'The sky is falling!'

If the County Council doesn't add $132 milion to the public school budget next year, the sky will fall down and people will get hurt!

That's what Superintendent Jerry Weast is saying, as he sets up local elected officials to look bad if they turn down his demand for more money (including a raise for himself).

"If we don't have the kind of money we need, the only people who get hurt are our people," Weast said when he unveiled the budget on December 13.

By "our people," Weast appears to be referring to the powerful NEA teachers' union. Most of the budget increase goes to increased pay, including a raise for Weast above his current base pay of $238,000 a year plus $100,000 in tax sheltered retirement benefits and a free car.