"You act as if they should just be happy to serve and take what ever the public (you and your cronies) want to give them without so much as a fight. How absurd of an argument is that?"

Look I agree. They can do what they want when they want. No issue with that.

I am talking about the older teachers not the new ones. I do not think paying more for their insurance or pensions is going to break them financially in retirement.

"The fact that they go into the career knowing that the pay isn't the greatest does not diminish their need for money to survive on."

If this was the case, why are they retiring by the masses then? Because of the money they stand to lose. Plain and simple. This tells me that money comes first for many, not all.

"vato - the purpose of the vote is to give everyone an equal voice. the majority will rule so that the decision matches that of most of the members."

Do members that disagree with what the majority votes on run away to another state?

vatoloco @ are you serious? "Like I said, cop outs. So much for their love of education."

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They may love the job and most things they do are for the children but they are still like you and I. They have children of their own to support, spouses that may have lost a job, bills to pay etc.. The fact that they go into the career knowing that the pay isn't the greatest does not diminish their need for money to survive on. You act as if they should just be happy to serve and take what ever the public (you and your cronies) want to give them without so much as a fight. How absurd of an argument is that?

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I consider myself a conservative but at some point in time everyone's political ideals have to be put aside for common sense and for the greater good of the community. Education is fundamental to a functional well performing economy, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

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My wife as well as many others did not have a problem paying into insurance, if you remember, they actually agreed to that rather quickly. Yet here Vatoloco is painting them out as a horrible bunch of people that won't help out the community (I would guess he is part of the community). Vato, when has this community as a whole ever said one descent thing about the JEA? When has the community ever "volunteered" extra funds just as you expect the JEA to "volunteer" their time for the love of their job. Your argument is weak at its best but if you want to keep posting opinions I'll gladly shoot them down any way possible.

vato - the purpose of the vote is to give everyone an equal voice. the majority will rule so that the decision matches that of most of the members.
Has anyone happened to notice all the new positions posted for the Janesville district on the WECAN site? To lose so many people to lay offs, and not have a bank to call back says a lot, doesn't it?

"noexcuse beat me to it. The union has to vote before Parr can give them a "clear answer". They should know that!"

Question:

If their are union members who support Walker, does the union take a moment to hear their opinions and compromise or they just shoot them down or stomp on them?

I hear the words compromise and solution a lot from unions and I was wondering if unions do this .

noexcuse beat me to it. The union has to vote before Parr can give them a "clear answer". They should know that!

Great grandstanding by Feldt. Parr can't say the teachers will open the contract UNTIL THE MEMBERS VOTE. That won't happen until the school year starts when all the teachers are back. That's right, the union let's ALL their members vote. If they agree to open it, then it happens. Feldt knows this but he has to play his childish games. And with the end of collective bargaining coming in 2013, I can't imagine the teachers would give up 10% now to lose another 10 or 20% then. Would you? It also amazes me that the tax levy actually fell in 4 of the last 10 years. Doesn't that contribute to deficits in the long run? How much should teachers give back, and when will Feldt and Sodeman think it's enough?

Maybe the district should stop footing the bill for all the administration and non-union members college classes. I would love to know how much they fork over every year to pay for those getting more degrees.

Frank - try to find that info. for the community; everyone else has to pay for their education, why shouldn't administration??

When is Schulte leaving...I'll bet that's looming in the near future!?

When is Schulte leaving...I'll bet that's looming in the near future!?

"Madison did, to beat the Walker budget. It forced hundreds of great techers into retirement."

Like I said, cop outs. So much for their love of education.

Rekawl, the school board is the boss of the superintendent, not the other way around.

The continually changing of the goalpost by Mr Parr and the union exemplify the root problem with collective bargaining. Everytime the opportunity presents itself for the union to contribute to the budget problem, the reason why they won't talk changes. The simple fact is that the union has no interest in being part of any solution. The only answer is to move forward without them. The union mentality still strong in Janesville is demonstrated by Mr Murray, Mr P Severson, and Ms Hess----. Janesville's recovery is being done a great disservice by them.

Throwing my hat in the ring. No negotiations until the Governor makes changes to the collective bargaining law. And I am not a JEA member.

Thanks MOCO428. I can appreciate your sentiments greatly :)

Well said MOC. I completely agree, especially with the pedestal comment. I wonder how many people would be more than willing to give back thousands to help the community. If Janesville was such a charitable community, the United Way and Salvation Army would be flush with much more cash.

***** The school board has pretty much only worked for the tax payers the last 10 years by not taxing to the max.

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*****We are in this situation of budget cuts largely because of the previously mentioned fact as we received less state aid.

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*****Teachers were not given fair cost of living increases throughout the 90's when most other businesses were given far above that.

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*****Teachers in Janesville are pitted against the community by the biased writing of the Gazette.

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*****Teachers are looked at at thieves of the publics tax money and those who went through system the currently do not have kids easily forget that their parents paid into the system the in most cases put them through school.

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*****Teaching is fundamentally the MOST important job know to this country but a high percentage of people do believe this nor do they care as they aren't intelligent enough to look at the bigger picture. They seem to only care out themselves.

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This are just a few things that came off the top of my head and the list goes on. Can anyone on here tell my why they are obligated to help get the district out of a situation that the SJD and school board (not all members) got us into? Times are tough and they have bills to pay just like the rest of you. They have taxes to pay just like the rest of you. They have spouses that have lost jobs just like the rest of you. They simply want to hang on the money they negotiated in the recent contract. I'm sure most if not all of you nay sayers on this blog would do the same you just won't admit to it. You tend to put yourself on a pedestal and preach that you are better than that. The problem is that you aren't in the same situation so you truly don't know what you would do. How far do you think it will get a teacher that may be facing forclosure when they tell the bank that they took the cuts two years early so that people like Billnewbie could be happy (that won't every happen no matter what they do) and now they can't pay their mortgage. Again this is just a small sample of things that I could go on and on about.

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DO NOT OPEN YOUR CONTRACT BACK UP. It will not do anything for you and people in this city will still bash you any chance they get as most of them are ignorant people that are pissed off at the world. The Gazette will still publish stories that pit you against the public no matter what you do. You will not win if you open. KEEP YOUR MONEY, it was already agreed upon.

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This comes from a husband of a teacher that works in the district so I am slightly biased one way. I will say that we have given over $500 to the Save Janesville Schools fund so I am not being hypocritical and I do understand the situation.

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Let the the MOC0428 hating begin:)

LOL @ spiderpig:)

If the union (you notice I didn't say teachers) doesn't agree to begin paying their fair share of health insurance and retirement, let the layoffs begin.

Madison did, to beat the Walker budget. It forced hundreds of great techers into retirement. Madison isnt facing the fiscal mess that Janesville is.
get your facts straight on Janesville , no deal was rushed through. In september, Months before these people changed the rules of the game. So get it straight. facts please.

The Janesville school board and Madison school districts are now remiss about pushng through these agreements before the CBA was changed.

These districts are now in a financial mess that will cost teachers more jobs or close more schools thanks to the actions of unions and weak school boards.

More scare tactics from the school board. I can't stand them. They screw the budget up over the years, then blame and vilify the teachers.

Attitude and leadership on decisions trickles from the top. Walker said "there's nothing to compromise, nothing to negotiate." What part of that wasn't clear to the school board?

This is so predictable, once again the district and board are setting the scene to vilify teachers by listing the cuts that will need to be made unless the teachers shoulder the burden of Scott Walker's budget plan. Does our district administration plan on stepping up at any time to say to the board president, "Our teachers have given and have felt the cuts in many ways, so what other options are there?". Who is running this district, our Administrators or certain members of the School Board? We didn't elect the board members to run the district. I feel this community forgets that.

The school board should just accept the fact that the teachers are not going to give up on their last contract of no pension payments and make the cuts they need to. Parr is just running interference for the teacher's union and they are probably busy writing sound bytes to absolve themselves of any responsibility for necessary teacher layoffs the school board winds up having to make. The school board bears some of the responsibility for settling the teacher contracts before the state budget was set.

I hope the school board ensures that all after-school sports are fully funded by fees charged to the parents of the players and/or ticket sales. If they are going to cut library staff, they can make the jocks extracurricular activities fully self-supporting.

Yeah, and quit building roads in front of your house, cuz I'll never drive on them.

Nice iluv, I'm not holding my breath.

Mr Parr is just a representative.He doesnt speak for the JEA. I am going to guess that there wont even be a vote, in fact Id bet on it. I can tell you what the answer will be, I think I predicted this would happen yesterday.
Lets place some bets on the over/under that "dr" schulte and Sodapop will come to the media and ask the teachers to open their contract before its up at the end of next school year. I will set the number at 6. Any takers, I know that Iriss is a gambler!LOL.
BTW is this one of the tools that was promised by the governor? A 2 million dollar cut in state aid? What kind of tool is that? Lets get some names for that particular tool. I think the Governor is a tool. I think the JSD board president is a tool, I also think that "Dr" schulte is a tool. How many times do you have to hear no? I honestly believe this is a PR stunt to turn public opinion against the JEA.

Couldn't agree with you more i_luv_jvl

After the way they jerked the teachers around last year? Really?
What about all the teachers that have donated a healthy portion of their checks next year to Save Janesville Schools? We should do exactly what we agreed upon, Dave. Those that can afford it give through donation, and the rest hold onto what they can until the contract runs out. Unless, of course, the Governor decides to return the collective bargaining rights. Only then will we agree to pay on our own. For now, the whole community needs to share the sacrifice, because I don't see the Governor reconsidering our offer any time soon.

I think he should respond with, "As soon as the teachers are given their collective bargaining rights back, they'll be willing to offer their payments freely. Until then, forget it."
This is a community issue, not one the teachers should bear on their backs alone.

I can't wait to see how Mr. Parr responds this time.