty.

The solution is simple, but it is arduous to perform. First, stopping commercialization of essential needs. Second, people should be allowed to make as much money as they can, provided they don't exploit people and the land in the process. Third, don't borrow money from foreign institutions. Fourth, Dominicans should NOT need to pay nearly a month salary to get a passport and the government should prorate some of the visa costs to visit other countries.

The USA, Europe, South America are the leaders of what NOT to do. It is a game of pass the debt. Hopefully, the DR political parties will learn form the austere of trickle down economics and choose a different direction. When the DR began construction of schools across the country side, that was a great step, along with increasing teachers salaries.

However, things seem to go backwards by amending the constitution for another term for the presidency. That leads to same dysfunction Haiti has.

bob saunders · Jul 24, 2015

islandhopping said:
Money does rule the world today. The greed of the monetary system is a reflection of the people who are perpetuating degradation of the environment and forcing the majority to live in poverty.

The solution is simple, but it is arduous to perform. First, stopping commercialization of essential needs. Second, people should be allowed to make as much money as they can, provided they don't exploit people and the land in the process. Third, don't borrow money from foreign institutions. Fourth, Dominicans should NOT need to pay nearly a month salary to get a passport and the government should prorate some of the visa costs to visit other countries.

The USA, Europe, South America are the leaders of what NOT to do. It is a game of pass the debt. Hopefully, the DR political parties will learn form the austere of trickle down economics and choose a different direction. When the DR began construction of schools across the country side, that was a great step, along with increasing teachers salaries.

However, things seem to go backwards by amending the constitution for another term for the presidency. That leads to same dysfunction Haiti has.

Well the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Giving teachers a good pay raise is good for teachers, it doesn't do a damn thing for students. The only thing is if the remuneration is high enough, and the standards are also raised it might attract of the he DR's best and brightest.
You don't have a trickle down economy in the DR, or most places for that matter. Money or the equivalent has always ruled the world and always will. Who forces someone to live in poverty?
By the way those teachers raises and new schools - that's borrowed money.

Xavier_Onassis · Jul 24, 2015

What happens when you do NOT raise teachers' salaries is that the teachers that are in the most demand realize that they are worth more, find better paying jobs, and their replacements end up costing more to hire than the original teachers would have earned if given a decent pay raise.

The way the world's economy works is that there must be a low inflation rate of 2 to 4% in order to prevent crashes, booms and busts. As a result, inflation will always exist, and there must be a rise in salaries to make up for this.

zoomzx11 · Jul 24, 2015

Since we mentioned teachers salaries. There is a private school in the DR where they teach in English and hire foreign and Dominican teachers on a different pay scale. Foreign teachers are paid much more. Dominican teachers are paid the normal starvation wages. The new rule is foreign teachers who teach in the school for five years are automatically dropped to the Dominican pay scale. Who is going to put up with that. They dont care. Its a business and what matters most is the bottom line. So in this school a good teacher who stays is forced to quit or go on a beans and rice diet. English speaking certified teachers are in demand and leave when they are not valued. Normal backwards Dominican thinking.

Dolores1 · Jul 24, 2015

zoomzx11 said:
Since we mentioned teachers salaries. There is a private school in the DR where they teach in English and hire foreign and Dominican teachers on a different pay scale. Foreign teachers are paid much more. Dominican teachers are paid the normal starvation wages. The new rule is foreign teachers who teach in the school for five years are automatically dropped to the Dominican pay scale. Who is going to put up with that. They dont care. Its a business and what matters most is the bottom line. So in this school a good teacher who stays is forced to quit or go on a beans and rice diet. English speaking certified teachers are in demand and leave when they are not valued. Normal backwards Dominican thinking.

That is easier said then done. A teacher who's pay is cut can sue the school through the Ministry of Labor. The schools' option would be to fire the teacher, but they would have to pay a high severance payment, even if the teacher is a foreigner. After giving the teacher a three month's break, the same teacher could be rehired for lower pay, but that would result in a disgruntled teacher, so think a lower cost replacement would be found, rather than rehire the teacher.

bob saunders · Jul 24, 2015

Xavier_Onassis said:
What happens when you do NOT raise teachers' salaries is that the teachers that are in the most demand realize that they are worth more, find better paying jobs, and their replacements end up costing more to hire than the original teachers would have earned if given a decent pay raise.

The way the world's economy works is that there must be a low inflation rate of 2 to 4% in order to prevent crashes, booms and busts. As a result, inflation will always exist, and there must be a rise in salaries to make up for this.

Not in the DR. Teachers get paid higher than the average, plus government pensions, and most of them are not only clueless on how to teach, it's only a job to them, not a vocation. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Everyone should earn a living wage, key word EARN.

Xavier_Onassis · Jul 24, 2015

Deleted: not DR related

islandhopping · Jul 25, 2015

bob saunders said:
Not in the DR. Teachers get paid higher than the average, plus government pensions, and most of them are not only clueless on how to teach, it's only a job to them, not a vocation. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Everyone should earn a living wage, key word EARN.

Everyone should earn their pay, i agree.

Without investing in education, there is no future for any country. The investment was a wise move because tourism is not reliable or resilient as having an abundant commodity.

It makes sense to force the local economy to support local people, adding a 5 year limitation on foreign teachers. It is short sighted of the DR government to not also enforce a rolling credentialing system on domestic teachers, receiving raises.

Trickle down economics is the old used car salesmen sales pitch. It depends on moral business leaders and stockholders reinvesting to spread opportunity. It mostly does NOT work.

I notice this type of economics was touted in the DR, with privatization of former government own businesses. A plant on the north coast closed in less than two years and killed many jobs.

Just my observation

malko · Jul 25, 2015

bob saunders said:
Well the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Giving teachers a good pay raise is good for teachers, it doesn't do a damn thing for students. The only thing is if the remuneration is high enough, and the standards are also raised it might attract of the he DR's best and brightest.
.

The pay would have to be multiplied by itself a couple of times........otherwise, sadly ( for the country that is, not the person

), the best and the brightest will get the hell out of dodge and earn at least 10 times more in some other country......

Auryn · Jul 25, 2015

zoomzx11 said:
Since we mentioned teachers salaries. There is a private school in the DR where they teach in English and hire foreign and Dominican teachers on a different pay scale. Foreign teachers are paid much more. Dominican teachers are paid the normal starvation wages. The new rule is foreign teachers who teach in the school for five years are automatically dropped to the Dominican pay scale. Who is going to put up with that. They dont care. Its a business and what matters most is the bottom line. So in this school a good teacher who stays is forced to quit or go on a beans and rice diet. English speaking certified teachers are in demand and leave when they are not valued. Normal backwards Dominican thinking.

With the exception of Carol Morgan and maybe a few others, the majority of private schools in the country are run for profit. From a teacher's point of view, this can either work well or be a nightmare. Of course owners want to ensure their bottom dollar, but this motivation can create a nasty work environment. Schools will ask teachers not to share their salary information (which is nonsense) but people find out that local teachers are paid less than a quarter of the foreign hire salary. Even Dominican teachers who have degrees from international universities are sometimes paid less than foreign teachers. Then, somebody with the right connections and no teaching experience or certification gets hired as a teacher and makes more than the foreign hires. All kinds of scenarios can develop in these situations, most of which are negative.

Teacher turnover rates are high which is a huge red flag for any serious educators. Owners of the private schools do not care as long as their "brand" is maintained and parents are convinced that their children are receiving a great education. Sometimes that education is top notch, sometimes it's not.

In regards to improving education in the country, higher teacher wages and more schools will only help if the quality of teacher education is increased. It has to start somewhere and is a daunting and complicated task for certain.

I think there was a thread about the topic of teacher salaries/the state of education here when the 4% for education thing was introduced.

bob saunders · Jul 25, 2015

zoomzx11 said:
Since we mentioned teachers salaries. There is a private school in the DR where they teach in English and hire foreign and Dominican teachers on a different pay scale. Foreign teachers are paid much more. Dominican teachers are paid the normal starvation wages. The new rule is foreign teachers who teach in the school for five years are automatically dropped to the Dominican pay scale. Who is going to put up with that. They dont care. Its a business and what matters most is the bottom line. So in this school a good teacher who stays is forced to quit or go on a beans and rice diet. English speaking certified teachers are in demand and leave when they are not valued. Normal backwards Dominican thinking.

A number of private religious schools hire Dominican teachers of a one year contract. They terminate them before the end of the term, thus saving themselves larger severance payouts. How common is this, I don't know, but common enough that it is well known.
Running a private school is expensive, as is running any business. If done correctly one can make a good profit, and still pay teachers well. Many private schools fail, mainly because they make mistakes. Get too greedy, do a poor job of teaching, or can't compete due to lack of capital, and a million other reasons. It is challenging to run a private school in a town full of non-profit missionary schools who pay no taxes and receive free funding from American religious folks, freshly built public schools that offer free food and education ( for what its worth) and Catholic schools that are subsidized by the government.

islandhopping · Jul 28, 2015

Sadly, making money by offering a low quality education is a horrible crime to inflect onto children.

I just reviewed old DR1 postings on the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos among other countries deporting Haitians, within the last couple years.

During the next OAS summit, will those governments enlighten the international community on their immigration plans?

From the research I have seen, only the USA has change policy to lower the priority of deporting non-criminal undocumented people.

Xavier_Onassis · Jul 28, 2015

The private college for which I taught (church affiliated, not a for-profit) also told us that our own salaries were confidential and we should never tell anyone else outside of our families.
Of course, the accreditation process required this information, and this proclamation annoyed someone who had been assigned to compile statistics for the SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) divulged the whole thing by simply leaving it in a copy machine.
Turned out that some newly hired instructors with a recent MA were making more than full professors with 10 years' experience.

Apparently the administration and the Board of Trustees were unaware of the huge disparity.

islandhopping · Aug 5, 2015

Dominican Resort Is a Refuge Twice Abandoned

This may be a concept the government of Haiti could model. Just make space available in an under utilized facility.

This article shows the human side of political decisions. I can not say stripping property from a place owned by others is moral. The local corruption and political jousting is also just as immoral.

This article ends in a similar fashion to U.S. ICE sweeping for undocumented workers at a business in the south west.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/w...er-haitians-and-immigration.html?ref=americas

islandhopping · Aug 13, 2015

A double standard

In Germany, Voices Against Immigration Grow Louder

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently weighed in on the country's increasingly contentious debate about immigration, declaring that the nation's attempts to create a multicultural society have "utterly failed."

In the speech to party members and supporters over the weekend, Merkel also said new arrivals need to do more to integrate into German society.

Her comments reflect a growing and increasingly bitter anti-immigration mood ? especially for Muslims ? in Germany and across much of Europe.
________________________________________________________

The colonial powers migrated(invaded) the western hemisphere and displaced the population. Setup puppet governments or declared them colonies. Generations later, the population declared their independence, either partially or totally. The DR and Haiti are two of these former colonies.

In today's climate, when confronted with migrants flowing to the EU. People must conform and fit into OUR society.

This is another interesting comparison of how some governments viewed the immigration plan for the DR. While they apply the same fundamental strategy the DR is accused.

chic · Aug 13, 2015

islandhopping said:
In Germany, Voices Against Immigration Grow Louder

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently weighed in on the country's increasingly contentious debate about immigration, declaring that the nation's attempts to create a multicultural society have "utterly failed."

In the speech to party members and supporters over the weekend, Merkel also said new arrivals need to do more to integrate into German society.

Her comments reflect a growing and increasingly bitter anti-immigration mood — especially for Muslims — in Germany and across much of Europe.
________________________________________________________

The colonial powers migrated(invaded) the western hemisphere and displaced the population. Setup puppet governments or declared them colonies. Generations later, the population declared their independence, either partially or totally. The DR and Haiti are two of these former colonies.

In today's climate, when confronted with migrants flowing to the EU. People must conform and fit into OUR society.

This is another interesting comparison of how some governments viewed the immigration plan for the DR. While they apply the same fundamental strategy the DR is accused.

its a tough one...me...if i leave my country...i change i do want to fit in...i will adapt...but my change has nothing to do w/religion... i say...if you dont want to change/fit in be the same as your neighbors....stay where you are...deal with your life...it is yours to deal with/teach your children/ and you dont have to adapt...

islandhopping · Aug 13, 2015

chic, does that apply to Missionaries who sole purpose is usually to spread their beliefs?

I have not fully examined the EU migration issue. I doubt the muslims are mirroring the Latter day saints/Mormons, Jehovah witness and television evangelist.
Who do knock on your door or flood the airways with what they are selling.

It is interesting and a little entertaining to see, some societies export their products, political systems, cultural identity around the world.
People buy into this and make the journey to the source of these utopias. Ok, we need everyone to stop coming here and just continue to work in our sweat shops,
hazardous factories and unregulated mines to support our life style in paradise.

On the other hand. China town, Jewish communities and many other setup their communities aboard, without changing their way of life.
They do coexist with their neighbors and are an valued asset.

bob saunders · Aug 13, 2015

islandhopping said:
Everyone should earn their pay, i agree.

Without investing in education, there is no future for any country. The investment was a wise move because tourism is not reliable or resilient as having an abundant commodity.

It makes sense to force the local economy to support local people, adding a 5 year limitation on foreign teachers. It is short sighted of the DR government to not also enforce a rolling credentialing system on domestic teachers, receiving raises.

Trickle down economics is the old used car salesmen sales pitch. It depends on moral business leaders and stockholders reinvesting to spread opportunity. It mostly does NOT work.

I notice this type of economics was touted in the DR, with privatization of former government own businesses. A plant on the north coast closed in less than two years and killed many jobs.

Just my observation

We can choose to agree or disagree on whether so called trickle down economics- works when there isn't a combination of crony capitalism and statist interference in the economy.
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/case-trickle-down

When will the international community comply by its own jurisprudence.

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