I am so sick of complaints about the district's "Fund Balance." This is not a checking account. The reasons to have funds in reserve are many, but primarily because of the way Wisconsin school districts receive their money. State aid and tax payments are delayed during the budget year, leaving most districts flat BROKE usually around August of a given year. This is why most districts are forced to borrow money on a short term basis to cover basic expenditures like payroll. The "Fund Balance" allows districts to reduce the interest expenses of borrowing on a short term basis.

Also, spending these dollars on raises would be a dire mistake because those expenses repeat each year whereas the fund balance is not replenished unless the district comes in under budget. The district does not "sit" on this money as Sadlowski suggests, which I suspects he knows very well and is simply trying to rally people who don't know better to his side.

Given what the state did to school districts this budget cycle, Janesville should be thankful it can maintain what is can without more severe program cuts. That does not mean this is the time to demand more money when the district cannot maintain an increase without changes at the state level. Have we all forgotten about the millions cut by the board over the last several years?

These workers provide an important and valuable service. They deserve fair compensation for their efforts that are part of providing a sound and clean educational environemnt.

I thought teachers were getting an increase of some kind even though they said they werent going to get one.

enjoy
LIPSTICK IN SCHOOL (PRICELESS!)

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem.
A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back. Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every
night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee,
dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror..

There are teachers ... and then there are educators..

Sarah B1
Let me explain something to you. In Janesville's schools, many of them cluster group. For example, one teacher may have a TEP cluster with students needing extra challenges. These children could dominate on the state test even if a teacher did no instruction all year with them. Unfortunately, other teachers have the learning disabled cluster or children with emotional needs. You also need to factor in outside influences. Parents go through divorces, deaths occur, sicknesses occur in which students miss schooling. Also, children who are in the cognitive disabilities classroom also have to take the test. When someone has an IQ of 75, you can either give them the test or an alternative test. Pretty much either way, their score counts as a zero. If I had the TEP cluster of students, I would be all for paying teachers according to test results because it's a no brainer. But that would be selfish of me when I know the pay of my co-workers who are working with the learning disabled and the high population of English Language Learners would not be appropriate. And of course, do you think teachers would think about cheating? Oh Johnny, look at these two problems again. You better believe it would. According to the Gazette, the school systems have some pretty dishonest people. Test scores have nothing to do with how hard a person works! Maybe each football team better win the Super Bowl or they don't get paid what they should, even if the coaches are working to make improvements. If one team is loaded with true talent and the other team has hard workers with no a lesser degree of talent, would it be fair? I think that you know the answer. Put yourself in those shoes. Plus, some kids do not test well and their can be many cultural biases in testing. It's too bad the public can't see the tests. Also, each school's makeup of students is different. How many of the teachers would want to work at the schools with high poverty levels if pay was the only motivation? My guess is not too many.

Domino- Great post.

I wish there was the white glove test in the schools. Unfortunately we would have to hire an extra 3 or 4 custodians per building. Currently they only have time to wipe boards and emplty garbage in each classroom. That leaves a lot of things dirty. However, most teachers I know also spend time after school cleaning the students desks, counters, and their own work areas as well. Not because they want to, but because schools can be the dirtiest places for germs.

badger4life: Pay for teachers (and administrators) should be at least partially tied to test scores or some measurement of how well the students do (IMO). Wisconsin, if I remember correctly, is one of only two states in which this is not the case.

No Badger, the custodians will now be paid according to the new white glove test that the feds are setting up. According to the new law, there will be six random areas selected such as a window sill, top of a refrigerator, corner of a hallway, the gym floor, underneath the toilet seat, and the top of the TV. Their salary will be based on how clean or dirty the white glove is. Administrators pay should also be based on test scores for their buildings because they should be able to control any behavior issues that affect children's learning since they come to school with no baggage. I also think doctors should get paid according to the cholesterol average of all of their patients because good doctors should keep this under control for everyone and family history and life habits have absolutely no affect on cholesterol numbers. And of course lawyers should be paid according to crime statistics in our city. If there is too much crime, they must not be putting enough people behind bars.

Are we going to tie their pay to TEST scores as well so we can win the RACE TO THE TOP $$$?

The administration has agreed to a pay freeze for the SEMESTER, not year. Please report correctly, Mr. Schultz.

Why should they get a raise and not the teachers? Custodial workers are allowed to work overtime and don't have to take work home with them. They also get free cable TV on the job. That alone saves them a lot of money.

These workers deserve a modest increase.At least it sounds as if they will negotiate.Teachers of course would never consider,let alone agree to any such proposal.