Petty over-regulation by conservative school board zealots betray supposed “small government” rhetoric.

Wanna see just how ridiculous politically motivated school boards will be after doing away with collective bargaining? Apparently it's anything goes, like this example from Janesville:

Is Hogwarts next?

AP: Starting next year public schools in Janesville will start enforcing dress codes for teachers.

The new rules approved Tuesday say teachers won't be able to wear jeans, shorts, flip-flops or jogging suits. Nor can they wear clothes that are provocative, ragged or that allow undergarments to be visible.

Exposed undergarments? Really? Banning “jeans” sounds like something dredged up from the 50’s.

The policy calls for business or business-casual dress, which could include collared shirts, sweaters and casual slacks. Women may wear skirts, dresses, blouses and dress sandals.

Exceptions are allowed on school spirit days, casual Fridays and extremely hot days.

Employees such as physical-education teachers and maintenance workers are exempt.

Wisconsin Democrats Fail at Collective Bargaining, drop it from Agenda, whine it’ll only get Vetoed.

Sly in the Morning all last week highlighted the fatal flaw, the one big problem within the Democratic Party; pushing their agenda and energizing their voters. Is it cowardice and incompetence? Yes.

Below, Sly asked listeners to call their lawmakers and ask them why collective bargaining wasn't even on their legislative agendas.

The main reason; Scott Walker would veto it. And that's all it took for Sly to rightfully go off the deep end.

Never taking a few marketing tips from the Republican masters of spin, Democratic lawmakers have ignored every opportunity to push their own agenda, even if it means getting vetoed for years on end. 

Democratic voters have to direct their energy for change at their own elected lawmakers, those weak kneed losers who don’t seem to have a clue about how to lead a movement.

In Sly’s own words (audio  below):  

Last week, we learned that not a single Democratic State Senator had put the restoration of collective bargaining in the upcoming legislative session's agenda.  The Fabulous 14 are no more.

Keep calling labor traitors.  For those who say I won't call out my side of the aisle when things go wrong, this should be proof of the contrary. Jon Erpenbach is a labor traitor whom was used by Tom Barrett as a shield, the most prominent Democratic that fled to Illinois.  Now, Erpenbach's office staff is being genuinely untruthful, aggressively fending off those of you who called him along with Mark Miller and Fred Risser. 

This is a national problem too, having seen the same lack of effort directed at the Affordable Care Act.

Exposed: Walker Can't Answer Why he Lied to Congress!!! Stumped!!

This is the most explosive and revealing piece yet on Scott Walker's deceptive (lie) congressional testimony. A must see from Fox6 reporter Mike Lowe:

Fox6, Mike Lowe: When did Gov. Scott Walker decide that cuts to collective bargaining would be the centerpiece of his strategy to balance the state’s budget? Newly uncovered documents contradict what Walker told Congress.

The key question is: did Gov. Scott Walker plan to cut collective bargaining all along, as a way to cripple the Democrats, or was he simply reacting to Wisconsin’s fiscal crisis, trying to balance a budget with a bold move?

In response to allegations people didn’t see this coming, Walker said…

“I can point to a flyer the unions put out, where they mentioned collective bargaining and the things we put out. What I did throughout the campaign was say to balance the budget without tax increases, you have to have wage and benefit reform, and I said any number of times when I was interviewed and in forums, I’m willing to look at the full range of options. I didn’t say at this day, at this time, I’ll do this, but there’s no doubt I was open to all these options,” Walker said.

Which didn't answer the question. Barrett can use all of this in the debate:

…he was asked when he got the idea for Act 10.

“In December, after the elections, but before I was sworn into office,” Walker said.

Records obtained by FOX6 News show it was actually November when the Legislative Reference Bureau – the state office that essentially creates bills – was directed to start drafting what would become Act 10. An internal memo entitled “Alternative Approach to Collective Bargaining” sketched out plans to require unions to recertify every year, and to prohibit them from collecting dues.

Walker: “We’ve looked at it for some time. In fact, as Lee Holloway (Milwaukee’s former County Board chairman) pointed out last year — who is obviously not a political ally of mine — who said anyone who didn’t see this coming hadn’t been watching me for the last eight years. What reaffirmed that for us and where that’s consistent with what I said in front of that Congressional committee, is after the elections, but before I was sworn in, AFSCME and the other public employee unions ran out to the lame-duck Legislature with a lame-duck governor and tried to push through contracts, that ultimately, a couple Democrats in the state Legislature voted against, figuring that the new Legislative majority and the new governor should have a chance to be involved in that process, but each of those points aren’t inconsistent with the other.” 

As the Hulk would say, Smash Walker, with his own words, "divide and conquer."

Scott Walker's idea of governing Wisconsin is to divide and conquer."

According to Russ Feingold's ProgressivesUnited email:

Unbelievable. The new footage of Scott Walker telling a billionaire donor about his plan to "divide and conquer" in Wisconsin leaves no doubt: This is the work of a dishonest governor and a national corporate agenda.

This is politics at its worst. Help end Walker's brutal agenda today.

Oh boy, Scott Walker's got some explaining to do, and Tom Barrett has a few incredible ads to run.

jsonline: A filmmaker released a video Thursday that shows Gov. Scott Walker saying he would use "divide and conquer" as a strategy against unions.

It'll be interesting to finally get a glimpse into the character of conservative voters, to see if this sits well with them. When a billionaire is more concerned about making Wisconsin a red state, the first thing she brings up with Walker, it's hardly a matter of just "job creation." As you will see in the videos below, they want to bring one party rule to Wisconsin, and the reasons for that are pretty clear. Here's the short video:

Walker made the comments to Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks, who has since given $510,000 to the governor's campaign - making her Walker's single-largest donor and the largest known donor to a candidate in state history.

In the video shot on Jan. 18, 2011 - shortly before Walker's controversial budget-repair bill was introduced and spawned mass protests - Hendricks asked the governor whether he could make Wisconsin a "completely red state, and work on these unions, and become a right-to-work" state. Walker replied that his "first step" would be "to divide and conquer"

Documentary filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein is now promoting his finished documentary, "As Goes Janesville," which is expected to be shown at film festivals and on PBS stations this fall.

This clip is from the documentary, at 371 Productions, and really explains what is happening in Janesville. Even worse, Hendricks is part of Rock County 5.0, a group of businesses dedicated to bring jobs to Janesville (for more on RC 5.0, check out this nice piece at Rock Netroots). At the cost of labor of course;



Just a note: I talked to my conservative friend a few moments ago and asked him how he felt about Walker's comment, and he said, "It was no secret, of course he wants to divide and conquer. That's politics." Ends justify means.

Federal Judge Refuses to lift his block on Parts of Act 10.

Gov. Scott Walker unconstitutional attempt to limit the free speech of public unions will not get a reprieve in the courts while the state challenges a federal judges order to block parts of Act 10.

WSJ: U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled that his order — which blocks mandatory annual recertification of employee unions and allows the collection of union dues from employee paychecks — will take effect while the state appeals his March 30 ruling.

Here's a great discussion of Judge Conley's decision from WTDY 1670's Sly in the Morning, and guest attorney Mike Riley (audio only). They take a well deserved shot at conservative radio talker Vicki McKenna and male clone Brian Schimming, who described Judge Conley as one of those typical liberal Dane County judges, when in fact, he's a federal judge. But hey, details, details. 

Here's the latest on Judge Conley's ruling:

Conley had ruled in March that portions of Act 10, as the law is known, are unconstitutional.

In an 11-page ruling, Conley wrote that he was not persuaded the state would prevail in its appeal. Conley wrote that it's "irrational" to impose annual recertification by a super majority on most unions while imposing fewer burdens on public safety unions that, by law, require membership and payment of dues.

Conley also added that the state continues "to ignore that their burden in justifying either an annual recertification requirement or the refusal to withhold voluntary dues is not met by posing thin reeds of rationality." Appearance matters, he wrote, "and it appears these were punitive measures intended to impinge directly on the associational and free speech rights of political opponents, while leaving mainly supportive unions alone."

Walker's Tools for Schools Scraps System for "Anything Goes" in Oconomowoc.

I thought schools were doing great now? They are I guess, thanks to Scott Walker. They've been deregulated.

Public schools no longer consult with, or serve the public, parents are finding out. And teaching models have been swept in the trash bin for cost saving ideas that restructure public education in a way that holds the bottom line. And every year after, when budgets get even tighter, who knows what adventures await. So let’s experiment with the only 12 years our kids have in school. 12 years they can't repeat or get back.

The unintended consequence of losing the structural underpinnings of public education is not a good option. And as a parent, I'm really pissed.

jsonline: In a move sure to capture the attention of school districts across the state grappling with how to reallocate resources in a time of reduced funding, the Oconomowoc Area School District administration on Tuesday proposed a profound restructuring of its high school, cutting staff by 20% and demanding the remaining educators take on more teaching duties … the district would save $500,000 annually under the new plan. The kicker: Those remaining staffers would each get a $14,000 annual stipend, or bonus.

Oconomowoc's dramatic step reflects a district responding to reduced resources … without having to bargain with unions.

The high school's remaining teaching staff would shift from teaching three 90-minute blocks per day, with one block of planning time, to teaching four 90-minute blocks each day. It's unclear how or where planning time will fit in.

The average salary would increase from $57,000 annually to about $71,000. And a starting teacher in one of the core subjects would receive about $50,000 instead of the current starting salary of about $36,000. "My hope down the road is that this is a place where everyone wants to work because teachers are well paid," Joseph Moylan, Oconomowoc High School principal said.

The schools that used to serve the community heard from their bosses; parents that pay taxes.

At least 100 … An overflow crowd watched the meeting on a monitor in a room next door. Many were skeptical and denounced the plan for not including input from teachers or families and for putting extra pressure on remaining teachers at the school. "We believe these proposals are unsupported by research and ill-conceived," said Steven Cupery, the Lakewood Uni Serv director and a Brookfield resident. "These changes are a recipe for burnout, turnover and poor morale."

Here's a link to the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice and their conclusion about Milwaukee's School Choice program.

Collective Bargaining attacked again by Walker.

Voters should realize from the example below that what big government Walker Republicans can take away once, they'll take away again, until its gone. Take the only thing left of collective bargaining, wage increases. Think you're safe? Pretty soon, they'll find a reason to go after you.  

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker used his broad new powers to reshape a state rule and effectively lower the cost-of-living raises that public worker unions can win through bargaining.

For workers in public schools and technical colleges, the revised emergency rule put in place Thursday could reduce the upper limit of their allowed salary increases by an estimated 30% or more. Under that law, unions' bargaining is limited to cost-of-living adjustments and the change by Walker would limit that bargaining more than the original rule proposed by his own appointees.

Katy Lounsbury, a Madison labor attorney, said the rules effectively neuter teachers unions in their bargaining over salaries. She said the rules may result in legal action … "It penalizes members of a union."

But Walker's administration ordered changes to the rules that would limit base wages to exclude pay given to workers such as teachers to reflect factors such as having a graduate degree. For instance, a teacher with a master's degree making $45,000 a year might only make $35,000 a year in a given school district without the extra pay for her graduate degree. That would yield an allowable 3.2% increase of $1,050 a year rather than $1,350 … the change would mainly affect unions in K-12 schools and technical colleges.

The Wisconsin Association of School Boards said in a memo to members this month that legal challenges of the rule are likely.

Walker's snotty weak campaign start reflects his real personality.

The one benefit Scott Walker will see from the recall election, will be the dilution of protesters at his many stops throughout Wisconsin. It will be hard to keep up with him. 

jsonline: From a farm in Dane County to a foundry in Milwaukee, Gov. Scott Walker barnstormed across Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Under Walker, the state lost 9,700 jobs in 2011, while other states added jobs. Our pretzel logic governor threw this bizarre piece of inside out thinking to the receptive crowd:  

Walker touted 17,000 private-sector jobs created in Wisconsin in the first two months of the year.

The first two months? Before anything Walker did could have made a difference? Warning: the administration has already floated the idea that businesses got the go ahead in November to add jobs when Walker won the election. I kid you not.

Walker's hidden campaign promise:

Walker ... said he kept his campaign promises… 

Like repealing collective bargaining, protecting workplace discrimination against women, changes to sex Ed, the largest cuts to public education since the Great Depression, a no compromise legislative agenda and the vilification and mischaracterization of protesting Wisconsinites?

Which brings me to just how disgustingly low Walker will go to insult every adult in the state who thoughtfully turned out to protest his governorship:

The recall was forced by "big-government union bosses in Washington who want to take us backwards."

Nothing, but nothing, could be further from the truth. From my own observations, the union "bosses" were just as surprised at the public response. It was also the way collective bargaining was repealed and the bully like style of the Republican majority that outraged Wisconsinites (among other things).

Alert: Will somebody call John Mellencamp:

(At) their final stop of the day in Milwaukee, at Maynard Steel Casting, a nonunion foundry on Milwaukee's south side, they entered the gritty manufacturing facility to the music of John Mellencamp's "Small Town."

No matter who was responsible for the music, nothing could more antithetical to “Small Town” than Walker’s agenda. 

UPDATE: 

Liberal rocker JohnMellencamp's publicist Bob Merlis told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he sent Walker's campaign an email not asking him to stop using the song, but to inform him of Mellencamp's beliefs. "He's a very liberal person," Merlis said of the singer. "He appeared at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. His wife at the time was a delegate at large. He's very pro-collective bargaining and the fight for a living wage."

"More often than not it's right wing candidates who use his songs, which is somewhat paradoxical," Merlis said.

Waupun Correctional sees protests, sign of new Walker times in state.

Gov. Scott Walker's management style and ideologically rigged vision of labor as a necessary evil, is already destroying government from within. It does give him an excuse to provide more giveaways to big business though. 

Prison workers are next to be privatized, but not until the Republicans can point to deteriorating conditions in the prisons, which they have conveniently created by destroying collective bargaining. 

From WBAY: 

It was billed as a protest against what prison workers claim are staff shortages and increased overtime. But a rally outside Waupun Correctional Institution Tuesday instead turned into a rally against Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill and the loss of collective bargaining. They marched up and down the sidewalk, carrying sign referring to the Department of Corrections as a "Department of Crisis." Other signs called for the recall of Governor Walker.

According to those who were marching, working conditions inside the prison have significantly deteriorated since the passage of the governor's budget repair bill. Prison employees say not only is security an issue inside prison walls but morale is at an all-time low as well.

According to the DOC, higher-than-usual retirements and a lower-than-normal number of corrections academy graduates is a factor in the number of job vacancies. It does not believe "low morale" is a factor.

Collective Bargaining Rules Leave Counties and School Boards without Standards.

When Scott Walker and his Republican pirates got rid of collective bargaining, they left a void where there was once rules and regulations governing public employees. Coming up with a replacement plan for counties and school districts would have been hard work, something freeloading Republicans avoid like hell while they collect taxpayer money.

WSJ: The Jefferson County Board last week loosened a proposed discipline standard after unions protested, and Columbia County employees are winning a series of changes to a controversial policy that top officials wrote behind closed doors to prevent employee input.

Union leaders say many of the new rules are unfair. Public administrators for schools and municipalities say it hasn’t been easy to write rules to replace union contract provisions that evolved over 50 years of collective bargaining.

“This is an entirely new arena,” said Andrew Phillips, an attorney for the Wisconsin Counties Association. “We are going to have to execute management in areas where we have never executed it before.”

Most counties had at least makeshift appeal policies in place in October to meet a state deadline, but many are now making revisions, Phillips said ... patchwork of policies that has sprung up across the state…

Smoking Gun 2 1/2, the Naked Truth!!!

Uppity does it again, discovering another treasured interview and denial by Scott Walker that he has any other plan than to ask for union concessions or back it up with furloughs. In fact, it’s interesting to see how exact the language is to his Oshkosh Northwestern interview response, a personality trait that makes his entire agenda kind of robotic…programmed and rehearsed.   

In this interview with Wisconsin Eye, which took place eleven days before the election, Walker once again can be heard explicitly saying he will ask for health insurance and pension contributions:

"If we don't get that sort of an agreement, then the fall back is... you've got to have something... and furloughs you can do with or without a collective bargaining agreement."

Scott Walker caught Lying!!! Video shows he Intentionally left out Plan to Strip Collective Bargaining.

Seeing is believing, and the what you have in the video below is proof Scott Walker lied about his true intentions in dealing with the unions. As reported in the jsonline:

In a meeting with the editorial board of the Oshkosh Northwestern days before the election in 2010, Walker pointed to successes he had dealing with unions in Milwaukee County as examples of how he would extract concessions from state workers.

Walker's backstop plan was to institute furloughs for those unions that didn't go along with contributing more to their health care insurance and pensions, not shred collective bargaining. The video was posted at Uppity Wisconsin. I've improved the audio a bit here:

Walker lied!! 

“You still have to negotiate it,” he said. “I did it at the county as well where I've had some of my employee unions agree to it, others have not ... we set (furloughs) as a fallback for those employees who were in (unions) that did not settle for what we're asking for.”

Ironically, one of the ways Walker has defended his elimination of collective bargaining is by pointing out that it prevented furloughs and layoffs.

Here's Sly in the Morning and John Nichols take on the deception:

Racine County Executive Ladwig on Walker "tools:" "Will the new law allow us to deal with further cuts?"

The following story shows how even Republican county executives are worried sick about how they’re going to deal with future budgets, knowing the one time “tools” time fix instituted by Scott Walker, won't keep up with rising costs.

Stateline: James Ladwig, a Republican, recently took over the job of Racine County executive … Ladwig got a new set of rules for governing his county. Now that unions have less of a say, local leaders have more options for balancing their budgets. One way Ladwig and the Racine County board exercised this freedom is by putting volunteer inmates from the county jail to work shoveling snow from sidewalks, mowing the medians on state highways and doing landscaping. Before the Wisconsin law passed, unions blocked the move … Under the new law, unions can no longer block the program.  Other changes saved Racine County money, largely at the expense of workers. 

Here’s where the wheels are starting to fall off Scott Walker’s bandwagon:

For Ladwig and other local leaders in Wisconsin … that decline in state aid outweighs the savings they enjoy. For Racine County the first year was largely a wash: A $2 million drop in state aid was offset by all the cost-saving steps the county was able to take.

Ladwig openly admits, with brutal honesty, confirmation of what many of us have been saying all along:

Still, Ladwig worries that these kinds of tradeoffs might not be sustainable in the long run. “Will [the new law] allow us to deal with further cuts? It provides us the tools, but you get to the point of diminishing returns,” Ladwig says. “You can’t say ‘OK, now everybody has a $5,000 deductible’ and expect to have productive employees.” 

Recalled Sen. Van Wanggaard see's big property tax increase, while pushing reported drop of 1 percent.

Recall alert: NEWS you’ll love to pass along:

Stateline: Republican State Sen. Van Wanggaard (said) “you can’t continue to say we’re going to continue to raise taxes again.” 

You’ve heard it over and over; 'Property taxes for schools actually dropped by 1 percent.' Oops, it’s opposite day for Republicans again. I want you to remember the following glaring truth Wanggaard will have to defend in his recall: 

Racine’s school district increased its levy. Wanggaard’s own property taxes, he says, went up 11 percent. The senator blames the local school district for not cutting its costs aggressively enough. The district points the finger back at state government for cutting its aid. 

Did you ever see a Republican freeloader ever take responsibility for any one of their legislative mistakes? Not this time either.

One issue no one ever talks about is the per pupil spending cuts.

The state decides not only how much money to give to schools, but also how much schools can spend per child. In an unusual move, lawmakers last year reduced that per-pupil spending limit. For Racine, the new spending level was $542 lower than the previous year. Meanwhile, the state reduced its share of per-pupil funding by $700. According to Dave Hazen, the school district’s chief financial officer, this left the district with only two choices. It could further cut its spending per student, which is already among the lowest in the state. Or it could raise property taxes to fill the gap. The school board chose to raise property taxes. The district knew it had the upper hand in negotiations but did not press further, Hazen explains, because it wanted to preserve employee morale. “You have to consider … employee groups … are demonized in the press and everywhere else about what’s going on,” he says. “In order to maintain morale and a working environment that is good for the students, our board was looking at that.” 

But morale and the students classroom environment is not, I repeat, is not a concern. The truth is, whether intentional or one of those unintended consequence, the importance of what goes on in the classroom  is not a concern:

Officials from the Racine Education Association, the local teachers union, say that the cuts to public schools are based more on politics than finances. “The governor and the majority of the legislature, they’re too far away from schools to actually know what’s going on inside of them. And they’ve shown a considerable disinterest in knowing,” says union president Pete Knotek. “They want the voice of educators suppressed. And that doesn’t bode well for the future of Wisconsin’s schools or Racine’s schools.” 

Democratic Candidate Falk won't pass next budget without reinstating collective bargaining!!

Though almost all those on the right might say this is the Democratic Party taking orders from “union bosses,” it’s actually a platform issue that is not only important to liberals and progressives but one of the main reasons for the recall. Unions or not.

jsonline: Union leaders are asking Democratic candidates for governor to veto the next state budget if it doesn't restore collective bargaining for public workers and at least one leading candidate - Kathleen Falk - has agreed, participants in the private meetings say.

"The governor's job is to veto budget items that don't reflect citizens' values. That's why a million people signed recall petitions - because Scott Walker's budgets didn't reflect citizens' values," Falk spokesman Scot Ross said. "All the support she'll receive is because she the best candidate to take on Gov. Walker's divisive, extreme, national tea party agenda and bring Wisconsin back together."

Falk by the way has already got the endorsement of the states largest teachers union, WEAC. Thankfully Sen. Tim Cullen dropped out of the race, because he would have not restore collective bargaining. Do you think for one minute the Republicans would have waited a day before restoring an important issue they counted as their top priority? That’s the difference in parties, and it’s killing the Democrats:

“I said I could not make that promise and I did not think any serious candidate for governor could or should make that commitment," Cullen said of a veto of the state budget. "It's a $60 billion document."

But newly announced candidate Sen. Kathleen Vinehout was just as cautious.

Vinehout said that she would seek to sell the state public on the importance of restoring collective bargaining rather than attempt to force it through the Legislature in a budget standoff. "The answer to that was that was I would do my very best to avoid a situation where we have brinkmanship," Vinehout said.

But didn't we already have that discussion, the protests...the recall for gods sake?

Richmond School District about to remove health care, dental, 403 contributions and life insurance upon retirement.

The Town of Lisbon, Waukesha County, is one place teachers might want to pass right through. And this is only about 6 months after destroying collective bargaining. This isn't about education, it’s about taking public education out, and reducing to something akin to a retail sales clerk. 

Post-employment benefits for employees of the Richmond School District may be no more if a proposed individual teacher’s contract is approved as expected by the School Board in February. The decision could set a precedent for other school districts to follow.

Under previous contracts negotiated through the collective bargaining process, teachers and other district staff members received post-employment benefits such as health and dental benefits, a 403 (b) employer contribution, and life insurance benefits upon their retirement. Employee pensions through the Wisconsin Retirement System would remain unchanged ... a plan that would eliminate those post-employment benefits packages.

The School District developed a formula that allowed employees age 57 or older with 20 or more years of experience in the Richmond School District to maintain the post-employment benefits … Two district teachers qualify for those benefits, as well as one clerical staff member and superintendent George Zimmer. Once those teachers retire, no more district employees will receive post-employment benefits.

"No one else is eligible in the teaching ranks for post-employment benefits," Zimmer said. Zimmer said school districts are no longer able to offer elaborate post-employment benefits. "It's a tough decision for a board to make, but we have to look out for the tax dollars. We have to do it," he said.

What a way to attract great teachers. Actually, it’s a bit cruel, knowing there are aspiring teachers out there that want to teach because they have a passion for it. This takes advantage of their good nature.

Here are a few comments that demonstrates how well the vilification process been, and how sadly cold citizens have become since Walker took over.

“This is so long overdue. No one can afford this type of thing. This action stops a financial drain on the residents of our districts that we can no longer afford to continue.”

Very timely and appropriate as well. It is unheard of in other job sectors for employees to be granted these types of benefits upon leaving their job … I will be calling many of them (school systems) including my own to find out what their plans are. We have to tighten our belts and Richmond School should be commended for taking this action.

Walker thugs from out of state asked for Collective Bargaining records from DA

While the governor talks all about outside groups meddling in Wisconsin’s business, outside right wing groups continue to get a pass. Hello out there...

Not on my watch.

WSJ: The Dane County District Attorney's Office will pay $500 to settle an open records lawsuit brought last year by a Michigan group, the Education Action Group Foundation, that sought records related to challenges of the state law curtailing most public workers' collective bargaining rights.

The Muskegon, Mich., group sued District Attorney Ismael Ozannein early June after it received no response to its requests in April and May for communications regarding Ozanne's challenge of the collective bargaining law.

The “Education Action Group Foundation?” Yeah, sounds like that’s what they’re all about. 

Police accuse officials of Blackmail!! Threatened with Huge Hikes in Insurance Costs.

Nothing like a little turmoil to make government run "real" smooth like...

With Scott Walker's "tools" of division, we're now seeing the fruits of his poorly thought out attack on labor, by those that are willing to push the limits of decency.

Hudson Patch: Wisconsin police and firefighters are calling blackmail over the actions of local governments under Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial collective bargaining law. Officials with the state’s biggest police union, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, told the Associated Press that its members are being threatened with health insurance cost hikes if they don’t pay into their retirement funds—an ultimatum the WPPA said is tantamount to blackmail.

“These employers tell their officers that unless you agree to pay this, we will make health insurance nearly unaffordable for you and your families,” said WPPA executive director Jim Palmer. The WPPA has filed with the state’s Employment Relations Commission, challenging the legality of the budget provision. 

Unexpected Number of Teachers Leaving, Mid-Year. Walker Policy to Blame!!!

Conservative voters and Walker backers will stop at nothing to balance the state and local budgets. It doesn’t matter what happens, or how divesting the “unintended consequences” are, spending taxpayer money needs to stop. But these cheap bottom feeding freeloaders who already have theirs, will never be happy with the cuts. More will follow.

And with these cuts our kids’ education will suffer, creating a whole new complaint from conservatives that public schools are lousy, and need to be done away with.  

Fox11: Fifth-grade teacher Kathi Sikich has worked in public schools for more than a quarter century, the last 12 years at McAuliffe Elementary. John Dunlap, a math teacher at Preble high, has spent 37 years in public education. "I love watching the kids understand math," Dunlap said.

On January 20, both will become former teachers. The two are among 70 employees in the Green Bay district calling it quits in the middle of the school year. Sixty-six of those employees are teachers; four are administrators and staff. If that sounds like a lot, it is. In fact, last year, just one teacher retired in the middle of the year. The year before that, just three retired.

But it’s working, according to the Walker administration.



Parents supporting Walker should be ecstatic.

Some parents aren't too happy with what's happening this year. "It is unfortunate for the kids," said Chris Busse. His son is in Sikich's class at McAuliffe. Busse found out at the start of the school year that she would be leaving in January. "I was a little put off by it," he said. "It's a whole new transition in the middle of the year that kids probably don't need to go through."

Rich Carlstedt from the Brown County Taxpayers Association says he doesn't have a problem with it. That's because the district will now save money by hiring new teachers. "Now is the time to do it, believe it or not. I don't look at the sudden increase in retirements as anything negative. I think it's good." 

See, who the hell cares. I have kids in elementary and middle school, and it would be horrible to see the teacher they've developed a daily routine with leave. I hate these tax cutting sons of bitches. 

Maybe it's good for the district's bottom line. But what about the students? John Dunlap knows some of the students in his algebra class will be affected by the mid-year change. "Why not stay? Because of the threat at that time," Dunlap said. "We had to decide to retire or not with the old retirement package and there was no guarantee because we didn't know what the new contract was going to offer.

Can you blame these teachers? It’s “everybody out for themselves” now. This is the world conservatives crave. And we’ll get cheaper inexperienced teachers with no seniority, all in pursuit of the almighty bottom line. Oh, the cutting has only just started too.

This comment followed the story:

This has hurt the prison system also. The experienced staff all retired because of Walker's policies. Now things aren't so good. Assaults on staff are on the upswing and things are getting ugly. The truth is the same. The compensation is their money. The tax payers pay them for work done. How and where they put those wages is up to them. I kinda wish the tables could be turned. God forbid an employee at some company like Oshkosh Truck give up a percentage of their wages because the public said it wasn't fair that they had that money to begin with.

Who Do You Believe, the Teachers...or the pro-Walker Teachers?

Tell me if this isn't odd; Walker and the Fitzgerald brothers legislature didn't want to hear how teachers felt about their classrooms or their students needs, so they took away collective bargaining and handed them a policy manual.

At the same time Republicans now hypocritically expect us to believe hook-line-and-sinker those same "union thugs" when they tell us how well things are working under Scott Walker’s budget cuts? Are they just loco?

As it turns out, one featured teacher (Kristi) had been thinking about leaving the profession for a couple of years, while the latest, Jeff, gets it completely wrong. Thanks to Uppity Wisconsin for the heads up;

Scott Walker has a new ad featuring Jeff Knudson, a fourth grade teacher in the Monona Grove school district.  Knudson claims: "When the state budget passed in Madison, a lot of us thought we might lose our jobs. We figured if we didn't get laid off, our class sizes would become unmanageable. But that didn't happen."

But to hear Monona Grove superintendent Craig Gerlach’s assessment, Jeff is either flat out lying, or he's also leaving the profession. At the least, he's betraying and letting down his fellow teachers. I've combined the “Jeff” ad with Sup. Gerlach’s comments;