The District is well financed and should not lay off anyone. Even though enrollment has declined in Janesville in recent years, the District's reserve funds have grown dramatically and steadily. While enrollment declines usually harm a District's finances, this has not happened in Janesville because, among other reasons, 1) Janesville has very low healthcare costs compared to other Districts, and 2)a lot of teachers leave Janesville, and when the District hires a new person that individual usually has less experience and a lower salary. The average experience of teachers in Janesville is low compared to other Districts. Each year the District predicts financial calamity, and each year the District magically finds a few million dollars at year's end. Rather than discuss cuts, the District should seek to provide the best education possible so that kids can benefit and this community has a magnet for businesses to relocate.

ljs64, it's very real to communities that are forced to lay off police.
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Schools are built on multi-decade outlooks. Teachers can be laid off one year and rehired the next as enrollment changes. These are not necessarily in opposition; they are responses to appropriate timelines. A school to teach Chinese is an idea that may be considered in a district of any size. Smaller can in fact mean higher quality, as many parents seeking parochial education have long maintained.
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Also, the Tallman House, the bike tunnel, and the ice arena are not the responsibility of the school district or in any way under its budget. The district is NOT part of the city government.

Crime increases because of tax cuts??????
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That is one of the most ridiculous statements I have heard in a long time.

This, along with the increase in crime, is yet another example of what happens when we continue to cut taxes.

I find it weird that they consider laying off teachers while at the same time trying to find a way to teach Chinese in a special school. I use to know common sense. Guess that is laid off or moved LOL

truthteller - hockey, Tallman House, bike tunnel, children's museum - city council issues
teacher lay-offs - school board issue

Well we are going to get a hockey team and ice arena,bike tunnel, 2.5 million for Tallman house luxury repairs, and maybe a childrens museum. We just spent how much making the high schools larger?? And now are priority is to lay off teachers?? Seems to me that keeping the teachers working will have much more impact on our economy that the hocky thing. The prioities are all out of whack.

Obviously the district is facing another budget squeeze, due to declining property tax income and state program support, but they are also expecting enrollment to drop at least temporarily due to the local economy. So the answer is a little of both.

“Layoff of teachers.” Nope. Don’t even go there. Our beloved country is continually falling behind in education, and we don’t need to make it worse. Is it unreasonable to provide a good education for our children so this problem can be solved and not repeated? JMO

Chezwick - from my information, it is mainly due to lower enrollment, but also partially to budget cuts.

Help me out with this. Teachers getting laid off? Is this because of lower enrollment(job loss, people moving) or increased class size?