mbstraub - the teachers didn't rush to sign their contracts, they had signed them well before this bill was suggested or even passed. You may want to collect a clue or two before spouting your uneducated comments on this page. As for not re-opening their contracts, waht you are saying is that they should reopen their contracts, give even more money back (Fund 10 balance of $25 plus million)? Again, think before you make your comments. By speaking as you do, you are saying that you would voluntarily take a $4000 to $5000 pay cut to keep someone elses job while nobody else is willing to help?

Imagine if GM had asked for a "donation" from prospective car buyers. "Pay $300 more for your car because we aren't charging you what we could have charged you so we can preserve prevailing UAW wage and benefit packages." How many people do you think would have voluntarily contributed? Laughable when you apply this to the real world. No, GM had to ask the UAW to renegotiate contracts to save the company money. The school district should demand the teachers union do the same. A little contribution to their pension and healthcare, like all the rest of us have been asked to do, could save these jobs.

when I heard about Janesville and what they wanted from the taxpayers(the fundraiser) ALL because the union didn't want to increase their contributions to health and retirement, I thought here we go again...rush to sign a contract(which as I understand isn't even what the budget repair bill suggested for the concessions)in Janesville and now they want more money from the community...If you do you are all fools. BUT NO,no one waanted to wait and see how this bill would all work out. Rush to judgement all because the teachers and their unions REALLY don't want to give anything up!! But YOU the taxpayer can!AGAIN!It is not for education it IS for the teachers who are unwilling to do what is needed...SO SAD>>.after all it is only about the moolah for the unions,nothing else. they don't want to loose out...WHO CARES ABOUT THE KIDS!!!! NOT THEM!...FOOLS FOOLS FOOLS. My community did not rush to contract and I am proud of the school board for that!

I have an idea that should satisfy the taxpayers. Eliminate all teacher unions, public schools, teachers, administrators, etc. No more "union thugs," "greedy/whiny teachers,” and public school taxes. Then, those who have kids can home-school their children giving them the proper education they need. Everyone wins!

Because the union does not care about the teachers. The teachers are pawns. They are angry at Walker and taxpayers but should be pointing the finger at their own union leaders. I'll bet Parr and Reif will not be laid off due to being union leadership.

Game on.

But we will use our money like a weapon. That's where our worlds collide.

Did we lazily walkout on work, cause illegal work stoppages, or trash the capitol? Sound similar? Whole worlds apart. You will likely never know. Stick with the liberal borg. They welcome warm bodies and heartbeats.

jv93, if I didn't know any better, you sound just like one of those drum beating angry union thugs you complain about. Especially the part where you spend money as a weapon. I love it!!

No leadership? Maybe. But we vote. We vote, contribute to campaigns, and spend money as our weapon. We are always ready to respond and are here to stay. We may be your dentist, garbage man, bus driver, or the woman down the street who sells Tupperware. You will never know as we walk invisibly amongst you. But we will always rise up to respond at the voting booth. You will never stop us nor will you intimidate or suppress us. You can beat drums, yell into megaphones, trash our beloved capitol, threaten our businesses, shove us around, write angry articles about us using your press and still we will not give in. Patriots, we are here to stay and stronger than EVER!

Brittanicus, the tea party isn't about merely stopping any more spending or paying off debt. They don't want to pay down the debt because if they did they would have protested the extension of the Bush tax cuts. And they don't want to stop certain federal spending like $53 billion in subsidies to Big Oil, because if they did they would have protested that too. The tea party isn't even a party or a political caucus. They have no leadership. But they are mostly a misguided group of Americans who have been snookered by Big Corpse to do their bidding for them. They are bad for America.

Bunbun, your analogy fits the way things were. For better or worse, the debt is piled up. Do you cut your pay?

"they outlaw illegal immigration"
Thanks for the laugh!

Only since the inception of the rising TEA PARTIES persona, have I thought we might have the prospect of ending this craziness, exploited by the Left, businesses and the open border zealots. Already the TEA PARTY is fighting the shadow government within the Democratic Party, to stop the out of control spending. Illegal Immigration is a pestilence that must be reduced and stopped; until its trickle; only allowing top notch skillful people to immigrate here. We have no money with two wars emanating from the Far East, and the uninhibited costs of educating the world’s poor that arrive here or having to pay for babies born here or free health care for all.

The taxpayers can either keep on supporting this silent attack on this nation, or they outlaw illegal immigration and its long term ramifications. Since the economic illegal invaders started eating up benefit entitlements some twenty years back, it’s remarkable that the general public hasn’t seen through paramount issue? Join NumbersUSA of any predominant pro-sovereignty organization and also prove your patriotism by becoming an activist member of a local TEA PARTY. They represent the taxpayers of the United States, not the-TAX AND SPEND Liberal extremists.

Remember illegal aliens have and will vote in elections, as the enforcement laws are so lax? Absentee ballots are easy to forge and bogus ID can get you registered to vote? IS your State open to fraudulent voting, as New Mexico, Colorado, Texas? We need a National ID now, before this gets any worse.

CALIFORNIA TAXPAYERS ESPECIALLY SHOULD STATE TO GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN, NO MORE TAXES TO HIRE MORE TEACHERS BECAUSE OF THE MASSIVE INFLUX OF CHILDREN OF ILLEGAL ALIENS.

It's all up to the hurting taxpayer, to say "Enough is enough" because otherwise legislators in particularly California, will keep bleeding you. Even now a committee in Sacramento eliminated new policing laws. Today Arizona will prosecute and deport illegal alien workers, if caught trespassing in that State. IT’S A SIMPLE ADMISSION THAT MILLIONS FROM OTHER HARD CORE POLICING STATES WILL POUR INTO UNRESTRICTED CALIFORNIA, NEVADA FURTHER NORTH AND OUTWARDS EAST.

In person I have seen the overcrowded classrooms in California and the overwhelmed Teachers as my own son was confronted with this chaos. No wonder California schools have failed in performance, whereas twenty years ago they topped exemplary learning. With no backbone available the lawmakers have failed the American people, to build the REAL fences, embracing mandated policing laws of E-Verify, Secure Communities and the detainment law 287 G, playing into the hands of sullied business owners. We are already locking away more foreign criminals of the most hideous examples of human depravity, which US taxpayers are paying for? Not forgetting with the border not sealed criminal activity has spilled across the open territory claiming it as their own. These people are coming up from the darkest recesses of cesspools in the furthest reaches of South America and other sewers of the world.

TEACHERS, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION & TAXES?

In school districts throughout America thousands of teachers have been receiving pink slips, because there is no money in the State treasuries to pay them; unless more taxes are extracted from the residents. This problem seems to be mostly centered in the larger cities, but wherever this grave situation is in effect, the outcome is the same? Unless the diverse State legislators can drag more taxes from the State residents, this situation will only get far worse. OUR SCHOOLS ARE FAILING BECAUSE OF THE NEGATIVE DIRECT INFLUENCE, OF CHILDREN THAT HAVE LITTLE COMPREHENSION OF ENGLISH, BUT UNDER FEDERAL LAW THEY MUST BE EDUCATED. But I see this issue in different light, which if the Public hadn't been royally skewered by the birthright citizenship law, this educating the world, would never have happened.

Read the report "DRAINING AMERICA INTO POVERTY" at http://tinyurl.com/3mv3vzm

The law mishandled in the interpretation of the 14th amendment, billions of dollars would not be going to educating children of illegal immigrants. This is not to mention the hundreds of thousands of individuals smuggled monthly across borders or enter America illegally or by other means. The definitive point being that there would be no need for the extraordinary amount of Teachers desired to teach the children of illegal aliens if they were not here. That billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars would be saved. Any prudent persons, who has not been brainwashed by the Leftists, must comprehend that our clogged classrooms, a need for bilingual teachers that our nation has been silently invaded. True born Americans and permanent residents have endured the “Politically Correct” doctrine for too long. That it’s facilitated this country plummeting into an apathetic chaotic mess. Where in some States police cannot question you on your legal status?

Governor Brewer and State Senator Pierce of Arizona are right now defending their State in the courts from the Communist aggressive nutcases in the ACLU, or liberal progressives masquerading as Democrats. The Sanctuary State of California is weighed down with illegal invaders, so the taxpayers should repudiate any more demands for even more teachers. The occupation of foreigners has not impeded by Washington DC, Sacramento, CA. Salt Lake City, UT, Denver CO or any States East, that has an acute shortage of teachers because of this fundamental issue. So until all the lax States start legislating policing laws, as implemented by Arizona, Alabama and others the illegal alien invasion will be endless. States like refuge-California, Nevada will be bombarded by illegal migrant refugees, where policing laws are not being enforced. Every time non-enforcement States demand more taxes, Americans should not sign onto this travesty.

BunBun: You my friend hit exactly on the entitlement mentality! Spend, spend, spend and then make unreasonable demands on your employer and the taxpayers! This has been going on for years by the unions, teachers, government, school boards, etc.
Time we started living within our means. If the self righteous folks would like to throw more money at the problem…have at it, I will fight that mentality until I see the problems have been resolved.
Do you notice how the union folks are asking everyone to pony up? Maybe they now see why so many people were against them and their stance in all this. They have bled the system virtually to death!

youkillme:

The problem is, with a tax increase the money raised is just spent. You can pay off debt while not increasing your income. I did it by not incurring anymore debt and by paying things off one at a time. When one thing was paid off, the money used for that payment was put towards principle for the next thing. No short term or long term debt for me and did it even though my income was cut.

whzbng That's why this is all voluntary. If you feel you've paid enough or can't pay - for whatever the reason, you don't have to. It's not a judgement and DON'T feel guilty if you don't. That's not anyone's goal. Pay if you want to. I sound like a wussy liberal don't I?

a more appropriate tax analogy would be:
get in debt through buying a new big screen, huge house, new car, etc. then go to your palce of employment and demand more money to pay it off.
.
see where that gets you, especialy when your employer is not having a positive quarter.

The teabaggers complain about the country's debt and how it important it is to remedy yet the first thing they want to do run away from it. You don't pay off debt by reducing revenue (taxes). Try doing that at home. Tell your boss you want your paycheck cut so you have less to pay your bills with. The national debt requires a balanced approach, some cuts, some taxes and close loopholes - but that's an impossible expectation from imbalanced people.

In Fitzwalkerstan, public schools are forced to rely on private funding to fulfill their mission. If you think that is going to happen, you'll also be interested in a fabulous bridge I can sell you, at an incredibly low price, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don't delay!

Public education is a priority of middle-class Americans. On the other hand it is a target for teabaggers, who are determined to degrade it in every way possible, including cutting funds and demonizing teachers. To suggest that support for public schools can somehow be apolitical is nonsense.

The founding fathers of this country decided to establish public schools supported from property taxes: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."
*
The comments displayed here, in all their motley array, suggest that many Gazette posters need to catch up with the march of history.

Maybe the 70 could each give 200k and eliminate the deficit.

Then next year that same 70 can give anothe 71K each saving almost 130K from the previous year...because I believe the 2013 deficit will be approximately $5,000,0000 not the 13.7 million faced today...

Or the district can fire teachers, librarians, couselors, and other employees in order to meet the financial contraints of running the district.

Supporting the school system through voluntary donations is very Bush #1 - remember his "thousand points of light" that would keep the homefires burning?!!?

Noleftist, that is the messaging problem the school district must overcome if they expect significant donations. People have the right to boycott this effort if they believe their money, whether donated or exchanged in a purchase transaction, might support a cause or an organization they don't want to support. The teachers have to make that clear. Some people refused to buy a GM product because they believed they were donating to union causes.

The District needs this money so it can continue to pay $100k+ in untaxed health retirement benefits for its unionized workforce.

It's for the kids, of course.

People who think the teachers should have given concessions, this is a way they can SAFELY give those concessions through a voluntary donation. It might be able to be directed only to specific needs, I'm not sure???? But at least they do know that their contract won't be thrown out when they do what they can to help.

whzbng, I don't know if you're bragging or complaining. Not that I care anyways. But you should get rid of those properties if they are not bringing you a satisfactory return for your tax dollars. Particularly if you cannot afford them.

I paid over $10K in taxes to the city in January and my neighbor paid around $200K for the properties we own. Consider that donation enough as we do not get more for our tax dollars than the person that pays $2K.

Oh, I thought you were serious - that you've already donated to the school district via your taxes.

My twisting of "donation" was made in jest if you missed it.

That has always been my point. It's not voluntary. I can't just not pay taxes. I can however elect people to stand up to people like Reif and Parr. And that's just what I and many others like me did! LOL!

jv93, now you're twisting "donation" into your own definition. But if you consider your taxes a donation - stop donating! Simple. It's only a donation if it's voluntary.

Unless you missed the small detail that I already "donated" through my taxes.

I would think people on the Right would love this idea. It's very Ayn Rand to support things voluntarily rather than through "force" as she considered taxes. Paul Ryan is a huge Ayn Rand ideologue, this fits perfectly with the ideology of the Right. So if you don't want to pay more through taxes, then give what you can to this fundraiser.

Let me get this straight. I have to pay with my tax dollars, AND you want me to donate more on my own? Not going to happen....

Who will handle these donations as they come in? What, exactly, will the money be used for? How will the public be assured that their donations will be used for the stated purpose? You're not going to collect very many donations without making these issues crystal clear.

Kay13...... this really is NOT a fundraiser for the school district...it IS for the teachers. Had they made some concessions we could close the gap in budget and not have to cut so many programs and/or teachers. The district could have closed that gap by million/s if the teachers contributed to their pensions and healthcare. I keep hearing it is "about the kids" but really it is about a teachers union that is not willing to negotiate and help the cause. Easier to get up in front of people and ask them to donate and give more, then to open their own wallets and take care of their own retirement and healthcare. Sad, sad, sad....... I do support kids and I do support their education. This is not about them, it is about a greedy and powerful union!

Oh I know it was not a willful or direct donation from myself. Something was exchanged for my money. I just wanted to know if my purchase transaction dollars in any way aided or supported Scott Walker if the business donated to Walker. But your answer is fair. Sometimes only a smile or a sense of relief is enough of "something" to receive in exchange for money to make it not a donation without worrying whether it might support a cause I might not agree with. Nothing tricky here. I just thought I'd ask.

Sorry buddy. You were smiling in the newspaper after the last contract negotiations. Are you smiling now?

Grinning Reif wants donations.

Did you get something for your money at that business? If so it was not a donation.

jv93, just a curious question here for you. If I spend my money at a local business that donated to Scott Walker's campaign, did I also support Scott Walker?

is it?

Local81/JoelRodgers: This is a fundraiser for the school district, not the teacher's union. I, for one, would be happy to contribute.

Joel_Rodgers...I mean, a, ...local81, the commercial businesses you're referring to north of 14 were there long before Levitt arrived.

I call Godwin's law.....
I seriously doubt that there are any plans to haul out the Zyklon B and fire up the ovens for our students - please try to hang on to reality.

Here's a great fundraising idea..... lets open up those contracts the union so nicely negotiated and raise some money to SAVE OUR SCHOOLS by contributing to your pensions and healthcare like everyone else does!! This "fundraising" idea is simply taxing people and calling it something else.

Mr. Reif,
The homeowners owe nothing more. To even suggest the taxpayer "give back" is incomprehensible. There was no refund. If the general taxpayer was treated with respect, more help would be on its way.
Also, to say the school board has refrained from taxing to the max really means they refrained from spending more than they needed.
It is not the teachers that are most disrespected in this district, it is the general taxpayer.

This is the school system that the citizens of Janesville have chosen through the elected leadership of Sodemann and his cronies. The "journey to mediocrity" that the superintendent is facilitating as her strings are being pulled by the BOE will go down in infamy as the demise of the Janesville schools. The BOE has a superintendent that they COMPLETELY control. We have a BOE that has put a quality education of our children as a secondary consideration compared to drinking the kool aid that Sodemmann and his cronies are serving. The number of quality leaders that have left and continue to leave our system is unsettling at best. Our board deliberated the costs of student parking fees at the high schools longer than they discussed cutting all counselors, LMC persons and support staff. So when my children and/or their peers have needs I am sure that the "S" brigade will be there to help them. (Sodemann, Severson D., Stottler, Schulte and Sperry). I will bet that Quint "S"tuder will really be excited to market and share the many successes of our "S" brigade. Too many "S"'s spoil the Superintendent, our Schools and our Students successes! Himmler had an "SS", Schutzstaffel ("Protective Squadron") brigade and that didn't bode well in world history. One can only hope that the peril and losses for our students and our schools will not be as daunting!

I will donate. It certainly isn't a permenant fix, but it will buy some time to gradually figure some things out for the schools. Didn't someone donate like 30,000 bucks to have the Craig gymnasium floor fixed a year or two ago? That would be a nice donation to this cause.

I'm starting my own fundraising effort...
to make up the difference my pension has been cut the last three years.

As usual this article is not accurate. From an educator that was there it was NOT a majority of district employees. I know Mr Schultz was there as well, but I have it on good info that is NOT a true statement.

Not if some give more than $300. I could give $300 and get matching funds from my employer for a total of $600 for instance. Some teachers and businesses have pledged a lot more than $300. This might work. At least we could raise enough to soften the blow and allow for a gradual reduction over 2 years rather than this drastic drop all at once.

They need 20,000 people to donate - wouldn't that essentially be every household in Janesville?