Happy2BeAlive - Lori, I truly do believe that you respect and appreciate teachers as a school board member and parent. Unfortunately, when teachers are told that the school board's negotiating team simply refuses to discuss 8 issues that don't even relate to pay, a message is sent. Educators aren't blind to the problems with the economy. They just want to be FAIRLY compsensated in other areas and issues if there is not going to be a pay increase.

Craft - Did you say that teachers work only 1/4 of the year? Hmmm. That would be about 91 days. I believe a teacher's contract is for 190 days, which of course doesn't count the MANY extra hours or days a teacher puts in beyond that. Time must be different in your warped, little world. I think there are pills for that.

Last month payscale.com (search for the article - it's not at the site) listed elementary teaching as the second WORST paying profession for someone with a 4 year college degree. Other teaching jobs in education were ranked #7. Yeah, you're right. Teachers are TOTALLY into teaching for the money.

My question is , how do we evaluate poor parents? Parents that simply think it is solely the job of the district to educate their kids? I have been witness to a lot of that going on in this area. Don't blame the school district if your child is failing at school, because there are plenty who are succeeding. If your child is not getting the amount of help they need either you are too lazy to help them yourself, or you are not seeking it out through the district. Period.
Lazy , uninvolved parents are as much or more to blame than our system for the failings of kids these days. Sorry, but i have seen it first hand. Whether all the bashers in here want to admit it or not it is fact. Janesville is very lucky in that it has in general one of the more dedicated , caring groups of educators I have had the pleasure to be around. Very,very rarely do you ever see an educator not willing to do all they can at anytime to help out a student in ANY way.
Would like to thank Ms Stottler for her warm heartfelt post. I know that many educators feel that most of the board does not appreciate them as she does , do thank you.

I am a school board member AND I appreciate teachers! I'm sure there are times it may not seem so like when the board of education is working to balance a budget, faced with increased class sizes, reduced workforce and supplies, etc. But I APPRECIATE teachers! I have NEVER put down the teachers in this district and ALWAYS defend the hardworking teachers I encounter regularly. 95% of them show up early and stay late, invest emotionally and financially in the success of their student and don't really get involved in negotiations, because they don't go into teaching for the money...most really want a fair wage and a thank you now and then. (compare to police, fire, nurses, etc.)
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I am a taxpayer in Janesville AND I appreciate teachers, police, fire, trash collectors, public works employees, parks employees, judges, and all the other people who contribute to providing the 'pleasantville' neighborhood that I choose to live in. (before you get going - my home is valued at $114K and I pay almost $3K/year).
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I am a volunteer AND I appreciate other volunteers who rally to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem!
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If you want volunteer opportunities to various organizations helping people in Janesville ...or the dates, times and data for the next board meeting, email me and I'll work to get you connected in a more positive way! Negotiating wages on a comment thread and teacher bashing are not viable solutions...there is ALWAYS another side to the story.
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Mediation is not a bad thing. This is the first contract since the repeal of the QEO, first major recession since the late 70's and largest economic loss of manufacturing jobs in the city's 150 year history. It is likely that there will be a need for help in determining what's fair, just and right for the teacher, the taxpayer and the student over the next two to four years. Let's let the process work before we get too negative about this topic.
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Lori Stottler

Rusty,
Teachers do the same...work extremely hard hoping to avoid being out of work.
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I know plenty of teachers who changed jobs...not by choice. Layoffs suck in all professions.

Why isn't anyone questioning why the school board refuses to negotiate a contract? Common sense would dictate that there are 2 sides to a negotiation.

CougarFan,
Below, you make a great arguement. Now how do you evaluate a good teacher? Mr. Budrow at Craig is an excellent teacher, so is Ms. Shucha. On any test Mr. Budrow's students will destroy Ms. Shucha's, simply because he teaches Calculus and Ms. Shucha teaches 2 sections of low level Algebra. They are both some of the best teachers I know, but how do we evaluate them? Take my word, poll the kids, etc. That is the problem, how do you quantify an excellent teacher vs. a good teacher vs. a below average teacher. It can't just be degrees or special projects etc. Tell me us how, and I think the teachers would love it.
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It can't just be special projects either. Our district loves to praise the TAGOS, Charter school teachers etc, but what about the teacher that busts their butt in the classroom and reaches the middle of the road students that make up 80% of our kids. They never get teacher of the year, or any siginifcant praise!
Find a way to have 4 administrators at Craig evaluate 125+ staff at craig in a statistical quantifiable manner and the federal government will put you in charge of teacher salaries. The system we have is not perfect, but don't blame teachers for working with in it.

My intent isn't to "bash teachers," and there's more than enough blame to go around for the failings of U.S. education, but it's a teaching contract that's under discussion. An acceptable contract needs to address the issues of teacher tenure and salary that's based only on education & experience. Back in the 1960's, when the current system was taking form, it was probably taken as a given that teachers knew their material. One of five women graduating in the top 10% of their high school class went into teaching. Now, only one of 27 of those top women do so -- they have other options, and those options usually reward higher value with higher pay. Today, the median teacher was a middling B student in high school who scored around the 40th percentile on the ACT/SAT. Their credentials are from third-tier institutions like Whitewater and Edgewood. The good news is that half of teachers are, by definition, above the median. The bad news is that half are below it, and, in my district, this half doesn't appear to have mastered English, history, social studies or science at the level at which they are trying to teach them in middle school. Now, granted, pedagogy is also crucial, but, first, a teacher has to have a firm grasp of what they're trying to teach.

Good teachers deserve our respect and support and compensation commensurate with their skills, but our kids don't recover from a series of bad teachers and that happens all too often. The state and the unions need to work towards a system that works for the kids. If that means higher taxes, I'll pay them. If that means less job security, then some dumb and ineffective teachers should find a new line of work.

Being new here I have learned a few things. Janesville does not appreciate their teachers. Kids need educators and education for atleast 13 years of their lifes. I agree weed out th bad ones, keep the good ones and quit complaining about paying them.

Once again it is good to see that teacher bashers are out in full force!

SarahB1 -- In my district, K-8 instruction effectively ended at least a week ago; the kids have been watching movies, cleaning the room, etc. while the teachers tidy up their paperwork during school hours. Those teachers should have plenty of spare time. At the high school, teachers are scrambling to grade exams, papers and projects, then do the paperwork and straighten up. Again, the pay doesn't depend on hours worked or student outcomes.

I would think that many teachers would be even more busy than usual tonight. After all, it is the final week of the term.

crafty...please point me in the direction of a teaching job where I only need to work 1/4 of the year. Teachers may only be contracted to work 190 days but trust me, we put in much more time. I'm not complaining and I'm not saying that teachers need to be paid more but it drives me nuts when people complain that teachers work such short schedules. If you would like to come by and read/correct the 60 four-page essays I have sitting next to me please be my guest.

ladulce: I know I'm a little late in my response, but I just got a chance to read your post. I was grading papers until just a few minutes ago. :-)

Anyway...I wanted to let you know I checked out your website. I typed in my own name and district and found my info. Guess what?!? IT'S WRONG!!!

Didn't your teachers ever teach you that you can't believe everything you read?

WAAA, WAAA, WAAAAAAAAAAA!
I didn't have what it takes to become a teacher and now I spend my time complaining and making ridiculously false claims to make a point (last 4 words up for debate)

WAAA, WAAA, WAAAAAAAAAAA!
I don't make enough money! The Union will help me screw the parents of the children I teach out of more of their hard earned money! While my benefits and pay goes up, up, up, theirs goes straight down. Thanks suckers!
My pay is great for a job where I only work 1/4 of the year, my benefits are great, as much as my salary yearly! But I want MORE!
Teachers deserve whatever they desire...They teach our kids.
(last four words up for debate)

Sparkles,
Hello...Madison is an even bigger problem. The problem we in WI have is people fleeing this state because they can go to another state find a better job and pay less taxes and I mean ALOT less. If you don't believe me do some research find out how bad our property taxes are in WI. And you people wonder why no businesses want to come here.

If a teacher chooses to get a master's degree, that's great: education can be a great joy. (I even indulged in one myself.) However, advanced degrees do very little for a teacher's K-12 students.

Ferguson and Ladd: "A one-standard deviation increase in the fraction of teachers with a master’s degree (0.33 points) would increase student test scores by 0.026 standard deviations, about one-quarter of the effect of a standard deviation in teacher test scores."

Hanushek et al.: "[A] master’s degree has no systematic relationship to teacher quality as measured by student outcomes."

Goldhaber: "Consistent with much of the educational productivity literature (for example, Hanushek 1986, 1997), there is little evidence that a teacher having a master’s degree (or higher) is a signal of teacher effectiveness."

In other words, advanced degrees don't make a K-12 teacher a better teacher, so why should they result in higher pay?

These days, public school teachers get compensated for education and experience, but they don't get compensated for being a good teacher. In a year with a good teacher, a student advances 1.5 yrs academically in a school year; with a bad teacher, only 0.5 years. Instead of rewarding for irrelevant paper credentials, why don't we pay for good teachers (and fire the lousy ones while we're at it)?

I am not a teacher but have two masters degrees one from a state university and one from a private college...for those that say a masters degree is cheap even at Madison better check the facts http://www.finaid.wisc.edu/index.php?mod... this is according to the official UW Madison web site. $26,000 for a small pay increase does not sound reasonable to me. And as far as paying high taxes of 7000 for a 250000 dollar house. Move to Madison and have that kind of house and see how much you would pay...you may reconsider complaining about your taxes in Janesville.

Be grateful your not taxpayers in the Beloit school district, Recent board member there ripped them off for $25,000, because here kids were embarrassed due to allegations against their mother.

pubsrus - No, it's they either take what the taxpayers (via School Board) gives them or THEY can try the private sector or another school district.

Some people think we should all go back to school to experience what they experience. It isn't about experience, it's about being taxpayer funded. If they want to keep a taxpayer funded job, they need to work for what the taxpayers (via the school board) will pay them. It's not go back and get your education and try their job.

You know what stubby, the problem will happen when those of us who do live in THOSE homes just leave because we don't feel like subsidizing everybody else. I receive the same services, schools and such as you do but in most cases I pay triple. Yeah!

Stubby,
Go back and check your math. I am not assessed at 400K. My home is nice but not insane. It is assessed in the range of 250 to 270. And yes I pay very close to $7000. I assure you I know the numbers because I shell it out.

ladulce
Jun 6, 2010 at 10:01 a.m.
Suggest removal darwin- I am neither cheap nor unsupportive of education. However, teachers make a lot of money considering the annual hours that they work, and, the level of education? A 4 year degree.... Yes, some teachers have more. There is a website that I can't find right now where you can see exactly how much each teacher is making. My daughter's teacher who was new 2 years ago makes just under 50K, and, the one that has been there for 30 years makes 77K. And, has summer off, and, weeks at winter, and, Spring break, and, still has vacation and sick days! I want that job- where I work "officially" 190 days of the year and make $50 K!

take your ass back to school then and become a teacher then you can have summers off too!

whythink - taken from your post: "And Rusty, why can't a teacher care about both their family and personal life (salary/benefits) and the students in their classroom. It isn't either or for any teacher I know." I AGREE with you 100% they should care, just like those who work in the private sector. Workers are working harder, putting in more hours, etc... just to make sure they retain their jobs or do not suffer a lay off. And if they are salaried or not there probably is no increase in take home pay. So let the bleeding hearts out there cry about their saviors, the teachers, while the rest keep complaining about the amount of taxes they pay. Oh, and when you leave Janesville, please turn out the light!

Yes and the largest teachers union in our nation started just a few years before that...very coincidental the rise in costs slope, changed dramatically at that time and has continued.

RAF,
1972
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Two significant supreme court decisions [PARC v. Pennsylvania (1972) and Mills v. D.C. Board of Education (1972)] apply the equal protection argument to students with disabilities.
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The courts take the position that children with disabilities have an equal right to access education as their non-disabled peers. Although there is no existing federal law that mandates this stance, some students begin going to school as a result of these court decisions.
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Several things have changed since 1970 including education. I am not saying EVERY position is necessary but most are. Smaller class sizes are better, reading specialist, school psychs, Alternative Education Teachers (imagine Janesville without Rock River Charter), etc... Are all needed.
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Yes, they cost money but I believe most are needed.
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The disability law of 1972 is one example of a large increase in staff/cost that some other countries don't deal with.

JVL92 - If you are paying $7000 in property taxes in Janesville, you must be living in a home assessed at about $407,000 (according to tax rates for Janesville). I would be of the opinion that a person living in a $400k house can easily afford 7k in taxes, and if the taxes are too high I would recommend finding one of the many less expensive homes for sale in Janesville. I find it hard to feel sorry for a person living in a mansion griping about teachers making 40-50k/year.

If you do the math...Starting teacher approx. $35,000 per year...divide that by the 190 days...divide that by 8 hours per day...
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$23/hour
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Is $23/hour for a new teacher too much?
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Now, $23/hour for the "average worker" is $46700/year.
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$23/hour for someone with a bachelor degree is a good, fair salary. Why is that not OK for a teacher?
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And Rusty, why can't a teacher care about both their family and personal life (salary/benefits) and the students in their classroom. It isn't either or for any teacher I know.
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Most people can care about 2 things at once.

Bobdiggler,
I am calming a little now but get tired of the old argument that we just need to throw more money at a situation. We already do that with Milwaukee public schools and have learned adding money to a situation does nothing.

"Anyone reading about Janesville's latest murder or this morning's gang-related attack would hesitate to move here anyway." Sarah, businesses stay away from Janesville and WI in general for two reasons ONLY: high fixed labor costs and poor business climate (taxes, governmental red tape.) I can assure you quality schools is not the decisive factor to leave or relocate here.

Interesting take in the cost of eduction and teachers unions.

http://biggovernment.com/acoulson/2010/0...

Assuming an 8 hour day eetech's hours work out to 1936 and 1800 hours per year. It's not a stretch to say that teachers work 10 hour days during the school year for 190 days (8 hours of contract time plus a couple of hours a day for planning and grading). These numbers make it close enough to be comparable.

A lot of this thread is a re-hash of the Milton arbitration thread. Read those comments to avoid duplication of efforts.

http://gazettextra.com/news/2010/jun/04/...

It is likely true that quality schools can bring in quality businesses and, thus, more jobs. But it probably doesn't matter today at least: Anyone reading about Janesville's latest murder or this morning's gang-related attack would hesitate to move here anyway.

ladulce: Here are the numbers for you.

At 40 hours a week for a year that comes to 260 days of work. Many workplaces give 2-4 weeks a year for vacation time. Personal time is not guaranteed but most get some time, we'll say 3-5 days a year. Now we'll look at Holiday time off. Most companies give holiday paid time of as well, around 10 days.

Alright, here is the worst and best case numbers based on what I've used for time off.

Worst Case:
260 (work days) - 10 (vacation) - 10 (holiday) - 3 (personal days) = 242
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Best Case:
260 (work days) - 20 (vacation) - 10 (holiday) - 5 (personal days) = 225

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If you are a blue collar worker then you don't have to worry about working extra FOR FREE! Although teachers and basically anyone with a salaried job understands that they make less the more they work. They all also understand being salaried has advantages as well. They are usually given more lee way with work hours, time missed from work etc.

So if you look at the numbers teachers don't work a whole lot less than the average person in this country.

*****
Also if any of the children they have are like any of you posting in here they have their hands full and therefore are quite underpaid:)

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I'll take a 5% increase in taxes if it means my children are getting the best possible education they can.

realist & manners - you are biblical donkeys, but proceeded by the word 'dumb'.

JV92: You must chill out man! C'mon, you're too frantic. You loose your credibility in your sarcasm and exaggeration. Janesville does not pay its public employees $100,000, & I highly doubt that property taxes will force the elderly from their homes before other expenses (like medical expenses) do.

Faith: Although I plead guilty to writing foul-mouthed pieces in the past, I can rest assured that no one takes these comments seriously. People write to vent under the facade of actually "doing something." We all come on here with set opinions and turn off the PC disregarding any dissenting opinions, however valid. But, you are correct in that we ought not resort to petty name calling. (As you can tell by my name... um... I like to ¿dig?... I guess)

ladulce: You should read your sources before you post them to make your point(s). In particular, read the heading 'Denial or Revocation of Teaching Certificates' on the enotes source. The other source is from a special-interest group that doesn't cite its main source of funding. It's run by the notoriously shady fat-cat Rick Berman. Instead, I would use http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos318.htm as a good starting point.

In any case, I don't want some Joe Schmo teaching my kid; nor would I wish the same for others'. Misunderstood is but one of many who have to spend money out of pocket to fill in the gaps left by budget shortfalls and underprivileged individuals/communities. Teachers have to face dozens of school-aged kids who think they know just about everything and have their doting know-it-all parents bitch and moan until each teacher agrees to change every C to an A.

We can't identify the lousy teachers who don't hold their students to a high standard while under-appreciating and scrutinizing the ones who do. We wish for stringent rules in general yet regard rules pertaining to our own as arbitrary.

I understand, misuderstood, that we can only hope to achieve as high a standard of quality education if we do the same for a cost of living.

I have an answer for you misunderstood. Better yet, a question. How much is enough? I pay like $7000 in property taxes. My property taxes are almost equal to my house payment! I pay for city services (no complaint over police and fire here), Blackhawk (they are not even elected), schools, county, and so forth. When I tell people not from WI what I pay in taxes each year they think I AM LYING! You know what don't worry about it. Just keep raising them. You know what, all public employees should make over $100,000. Why not? Pretty soon there will be nobody left to pay taxes because everybody will leave, eventually. Then when your elderly parents are forced out of the home they paid off decades ago, because the property taxes are too high, tell them THEY JUST DON'T VALUE EDUCATION ENOUGH!

If being a teacher is so wonderful, why aren't all the people who say the teachers have it made teaching?
I am a teacher. I love my job and I value the perks that go along with the position. What I do wish the public would understand is that my class sizes keep getting bigger, and each year, as my classroom budget continues to get slashed, I spend more money out of pocket to provide my students with some of the hands-on activities that mean so much to the kids. My budget has been cut AGAIN for next year by 25% and there's just no way I can afford to increase my out-of-pocket to compensate for the difference.
I take work home with me every night. In order to be effective, the students need quick feedback on their work. I'm busy teaching and planning during the day so most of the grading happens at night. The hours I truly spend on my profession during the school year could easily spread out to full-time hours year-long.
I think what it comes down to is that the best teachers are perhaps being underappreciated while the worst teachers are being used as examples of how easy they have it. I do think it's important for the School Board to consider which type of teacher they want to attract to Janesville. The best ones will leave (or never come) if our community doesn't support good pay and benefits compared to neighboring communities. If that's what our public wants in order to prevent that $20 increase of their taxes (which I pay too), that is indeed what they will get.

Being your first post, faith, it would seem that way. These posts can turn ugly fast!!! Believe me! None of us would be posting without an education, so what does that tell you? TEACHERS/EDUCATORS ARE IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US!!

I have read all the comments here and I must say the posters are not very nice to each other. Also I believe they do not read all posts before posting and I base this observation on what the original post by rustyrotor has been turned into. The name calling, etc... my, my this has to stop! As you can tell by my username, I try to be a good person. Oh, I happen to be a retired teacher, although from another state,but I live here now. I too feel the pain of everyone, especially here in Janesville, so let's be nice.

ladulce you may want to learn something about the banking system if you don't think it is dependent on your tax dollars. Your tax dollars are a back stop for their problems and they get nearly free and sometimes free money from your Reserve to loan at interest.

You may be confusing teachers with laborers. All the teachers I know work all the time, thinking of new ways to help their students and improve their performance like all good professionals. They work well past the hours prescribed and on weekends. They work not only with children but often they also have to deal with their ignorant parents. If you didn't pay them well, the turn over rate would be very high and no one would do it.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education...
I said teachers should hold the line and not seek a pay and benefit increase during this time of high unemployment. What is so wrong about that? I said nothing about decreasing pay or benefits. Give me a break! To balance the budget there will be teacher layoffs and other reductions. If the same number of students return the next school year, bigger class size and more work for teachers.

Hey RustyRotor, I appreciate your great respect and concern for teachers. Were you saying that same exact thing to GM workers, McDonald's employees, or any other employee that works hard and wants compensation? Educators are no different. Are you saying to your employer..."I'll do more and take less pay for the community?" They are people like you. If you are not/or have not in the past. Keep your ignorance down. It's deafening.

Rusty,
So you didn't say, "A true teacher would be concerned about the student and the tax payer during this hard time for all." What are you insinuating? Teachers give up pay and benefits, correct? Now please reread my previous post and then maybe you can put two and two together. If not I can try and simplify it for you.

jqpublic, I found the link here: http://www.usnews.com/sections/education.... There are some questions about the study's methodology.

RustyRotor where did you get your info. I just looked online for the best educated states and noticed that WI was # 8. MN was #6? Can you let me know where you found WI being ranked 44th?

Sarah, masters degrees are expensive....I just finished mine and it cost more than 10k. That's not quite 20k but still not cheap.

Ladulce: You are off base as far as firing teachers. There is no such thing as "tenure" in Wisconsin. There is a system in place for school administrators to follow if they are concerned about a teacher...monitor/document/assist. The real problem is that school administrators are usually so busy that they don't follow the procedures that are in place. I could give you many examples of administrators not even conducting standard evaluations of teachers, let alone doing more indepth investigation. They like to complain that they cannot remove a teacher but yet they don't do what they need to do. I'm sure someone will jump all over me and say that teachers unions prevent schools from firing teachers but that's not true either. In no way is an ineffective teacher good for the students, school or union. What would the union gain from this? What unions stand up for is the process....it is a process protected by the contract that the school district agreed to follow. If people have a problem with ineffective teachers in schools they need to address the administration.

This whole post is bogus! I am not that edjumacated but I know from experience, teachers are not paid enough!!! Have any of you ever worked in a school? I did for over 5 years. You could not pay me enough to put up with the selfish, pampered, "babies" of children today!! Hats off to all educators! I don't care if they make 200 grand a year, as long as our future generations are there in the work force providing us old people (by then) a wonderful world to live in! JMO

Wisconsin High Schools are ranked 44th in the nation. Illinois is ranked 7th. Michigan is 26th and Minnesota is 31st. Mississippi is ranked 45th. 43 states ahead of WI. In WI, Craig - 145th, Parker - 252. Are we proud now?

realist - also learn to spell, ignorance is not an excuse.

realist - gosh I didn't realize how much I posted. I didn't post that teachers should give up anything. Where, in my post, did I write what you say I wrote. Apparently you are posting what you are thinking. Either you are connected to the teacher's union or to a teacher.

Excuse me. I meant to type "real bargain" on my last comment.

sluggo: Do master's degrees really cost "14K to 20K"? If so, then I got a really bargain on mine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I have several family members who are teachers and all of them have described many of their "required courses" (for pay raises) as "fluff," "BS," and "a waste of time".

Local mediation is probably a good thing, but the real discussion needs to happen between the state and the teachers' unions. Local school boards are highly constrained; most of them have already made the easy cuts. Now, everything points to the likelihood of a direct tradeoff between the compensation per employee vs. the number of employees -- unless there are major changes in the state rules or in union expectations. The wheels are coming off the current system, and it's going to take more than some local tinkering to fix it. Even if districts find ways to stagger through the current fiscal year or contract cycle, the system is still broken.

Realist- while they may be "supervised", they are nearly impossible to fire because of tenure;

http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyc...

http://teachersunionexposed.com/protecti...

I think that teachers DO hold one of the most important jobs in society- they are, in fact, largely determining our future as a country. However, I think that there is a level of dishonesty about how much they make, how often they work, and, how much education they have. I just think that these things should be truthful, and, really.... If you are incompetent, you should not be teaching. There should be some way of firing them if they simply can no longer do their job.

ladulce-Teachers are contracted for 190 (ish) days...true. And your comment about most "other" workers working 254 days seems fair too. But lets take it a step further and figure in vacations. My wife would be considered the "average worker" working 254 days...and she gets 1 day vacation per pay period...for a total of 26 days vacation a year. That brings her down to 228 days working...without using any sick days. She rarely brings home work in the evenings and weekends. She usually receives a yearly bonus of some kind...not as much in recent years. Now you do the math...do teachers have it so good? I understand that things are tough out there right now...but all this negative talk towards teachers is so mean spirited.

Teachers’ annual salaries may seem high considering the number of hours they work and compared to other pay rates in the community, but the rate is what it is. Some cities are willing to pay more for the best teachers, and in a capitalistic economy the best teachers will relocate to those cities. If the Janesville School Board pays its teachers at the low end of the scale, it will tend to attract those teachers who already have a vested interest in a Janesville life or else cannot qualify for a higher paying job elsewhere.
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This situation was tolerable for many years, when the goal of the school system was not necessarily to prepare students for life in a technologically advanced society. When GM was the city’s major employer, many students had only to finish high school before graduating to life on an assembly line. Indeed, one of the city’s high schools is named after the man who brought GM to Janesville. In today world, though, and with GM gone, mediocre education is no longer acceptable. Witness the number of posters in these forums who cannot even write a complete or coherent sentence. Janesville should embark on a long term plan to upgrade its education system, with the goal being that a significant percentage of its high school seniors continue on to college. This will require that Janesville make the necessary adjustments to its School Board budget in order to attract and retain the best teachers. Without an educated work force to draw new employers and residents, Janesville can only continue to slowly decay.

ladulce
if I was you I would become a teacher because according to you in two years you would be making 50g a year, only working 190 days a year and all you have to do is show up. The way you make it sound teachers don't get evaluated or supervised. Once again, you don't have a clue.

ok - that website is unbelievable - hats off for that - and yes but 2 vacation days vs. 2-3 weeks - and yes 6 credits every 5 years - but master's degrees cost 14K to 20K depending. Most teachers take way more credits - that's just the minimum - is 77K with benefits?

ladulce
You are correct teachers are only contracted for 190 days. I guess they are taking the classes they need for liscensure during the 190 contracted work days and the district is paying for them. And no they do not make the same as others with a 4 year degree.

And, bankers, restaurant owners and the others you mention- NOT PAID from my taxes, and, their salaries are dependent upon their success. IF they lose money, they lose their job (Aside from the bailout banks- LOL). Teachers salaries aren't based on effectiveness, progress, or anything else. They simply get their salary because they are teachers.

Ladulce,
I think you must have smoked your lunch if you believe the numbers you stated are true. Please show me a 2nd year teacher that makes 50 G a year. Maybe they do (99% sure they don't) but it isn't in Janesville. Maybe you should get your facts straight and sober up before you post.
Rusty,
Typical eplanation of someone who could give two ----- about education. The teachers should give up their pay and salary because they care about the kids. Now do you want them to care about the kids? Because a teacher giving up salary isn't nescessarily caring about the kids but more less caring about the taxpayer who doesn't want to pay more taxes. I am sure if times were good for the 10% that are unemployed you would be all about giving the teachers back the benefits you think they should give up and give them a significant pay raise, correct? Didn't think so.

FYI- sluggo- since you obviously didn't read my whole post and only read the pieces that you wanted, there is a site where you can find this information... I searched for it, and, uh, here it is...

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/9999...

And, MOST have more DEGREES than bachelors? OR credits? According to the DPI of Wisconsin, they need 6 credits every 5 years? So, two classes every five years?

http://dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/renewal.html

AND, LASTLY- Their contracted for 190 (ish) days. This is BEFORE their vacation and sick pay.... The average worker 52 x 5 - 6 federal holidays observed = 254 days. Again- this is not including sick and vacation for either teachers or everyone else, as, that varies by employment. They make the same as others, and work at least 64 days less annually.

And - one last time - when you add up all the vacation days, sick days etc.. of other professions - how many days a year do you think they work?

Go to college then - and "some have more"?? How about most because it's required to get credits - and those master's degrees aren't free. Most countries respect teachers and treat them as professionals. I don't see anyone complaining about the salaries of professional bankers, restaurant managers, store managers... And where does a teacher make 77K a year? Unless they are also in leadership positions - and what - do you ask your kid's teachers how much they make? I regularly ask police and firefighters how much they make while they are pulling me over/rescuing me.

darwin- I am neither cheap nor unsupportive of education. However, teachers make a lot of money considering the annual hours that they work, and, the level of education? A 4 year degree.... Yes, some teachers have more. There is a website that I can't find right now where you can see exactly how much each teacher is making. My daughter's teacher who was new 2 years ago makes just under 50K, and, the one that has been there for 30 years makes 77K. And, has summer off, and, weeks at winter, and, Spring break, and, still has vacation and sick days! I want that job- where I work "officially" 190 days of the year and make $50 K!

Telling a highly educated professional how to do their job and not to care about money even though they are required to pay for more education to keep their job is ignorant to say the least. The unemployment rate isn't 50%, people who complain do so because they are cheap and looking for an excuse not to support the educational system.

Sorry, not a "True" teacher, 'union' teacher who's only concern is a paycheck. A true teacher would be concerned about the student and the tax payer during this hard time for all.

Spoken like a true teacher!

Teachers: Do not give in to the ignorance of this city. You deserve all that you ask for and more. If it means a tax levy of 5% then that is how it should be.

Administration: I understand that your roles are very important but a principle making close to 100K a year is a bit much. Time to take a close look at your own salaries so we don't have to lose the real value in our school systems, the TEACHERS.