RHSstudent.... I appreciate your post and your stance. You will now be given a zero for the day academically. You seem to be a bright person so that shouldn't matter much in the larger scheme of things. but that is the price for your actions. enjoy the beautiful sunshine today!

RHS student...you sure made a lot of people here look mighty ignorant. Good for you for taking a stand on something you believe in. Keep up the good work.

Good post, RHSstudent. I agree with you on all points. I would add that I am old, we are not all ignorant, and it makes one feel good that there are young people with the ability and the courage to stand up for a belief. Thanks for standing up for what you believe in. Your parents should be proud of what you did.

It just so happens I was one of the students of Rhinelander High School who participated in the school walk out. And I would like to make it perfectly clear that our teachers did NOT in any way shape or form encourage us to protest, this originated and was organized by students. I would also like to comment that I knew the consequences before I walked out and would gladly do it again. Unfortunately many of the students that joined this protest were uneducated of what was really taking place and blamed the School Board and Administrators, when the finger should really be pointed at the state because of lack of funding; Rhinelander is a property rich and low wage city which just so happens to be a very bad combination. I joined the protest believing that we were protesting for our school and not against it (and soon left after I realized many people were misinformed). If no one will fight for our education, our beloved teachers, our futures then you best better believe we will fight for it ourselves, because in case you’re forgetting our generation will soon make the important decisions of this country while you grow old. Education should be the very last thing that is cut from any budget; it is the foundation of this nation. And for any of those who have children or want to have children, don’t you want the best possible education and opportunities for them? There needs to be a change and it needs to be soon. Forget republicans, democrats, liberals, conservatives, etc. We need to stop pointing fingers at who we believe is wrong and work together to make this right. I value education, my education and so should everyone else. And someone made a comment concerning the GPA of students that were involved in this protest, well mine is a 3.33 and it just so happen RHS curriculum doesn’t provide a Liberalism 101 class. Imagine that.

Bowlgal, time to spend less time at the alley and take a civics class. Budget well? In Milton the stuffed over a million dollars in their rainy day fund and still REALIZED more than a million dollar defecit thanks to the governors budget cuts and ACT10!! If you dont know what youre talking about you really should just keep bowling. Talk about not making sense! I have actually spoken to the School board in Milton extensively in Milton about this situation, care to speak of any knowledge that you have attained?
You are a 7 - 10 split in the head all the way!! You are one of the tools the Governor talks about.

I would bet their families are full of teachers or employed by some worn out union. Just sayin !

Actually stoutt the school budgets won't be really finalized until October. It's mostly educated guesswork until then. On the third Friday in Sept schools will know what their enrollment is and will then find out how much state aid they're getting. They'll then figure out how much tax revenue they're allowed to raise and divide it by the property values in the district and set the mil rate. THEN and only then will the actual budget be finalized.

These kids are minors and belong in school where they're supposed to be. For those of you that support them walking out, don't feel bad when they walk out of your house protesting what you made for supper, or they didn't want to do their chores, mow the lawn - whatever. Protesting is good for kids, huh?

I say let's see the survey results after this years layoffs. Perhaps most of the people defending the survey results don't realize that the 2011 budget's had already been done because they finalize them in Spring the year before. Like we are now reading about. Also, since when does the Mayor control the school budget's Libertybelle?

upchuck, you give conservatives a bad name. Based on your last comment, I wouldn't worry about the students GPA. Their individual grade point average is higher than your IQ.

fearandrhetoric4dummies, your 2:35 post makes no sense. The Act 10 policy is for use to aid and use as seen by the local districts. It is not a do all. You still have to budget well, but it frees up so much more money. Wasn't it the Democrats that talked about jobs saved. Can we measure how many jobs were saved in Milton and Rhinelander? We can by measuring Janesville's cuts.
I appreciate the post kaysbrew showing layoffs are down in just one year. Thank you.

Still regurgitating the same nonsense upchucktaxpayer.
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Why would anyone disparage these students for displaying the courage to stand up for what they believe? Given the potential risk, these students put aside their self-interests to show support for individuals who obviously had a positive, if not profound, impact on them and likely other students as well. Based on the comments from conservatives, only liberals have the courage to stand up for what they believe to be right and just. From the comments I've read, conservatives use whining and complaining to malign those with the courage to stand by their convictions. No wonder they had to run fake candidates.

Rhinelander, Burlington, Oconomowoc, Lacrosse, Milton---in these and scores of other school districts across the state, even though the staff have conceded significan cuts in compensation, the districts are still laying off staff. Class sizes are increasing and programs diminishing. Walker's draconian cuts in education funding are hurting kids and communities--you need only speak to the folks work in the school buildings to find out.

If Rhinelander did not rush to sign contracts, Act 10 is only as good as the School Districts use of it. The WEAC results are in that Act 10 hasn't stopped all layoff in the state but they are much less then those not using it such as Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Janesville
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Hey Midnight, let me ask you this. What about Milton? They succumbed to all of the financial provisions of your beloved act 10 and still came up over a million dollars short and are laying off teachers, so please talk to me more about your so-called act 10 logic.

So if students protest this they are now truant and deserve detention? Do you even know what truant is? What you have to be to be considered truant? One abscence and you are going to call for detentions , ZEROs all over the place? If a parent excuses their child then that is THEIR decision on what is excused for their child, certainly not the school districts! You extereme folks seem to be so hard line against anyone who opposes your viewpoint.
I believe you can attach an abscence to a students record and thats it. Only unexcused if mom and dad say no. Parents are okay with it, then thats that.

Well said, "Wiggle" and "FearandRhetoric4Dummies"

Of course you won't find that survey anymore on the WEAC website with the side by side comparison because they got rid of it. Too much good information to help Walker's cause.

some fun facts - the WEAC survey taken from 2002 - 2011 results they tried to hide after releasing 11/2011 survey because it shows just how GREAT Act 10 is for students and school districts.
Jim Doyle/Democrats vs. Walker and Act 10
Increase in student fees 75% Doyle only 22% Walker....Deduction is sports and activities 50% Doyle only 11% Walker....Teacher Layoffs 70% Doyle only 31% Walker - and that 31% would surely be lower if some districts like Janesville didn't rush to sign with the blue fisters before ACT10. And Walker has only had one year with ACT10. Imagine how wonderful this will be in 4 years. One year school saving so far $916,866,322.00. It is about the kids. Thank you Republicans, for this you are getting recalled.

.Teacher Layoffs 70% Doyle only 31% Walker - cut by more then half layoffs ..With unions in charge 70% -31% Act 10 and that number be lower if the entire state was using it.
The kids in Rhinelander, like most liberals are mis-informed.

Not hard for me to remember Tommy Thompsons shortcomings on the budget, he is the embodiment of the present day GOP... Democrat lite. As useless as the Donkeys.

"Perhaps Mr. Hand was right...and the youth of today really are all on dope."
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There you have it folks, we're relying on cartoons to give us guidance. Cartoons that promote reruns of "Barnaby Jones" as viable educational curriculum. Surprised you couldn't come up with something from Family Guy or American Dad.

stoutt66 you must be happy then with the 667 Milwaukee layoffs? So much for Barrett's tools.

If Rhinelander did not rush to sign contracts, Act 10 is only as good as the School Districts use of it. The WEAC results are in that Act 10 hasn't stopped all layoff in the state but they are much less then those not using it such as Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Janesville. 4 is unfortunate, but much better then the 200 from Kenosha or 660 from Milwaukee. 4 vs 200 - criticize 4 but applaud 200 with a recall. SHAME

Perhaps Mr. Hand was right...and the youth of today really are all on dope.

Did you really just quote Mr. Hand? Really? MR. HAND???????
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Past time for a relaity check.

Kaysbrew, once again you have no idea what you are talking about. In the spring of 2011, the contract for this district expired and in the 2011-2012 school year they have come to new terms meeting the ACT 10 junk rule. So now what do you say? Thanks for the tools Walker!

Because clearly a handful of letters to the local paper would have received the attention that this action got on a statewide scale. Thanks for the tools Walker. Leading Wisconsin backwards as always.

Exactly! You don't reward negative behavior with a reward/turning a blind eye...as this only reenforces the behavior. Write them truency tickets/give them zeros/give detentions...and make the teachers responsible for implementing much of it. That way you can empower them at the same time as holding them accountable.

My point is, whether you miss work/school for protesting, being sick, going to Great America, etc... you are still missing. In the "real world" there are consequences for this. How can we expect students to understand this if we don't instill this in them early on. You can't justify that it's ok to skip to protest...and then hold someone accountable for missing for deerhunting, or going on family trip, skipping to hang with friends, etc... A missed day means more work for students, more work for teachers, more work for administers. By letting them get away with it unpunished, the students are the ones paying the price both in missing work and by reinforcing in them that if they don't like something that they can simply walk out. In the "real world" this is called quiting...unfortunatly quiting has it's own consequences.
"What is this fascination with truancy? What is it that gets inside of your heads? There are some teachers at this school who look the other way at truants. It's a little game you both play. They pretend they don't see you, and you pretend you don't ditch! Now, in the end, who pays the price? YOU!" Mr. Hand

When will people remember that First Amendment protections of free speech do not protect you from consequences? If you make statements that your employer doesn't agree with, you can be fired. If you trespass or cause property damage while protesting, you can be arrested. If you protest in a fashion in school which violates the rules, you can be punished. So you can have your opinion, but if you don't want to be punished, then you had better express it in an acceptable fashion. This could include letters to the editor of the local paper, distributing flyers (not trespassing to do it), or establishing a picket on the public sidewalk in front of the school outside of school hours. The actions need to be thought through, and even adults don't always do that, much less these students.

I think mteg was right on the money. I am not against these students doing what they did. Good for them for standing up for what they believe. On the other hand, you do the crime you do the time. And nowhere in mteg's post do I see anything about forced labor, just accountability.

I'm not against consequences for an against the rules action, but mteg wants them thrown in the gulag.
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Let's leave it to the administrators to come up with the appropriate discipline. It's what they're paid to do.

Rinelander SD, declining enrolment, Student to Teacher ratio of
18.64 to 1. Time to layoff excess staff.

Punishment of the protesters (students) should fit the crime. They miss class, they get marked zero for the day. Give them detention for every hours missed, and a zero for every assignment/quiz/test missed, just like if someone played "hooky" to hang out with their friends. The school should also document who was protesting so they can rule out the "parental excuses" so legit absenses won't be handled in the same way. The reality is most students will not go to work in the public sector under the protection of a union. They will work in the "real world" where protesting results in job loss. A world where you are expected to work/be ontime/show up everyday/ produce results/etc...

Should we head north and show them what Act 10 could have done to save those jobs, or hand them the Union talking points that doesn't mention one word about the kids or the teachers. All puppets in the public sector union game.

We had the same thing happen in 1988 in Janesville, a handful of teachers were looking at layoffs, of course they were the young, cool, easy to deal with teachers all the students liked. That is how it illustrates why the unions do not have education or the students best interest in mind. The first ones out are the last ones hired which more times than not are the ones that relate best to the students and get the best results. I would also like to know 1. Did Rhinelander use ACT 10 in their school budget? 2. If they did what would the number of layoffs be if they hadn’t used it? Those are viable necessary questions if people are going to use this as political points. Then again why would facts be used in politics, Especially in Wisconsin these days?

rprp- are you serious? You want to live in a country that punishes the people for protesting? You think officials are right trying to suppress the views of free Americans? I think you would enjoy life in N. Korea or China!
What does WI have to offer? Our jobs are leaving by the hundreds, our schools will be at the bottom in America, Our taxes are still one of the highest in the nation.
Why oh why would anyone want to move their family here? Oh that's right so they can drink on every block and get 6, 7, 8, 9, DUI's and never pay for the crime, but lets punish the protesters!

Thank you Governor Walker for the loss of four more jobs. Obviously these students care for their teachers!! Excellent! WHat a great excersise in their freedom of speech. According to some that ONLY exists if you are not a part of a union. This has ZERO to do with the union. Everything to do with unnecessary draconian budget cuts passed by Captain Caveman (Scott Walker)

If the students are really for this let them write a one page statement about their views. Better than a fine, they may also learn something at the same time. That's what happen when we use to walk out of school..way back in the '70's.
Better yet let them get jobs and pay for some of the education. That the adult way of doing things.

"the protesters wanted the teachers to know they “have someone who will stick up for them.”

Too bad the unions don't do the same for the students.

This is what a union teaches kids? Reminds me of some one else and that ended up almost destroying the world.

Good for the students!
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Good for the administrators!
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Students express themselves at the some small risk.
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Administrators enforce policy the students were well aware of before they walked off campus.
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If the parents support the students (their children) leaving campus. They can also support the students when dealing with consequences of the actions of the children.
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Unless the parents and children can grow money on trees however, not much else will change.