On Janesville School Board OKs levy on 5-4 vote
Posted on November 1 at 8:26 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Or I'm right. Three bucks is three bucks.
On Janesville School Board OKs levy on 5-4 vote
Posted on November 1 at 8:23 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm crushed.
On Janesville School Board OKs levy on 5-4 vote
Posted on November 1 at 7:05 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Rocksolid: One more time: Again: The school board previously agreed to a 1.91% increase, then settled for 1.47% on a 5-4 vote. Can you please tell me what that $150,006 savings averages out to be per household? Thanks. This sounds to me like approximately $3 per person living in Janesville. I am having a hard time believing that we taxpayers should be so grateful to you and the school board for saving us the cost of one cocktail, or a half-pack of smokes, or a happy meal. I must be misreading this. Please explain. Thank you.
On Janesville School Board OKs levy on 5-4 vote
Posted on October 31 at 4:38 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Rocksolid: Again: The school board previously agreed to a 1.91% increase, then settled for 1.47% on a 5-4 vote. Can you please tell me what that $150,006 savings averages out to be per household? Thanks.
On Janesville School Board OKs levy on 5-4 vote
Posted on October 31 at 9:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Rocksolid: The school board previously agreed to a 1.91% increase, then settled for 1.47% on a 5-4 vote. Can you please tell me what that $150,006 savings averages out to be per household? Thanks.
On Step by step, Janesville teachers are getting a pay increase
Posted on October 27 at 11:19 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
SRK: In terms of taxes, the State of WI determines the amount of money that it believes each school district needs and then the state determines the tax levy. These days, the state cuts the school tax levy to the bone. Janesville's school board, especially Mr. "Rock Solid" Sodemann, wants to cut that support even further. Whether we spend the money on programs, kids or teachers, Janesville's school board is, in essence, refusing to follow the state's school tax guidelines and is cutting city taxes further in an effort to save a few bucks per homeowner. While I acknowledge that times are tough, and I see that my expenses are not going down at all, I question why the JSD school board is refusing money that the State believes the school district is entitled to. Also, if the school district proves this year that we don't need the money, the state will lower our allotment next year. Mr. Sodemann is making every effort to blame teachers for the economic crisis in our school district. I, for one, would prefer a School Board which puts children and education as priorities and shows support for teachers and their efforts to work with children, rather than a vocal school board which blames teachers for the economic problems of the community.
On Step by step, Janesville teachers are getting a pay increase
Posted on October 27 at 10:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Abluedevil: Janesville School District administration only allows 6 on-line credits for the lifetime of a teacher’s employment and will not accept any other on-line credits towards salary advancement. Also, ALL credits must be pre-approved by JSD Administrators. Currently, the JSD refuses to acknowledge PDPs for advancement on the salary scale. From what I hear, most PDPs are quite extensive. I am certified by the DPI as a PDP reviewer, and the PDP is a plan which requires 3 to 5 years to accomplish and document. While I own no swampland, I do believe that it takes more than one year to recoup the cost of a lane movement. While a teacher may get a $1200 step advancement, that is the gross pay. Net pay may result in approximately an $800 actual dollar raise, which does not cover the cost of 6 credits. And, please remember, the lane and step movements are negotiated and agreed to by both the JEA and the JSD. Also, in this latest round of negotiations, please be advised that the JEA has focused solely on contract language but the JSD has expressed little interest in discussing contract language and insists on discussing salary only. The JEA has no desire to, in your words, “ignore this and focus only on "per cell increases," as if they stay in the same cell for more than one year”.
On Freeze the teachers? Hard times raise hard question
Posted on January 27 at 9:54 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
howard: The Fund 10 balance fluctuates like the recent snow cover. Yes, $30M is a pretty good estimate. My sources say that $8M to $10M comes from the insurance over-estimate the past several years. Money that I believe the JSD has deliberately not paid to the teachers as part of the QEO LAW. I know we will argue this to death, but I believe the JSD owes part of this, not all, to the teachers. Only because this was bargained under the QEO law which forces us to bargain as a package. We cannot bargain salary separate from insurance benefits.
On Freeze the teachers? Hard times raise hard question
Posted on January 27 at 9:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Katy: While I am not in teaching “for the money”, the money sure helps. Why, just the other day I went to Sentry to get some groceries. I told them times were tough and they should help me out by giving me a deal on food. Alas, they insisted that they did not have to operate at a loss just to accommodate me. They claimed that they had bills to pay also. Huh. Go figure.
Now, all sarcasm aside, let us expand on the insurance issue. This is old news for some of us, and a very volatile issue for most. Under the QEO law, teachers must accept an offer from a school district if the “Total Package Salary and Benefits” is a 3.8% increase. As you stated, those numbers are iffy at times due to a school district’s calculations for insurance. BUT, it is the law. Now, in Janesville, the school district is “self insured”. This means that the district puts money in an account and pays medical bills from there. The only insurance company involved in JSD is a catastrophe policy which has a $1,000,000 deductible. This prevents me from draining the entire account dry when I get my brain transplant in a couple of years.
Now, here is the “fightin’ words” part: The JSD has consistently over-budgeted the insurance fund. So, in fact, the JSD has paid more money to the Benefits part of the “Total Package Salary and Benefits” for teachers than the JSD has actually spent on insurance claims. This automatically means less money for salaries. The JSD is running its own insurance company which is turning a multi-million dollar profit annually. The insurance analysts, hired by JSD, who spoke at a school board meeting last year, could not explain why the JSD is making such a profit off of these insurance funds. I believe they used something like “this has been a gold mine for years”. So, for the taxpayer, you are contributing your taxes to pay for our “Total Package” which again, is 3.8% or less according to the QEO LAW. However, the JSD is not spending the money on the teacher contract mandated by LAW. The JSD continues to bank money in the infamous Fund 10. Janesville’s Fund 10 continues to grow and remains one of the largest in the state.
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On Janesville School Board OKs levy on 5-4 vote
Posted on November 1 at 9:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
No, I am not aka justintimberlakerules.