I don't know the numbers, but I doubt if many students opt out of a larger district (such as Janesville) to attend school in a smaller district (such as Evansville, Edgerton, Clinton, and Milton).

The surrounding, smaller school districts need to pay attention to what is going on in Janesville. Janesville teachers being treated like second class citizens and Janesville students taking a back seat to the taxpayer is a great selling point for surrounding districts to use for hiring experienced teachers and getting Janesville students through open enrollment. Although open enrollment for next year is now closed, there is always the next year. Once parents see the shortcomings of education in Janesville for their children over the next coming year, Evansville, Edgerton, Clinton, and Milton will look like great options for their kids.

THANK YOU MOCO428...........Words can not describe how many of us feel about your comment.

This is about our children and the future leadership of this country!

IT staff are also non-union.

Can anyone say Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae. MOCO428 is correct in her summation that its a reflection of these two bank CEO's. Its the world we live in now i guess.. "Do as I say, not as I do." Whatever happened to Leaders Setting Good Examples? I guess when monies involved.. even leaders are for neumero uno. Maybe the district should consider getting rid of the Superintendent position. We'd save more by dumping that one position than any of the cuts she is suggesting.

So lets get this straight. Mrs. Schulte get's hired on for more than any superintendent is worth with the possibility to get a $6K bonus this year and a $10k next year. How are any cuts justified when she stills get a bonus?

Rocksolid? You pay taxes, any thoughts on this?

If times are so bad and she is asking other non-union employees to take a wage freeze then she should consider turning down any bonus she might receive.

Mrs. Schulte you need to publicly turn down your bonus and maybe the community will respect your cuts. This is exactly like the bank CEO's getting bonuses at the expense of others.

Singblues My kids where severe they could not read, write or talk, but let them have music and they loved it....so keep the special needs teachers p.s. I was not a teacher but a para-professional...

It is frustrating at best to hear people comment on things that should be "taken away" from this kid or that.
We expect more and more from our youth and give less and less. The only kids focused on are the extremely needy or the extremely talented.
Sports, art, music, and other "special" classes often hook the middle of the road kid. I for one will forgo a trip to McDonalds once in a while in order to pay to make sure all kids get the education I was lucky enough to have. I understand times are tough, but we do not make it better by strangling our future.
Maybe we should let the kids who participate in sports get Gym credit to free up some phy ed classes and support the number of dedicated hours they put in, or music credit for the kids who give so much to be part of groups like the show choirs.
The more we are negative, grind our kids into the ground, and take things away... the more we destroy any positive connection we have to our youth.

Ever wonder why gangs are getting more prevalent?

tbov - I'm sorry to hear that your kids did not enjoy art class, sounds like they didn't have a very good teacher. Most of the kids that I know love their art class, and not only are they learning art skills, but also critical thinking, math, reading, writing, and social studies. Seems to me that the arts provide a safe learning enviornment to learn everything that they learn in the "regular classroom".

crazcass, I have worked with special needs children for over 20 years, my kids did not enjoy art class, anything they did in art class I could do in our classroom, but music class they loved...

windsor: So you are telling everyone on here that colleges do not look for well rounded people? How do you think UW Madison distinquishes between two students with the same GPA in Math and Science. Are they going to accept the student who only did well in these areas? Or are they going to accept the student that did well in Math and Science and was also involved in the arts? How about you look at the reasearch regarding the arts in education related to student achievement and get back to us on your theory.

creatureinthefreezer - "weak at best"? - this is what everyone has been asking for - cuts downtown.
Wahoo_35 - Dr. Schulte has proposed many cuts downtown and 1 teacher cut. She isn't proposing cutting spec. ed. With the way the law reads as to what we must provide for special ed, I'm sure that she didn't take this proposed cut lightly and wouldn't propose it at all if she thought it would pose a problem for providing quality services to the students who need them.

The non-union jobs are the administrative positions.

Pat - the non-union jobs are not "the people who don't make squat to begin with" as you say. They are the people in management, etc. and I think everyone would agree that they make more than "squat." Aides, custodians, lunch ladies, attendance clerks, etc. etc. all are in unions.

Racer-Athletics keep so many kids in school and help them develop qualities that you cannot teach in a classroom. I spoke with a mother who complimented the athletics as 1 of her son's was choosing the wrong path. The coaches jumped in, gave him a choice, he made it. He is so thankful to this day that he had people who believed in him and pulled him into a better group. If you want to go with other countries, do they have the epidemic of the obesity rate that we have?? I would never say that education is not key. However, research has also stated that children learn better by doing some sort of physical exercise daily. Are you the parent that sends your children outside to play or give them the standard video game?? As for the cost of the gym space, you need to know the information that the cost per sq foot for the gym space is a fraction of what was spent on the science, art, and administration section.

Pretty sad to freeze the 'non union' jobs. So the people who don't make squat to begin with get screwed.

This will never happen - but lets take organized sports out of the schools and expand the so-called "traveling" leagues we already have at the local level. I would like to know how much is spent on high school sports - coaches, equipment, travel, facilities and facility maintenance. Just look at the latest building projects - biggest sq. footage? Athletics. What percentage of the student body participates in after school sports? I hope it's 100% with what's being spent on it. I'm not against organized sports, but it shouldn't be funded with educational dollars. We already know that other countries are doing a better job of educating their children and do they offer sports in school?

Colleges do not only look for well-rounded students who have taken art and music, students must also have solid math and science abilities. Janesville schools continue to have a struggling math program. Why not replace the coordinator of math, science and staff development?

Special needs kids need to be a priority, too. I remember being saddened seeing their high school classroom conditions before the referendum. It is a good thing that our tax money via referendum will provide needed facilities, but the physical environment can only help if it's fully staffed.

Art, music, and sports are nice to have, but when budgets are trimmed, why are they so sacred?

Yeah, them teachers they always pay. Don't cut them. make somebody else feel the hurt for a change. Them teachers got it rough enough.

Wahoo-SOOOO many kids is correct. Band, choirs and art classes have huge numbers in every class. If you cut those the district would see an exodus under school choice further causing budget shortfalls. Check out a band concert or choir concert. Strings, Jazz, marching band, you ought to be able to find something your simple mind can appreciate it.

wahoo- in case you may have forgotten, most colleges will pick kids that have a well rounded transcript (fine arts & world language), plus a lot of students in the special ed classes take art classes because, believe it or not, it actually helps their brain process complex problems

Thank God we are keeping Art and Music because that helps soooo many kids. Cut these programs and keep the special education, these kids need to have as much attention and help they need, they will benefit more than some kid learning to play a tuba!

I agree creature! And, sorry to hear of your family's plight "manda."

well they are trying to get rid of some lunch ladies, my mom got a letter about her attendance because earlier this year my dad found out he had cancer and of course my mom was going to help him, she used all of her personal days and sick days, so if she was sick, she had to have a dr note. Her boss told her she understood since she knew my mom would be there for my dad. i guess the school district does not care about their employees family, they are too concerned about their budgets, maybe they should cut their salarys. who is going to feed the kids, they cut the times of lunch periods too. how are the children supposed to learn on an empty stomache?

What about starting with administration cutting their salaries? Most are overpaid I'm sure.

Sounding weak at best. She'll need to better than this. Not asking for teacher cuts but ones from downtown. How about cutting their salary as they're highly overpaid. Maximum salary of $85,000 executives. Teachers are the ones who always pay the piper for the poor management decisions.