Sorry Julie, but teachers have lost respect by their own actions. Sorry, but most of your collaboration generally leads to lining your own pocket. Drop the selfish mentality of what is in it for me.

A lot of people are truly suffering and have given up what you lost years ago. We have made the sacrifices, while you continued to dig into our pockets.

This could be the best thing to happen in New Berlin. Get rid of the teachers that are solely in it for the money, and bring in fresh, young, new teachers that are more concerned about the kids.

Really Brian? "What's in it for me mentality"? Isn't that what getting and education and choosing a career is all about? That's why we get a good education and as well of a paying job as we can with that education. It is absolutely about what's in it for me. These teachers didn't pay tens-of-thousands of dollars for a bachelor's or a master's degree to make $15 bucks an hour. They put up with crazy things in their classrooms because children's parents apparently have no idea how to raise them and thus the teacher in most cases becomes not only the teacher but the primary disciplinarian as well. Don't give me that crap about teachers losing respect by their own actions. Spend a day in an RUSD classroom and see what they have to deal with - until then, give the conservative agenda a rest.

Sorry, Bob. Speaking as a teacher (college now, previously middle and high school, previously), I'm embarrassed by the actions of many (not all) of my colleagues. Going on an illegal strike and shutting down schools was about one of the worst things they could have done to gain popular support.

@Bob Dobolina...Just to get you up to speed; Brian Dey is an ex school board member of RUSD. In the spring election he ran again, but was defeated. He blames his loss on teachers organizing against his election. Of course it makes sense that they would not want him back on the board since he has been the loudest voice against public unions and a committed proponent of breaking Caledonia away from RUSD creating their own district. Even though he claims to support public education, he also pushes school choice and charter schools. I believe he has at least one daughter in a charter school. He claims to be an expert in school administration and is a devoted corporatist, wanting to run the school system like a business. He is also devoted to the current GOP/Tea Party and a huge supporter of Scott Walker. Personal details include that he was once in a private union and part of their negotiating committee. Although claiming to be an expert in education he never completed his college education and was a forestry major. He appears to be uncooperative and an extreme ideologue. Therefore, I wouldn't count too much his criticism since it is coming out of the extreme right. Also, he will not commit himself to an honest dialogue with anyone who disagrees with him. So don't waste your time.

Brian I clearly stated that the teachers leaving New Berlin are not "in it for the money." While I was teaching in MPS and on the East Coast I did not come across a single teacher "in it for the money." Every teacher I knew, including myself, had a second job. Not lots of people have two or three jobs. I am not suggesting you should feel sorry for them. You shouldn't. But the idea that teachers are in it for the money is not grounded in reality.

@Alfred...LOL..Still spewing outdated information, I love it. Keep it up. BTW, how about sharing us who you are so we can check you out. I don't think you will, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Oh, the information that I shared about Brian Dey is nothing more than hasn't been documented in past posts by him. So I don't feel like I was outing him. I was only commenting on his ideological and political positions.

"I have been told that a parent survey says 40% of Fox Point Bayside teachers are looking for jobs elsewhere."
Does this even make sense? How would parents know this? Who does the survey? What was asked? Who "told" you this?

Hey guys... lets keep the discussion on topic.

Bob- Sorry, I did for three years, elementary, middle and high school-3 hours per day for 6 weeks as a JA instructor. As soon as I walked in, the teacher and aide left in the elementary and I had 6 of the 24 kids in elementary as special needs and 1 with no cognitive skills. I wasn't paid for it, I was a volunteer. Didn't have much of a problem reaching the kids, and to this day, I still get invites to graduations.

Please Bob, you don't make $15 per hour and yet you want those that have to make it on $15 per hour to support your lifestyle and benefits that they themselves don't receive.

You have finally been called out and have to make sacrifices the rest of us have made for decades. IT's okay for you liberals to ask everyone else to make a sacrifice, yet you never are willing. Pure definition of selfish.

And there you go again, blaming the parents, the soci-economics and everything else but if you can't control your classroom, you might want to look in a mirror. Just because you have a degree does not constitute you deserve better than the rest.

And yes, your whining, picketing, threats, boycotts, skipping school and overall behavior have soured many of us on your profession. If you act like a union thug, you will be treated as such. Act like a professional and the same holds true. So spare me your lectures.

And Lyle is a soialist elite who thinks the answer to every thing is rasing someone else's taxes. He wishes we were all on a level playing field so government must tear down those that are succcessful to bring up those with no ambition. He claims to know everything about everything and yet, seems to be out-of-touch with reality.

I have one daughter in a public charter school (an instrumentality of RUSD), and have had three other children in RUSD. I have advocated for Caledonia to break away from Racine Unified because it is pathetic. 2nd to last in every academic category and only graduates 73% of its students. For that reason, I am all for low income families to have the ability to get out of a failing school district.

Lyle also fails to mention that I have been the owner of a successful business that employs others and have done so for many years. He also fails to mention that I have been involved in advocating for better public schools for over 15 years.

@Brian Dey...What does having a successful business for 15 years and employing others have to do with the topic. I didn't mention it in my comment because I didn't see the relevance.

I really don't know what a social elitist means. Do I believe that we need to offer real opportunity for all, yes. I'm not just asking the rich elites to pay for it, but all of us. Education is too important to not adequately fund it.

You may claim to be an advocate for education, but it's your vision that you advocating and not everyone agrees with your perceptions. Something that you should realize is that just because you have been successful in the lawn care business doesn't mean that you truly have the skill set for education.

Well lyle, the majority seems to agree with the things in Act 10. Elected Walker twice. And before you jump on that I lost the election, you can see the type of crap that goes on in elections down here, and the City of Racine is a little out of touch with the rest of the state.

As for the business end, running a business is relevant to the business end of running a district. Having a business plan is what I laid out. There also seems to be a lot of buyer's remorse down here as there have been rumblings of recalls of board members. Everything I predicted to happen has happened since the election.

I won't even mention how I was outspent 6-1.

See in Shorewood, you have a wealthy community and an above average school district. Here in Racine, we have a poor district and the 2nd worst district in the state. WE have shelled out more money to the district and the results and excuses are still the same. Many in our district don't trust the district, and while voting in the incumbents time and time again, they have stopped supporting increase spending because increased spending does not equate to results.

That is what I mean by a Social elitist. You think throwing more of everyone else's money will make things better. May work up in your neck of the woods, but not here.

The only thugs are on the right. And because they are thugs, they think other people are.

You hate teachers the same way you hate the French. Because they stand up for themselves, something you don't understand because you have sold yourselves out for $11 worth of tax cuts.

Keith - the French stood up for themselves, please, try to back that claim up before I stop laughing - if you can...

@Lyle - everything you stated about Brian Dey seems like he is speaking more truth than the RUSD hacks who keep lining their own pockets while throwing kids and the non-union-drone teachers under the bus...

@jukap29...As far as school boards go, they should be made up of reasonable people of a variety of backgrounds to represent the greater community. What is not needed is a person like Brian Dey who is a committed ultra right wing ideologue. Heterogeneous groups only work when all are willing to reach solutions and not dominated by an attitude of "it's either my way or the highway". Brian's attitude is its either his way or the highway.

You make me puke. Thugs, my god get a new line. Lavish, Hmm? Scott Walker is a plain out corporate paid liar and you pathetically believe in the a--hole! Go back to school, at your age you could use some "New Generation" rationale. Wake up!

Thugs on the right? Document one act of thuggery committed by the right. Destroying the capitol? Interrupt a special olympics event? Threaten businesses in Union Grove? Attempt to boycott gas staions? I could go on, but my fingers are getting tired.

AA -- Thuggery at it's best : http://buffalobeast.com/koch-whore/
Koch: We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.

Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that —because we thought about that. The problem—the, my only gut reaction to that is right now the lawmakers I’ve talked to have just completely had it with them, the public is not really fond of this… My only fear would be if there’s a ruckus caused is that maybe the governor has to settle to solve all these problems…

Keith, you are free to donate to your favorite local teacher. Put your money where your mouth is otherwise shut up the state was broke ,something you know plenty about.

That is not my opinion Tom. It is true that it is not just new teachers quitting. Many teachers leaving the profession are experienced, high-quality educators. Some of the teachers who leave the profession before the five-year point are not the kind of teachers we need. But many are educators we do need, and it is cause for concern.

If you want to clarify your statement as "some of the teachers quitting the profession are often the very best we have," fine, I'll accept that. You also need to admit that simply being a teacher for a long time does not make a teacher better than average, much less "the very best we have."

In my opinion, the more teachers we have that haven't been fed a lifetime of crap from their union leaders, the better.

I agree that simply being a teacher for a long time does not make one a good teacher. But having experienced teachers does tend to benefit a school. Younger teachers benefit from being mentored by experienced educators in their school.

Also, a school benefits from seeking and utilizing teacher feedback while fostering an environment of collaboration. They are in the classrooms every single day after all, while administrators are not. It does not make sense for administrators to ignore or undervalue teacher feedback.

Fair enough. "Undervalue" is subjective, of course, and we'll have to watch over time to see what happens to NB to see how it turns out.

Yes it's much too early to make definitive judgments, but if administrators feel like they do not have to listen to teachers because of Act 10, that will be a serious problem. In my teaching experience, administrators knew next to nothing about day-to-day classroom realities. They were rarely in the building, much less the classrooms.

Are teachers in this district and others regularly evaluated for effectiveness and quality of work? If so, please give us the numbers so we can tell that these are the best teachers that are leaving (length of work doesn't count.) I know a few teachers who taught for so long they retired from the system and they were AWFUL. Maybe it's time some of those experienced teachers left. Does this have anything to do with merit pay for teachers in that district? That wasn't mentioned in the article at all, but I've heard that it's now an option. Maybe those quitting don't want to compete with the new teachers coming in because they don't think they'll compare well? What is the unemployment rate for those in Wisconsin who are fresh out of school with teaching degrees? I've heard from a few friends that there were no jobs out there, so, as a reporter, maybe you could also find this out? Just wondering... :)

Tom,

According to your logic the teachers we need are called something else: babysitters - they are cheap and work when needed. Sounds like the new landscape of public education to me. What are we waiting for? Think of all the money we could save.

And Bob, those teachers get paid half of what you do and with far less benefits.

Whether they transfer or retire, they are leaving the School District of New Berlin. There is nothing biased about that.

Right. But they are not losing employees, and there is bias in that term. It implies they are being laid off or will not be replaced, yet they will be replaced if needed.

They can "loose" 100% of their teaching staff today, it doesn't matter school isn't in session. Here is Erin Richard's response when I asked her about the title

►Actually, they are losing teachers, Steve. 
Then those teachers are being replaced with other teachers.◄
lol

This is one of the smartest things I've seen. The relationship between these two groups was just drastically and suddenly changed. Both sides are lacking in trust. Both sides will probably (and have already) do stupid things until the routine settles down.

I've always called for teachers to truly act like the professionals they want to (and should be) viewed as. Professionals don't need unions; they stand on their own feet and thrive or falter by their own strengths.

Good points. I wonder, though, why do so many people reserve their ire for teachers unions only? You rarely if ever see anyone attack police or firefighter unions with such gusto. Yet their unions do the exact same things the teacher union do.

A few thoughts on your question, Paul. One would be that firefighters and the police are risking their lives, which either makes people more accepting of what they do or less willing to speak out publicly against it even if they do disapprove.

Another would be I think that those unions don't really do the same things teachers unions do. I haven't seen the kind of extravagant stipulations in fire/police contracts as often as I have in teacher contracts (although I'll admit not having done a comprehensive study of either, so that's anecdotal). Fire/police unions have not been so vocal, public, and strident with their beefs as teacher unions have.

It also could have to do with who the unions negotiate with. Teacher unions negotiate with elected school boards. Fire & police unions negotiate with unelected fire and police chiefs. That puts what teacher unions are negotiating and doing more squarely in the public eye.

Even if teachers do not risk their lives, what they do is just as important as what police officers and firefighters do. Police and firefighter unions often defend members charged with serious crimes and do whatever it takes to protect union members. You would think this would lead to more public outrage, but it doesn't seem to.

Until they also become angry and burned out and retire, partly do to people calling them thugs.

Well when they stop acting like thugs/goons and union stooges we can stop calling them that, capiche?

Alfred, Alfred, Alfred...Calm down. Most teachers DO work in the private sector. They HAVE TO to supplement their incomes so they can pay their family's bills. I worked loading boxcars, did factory work, cleaned swimming pools, lifeguarded, and many other jobs during my off time so I could afford to stay in education. With the beating teachers are taking from people like you and the loss of their union collective bargaining rights and protections from the often unfair demands of the public, I don't think there will be too many "eager enthusiastic" kids signing up to be burnout cannon fodder. Today's teachers are angry and they have a right to be. Under today's conditions, if my kid wanted to be a teacher, I would refuse to help them with the tuition. Today's teaching conditions are a prescription for disappointment and making yourself available for vilification by anyone in the community that wants to take a potshot at you. Teachers never took a vow of poverty when they signed on. Teaching job prospects don't seem too rosy to me, but I could be wrong. Perhaps you should become a teacher. Your enthusiasm and natural sounding exuberance might fit right in with what a teacher should be?

Vow of poverty??? Dave you really are a drama queen.
What level of teacher compensation would you like to see? Give us a number.
Remember the average compensation for an MPS teacher is over $100,000/year.

What are the annual earnings of police officers, firefighters or those serving in the military? I see them as being much more at risk for physical injury than the average teacher...

The average compensation for a MPS teacher is over $100,000/year.
And as some of the Patch Elite like to say, the plural of anecdote is not data.

Cow, your perceptions are popular. Most, I believe, perceive teachers to be people, who sit in the front of the class reading a novel while the children throw paper airplanes and/or run around screaming. They drive big expensive cars and enjoy a three month vacation at taxpayer expense, living large.

If there are actual (not apocryphal) teachers like that, I certainly haven't encountered them.

Greg, sorry, but a $100,000 total compensation package is really not that generous for a person with an advanced degree. The take-home pay isn't near that.

But it is their compensation, not "All for $45-$50k". I bet the teacher you referenced was not being paid the average. If you ad in the lifetime benefits, it is pretty generous for a person with an advanced degree, sorry Bren.

Bren:

I'm not claiming that teachers are the 'sit in front of the class reading novels, drive expensive cars, etc.' type of people. My comment was in response to your comment implying that 'teachers are woefully underpaid since they are at such a risk for physical injury'...

In the 2009-2010 school year, the average teacher salary in MPS was $56k, and the average teacher had 12 years experience...

...the low salary was $35,729.

Paul, you're either lying or honestly wrong.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CGQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nctq.org%2Fdocs%2FMilwaukee.pdf&ei=2BrrT83aGemW2AXY7vXeAQ&usg=AFQjCNHAVnfG_MlcxERD2dVaGXdJ-6kirw

MPS pay schedules for 2010-11. If you started in 04-05, you'd be a 6th year teacher 2010-11. Even if you didn't earn any additional college credits, you'd already be making $43k that year, and this past school year (11-12) you'd be making $45k.

Since I started in 2004 I'm sure things changed in 8 years.

I was not lying Tom. Sorry I was off. So it would have taken me 7 years to make 45K.

Come on Paul, annualize that salary, that 29k was for 8-9 months work, then build in the cost of your rich benefits and pension.

According to the pay schedule I linked, a 12-month teacher (MPS has a few of those schools) starts at $44k.

I didn't intend to paint you as anything less than honest, Paul. My intention was to point out that things may have changed and it wouldn't have been a 15-20 year wait for your salary to grow to the $45k level.

I know CowDung. I was wrong. I would have made $45K sooner than I thought. Obviously I was not a math teacher.

Also let me clear up a common misconception. I worked year-round in MPS, not 9 months. School ended in mid-June. The next week was spent grading finals, entering grades, cleaning the classroom, and taking care of odds and ends. The next 4 weeks was spent participating in professional development and writing the next year's lessons/curriculum. Staff meetings and classroom prep started in late July. It's a 12-month job. No teacher works 8-9 months. That is a common misconception typically stated by someone who has never been a teacher.

I, too, used to be a teacher. There's a reason the MPS contract says "191 days." Yes, you do put in some prep work after hours, weekends, and summers. Most salaried jobs, and DEFINITELY most professional salaried jobs do. But it's not a year-round full time job. That's made patently clear by (a) the significantly higher salary for 12-month teachers, and (b) as you (or maybe somebody else) earlier pointed out, teachers work other jobs during the summer if they want more money.

Tom I am not complaining about working year-round. I just get sick of people with no clue stating that teachers work 8-9 months. That is not even close to being true. In addition to working a second job I worked close to 12 months a year. There were about 2 weeks in the summer that I didn't do any work related to teaching. But the majority of the summer was spent on staff meetings, professional development, lesson creation, classroom prep, etc. Also, I worked at least 60 hours per week and 7 days a week during the school year. There was grading and planning to be done 7 days a week. Again, this is not complaining. Teachers know this before they enter the profession. I'm just refuting the notion that it's a M-F, 8-3 job. Nothing could be further from the truth. Very easy for people who have never done it to criticize.

Hey Bud, Pull that condom off your head, it`s not a party hat. I think you need some fresh air! Where in the hell do you get your info you delusional puke. Thug vs. Puke.

@Alfred -- According to the Journal article, the New Berlin teachers now have MSAs with high deductible 'junk' insurance. That's not 'free' anything. It's poor coverage on the same salary and several extra hours per day.

What were the 'teacher job satisfaction' numbers back in the 1950s? How 'routine' were wrongful teacher terminations back in those 'olden' days? How does the quality of education back then compare to present day?

@CowDung...I don't think you'll find any data on teacher satisfaction in the 1950s. Also, teaching was pretty well dominated by women and was considered a "pink collar" profession. Many young women felt limited to two educated professions; nursing and teaching. As such, many women left teaching after marriage to raise families and there was a high turnover. Also, when the boomers entered schools in 1951, there was a shortage of teachers and many schools began increasing benefit packages to attract more teachers. This changed the expectations to where many women saw teaching as a lifelong career.

As far as terminations were concerned, I can only address it anecdotally. Teachers were frequently terminated because of moral turpitude clauses, others terminated because of differences in teaching curriculae, and anyone that spoke up against the administration would not have their contracts renewed.

The graduates from public school had a fairly good basic education, but as proved in 1959, we had a severe shortage of people ready to enter into the sciences, engineering, mathematics and technology. There was a greater concern on preparing students into the industrial workforce.

Because of the problems associated with teaching, the teachers organized and tenure, seniority, retirement and healthcare benefits became the norm rather than the exception.

"Teachers were frequently terminated because of moral turpitude clauses"

Wait, you mean before unions, we could actually fire the teachers who brought playboys into the classroom without a huge hassle? *shocked*

And before police unions we could fire officers who broke the law?

Lyle:

Not sure if the choice to organize was prompted by poor working conditions as much as it was by union organizers looking for more dues revenues. Particularly if schools were already taking the initiative in raising compensation levels in order to attract and retain more teachers.

Personally, I don't favor a system where a teacher's job is protected by seniority or tenure. I'd rather it be protected by them being good/effective teachers. Teachers that 'burn out' and/or have lost the desire to teach are doing their students a disservice and administration should have the authority to address that regardless of the teacher's seniority status. Teachers probably should be fired if they don't teach the approved curriculum. It's no different than a non-teacher employee doing their own thing instead of their assigned task at their job.

We still have a severe shortage of people ready to enter the STEM fields. I'd love to see Shorewood schools involved in programs like FIRST or PLTW. I don't see either the teachers, unions or administration pushing hard for or against such things though. The biggest obstacle seems to be Shorewood's devotion to the orchestra program. G-d forbid that the arts be scaled back a bit to allow an expansion in STEM programs (but that's another topic entirely).

Lyle, Does your history lesson have a point?

The negative vibes are self-induced. Very rarely do we hear educators saying any thing positive about their jobs. Perception becomes reality. If my employees walked around saying "this sucks" or "that sucks", their production would be awful. The unhappy teacher syndrome has been a poison in the public schools for a long time, but recently anything that is said about teachers is viewed as an attack on teachers. Most of us support teachers, but the whining of some is getting really old.

"Most of us support teachers"

Tell that to all the people here calling them thugs. Teachers are not complaining for fun or to annoy people. They are unhappy for a reason Greg.

Were they unhappy before, or is this something new? I stand by my comment and add, not all teachers are complaining. Let's see how many are going to send the check to the union.

Their complaining isn't what is attracting the 'thug' label...

If your employees walked around complaining, would you try and figure out why? Or would you just assume they are only trying to annoy you and have no genuine complaints? Does it matter how new the complaints are?

...and you may note that Alfred's comments aren't exactly reflective of the attitudes of most people.

Maybe not CowDung but it seems like some people are calling them thugs just because they're heard others do so. Some seem to just enjoy name-calling.

Paul, What grade are you in?

Alfred seems to be the only one on this thread applying that term to teachers...

Greg, I'm not sure why you asked me that. I'm not school-age.

"Maybe not CowDung but it seems like some people are calling them thugs just because they're heard others do so. Some seem to just enjoy name-calling."
Your reasoning is rather immature, it is that of a grade school child. There are a few calling names, but it is on both sides. Now go play nice and stop being such a tattle-tale.

OK so you were insulting me. Just wanted to confirm that. Of course name-calling isn't limited to one side. I meant that for many people it seems reflexive, something they do without really thinking. So someone calls teachers "thugs" and it spreads.

I was not insulting you. I was commenting on your reasoning, the type of reasoning that results in the level of drama surrounding public school teachers.

So I'm wrong to suggest that name-calling is contagious and some reflexively hurl insults without carefully thinking about their words?

No, you are not wrong. Some. I still think that most of us support teachers and your application of name calling is nothing more than popular drama.

Yes Paul, we saw the fits more associated with two year olds. So you finally have to face what the rest of the world had to face. Cry me a river...

Oh please. I love the gloom and doom unsubstaintiated statements that NEVER come true. Young teachers (for the most part) seem to me to be motivated, talented people, a vast difference from their senior whiner counterparts.

I think the quality of teachers will improve, not decline, mostly because they won't have to continue to work with incompetent peers who cannot be fired.

You don't think today's "senior whiner" teachers started out motivated? Also incompetent teachers can and are fired. I witnessed it firsthand when I taught.

George, When will the incentives be enough? This is a serious question.

It only cost RUSD $95,795 to have this jerk teach singing, for the 09/10 school year.

Greg, are you suggesting that all teachers in RUSD are of this calibre? Or, as in any work setting, could there just be a few bad apples?

What if everyone who read Patch thought everyone here was just like me? ; )

I would in no way put anything this jerk did on any other teacher, or anyone else. I think my post added context to his blog. I call it like I see it, regardless of subject matter, left or right, this guy is nuts.
As to your last question, circus music is what first came to mind. ;)

If they are your heroes, why do you call them lazy?

When will we get past the emotion driven finger pointing and start addressing the problems. Things are getting worse, something needs to change. Yes, change for the teachers, the students that want an education and society in general.
There are probably some hard choices ahead of us and unfortunately it will include personal responsibility. Maybe we can not save every student. Some may have to be tossed to the street, they may need to be allowed to fail in life. We may need to stop supporting any able bodied people that do not want to support themselves. You want to eat, you have to get a job. you want a job, you have to stay in school. A safety net should no longer be a way of life. This does not just apply to the under privileged, a punk in the suburbs should also thrown out and left to fend for himself. We have to get past the idea of life needs to be fair and start promoting individual responsibility.

David, you are absolutely right. A few years back, an administrator from the above relative's public school told me that an alarming number of members of the MPS school board couldn't understand what a specialty school like King I.B. College Prep H.S., Bradley Tech, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, etc., actually was. Other board members, school administrators, parents, students, etc., repeatedly and patiently explained the concept of a specialized curriculum, and (with few exceptions) the radical improvements in student attitudes and test grades at these schools (in addition to attracting students from suburban school districts, which offered educational opportunities in turn for MPS students). Eventually the concept seemed to have penetrated, which then opened the door to equally ridiculous questions about why different textbooks and equipment were needed at some of the schools. These are same bright stars that turn down requests for new textbooks from inner city schools "because the children will just wreck them" and approve a new pool for an outlying school in a great neighborhood.

One can assume these individuals believe they are bringing the voice of fiscal conservatism to the educational process, when in fact they do not actually comprehend that on which they seek to advise. They waste much time and resources because of poor preparation and comprehension. What type of ego seeks to serve on a school board without understanding what they are to govern?

Bren- We finally found something we can agree on. Most school board members do not have a clue of numerous things in their district. Worse, many more don't educate themselves once on the board.

Fiscal conservatism, at least from my personal beliefs, does not mean not spending money, or cut/slash budgets. To me it was always about is the money being spent to create the most impact. One example I have given is that it doesn't make sense to send Title 1 kids to a non-Title 1 school. It is more about efficiency, than cutting.

In our district, when I first got on the board, we were confronted with a budget deficit. One of the first things the board wanted to cut is music and athletics. While not the most important part of education, both have proven to keep kids engaged in their education. I fought tooth and nail to save those and did so by coming up with a pratical plan to sart Boosters for where they didn't exist, and to raise fees for equipment (with scholarships for those with a "C" average and the low income families) as well as raise non-student ticket rates for the games and concerts.

Just by doing that, with no taxpayer impact, we were able to fully fund those programs. Nothing had to be cut, and no money taken from the budget to fund these non-academic programs. That is driving efficiencies. Interestingly, the more politically liberal members wanted the cuts.

Dave & Bren, What are the answers? Yes, we know everyone hates teachers, yada,yada,yada..but we can't throw more money at systems like MPS. Many administrators advance from the rank and file. With the old system, teachers were not stepping up, or were not allowed to step up, to lead education in a better direction. We want answers, not emotion.

Greg, My blame sits squarely with the people of Racine who re-elected the same people to the school board. Those people elected are only doing what their constituents appear to want - more of the same for more money. Education needs to be changed and drastically. Only by electing people to the board who have innovative ideas on education will this occur. I don't complain when movie ticket prices go up because I don't have movie ticket money forcibly removed from my pocket at the end of each year. As for investment in our future, I don't see doing the same thing over and over for more money and getting the same or worse results as investing in our future. There. I've broken my promise of not posting. Darn. :)

What percentage of a school budget do you think goes to textbooks, musical instruments, electric utilities , chemistry equipment etc. etc.?
I do not have the ability to force other people's children to learn like immigrants. I do understand their motivation though.
More money has not improved education this far, how much more will do the trick?
"No one complains when Rock concert, athletic, or movie tickets go up in price.", what planet are you from? Everyone I know complains, some still go, but they complain.

Dave, Would you pay for public schools, if you did not have to? Would you pay more for public schools, if you did not have to?

That's in an interesting turn of phrase "in governing you." I don't know it, but I need to have someone govern me at all times because I'm completely unable to govern myself. :) Many things work when governing people these days, so they can be done over and over - the police can drive around to patrol the streets, the fire department can run long shifts to provide the best coverage, the DMV can send me little stickers through the mail to put on my car...

Public schools are local - the Pentagon is federal. There is a difference. Anyone with an ax to grind should be able to walk into a meeting and make themselves heard. People do have the right to assemble and can walk around in the street in front of the White House waving a sign telling everyone they want us out of Afghanistan. I bet there is even a way to get a hearing with officials in Washington if you take the time and are respectful.

You have hit the nail on the head about the public schools not being able to be everything for everyone. One suggestion I had was that control over the schools in RUSD be given over more to the principal and teachers. Each school should be able to run themselves the best way they see fit - that would allow different schools with different needs to operate in the most efficient and effective manner. However, the very nature of the public school system right now prevents differentiation. A shift away from that would take a systemic change.

@dave: and CEO salaries are not out of wack?

So you are saying that education is just fine?

Name a failure and make your case.

Nothing yet? That's OK we have time.

"At what year will I be the teacher everyone loathes and speaks of so hatefully?"

Really?

I agree with a lot of what you spoke of Stormy Weather. Thanks :)

Nope

Keith, Like everything else you have ever posted, you are WRONG. Have you paid Hoffa his fifty beans?

Substance hmmmm, OK.
You sound like the high school girl that doesn't get the lead in the play, so she goes home and cries to her mother "everybody HATES meee", mother comforts her and tells her she should have gotten the lead. The next week upon getting a C on her math test, she goes home and cries to her mother "everybody HATES meee", mother rolls her eyes and tells her daughter that nobody hates her. Soon the girl is not invited to a slumber party, she runs and cries to her mother "everybody HATES meee", the mother looks hard at her daughter and starts to realize why everybody hates her.