It makes perfect Republican sense to me: the teachers should pony up and pay salaries for...the teachers.

Now, if the teachers (who wouldn't open the contract that the board stupidly agreed to in the first place) and the union leaders are the ones donating, this fundraiser would make sense.

It is comical to watch N24 have a conversation with local81, the same person! Give it a rest. You claim you are a teacher yet you post this on a story:

On Termites are nothing new for Janesville residents

Posted on April 16 at 10:34 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Everyone knows the termite problem started in the dump, and is spreading from there. Most of the houses on Black Bridge Road are invested.

Really??? "Invested" ????

N24, once again, here is what you are suggesting: That the WORKERS support the SCHOOLS with part of their paycheck. Imagine if you worked for Wal-Mart and were paid $10 an hour, except Wal-Mart said that $1 of that was donated back to the company to keep your job. That would be several kinds of illegal, of course, mainly because it would be a kickback. This is quite different from a strike fund, which many unions maintain as a way to help their members. On top of that, you seem to expect the money would be used to actually EMPLOY teachers in the schools. This is essentially asking teachers to work for free. If you want the teachers to be volunteers, call for an all-volunteer school district and see what quality of professional you get. But you are engaging in a fantasy, and a very pernicious one at that. The implication is that the budget problems are the fault of the teachers, and the teachers bear the primary responsibility for solving them, instead of the taxpayers. Convenient for you, but really, really asinine, even if it were legal.
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Of course, this is Scott Walker's Wisconsin -- so who knows what will be legal next week?

If we ever needed proof that the left wants to silence people that don't toe their line, comments on this blog show it. This will be a good chance for the people who think we don't pay enough taxes, to open up their wallets and put their money where their mouth is.

Loacal81: I've read your comment and those that follow.
If what you say is true, I like it, and here's why: Any mandatory dues removed from ones paycheck should be distributed at the discretion of the payer. I’m not a union member, but if dues are removed from my check, I should be the one who says where my money goes. I should be given options and be able to choose which option gets my cash, with the understanding a percentage needs to got to the costs of running the union, but anything over and above that should go where I choose, not the union heads. I also should be able to give back to my employer if I so choose, for whatever reason. See, that’s real freedom. Don’t just arbitrarily take my money and then give it to people or organizations I would not ever support. If it really is all about freedom as your signage screams at us, then let me choose how my dues are used. Otherwise, it acts as a collective and dictatorial in the distribution of such funds. Freedom means choice. If it really is all about freedom as you say, then give me freedom. Don’t tell me I have freedom and then give my money to political parties that support abortion, euthanasia, socialism, or whatever.
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If this were done, the stereotypes about unions might just start to change.

N24: Good theory. However, as most union members know, dues are collected with each paycheck and rarely in one lump sum. Fees are then paid to state and national organizations like WEAC and NEA to advocate for kids' education and our profession. The JEA is not a money-making enterprise with loads of cash on hand. Nor are our union leaders paid wild salaries. Our union leaders earn a small stipend, not enough to buy even one Armani suit.

Local81: Give it up. You are so off-base that it is truly comical. If you truly are a teacher, then you should have better math skills. As a JEA member you are fully welcome to attend an RA meeting and view the financial reports. For the rest of you, JEA dues are about $750 x about 825 members. Not even close to your concocted $1.4 million. Now, give it a rest.

Perhaps the better time to have a discussion like this is when there is not a budget crisis, at least of this scale. But do unions educate children? No, teachers do. Money is fungible, money that goes to the union administration could go back directly to the schools without loss in teachers pay or benefits.
I am not saying that school administrations and certain segments of the public are always fair. Perhaps society should try to fix the problems that teachers have that make them feel they need a union, rather than have another layer of bureaucracy in the education of our children.

It will probably never happen, though.

Save Janesville Schools is an all volunteer group and many of us have children in the school district. We did not feel that we could adequately and fairly prioritize all of the positions and programs to determine exactly how the funds are used. The school board is an elected board who has this job. The Community Foundation will oversee the use of the money and will grant it to restore cut programs that directly affect our students and nothing else. We decided that this is the most fair and appropriate way to manage these funds. Thank you for your support!

I'm glad local81 brought up the points he did, as it's quite illustrative of a particular mindset, one full of resentment and scapegoating blame. It presupposes that the fault of the budget shortfall is that of the teachers themselves, so they should be the ones to "fix" it. That's the current political angle, and it's really just a propaganda vehicle for the true agenda, which is to permanently lower taxes and eliminate spending on things they just plain don't like. Education is something they devalue and would simply much rather that someone else a) do all the work and b) pay for, so it's quite in character to suggest that the TEACHERS THEMSELVES pay for our childrens' education. After all, it's the teachers who think it's important, not us. Asking for the "union" -- that is, the teachers themselves -- to pay BACK INTO their employer is ASKING THE TEACHERS TO VOLUNTEER. They would just love the teachers to step up and volunteer ALL their time so that we could get a free education for the kids and not have to pay for any of it.
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It's a scary mindset. These are, charitably, people who have not thought things through, and less charitably and more cynically, terrible people whose goals, if enacted, would destroy much of what we take for granted in modern society.
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But let's just imagine that they don't understand the implications here. They want something that is fundamentally unfair -- free labor, benefits without costs, and a burden that falls hardest on those who can afford it least. We already have a system of apportioning support fairly for our public schools. It is called TAXATION. You only pay more if your property is worth more. There is a state credit for those most in need of it. And we all benefit by having a superior educated workforce that attracts investment and creates jobs. This system, though, is something they want to utterly destroy, in favor of clearly unfair systems such as making the workers support their own employer. The last I heard, we fought a war to remove that form of labor from our shores.
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You know, most teachers work really long hours outside the classroom throughout the school year, and many of them do in fact already volunteer their time formally or informally. They are some of the hardest working people I know. Making them the scapegoat of a robber baron economy is obscene and those who have engaged in this rhetoric should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Now we're actually to the point of making them turn around and fix our problems for us. Again, there is a fair method that we already have for handling this. It is called COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, adults sitting around a table with other adults.
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When you do not have fair systems, that is when unfairness proliferates. Unfairness such as placing the burden of guilt on teachers for the budgetary problems of the district. A fair system with a fair contract agreed on by all parties without threats and without guilt. That's the Wisconsin I used to know.

The group has decided it will rely on the school board and administration to decide how to use the money by determining what positions and programs would best support district students, Rundle said.
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Why not, they've done such a great job at budgeting up to this point.........

Local81 also stated that he/she was an auto worker....I think he/she is confused! I do believe this person may need some therapy. I really pray that he/she gets it.

Loco81/cass says that they are a teacher at adams, or former teacher (thus the bitterness). It is natural for someone in this position to lash out in desperation (thus the incoherant mutterings). I do feel for the job loss but the world keeps turning and the sun will come up tomorrow cass, time to move on. No one here is listening to your rantings, although some of them have been amusing ;-)

It is time for the Gazette to get the IP address of users jodymac, cass, local81 and N24. The IP address of these users need to be blocked. It is the SAME person and a negative person they are. There is no telling of what a person with such hatred for others will do these days.

I'm trying to figure out the $1.4 million number...that works out to over $1600 in dues per union member, figuring on 850 teachers. I can tell you that, as far as I know, union dues are in the $600-700 range. Some of that goes to WEAC, some to NEA...It just doesn't add up to $1.4 million. Could that be how much WEAC gets from its members? Could Dave Parr or someone else provide these details? I have a hard time believing Local81 or some of his ilk.

Why not ask the unions to match dollar for dollar.

"Every dollar donated is another dollar to support the Union Boss." I choose to ignore negativity such as that comment. Every dollar doanted is another dollar to support our school district's students, and their future. Thank you Shari, Mike and Dave. I appreciate what you are doing.

local81 I feel so sorry for you. You can not find anything positive what a sad life for you!

Good for you Janesville! I am joining and will be donating because I think Janesville in worth it... unlike the teacher bashing, Union hating FEW. :)

Local81/Cass/JodyMac/N24, can you provide some proof for your wild claims? Seems like your numbers and claims have been refuted over and over and yet you continue to spew the same lies with more and more user names. Get over your bitterness and think about the good of the community. I'm sure the teachers will be stepping up and giving generously to this fund, probably more than the 1.5% that JEA is asking of them. I know some have said the will give the entire 5.8% that they might have had taken if their contract had been voided. We have wonderful dedicated teachers and school employees in this district and you need to have some respect for the amazing job that they do!

I support this cause because I don't want to see Janesville decay like Detroit. If the schools go down, the entire city goes down. It is a vicious cycle of lower test scores, lower property values, and an exodus of students, families and businesses who have the means to leave. I think it should be called just Save Janesville!