Identity theft/measuring government employee work output

[cgallery]

This article about identity theft really left me pretty angry:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=765114

Basically, two different illegal immigrants were using the guy's identity to buy houses, cars, etc.

No help was available from any state or federal agencies. It sounds like the FBI tried to help, but got nowhere.

To make certain that govt agencies charged with policing these matters get it done, I propose an an eBay-like feedback system for all government employees.

Each govt employee would have a unique # they would provide to any citizen that asks for it. That number would be used to leave positive or negative feedback about an employee. Employees with below-average feedback would be given warnings (and perhaps more training) to improve but ultimately let go if improvement isn't seen.

Employees with high positive feedback would be promoted and entitled to pay increases, qualify for their pension sooner, and more paid vacation time.

Leaving neg. feedback for an employee would also be an automatic neg. feedback for the agency (and the managers that may not interact with the public on a daily basis) for which they work, too.

Once we have a universal way to measure customer satisfaction, these agencies can start working to improve it.

[kirkroy]

Painting with such a broad brush can be offensive in itself. As a fed govt employee since 1991 I can tell you that, with a small number of exceptions, the govt employees I have known during this time are conscientious and hard working.

[cgallery]

Painting with such a broad brush can be offensive in itself. As a fed govt employee since 1991 I can tell you that, with a small number of exceptions, the govt employees I have known during this time are conscientious and hard working.

Something doesn't jive, though. How can it be that this guy has worked for years to clear his record, while interacting with numerous agencies to resolve this, while it is still the case that two illegal immigrants continue to use his identity?

How can it be that the IRS says they can't tell the guy two other people in the U.S. are using his SSN because of the need to protect their privacy, but then change their tune when a newspaper starts calling and asking about such a stupid policy?

How can the vast majority of govt employees be conscientious and hard-working and have stuff like this happen?

[kirkroy]

I'm not saying there aren't issues with this case but, even in this case, you're talking about a very small sampling of govt workers.

More to the point, what I am saying is that I don't like being called overpaid and unproductive, which you did, "It is my contention that local, state, and federal employees are overpaid based on their work output. Too many people sitting around and doing nothing except dreaming-up excuses to provide when someone asks them to do their job".

[LinuxRandal]

He is older then me and I receive a Social Security deposit slip, showing what has been paid in once a year. Be interesting to see if that was listing more going in then he put. (may have a better retirement, LOL)

He should also be asking the Social Security dept. and the FBI about changing his social security number, since it gets done for witness protection, there IS a way to do it. This should be allowed for in cases of identity theft, and could be done in a manner, in which a prefix, shows it is a replacement SS# that should be automatically, theft alerted.

[cgallery]

I'm not saying there aren't issues with this case but, even in this case, you're talking about a very small sampling of govt workers.

More to the point, what I am saying is that I don't like being called overpaid and unproductive, which you did, "It is my contention that local, state, and federal employees are overpaid based on their work output. Too many people sitting around and doing nothing except dreaming-up excuses to provide when someone asks them to do their job".

Okay, let me try to clean that up...

Alright, I've edited my post to be less of an a$$. And I do apologize for my hyperbole (which is all it really was).

Maybe a feedback system isn't the right way to go about it. But I sure would like to find some way to force these agencies to enforce the laws. The fact that years later, those illegal immigrants are still here and still attempt to use the man's identity is offensive to me.

[Hellrazor]

I hear this type of stuff all the time at work. I work for a school district which makes me a public employee. The people who piss and moan about how things work need to realize a few things. I don't go to work to appease an individual, I go to work to make the whole operation run. I really don't care if you don't like the way I do something, there is a reason it is done this way. There are also these wonderfull things called rules, laws, policies, etc we need to follow. I will welcome anyone to come onboard and show me how its done.

A little story on ignorance. One of my neighbors jumped on my case because our "raise and benefit costs" made our school taxes go up. He was having a rather nice temper tantrum for someone in his 60s. I knew he worked for a large company who gave out really nice salary & benefit perks, not to mention benefits for life upon retirement. So I asked him a simple question: Did any of your companies services increase due to the raises,etc you recieved on the yearly basis or were the costs the same for the past 30 years? The silence (and his obvious ignorance) was golden.

[DLyon]

Okay, let me try to clean that up...

Alright, I've edited my post to be less of an a$$. And I do apologize for my hyperbole (which is all it really was).

Maybe a feedback system isn't the right way to go about it. But I sure would like to find some way to force these agencies to enforce the laws. The fact that years later, those illegal immigrants are still here and still attempt to use the man's identity is offensive to me.

I understand the frustration, but I'd also like to add (as a government employee myself) that often times it is the government employee that is just as frustrated as the general public, often times more so. I work in the education field and am appalled at the lack of state funding our education system receives. Yet, every day you will read an article in the paper with the general public upset at our current education system. These are the same people that continually vote down initiatives to improve the system with tax payer dollars.

I'll also add, at least in my unit, our staff does more with less than any private company I've ever been employed by. All while enduring increasing insurance costs, lack of pay increases, and mandatory furlough when budgets are stretched too far. And most of us do it because we believe in the work we do.

That said, I do see administration in some departments that are too politically driven and I wish the general public was more in tune with those issues as I don't think they would be tolerated.

I know I have veered a bit off topic, but as you now realize, there are some government employees that really do work hard, earn their pay, and do the best job they can with the resources available.

[cgallery]

I hear this type of stuff all the time at work. I work for a school district which makes me a public employee. The people who piss and moan about how things work need to realize a few things. I don't go to work to appease an individual, I go to work to make the whole operation run. I really don't care if you don't like the way I do something, there is a reason it is done this way. There are also these wonderfull things called rules, laws, policies, etc we need to follow. I will welcome anyone to come onboard and show me how its done.

I have a small shop where I fix PC's and do a lot of PC-related stuff. Local customers use Angie's List to rate the quality/speed/price of my work. My nephew goes to a local university and rates his professors on grade fairness, among other things.

I really don't see the harm in having govt employees submit to the same sort of rating system. Perhaps you're a superstar when compared to your peers. Even if students and parents rate every single teacher rather poorly, perhaps they would rate you less poorly.

As a taxpayer, It would be nice to identify the best and the worst for the purposes of raises, promotions, and improving the system.

A little story on ignorance. One of my neighbors jumped on my case because our "raise and benefit costs" made our school taxes go up. He was having a rather nice temper tantrum for someone in his 60s. I knew he worked for a large company who gave out really nice salary & benefit perks, not to mention benefits for life upon retirement. So I asked him a simple question: Did any of your companies services increase due to the raises,etc you recieved on the yearly basis or were the costs the same for the past 30 years? The silence (and his obvious ignorance) was golden.

That is a good point, but you removed inflation as a component. Certainly your neighbor got some juicy pay raises and bonuses, and the company passed on higher costs to customers via higher prices. BUT, were those higher prices in keeping with inflation? And have school districts asked for increases in their budgets that exceed the rate of inflation?

Whenever you're asking for a larger increase than the next guy (in terms of percentages), you need to justify that.

Now, I'm not going to ask you to justify those increases cause I know you're going to ask for a bullet proof vest and other essentials. YES, I know education has its back against a wall and I'm not oblivious to what is going on in public schools... Metal detectors, parents that are never home and kids that watch TV and never crack a book. I get it.

In the case I'm highlighting, it would be akin to someone bringing their kid to your school and saying, "We've moved into this school's area, and I would like to register my kid for school." Show me a school that would say, "we're not going to do it, and none of the other schools are going to, either."

But I still think all organizations could improve where a feedback system is in place to rate quality of service. We have the technology, we should use it.

[cgallery]

I understand the frustration, but I'd also like to add (as a government employee myself) that often times it is the government employee that is just as frustrated as the general public, often times more so. I work in the education field and am appalled at the lack of state funding our education system receives. Yet, every day you will read an article in the paper with the general public upset at our current education system. These are the same people that continually vote down initiatives to improve the system with tax payer dollars.

As I say above, the question is really how much does public education receive today as a percentage of GDP versus 10, 20, and 50 years ago. I realize you have add-ins for things they didn't deal with 10, 20, or 50 years ago. But speaking as a taxpayer, I honestly feel like we can spend infinite dollars on education and little Johnny still won't be able to read. Not because teachers suck, but because teachers spend about 50% of their time on home issues that can't be resolved in the school. That problem is intractable. Until we do something about the home lives of these kids, we're doomed.

I'll also add, at least in my unit, our staff does more with less than any private company I've ever been employed by. All while enduring increasing insurance costs, lack of pay increases, and mandatory furlough when budgets are stretched too far. And most of us do it because we believe in the work we do.

Well, I'm not an expert on public funding, but I suspect you're probably right. I've personally witnessed public school system teachers spending personal dollars on supplies for their kids. I've seen bare cabinets. OTOH, in Milwaukee, were they to cut some of their high administrative costs (highest in the country), they'd have more dollars for the classroom.

That said, I do see administration in some departments that are too politically driven and I wish the general public was more in tune with those issues as I don't think they would be tolerated.

I know I have veered a bit off topic, but as you now realize, there are some government employees that really do work hard, earn their pay, and do the best job they can with the resources available.

I realize that many public employees work their a$$es off.

But it would still be nice to rank them. And a public feedback system is technologically possible and I really think it should be explored.

The #'s would not be interpreted in a void, but compared to other public employees with the same classification. If you teach reading in an inner city school and students, parents, other teachers, and administrators are raving about you (compared to other teachers that teach reading in inner city schools), then I'd like to know. Similarly, if nobody has ever had a nice thing to say about your work ethic, well, that would be nice to know, too.

[Hellrazor]

I really don't see the harm in having govt employees submit to the same sort of rating system. Perhaps you're a superstar when compared to your peers. Even if students and parents rate every single teacher rather poorly, perhaps they would rate you less poorly.

As a taxpayer, It would be nice to identify the best and the worst for the purposes of raises, promotions, and improving the system.

It wouldn't work where I am. Our jobs aren't a popularity contest and that is all a rating system is. Part of my job is to supervise 20+ people, tell people "no", enforce rules and it pisses them off. My rating will be 1 out of 10 and it will look like I am the worst employee under the sun. This is about the same as linking test scores to teachers raises. You can be the best teacher on earth, have a horrible class and land up not getting a raise.

Our most beloved principal is also the worst one we have. That ones gives in to every parent, teacher, etc and from a management standpoint, is rock bottom. Our most hated one is the best one we have. That one is by the book, knows everything going on and is not well liked because of the solid management. Figure that one out.

FYI: I don't like the reputation systems on forums since it is nothing more than a useless teenage popularity contest...

[cgallery]

It wouldn't work where I am.

FINE!

I'm a big 'nuff man to admit when I have a stupid idea.

Still feel like someone should have gone after those guys, though.

[DLyon]

It wouldn't work where I am. Our jobs aren't a popularity contest and that is all a rating system is. Part of my job is to supervise 20+ people, tell people "no", enforce rules and it pisses them off. My rating will be 1 out of 10 and it will look like I am the worst employee under the sun. This is about the same as linking test scores to teachers raises. You can be the best teacher on earth, have a horrible class and land up not getting a raise.

Our most beloved principal is also the worst one we have. That ones gives in to every parent, teacher, etc and from a management standpoint, is rock bottom. Our most hated one is the best one we have. That one is by the book, knows everything going on and is not well liked because of the solid management. Figure that one out.

FYI: I don't like the reputation systems on forums since it is nothing more than a useless teenage popularity contest...

It sounds as though our roles may be related. I work at the state level, as a fiscal manager over federal and state education grants. I oversee the distribution of funds, internal budgets, adhering to EDGAR, state rules, and a multitude of other activities.

As another poster said, we do throw literally millions of dollars at low performing schools and students. Some grants do appear to help, while others (Reading First is a hot topic these days) have proven by and large to be futile in reaching their objectives. Trust me when I say that as an administrator I am also frustrated at the lack of results taxpayer funds sometimes produce. It also bothers me as a tax payer. However, when you look at the commitment states across the nation make to education, i.e. state tax dollars, Colorado ranks among the lowest per capita. This bothers me, as some programs really do help students, schools and districts both in performance and facilities. I also believe if the population base really took an interest in researching these programs, the effects they have and the real need for funding, many people would change their stance on increased taxes. Luckily two of the more successful state programs I work with are funded by tobacco settlements dollars and lottery revenues.

Without getting political, our federal administration certainly has a lot of say when it comes to funding initiatives, and I am hopeful that next year will bring positive changes.

Enough rambling for me, but I would encourage anyone with the interest to check out their state education websites. As a government entity all records are public record and quite a lot of it is available on the web. Which bring up a good point regarding the original post. State employees salaries are public record, something I'm sure most people in the private sector would hate. But, that goes along with being a public servant.

[DLyon]

As I say above, the question is really how much does public education receive today as a percentage of GDP versus 10, 20, and 50 years ago. I realize you have add-ins for things they didn't deal with 10, 20, or 50 years ago. But speaking as a taxpayer, I honestly feel like we can spend infinite dollars on education and little Johnny still won't be able to read. Not because teachers suck, but because teachers spend about 50% of their time on home issues that can't be resolved in the school. That problem is intractable. Until we do something about the home lives of these kids, we're doomed.

You are correct, this funding machine doesn't operate in a vacuum, there are many other factors to consider. Unfortunately, I don't see much of this ever getting 'fixed'.

Well, I'm not an expert on public funding, but I suspect you're probably right. I've personally witnessed public school system teachers spending personal dollars on supplies for their kids. I've seen bare cabinets. OTOH, in Milwaukee, were they to cut some of their high administrative costs (highest in the country), they'd have more dollars for the classroom.

You'll always have anomalies. The 'richest' district in our state just approved across the board raises at 18%. Trust me when I say it has generated a lot of discussion. Across the board raises are rarely fair, and while some of those employees more than deserved it, there's no doubt that many did not.