N24...Started out as Hank !

Don't forget our good buddy Joel_Rodgers

Yeah and,
"paying additional taxes to keep teachers that are not needed and do not even earn the pay that they are bringing home now, " Thanks for proving my point. Yes you do share the opinion of people in this "community".

Cass, Jodymac, Local81, N24 (all the same person) - it's people like you that make teachers not want to give a dime of their hard earned money back. Why should they? They could never give enough for people like you. They didn't create this problem. They are simply the only ones trying to do something about it. Thank your lovely school board.

realist, do you have anything factual to state in this conversation. And you to answer your question regarding "Wierd because I thought everyone is this town was still hurting and taxes cannot be raised because there is no work and most people are out of work. Which is it?" no where in my statement did I mention taxes. However since you asked my opinion, since I am a homeowner I would have no difficulties paying for additional taxes if it were of necessity, however, paying additional taxes to keep teachers that are not needed and do not even earn the pay that they are bringing home now, I would have issues with that. And next time if you would like to refer to one of my comments, please change attitude in reference to my opinion and everyone in the community, as we are not one in the same.

Cass, Jodymac, Local81, N24 and it looks like publictaxpayer is the newest incarnation of this troll. Ignore...don't feed the troll! Just laugh at this person having continual conversations with him/herself and IGNORE.

I support the Janesville teachers. As a more recent graduate I have seen how much the teachers care for and help their students. They helped me get into a great college a few years ago. I'm glad to see they are putting in the effort to help solve this issue. Keep up the good work!

cnw,
"The lefties talk a good line, but when it comes to shelling out the cash, uh uh. Check out the pct. of donations conservative vs. liberal. Not even close."
Where do I get this information that you have obviously read?

Yeah and
"And after all the dis-placed GM workers have either relocated or found other jobs for the most part,"
Wierd because I thought everyone is this town was still hurting and taxes cannot be raised because there is no work and most people are out of work. Which is it?

The lefties talk a good line, but when it comes to shelling out the cash, uh uh. Check out the pct. of donations conservative vs. liberal. Not even close.

You all crack me up and N24 way to go I love the facts you have thrown out there. Sorry those in Janesville can not see the reality of this. The town wasnt crying when all of the GM workers were laid off and lost their jobs because they werent needed. Well guess what teachers not ALL of you are needed, you will be in the same situation as the GM workers with no job, no pension, no benefits etc... and those that still have their jobs well it looks like they are jumping in line real fast to donate funds to keep your jobs safe. Now who do you trust, the union that is failing you, your friend/co-worker who is not willing to help save your job? And after all the dis-placed GM workers have either relocated or found other jobs for the most part, so welcome to the town of we dont care, it is just a repeat situation of previous years.

Whenever I hear the reference to "brothers and sisters" outside of a family setting, alarms go off in my head. The term has come to mean fellow travelers in a special interest group or private clique.

Kudos to Mike and the others who are helping their brothers and sisters. And I remember when he was just a Janesville kid with a great jump shot.

shermd71 - you state: " The JEA negotiated in good faith, and the board agreed (6-3) to a 4-year contract WITH raises!! If you were offered that deal, you are telling me that you would walk away? Right!! Get some knowledge and facts before posting your garbage!!"

Just want to point out that YOU need to get your facts right as well...

http://gazettextra.com/news/2010/sep/22/...

"In an unusually close 5-4 vote, the Janesville School Board on Tuesday approved a four-year work contract with the teachers union."

In the end, it really doesn't matter as the contract was approved. I don't know why everything on these blogs have to get so ugly. We are ripping apart our community by taking such strong stands against each other. There has to be some middle ground on which we can come together and try to improve OUR community - not the community of the taxpayers, not the community of the teachers, not the community of the business owner, but OUR community. We are all in this together. Let's try to respect that all of us have different beliefs, morals, opinions, and knowledge.

Thank you JEA members for donating money that you didn't HAVE to give.

Something is better than nothing...

n24 The HEART of these UNION Workers is what this article is about The very ones the Walker supporters disrespect and call them nobodies. The world is a much better place with people like these and the ones that can't appreciate them need to shut up and Listen to the real HEART in the Teachers/Police Officers/ Firemen/EMTs They all give back to the community and if you say they don't PLEASE READ other articles in the Gazette. I am so sick of you Walker puppets that Take and degrade a POSITIVE STORY Thank You Janesville Teachers for Being True to your friends and colleagues.As for Union Workers I think you all have forgotten HOW MUCH LOCAL 95/GM WORKERS DID FOR THIS AREA AT CHRISTMAS TIME AND OTHER PROGRAMS (not only money TIME and HEART were a major part) THEY HELPED Boys and Girls Club /Toys for tots/ Groceries for the less forntunate/ECHO/ and many more Unions helped. Now how many programs were affected when they closed GM and some no longer exist as no other company stepped up to help.

My apologies, math is not my strong suit. The total in union dues would be less than 500k. Which doesn't change the fact that it's not enough money to save a significant number of the jobs being cut.

916WI, YOUR comments are laughable!! NO ONE, NOT even YOU cared one little bit that in the 90's when EVERYONE was going gangbusters, teachers were NOT!! And NO ONE held a gun to the heads of the 6 school board members that voted for this 4-year contract, did they? I'm sure those "union thugs" probably had some illegal methods to "force" these board members to vote "their way." Do you truly hear how paranoid you sound? Like the Terror threat level system implemented by Bush and his cronies!! Now, it's COMPLETELY being re-done because it WAS and IS a JOKE!! Like your comments!! Please, come back with ANY factual information on ANYTHING related to how this is the fault of the JEA!! I would LOVE to hear it!! Please, make sure you have ONE fact. That's a reach for you conservatives here and across the US these days. So, use your resources (not Fox News, Conservative talk radio, and your crap information sites that are SLANTED at best!! Union dues would NOT solve our financial problems in Janesville, WIsconsin, or around the country!! Paul Ryan's plan and Scott Walker's plan will NOT help this state or country!! And it's HIGH time all of you conservatives realize these facts before moronic policy changes take hold!!

This is the first time that I have ever posted in a "discussion" of this nature. I felt the need to point out the fact that if all of the Union dues for the entire teaching staff of the JSD were added up it would come to less than $100,000. Union dues simply cannot save jobs, it's not that much money. The very idea is a ridiculous simplistic fabrication.

N24, whether this fundraiser is successful or not, giving away income is NOT a publicity stunt. Is it possible that these individuals want to help any way they can? Aside from the extra responsibilities they will undoubtedly take on next year with larger class sizes, they are ALSO voluntarily giving up some of their hard earned wages. See it for what it is, and stop being such a conspiracy theorist. Let me guess, you don't think we landed on the moon either?

Lest anyone believes the garbage coming from n24, she has been told many times that union dues are based on yearly expenditures. There is no "bankroll." She knows this but is out to trash unions, and therefore just keeps spreading things she knows are untrue. Soon she'll be banned once again, and it will be easy to detect her new username, as she tells the exact same lies.

I would encourage them to look elsewhere, somewhere where the community values education.

I have to give these teachers credit. The ones that give are some of the good ones. The question that I have is: Is Jim Reif also the lead negotiator for the teachers union?

Cass, jodymac, n24 - you're lying. If you had really called the union secretary and received facts, you would have discovered that every union member pays the same $700 per year regardless of income. There is no "somewhere between this amount and that." You really need to stop spreading lies and claiming they are facts.

If the teachers/union hadn't pushed through this last contract, all these folks wouldn't be looking at lay offs or program cuts. Maybe the union will donate 1.5 percent of it's monthly dues to save these jobs and programs. Isn't that part of what union dues are for... to save jobs? Oops, didn't work for the UAW though.... careful teachers, you may be looking for work elsewhere if your union doesn't look out for you this time!

N24/Local 81/Cass/JodyMac you now have split personalities that you came up with another username to confirm your outragious thoughts. Really??? You are so off base, it's crazy! Everyone knows who you are on here with your Kandu ideas and now the Union dues. How many e-mail addresses do you have to make up to come up with a new username each time?

N24 you were wrong. Besides members of the JEA also belong to state and national unions. . . That $700/year provides many benefits to our members. Do you begrudge the services of every employee paid with tax dollars? How about elected officials? Police Departments? Public librarians, Firefighters, military personnel, city & county employees . . . or is just the teachers you begrudge? The community benefits from quality public schools: directly and indirectly. This town is at a crossroads. We can choose to pull together or fall apart. What will you choose?

Sorry Gazette please block Local81,N24,Cass,Jodymac's IP address! If you look they are probably all the same address or mobile phone number.

I hope that teachers in our community are closely reading the comments here. It doesn't matter what they give or give up; this community will never respect education. Teachers could agree to teach for free, and the idiots on these posts would still find a way to call them greedy or suggest that they aren't doing enough.

Gazette please block N24's,Cass,Jodymac's IP address. This is getting ridiculous! The lies that you allow to be spread is outrageous!

N64 . . . we do not have $75 taken out every check for union dues, I have $36(rounded up) every check and they are not taken out during the summer months. I pay around $700 for dues a year. When I saw your numbers, I knew your numbers were off, but since we just got paid today I wanted to look to be sure.

I applaud the teachers for doing the right thing (finally) and giving back some of their $$$ to help the budget deficit. Sadly, I fear that it is too little, too late. Had this been done before the contract with the union cartels was passed, the money would have been automatically deducted. Now it's up to the union members to give what they think is "fair." Hopefully union members won't expect the public to chip in, as I believe it will not be very fruitful. Unions are learning what private sector workers have known for several years now...THERE'S NOT ENOUGH $$$! Paying more for benefits, wage freezes,and other concessions have been happening for non-union workers, now it's catching up to the unions, and it appears it's going over like a lead balloon. Sorry, but this is what democracy looks like.

Sherm...Your comment, "The JEA negotiated in good faith, and the board agreed (6-3) to a 4-year contract WITH raises!! If you were offered that deal, you are telling me that you would walk away?" was worth a good laugh! Of course no one would walk away. The only issue is that no one outside of a public workers union would ever be offered those terms, especially when considering the "employer" is $13 million in the red! Congrats, you're doing a wonderful job giving examples of how corrupt the collective bargaining "benefit" is--at least when it comes to the 92% of Wisconsin taxpayers whose tax dollars go to support it.......

Once upon a time, our schools had enough money for books and teachers, and the pentagon had to hold bake sales!

i think this is a great idea. a great way to keep your dollars local and help the ones you want.

Or,
46*2*9 (not in summer months) = $662,400
Either way:

1.4 million/130 teachers = $10,769 per year for each teacher
662,400/130 = a whopping $5,095 per year teacher!wow!

Oh yeah - minus what the dues are actually for...lawyers, weac, nea, blah blah blah..
We could probably pay each teacher about $20 per year with what is left. You were right! (*sarcasm*)

Yep, and ALL 800+ union members are being goaded by YOU and many others to end up in the SAME boat as the other 130+ being laid off if they open their contract!! Dope!!

N24 Where do you get your numbers??? out of thin air? I am looking at my dues for the union. There is NO way the JEA collects the kind of money you are talking about.

Guess it just goes to show, lie, lie, lie, lie, after al while, people believe a lie is the truth.

It is so sad that those of you that want our teachers to take less weren't offering them more when all of you were making money hand over fist in the 90's. Why is that lost on all of you? You would rather our tax money go to pay for 3 wars (2 of which were started by Bush), our FAILED tax cuts for the wealthy over the past 30 years from EVERY Republican since Reagan, and a lack of interest in funding schools the correct way!! Lost revenue from lack of taxes collected from the wealthy, unnecessary wars with no end in sight, and corporate takeover of this country has me baffled as to how ANY of you against better schools are benefiting from ANY of this? A lower tax base? Less value for your homes? Less jobs? How have ANY of these FAILED policies helped Janesville that MANY of you SUPPORT?

N24, I don't think anyone is really interested in your thoughts!! Especially the laughable ones that you bring to the table!! Do you understand how we got here? Obviously not by your posts! The JEA negotiated in good faith, and the board agreed (6-3) to a 4-year contract WITH raises!! If you were offered that deal, you are telling me that you would walk away? Right!! Get some knowledge and facts before posting your garbage!!

Good for her. It's only fair that the people who want our taxes raised to pay for this should foot the bill. Like when we have a referendum, only the ones who vote "YES" would have to pay. My guess is there wouldn't be 100 yes votes in the whole city, knowing how cheap most Janesville residents are. Some are very generous, when it comes to spending other peoples money.