really: why are you so paranoid? The question was where should the excess money go?
my answer was very short: teachers period -end of comment.
How in the heck did you gather i was unintelligent? your sarcastic remark about me being very intelligent & not doing too good in school because of the over-paid teachers hey? REALLY flabbergasted me! this is one of the few times i have replied to anyone on here -being a forum- and still am flabbergasted at how a teacher can ASSUME all them assumptions.
My feeling is that teachers are "unsung heros", but your reply is mind-boggling.

How about save it for times where you go over budget? Unexpected fees, rate hikes, etc... it's not like its going to sit for long. I know its not exactly the American Way, but let's try something new instead of spend spend spend.

fees fees fees. Notice I made is plural so it will be a 4 letter word. We have so many fees in our lives now that it it is discusting. Maybe we should learn how to go to school and not have the luxury of playing sports I guess. I can see fees but for only extra luxury items that are not necessary....What if you have 3 kids at Craig, sheesh, thats a paycheck just for the registration for them....

First of all she doesn't think she is overpaid, the public school teachers make about twice as much as she does. What she says is public school teachers are compensated very well for doing a somewhat lackluster job. Now I know there are some very dedicated teachers out there, but fom our experience there are more who are just biding their time till retirement and don't care personally for the kids. I'm glad you are not one of those. My kids were in the jville school district. I'm glad you had such a rosy time there, but it was not the same for us, especially in the middle school. More and more I'm hearing the same thing from people in all walks of life. We just need more teachers who care how the kids do. I was very involved parent and it was not always received well. They said they want you involved but don't question them, they get very defensive and ask you not to help. We had better results in the Private school sector with some people who were not licensed but cared.

The state of Wisconsin sets standards for teacher licensing by law influenced, through lobbying efforts, by the teacher’s union and requires public schools to hire only licensed teachers. The state has set a multi-tiered license structure which teachers progress though over time. Then teachers and their union demand pay considerations based on these standards as if their teaching effectiveness were actually based solely on attaining these standards while ignoring the fact that non licensed teachers in non public schools without the influence of a union produce superior results. When called to task for their seeming ineffectiveness, they seem always able to find someone else to blame such as parents or bumbling administrators or even the popular culture, as if only public schools face such difficulties.
For decades, the teachers through their union have preached smaller class sizes. The various Wisconsin school districts, Janesville’s included, have responded to the point where the Janesville school district has about 10,000 students and 800 teachers for a student to teacher ratio of 12.5 to 1, yet student achievement has not been affected. How much smaller does class size have to go?

whoanellie: I think it's great that your daughter puts a lot of heart into her job, however, I find it interesting that she believes teachers are overpaid. For requiring a 4 year degree or beyond, teachers are one of the lowest paid professinals. Add to the fact that in order to keep licensure, we often have to use personal money to take classes. I find it especially interesting that she works at a private school, in which teachers usually do get a lower salary. Either she has ideal students and family situations at her school that make her job wonderful so she feels overcompensated (which, unfortunately, is next to impossible anywhere) or, well, I don't know why else she'd feel that way. I'm not on here to preach that teachers need more money. That is a whole other discussion.
I am interested in knowing what district you live in and would love to hear why you're so disappointed in public schools. I, myself went through the J'ville school district, my kids are enrolled in the J-ville schools, and I teach in a public school district nearby and wouldn't have it any other way. However I also grew up in a very involved, supportive family who values education and this reflects on my own children who are doing very well in school.
I am very interested in learning about your experiences and why you have come to believe that teachers do not earn their pay and are failing the system.

She teaches at a private school where they make little pay. but she has a real heart for kids and wishes parents could put their educational tax dollars where they choose. Then maybe we'd get some better results if the public school had some real competition. She has student loans, rent, utilities and all just like the rest of us. No she does not live at home. She didn't get any free rides. But she does beleive education is the key to success in a childs life and the better the education the better the sucess. Tax dollars should go for choice.

whoanellie: If this is the case your daughter should give some of her salary back to the tax payers to help reduce the tax levy. How many children does your daughter have? Student Loans? House payment? Car payment? Utility payments etc. Is she still overpaid or does she still live at home?

For those of you waiting for tax relief keep waiting. Last year there was a 7 million dollar surplus, how much of it are they giving back to the taxpayer? None! Last year the school board said that the fund 10 was too large and that they needed to reduce it, yet they added another 7 million. The school board talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk.

SarahB.....You don't have to pay the registration fee.I worked many of registration days at the schools and if the parent said no on paying the fee, student went thru.The school would send notices to the parent to pay,but that's where the free education comes in for all students.So no you don't have to pay the fee.I know personally of a family that never paid from K-8,but did paid 9-12.and had nothing to do with not being able to pay.

really&jqpublic: I speak with the voice of knowledge.
My children were in public school, private school and I homeschooled. I can tell you from experience it does not take a masters degree to teach the basics to children although I do beleive that teachers have a very hard job with 30 children in their class. however we did not have a good experience in the public school. I had 3 kids and 2 went to the public school and then homeschooled and private. the one child that I homeschooled from the beginning and then sent to private school, graduated as Valedictorian of her class. I had something to do with that and don't beleive they could have done as well in just the public school. It's not all the teachers fault. We have such low standards in this country,so it reflects in our kids education. But about the money, I still say we pay too high taxes and too high teacher salaries. and by the way, my child who was valedictorian is now a teacher and agrees with me! Maybe if we had better choices where our education dollars go we would get better results!

whoanellie: What "enormous" teacher salaries are you talking about?
Again, when talking about results, parents are a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to education...how much time do you spend talking to your child(ren) about school, help with homework, read with them, communicate with teachers, demonstrate respect for teachers and the educational system in front of them?
I send home weekly grade reports to parents who don't bother to read them, often with notes for them to contact me to talk about their child's participation or performance. All to frequently, do I only hear from those parents when they're angry that their student did not get an 'A' on their report cards. No matter that I offered help to the student before/after school, at lunch, sometimes offer a re-do/alternate assignment, and tried to contact parents several times. It often comes down to being the teacher's fault that students are not engaged in their educations. Not much more I can do if the students don't want to learn and the parents aren't involved.

I am not a teacher in J-ville, so this issue does not directly affect me. However I believe that since this post (as do all that concern schools, teachers, etc...) has some points of teacher "bashing" (for lack of a better word), that it is necessary to get those that are so opinionated and bent on sharing their negative and uninformed views of teachers should be made aware of how uninformed they are of all the factors that inhibit teachers from successfully reaching all students.

Billnewbie: You believe that teachers are failing at their jobs obviously. Have you considered the other factors that go into teaching students, such as parental involvement, student homelife, this generations attitude of entitlement, etc...? Education and the understanding of the value of education start at home and unfortunately this is happening less and less.
I am a teacher and I work very hard at my job, however there are so many students who no matter what I do, will not work to their fullest potential because they and/or their parents do not see the value in it. Priorities are placed on sports in many households before it's placed on learning.
It is very unfortunate to hear that you, who does sound very educated, has such a limited and biased view of the teaching profession. You really need to talk with teachers and observe the realities of what we face.
And yes, I'm a realist, I know there are teachers out there who are not at the top of their game. But I've also experienced that with doctors, cars salesmen, waitresses, accountants, etc... However, you really need to understand all of the outside and political factors that teachers face before assuming that teachers are not doing their jobs because your arguments are demonstrating ignorance and bias.

This is a fairness issue and a credibility issue. Under state law the teachers must bargain for a benefit package that includes wages and health insurance benefits. For every dollar that goes to cover the cost of benefits, it is one less dollar to go for wages. Funny, but it appears that there is a mysterious gap between the actual cost (less) and the budgeted amount (more). That gap has been there for 3 years and growing. This should be a case study on how school districts should not treat its employees and its taxpayers.

jqpublic:
Since you make reference to what you assume to be my apparent abundance of spare time and my conceit but ignore my points of contention, I then assume that you have acquiesced to those points after having limited your response to insults.

From my experience students were not allowed to graduate until all fees have been paid. In elective areas their is a lab fee. Generally students who do not pay the fee are unable to take projects home. I am not sure how this works with required course fees?

SarahB,
I'm not really fit to answer your question, but I have a guess. I believe that it is mandatory, by law, that children attend school. If the guardian of a child or children refuses to pay for the schooling, and does not have the child or children in any other approved education system, I believe they are breaking the law. It would probably be handled similar to someone not paying their taxes, except that child welfare would also probably get involved.
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Like I said, I'm really not fit to answer that question and that's just a guess. If someone else does know exactly what would happen, I'd be interested in being educated.

What would happen if a student's registration fees were not paid? They can't forbid the student from attending, right? And if one really looked at the naked truth, a kid could take a packed lunch and forget the extras such as milk break, yearbook, photos, sports fees, locker fees, towel fees, Kleenex fees, soap fees, lab fees, etc., etc. Can anybody tell me what happens if a student's fees are not paid? (And, I don't mean because of a family's financial situation.)

billnewbie: Maybe those with so much knowledge on every topic is wasting his or her talent and should teach? From your 619 post it seems you have plenty of time to take up the profession.

What is the world coming to when it is contended that it takes a graduate degree to teach an 8th grader how to do fractions and then have such a high failure rate.
Maybe those with advanced degrees waste their talent on public school employment.

whoanellie: Yah teachers make way to much money! Four Year Degrees and Master's Degrees should not make a lower middle class wage. What is this world coming to?

Heres a crazy idea,,how about keeping it in the health care area,,, this is just an idea from someone who has to budget and can't just raise taxes when ever I have wasted my money,,,

I think the surplus should go right back to where it came from---to offset taxes!! We pay such high taxes in this city and it's only going to get worse with GM and all those other businesses that are leaving town. I'm tired of paying outrageous taxes and enormous teacher salaries and not getting any results!!

If the teachers really think that they have some legal claim on this money, why haven't they filed a lawsuit? Let them make their case in court. If there is no legal claim then they should have bargained for that money in good faith in the contract negotiations.
If there is no provision in the labor contract and no provision in state law, then the teachers should accept that they have no claim.
Some argue that the teachers deserve “the best”. That would be true if we were getting “the best” from them. The highest quality education is not offered at public schools, but the most expensive education is. Parochial schools and home schools do a much better job than private schools, and most of them don’t have state certified teachers. There is good reason why the state teacher’s union is so vehemently opposed to school choice. Their student base would shrink to a fraction of its size and public schools in their present form would soon be shown to be obsolete if school choice were made available statewide, especially if it included home school.

Caddyshack243,we have had this discussion before. The district and JEA agreed on a contract that in order to give everyone a minimum raise in one year the schedule didn't change in the other year. Everyone got to make lane movements for education and experience. So in order to give the 200 plus teachers a raise who were not making movements across and down we agreed on a mechanism to allow this to happen. It was again agreed by both teams and ratified by the JEA.
That was not a freeze and it had nothing to do with the insurance costs. I would be happy to clarify further if you wish to contact me.

gwendt: very intelligent. Apparently, you didn't do so well in school and it's the overpaid teachers' fault, hey?

So, instead of asking where should the money go, maybe we should be asking; Why is the Janesville School District holding an extra $30 million in what is supposed to be teachers' pay/benefits? Caddyshack234 touched on the Wisconsin Statutes about pay/benefits being lumped together by the Law. Is the JSD in violation of Wisconsin Statutes? Kind of sounds like it.

Craig H.S. fees $93.00!

Just for the record, it costs $31 to register a 9th grader. Which has absolutely nothing to do with the excess health care funds - those should be returned to the teachers the following year as an 'adjustment' in their salary package, in my opinion.

TCB: Once again, old news: The teachers ARE liable for insurance costs, as it results in lower salaries in subsequent contracts. I refer again to the early 90's when the salary schedule was frozen due to the insurance fund shortfall. The teachers have never reclaimed that year of frozen salaries. What the public continues to refuse to admit is that the direct over-payment to the insurance fund is direct under-payment to the salary schedule. Three Million dollars alone last year. According to WI state law, the salary and benefits MUST be lumped together as total compensation package. Also understand, and admit, that if the JSD wanted to, they could have saved taxpayers (teachers pay taxes also) millions of dollars over the past 10 years or so, witnessed by the growth of the Fund balance to roughly $30 Million. Yes, a sizeable part of the Fund is money taken from you, as taxes, not paid to teachers as salary or insurance benefits, and then saved for JSD one-time payments for things like P4J and such. And before griping about teacher salaries, how about a word on administrator's salaries? First year Assistant Principal: $86,000. First year Principal: $103,000 to $126,000. Try to keep these in mind this year when the teacher bashing commences during contract negotiations this school year.

teachers. period - end of comment.

Excess funds should go to the people who are paying the healthcare premiums-on a proportional basis. If the general tax payer pays 90% of the premiums then 90% of the surplus should be returned tax payer.

How about giving an annual health bonus-based national health and BMI standards? All employees are eligible. Healthy teachers (and other employees) cost less to employ. Likewise, the institution of a sin tax on teacher who smoke-because data shows these people are less healthy than those who do not-therefore they cost more to employ.

How about making teachers liable should there be a deficit? Imagine the outcry should there be a 1 million shortfall and the teachers have to repay? WOW!

Hold the horn.

Paying for pictures, for lunch, for a milk break, for a year book, and for sports, is not all included in registering for school. If it were included, then your school registration fee would reflect. Those other things are all options. It's not so different from getting different upgrade options for a car from a car dealership.
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Definitely do not eliminate athletic fees. The last thing we need is for more of the tax payers money paying for something like athletics. The focus of school should remain education. If someone wants to actively participate in a school sport, there should be a fee.

The heck it doesn't. Apparently you've never registered anyone for school. By the time you pay the registration fees, pay for pictures, pay for lunch, milk break (if you have younger kids), pay for the yearbook, pay for sports, it costs well over $93.

It does not cost $93 to register for high school!

Eliminate athletic fees ($50 per sport) and the $93.00 yearly fee to attend high school. Just to begin.

The money should remain in the school district's health care program funding for teachers.

Either keep it in a reserve fund or use it for a wellness program for the teachers which will hopefully lower health care costs for everyone in the long run.

There should be a formula established to allow part of the funds to remain in reserve to cover years of shortfalls; the remainder should be used to offset the health care portion of the teachers payroll package for the following contract (ie: a health premium adjustment).

The money should remain in the school district's health care program funding for teachers. It is absolutely regressive to hold these monies from the teachers during their contract negotiations, and hold it for what? For somebody else to figure out a way to raid those monies for a personal pork barrel? Health Care is not going to be getting cheaper and our teachers deserve the best.(No, neither my spouse nor I are teachers.)