you are right Gary as soon as a teacher hears the word "cuts" they think they are going to be out of a job.

How can "balanced budget" become an obscenity? We need to get our priorities straight in this country. What you are witnessing in the financial markets is in no small part due to the concept of deficit spending. Do any of the schools in this district offer a course in personal financial responsibility?

Why don't we wait and see what the school board comes up with first before jumping the gun and pointing fingers just a thought.

stewy- I am sure that it may very well come to the teachers losing their wages ..or maybe even their jobs..or extracurricular activities..its "balancing the budget."
Children are in school an average of thirty hours or more a week. I would think the teachers would have some impact on how the children are influenced, don't you?
Other than that, I think you may have missed the point of my post.

Not sure how balancing the budget is going to make teachers loose any pay? Do you have information on that? It takes a parent to raise a child. Come on a village? You want the government to raise your children? That is truly sad. Maybe the parents can't have the big fancy cars and the nice cottage up north. Make some sacrifices in order to raise your children. If you need a village to raise your child you shouldn't be a parent.

whybesaid, "by balancing the budget" teachers lose wages, children miss out on additional resources, our economy goes down, parents work more hours, less money, children get involved with gangs, equals more crime. Children want to belong. If the parents aren't around because of the economy, they will group together with others. It may be a positive group, such as basketball, after school activities, or it may be a gang. So how is that not a causative effect?
"Oops, I'm sorry, Little Johnny, well your going to have to find something to do after school, because the after school program has to close." Just an example.
My opinion is we need to take care of our community before we do not have a community.

In addition, field trips are not a required addition to the curriculum. They are not easy to plan. You have to find a facility, obtain group rates, find chaperones, secure transportation and permission and try to control mass children in a crowded enviornment..etc. Field trips are a priviledge that enhances a child's learning through hands on experience. I am happy to contribute. I have seen teachers spend their own money on these field trips.
I just want to say Teachers are very important to our children. Thank you. :)
"It takes a village to raise a child."

Ok here goes you can claim an above-the-line deduction for up to $250 in out-of-pocket, classroom-related books, supplies & equipment, including software. You do not need to itemize your deductions in order to claim this expense since it is an above-the-line deduction, claimed on line 23 of for 1040. Aside from this deduction, you can also claim work-related expenses as an itemized deduction subject to reduction by 2 percent of your adjusted gross income. Examples of these deductions are union dues, work-related education, educator expenses in excess of the $250 limit discussed above, work related travel such as driving between two schools or on field trips, and other unreimbursed employee expenses.

whybesad - You still don't understand. It isn't $250 of a credit directly off your taxes. It's $250 off your adjusted gross income, which then is taxed. So, if you're in the 20% tax bracket, you get an actual tax credit of $50 ($250 * 20% = $50). Sure, that is better than not getting anything back, but it isn't like we're getting 100% back on taxes.
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Plus, I don't know many teachers that only spend $250 out of their own pocket.
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Sorry, this is way off the story, but I felt I needed to respond.

I have no problem paying for supplies my kids need. I'm just really saddened by how the union and teachers always say it's about the children when it really isn't the case at all. You always think everybody is out to get you and take away your jobs. The school board has a job to do and so do teachers. You get $250 tax break on your taxes if your married to another educator than you get $500. Not sure how much your spending on your own for supplies in the classrooms but, I have written checks for way more than that last year between field trip expenses and supplies for the classes they tax. I'm not complaining and I expect to pay for that since budgets are tight and they are my children. It's my responsibility to give them what they need to do well in school.

or even as little as 15% on taxable income (after deductions and exemptions).

whybesad: "And when teachers pay for things used in their class rooms they can use those as tax write offs. So, they do get the money back."
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Before you start spouting off tax law, you might want to get yourself knowledgable. This education credit is a deduction to your AGI (adjusted gross income). Therefore, we do not get 100% of our money back, only the percentage tax bracket we fall in -- could be 25%.

Why should you be reimbursed for that? Is there something wrong with providing your children with the necessary supplies? I think you're missing the point, whybesad. When you go to work, do you bring the supplies needed to complete your job, or are they provided to you? Here's a scenerio you may understand a little bit better.
Let's say that I work as a janitor for the school district. It is not my responsibility to dip into my own pockets and buy the needed chemicals/supplies to make sure my job is completed, those are provided to me through my employer.
This isn't the case with teachers. And although they may be write-offs, teachers should not be expected to have to pay for the materials necessary to do their job.

And when teachers pay for things used in their class rooms they can use those as tax write offs. So, they do get the money back. I as a parent dip into my pockets all the time paying for supplies in art classes and all kinds of stuff. But, I don't get the tax write off for that.

Nurse4u you are truly blaming the balancing of the school budget on higher gang activity? Come on that's a far far reach I must say.What happened to parenting and the parents being accountable for raising their children? It's not the taxpayers responsibility to make sure the kids have activities to keep them off the streets. It's amazing there are people that actually think that is the schools responsibility.

My daughter's Godmother is a teacher in the Janesville School District. I know for a fact that she dips into her own pocket for additional supplies and stays after hours without getting paid to ensure the children have the best available resources to them.
Decreasing our teachers' wages and schools' programs are hurting our community & our children!
Has anyone noticed the increased gang problem here in Janesville?
We need more programs to keep the children off of the streets. Positive role models and positive programs are a deterrent to crime.
Janesville, we need to take care of the schools and Rock Haven before we spend money on such projects like a tunnel!!

Hannah, Mr Severson could not just put Ms Haag on the agenda that night because the agenda has to be published in advance. So it wasn't as if they didn't want to stay an extra 10-15 minutes to hear what she had to say, they couldn't by law. Certainly Duane, as Board President, could have her come back at a future meeting and have her comments be an agenda item, if that is what he wishes to do. By policy the Board President sets the agenda, it comes with the extra pay!!

peggy sheridan- i thougt you wanted to listen to what people had to say as you stated in your interview on wclo with Stan.

yes I agree school board did you have to run home to dinner or something you couldnt stick around for an extra 10-15 minutes to hear what a teacher had to say. severson thought it was important YET DIDNT stay to listen or invite(make) the others stay as well. Very unprofessional I agree. ANd then actually tell this to the gazette like it was a good decision.

Ms. Haag: I applaud your efforts and it saddens me a great deal that your stance very well may fall on deaf years. Please know that there are school boards and district administrators out there who value their staff and their input. There are also districts out there who value the CHILDREN who are in their district and the programming that each on receives. I understand there is a need and a purpose in Janesville, but my advice would be to look towards other horizons; ones that place a SIGNIFICANT value on their teachers and the children they have been entrusted to teach.
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SDJ: not all values in life are monetary ones!!

Whatever their justification for asking for higher pay, teacher's demands for those increases discredits their argument in favor of higher spending.

The teachers weren't asking for taxes to be raised to pay them more. They were asking for more pay because of the same things. High pay for administrators, huge fund balance, etc.. the teachers wanted the district to be accountable.

lakennedy - To paraphrase what you told someone else about a different article - we get it. You don't want the bike tunnel built and have reiterated that statement many times. This aritcle is about something else.

Like jail sentences.

I really doubt that there would be any way for the city to legally give funds to the school district. I think that would be an illegal redistribution of tax dollars. You know, there are rules and laws that apply to all of these entities and they are required to comply with them. It's always easier to solve a problem if you throw the rulebook out the window, but you tend to create more problems for others when you do so.

Whybesad:
Is enrollment down? I'm no teacher, but I do have a child at Roosevelt, and I'd be shocked to see that their enrollment is down.

On the positive side, while our city may be cutting the education budget, at least there will be a bike tunnel on E. Milwaukee Street, just in case someone gets hit by a car there someday!!!

Perhaps the School Board could speak to the City Council and see if they could float them the half million dollars of taxpayer money they want to use for a bike tunnel. I, personally, think that education is a much more worthwhile investment.

Balancing a budget is not going to jeopardize the education of children in Janesville. It's the responsible thing to do. It's what they were elected to do. There is a ton of waste in the school district. And with enrollment down and possibly going down more with people moving due to the layoffs of several companies in town. They have a duty to the taxpayers to work within a budget. Teachers complain way to much. We are remodeling our high schools and have remodeled many elementary schools and built a new middle school recently to attract people to live in this city. Teachers do a great job at what they do but, they really need to stick to what they know and that is teaching not politics or managing the school budget.

Maybe the school board realizes that teachers have an interest in spending levels that have nothing to do with their altruistic claims of concern for the children. Aren’t they the ones who keep telling us that they deserve to be paid so much more? Aren’t they the ones who lobby Madison for a discontinuation of the spending cap and QEO? Don’t they remind us frequently that they are paid much less than school districts of comparable size (without regard to all the financial comparisons of those districts with ours)? Their self-advocacy on these matters brings into question their motivations for their preference for increased spending, and therefore higher taxes.
Some teachers will argue that they will pay higher taxes too, but what ever higher taxes they pay would be offset many times over by the higher pay they seek in future contracts.

Balance the budget by cutting jobs downtown FIRST !!!!! How many people do the same jobs or overlap into others ?? Why is it when money gets tight it's the kids that need it the most loose out in this school district ? Teachers can't do their jobs with less when they have more kids added to their classrooms .I remember not too long ago we didn't have BOOKS for students so they had to copy the pages and that was their book for the year !

This is not a tax cut. It is an effort to balance the budget.

"Board President DuWayne Severson said after the meeting that he appreciated Haag’s speaking to the board, but he didn’t hear any board members say they wanted to hear her.

“At this time, I’m not anticipating that we’ll hear her presentation to the board,” Severson said."
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What the heck is wrong with the JSB? Why wouldn't you at least listen to this teacher. In the end they can still choose not to act on what she says but at least show her the courtesy and listen. I was also bothered by this decision the school board came up with. Why on earth would we sacrifice education just because of our local economy, basically GM? That is the exact opposite of what the board should be doing. To attract business we need well educated citizens. How will we get educated citizens if they keep cutting funding? JSB, you made another really poor decision and not hearing this teacher out is really unproffesional!

Still using the children to extort more money from the taxpayers. I’m positive hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted every year in the school system. Over 10k a year for each child and the results are not impressive. Lack of funding is not the problem, lack of accountability is. Cut taxes and give working families the break they desperately need.

Wow...A board member actually said that? How is that building any kind of bridge between the two groups? Janesville is in serious trouble.

howard: East side teachers? Didn't know that the school district divided their funding according to sides of town.

Did I understand the comment from Mr.Severson ??No board member said they wanted to hear from her ! Someone needs to step up and START listening to the people that are with kids all day long !!!! They can do what ever they do in the office downtown,but the teachers are the ones that know what is needed in the classrooms .I'm sure in the near future the schools will need something for the sports teams and the money will be found for that !!! Wake up school board and listen to the TEACHERS !!!!

I hope that the school board at least will start to hold Bunton and Evert accountable for the finances of the district. How can this district continue to be the only district in the state to be able to increase their fund balance every year? Cuts made every year yet the Bunton finds money to increase the fund 10 balance every year. It would be perplexing to the taxpayers if only the taxpayers understood this. What is more disturbing though is that most teachers do not even understand this. This was shown by the 60% or so teachers who voted to approve the last contract without having the district administration "show them the money". East side teachers need to wake up and start holding the district administrators accountable.

I hear what you are saying, but the school board does what it wants anyway. They don't listen. I am not saying give up, but

Way to go Wendy!
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Janesville teachers,
It is time for all of you to step up and let the board know that their possible decision to cut the budget down will have serious consequences to the future of the School District of Janesville and Janesville's youth. It is my understanding that by cutting the budget the state aid to the district will also be less each of the following years the revenue caps are in place. State aid increases at about 2.2% of the budget each year. Think of it this way; 2.2% of $100 million is less than 2.2% of $101 million.
It is time for Doug Bunton to be honest with the board and tell them the consequences of this possible action. It is also time for Sam Loizzo to step up and truly lead the JEA. Just because the negotiations will start up again soon does not mean union leadership should be quiet about this. Don't think for a second that the board and administration will not have it out for the union in this go around with contract negotiations.
Just to add one more thing. For those reading this who think I am just another disgruntled Janesville teacher your wrong. I am not a JEA member. I am a concerned citizen whose children will more than likely attend school in Janesville someday. Unless of course the quality of education in this communtity is destroyed by this current Board of Education.