Either the job is much to complex for a lay person to engage in or the people who run for office are too inexperienced and/or lack the ability to learn quickly.

In either case paying an inexperienced employee $79,000 annually, with $12,000 for expenses (You forgot the staff and office space, franking privilege and support activities) and health care does not make any sense.

Before we race to once again tinker (Note: All these words and studies are fine but unless you carry forward and define the root cause you are wasting everyone's time: Finding root cause is a simple process that is very hard to do - ask the question "Why?" seven times) with the system why don't we, those who have a desire to improve the art of governance, take a good, hard look at the dsyfunctional system we have created. Stop wacking away at the leaves of the disease and rip out the damn roots!

Achieving full pay and benefits the first day on the job certainly doesn't do much for the motivation to learn and grow.

And then we have the system of House and Senate rules and bylaws that have accumulated over the years. Rules that only someone who has been in place for a very long time can begin to comprehend. Rather silly to create such a system and even sillier to expect that the system will operate with effectiveness.

Stop making new laws (tinkering with the system) and begin the process of making government more effective (efficiency follows effectiveness). Clean up the mess we have made first.

Education is a good place to start. Instead of legislating more rules, policies and punishments back off and let those who know best(teacher and parents) begin to fix the real problems.Secondary education that is nothing more than day care for virtual adults; what else is a system that fails 30% of its customers and produces individuals that hate learning? Why do we hire all these teachers and provide one of the best compensation packages in the nation? So we can, through the good intentions of a Department of Education enforcing legislative direction, micromanage everything they do in the classroom down to the hour, minute, item of content and how to make a proper seating chart. The way we administer education in this state is a travesty.

Change the entry level pay scales and benefits for legislators and increase them gradually, over time. If someone has served in local office and been elected to the state level their entry level could be higher.....

Provide bonuses to those legislators (and their staff members) that root out and get rid of arcane rules of procedure and overly complex processes linked to the past. In other words, reward improvements in the process. When were the rules of the House and the Senate last reviewed for effectiveness? Has anyone ever "value streamed" a rule, a process or procedure? Show a direct linkage between the change and improved services to the taxpayer. Pay for this with the savings from graduated pay scales.

Let teachers do their job, with the administrations and bureaucracies demonstrating how their policy and practice add value to the learning process; and spending some of their highly paid time in a real classroom so teachers can have time to earn their compensation in a way that encourages learning (and develops their skills as teachers - most in service is useless seat time).

Insist that the Federal Government provide scientific proofs that validate the use of AYP, standardized testing and reward and punishment strategies. (Hint: there is no scientific basis for any of the NCLB requirements; 100% proficient as a requirement should ne a hint - when was the last time you were perfect in every way?)

No more new roads, even if it means giving up Federal money. Concentrate on rebuilding the infrastructure we have.

We do not need tinkering, reform or incremental change; we need a revolution.