Something is Wrong: Wisconsinites vote to spend more for schools, Walker spends less?

It’s beginning to sink in; Ideological management of public education does not work in the real world.

Think about it; While 80% of state school districts voted to raise taxes, we're still applauding Walker's Republicans for cutting taxes. What's wrong with this picture?

Since I was a kid in the mid 60’s, Republicans attacked public education for its top heavy administrations. That continued until the 90’s, when Republicans decided “cutting to the bone” was the only way to solve the supposed spending problem in our schools.

In 2011, under Scott Walker, Republicans abandoned the idea of public education altogether, cutting spending and giving what was left to private businesses.

Discrediting teachers for their summers off, union backing and professional salaries played well to envious conservatives who wanted public employees to get kicked around like they did in their private workplace. 

     

So pure ideology usurped the real world needs and expectations of Wisconsinites who loved their public schools. What made us uniquely Wisconsin, paid for with higher taxes, didn’t make sense to Republicans anymore.

 

But in an odd twist, most voters didn’t hate their local public schools. In many ways, schools in those smaller districts made communities come together.

    

That was never more evident than when I learned this from State Public Schools Superintendent Tony Evers:

"Today, almost 80 percent of school districts approve referenda. Citizens are voting to tax themselves because the state ain't pulling its weight."

80% is huge, and a clear signal Republican are ideologically disconnected from their constituents on public education. Evers also said…

WPR: The negative rhetoric about the teaching profession needs to end if the state is going to solve what he called "critical staffing shortages." The public already supports increased spending for education ... But one strategy is free and we can do it today. We need to end the negative rhetoric surrounding the teaching profession. Teachers teach because they care about kids. We ought to treat them with respect and pay them as professionals.”

Check out the nice piece at Jake's Economic TA Funhouse, where he has a Lewis Black video:

Lewis Black: "If you didn't give the teachers summer off you fuckin' moron ... we'd have to be building insane asylums to the sky." 

"Heavens no" says Rural Schools Alliance to Rep. Czaja's "anyone can teach" solution.

Now anyone can teach our kids, says one rural republican politician. Voilà, no more teacher shortage.

Underfunded rural schools, struggling desperately to keep their teachers from leaving and schools open, just got the conservative kind of help they voted for in the last election. Not surprisingly, they're not liking it one bit. jsonline:

But a rural schools leader said that's not what rural schools asked for. "Heavens no," said Jerry Fiene, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance. "This totally destroys any licensure requirements that we have in Wisconsin. It's very concerning."

New Low in Stupidity: May I introduce you to Rep. Mary Czaja (R-Irma). But she's not alone...her fellow dullards in the assembly love the idea:

Problem solver or dimwit?

She said pursued the (following) measure to help rural schools find and retain qualified teachers in hard-to-fill subjects.

Anyone with a bachelor's degree could be hired and licensed to teach sixth- through 12th-grade English, math, social studies or science in Wisconsin And any person with relevant experience — even a high school dropout — could be licensed to teach in any other non-core academic subject in those grades. 

Of course Czaja was ready to explain her well thought out plan...right?

Czaja said the idea was to help schools fill specific niche areas … But when pressed about the impact of the broader provision, Czaja agreed it might make it easier to become a teacher in Wisconsin than in any other state.

"The districts are going to be the ones that hire these people, and I firmly believe that they're not going to throw somebody in there that isn't doing a good job. This is just flexibilities. They don't have to use it." 

Czaja couldn't name any districts that had asked for the broader flexibilities.

"They don't have to use it." But if they did, imagine the "flexibilities," like Sup. Tony Evers:

State Superintendent Tony Evers said "It essentially takes the licensing system out of the state's hands and puts it in 424 school districts' hands. If you're a buddy of the superintendent or the principal, you go in and say, 'Gosh, I want to teach here,' he or she says yes, you've got a license."

The Scary Bottom line; your average citizen politician is now designing education policy, not educators and those egg-headed elitist know-it-all researchers. Ugh, I hate them and their smarty pants objections.

Jon Bales, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, said "This is characteristic of bad and ineffective policy." The Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education said putting unprepared teachers into classrooms was not only unwise and unfair, but "threatens the very foundation of a strong, competitive workforce."

This is the way we're going to compete with those high scoring students in Europe? They have a
different approach to teaching. See if you notice a difference:

“All of Finland’s teachers must have a research-based master’s degree that’s based on a five-year degree,” said a member of the Finnish Parliament. “We also set high wages for teachers, and teaching is considered a very respected profession in our country. This includes preschool teachers—every preschool teacher must have a college degree.”

Following an informal meeting of Education Ministers in Gothenburg in September 2009 … the Council in November 2009 agreed, that: ‘In view of the increasing demands placed upon them and the growing complexity of their roles, teachers need access to effective personal and professional support throughout their careers, and particularly during the time they first enter the profession … all newly qualified teachers receive sufficient and effective support and guidance during the first few years of their careers.’

I think sums it up well:

The knowledge, skills and attitudes of each of Europe's 6 million teachers are of great importance. The quality of their teaching has a direct effect upon learners’ attainment. The demands made on teachers, school leaders, and teacher educators are increasing and changing. They are called on to play a key role in modernising education. To do that, they need to develop their own knowledge and skills. Initial education and continuous professional development of the highest quality, and access to support throughout their careers are both essential.

All of this kind of makes sense doesn't it, especially after they attacked and vilified Wisconsin teachers in order to pass Act 10. That's because anyone can teach really.

Dumb Ron Johnson must think picking a career is like buying a car; can you afford it?

You've always wanted to be a school teacher, so you studied hard and decided to go college to fulfill that dream. Wait a minute big spender, not so fast. Can you afford that?

That’s what Dumb Ron Johnson is asking now in a piece that defies logic:

No one told the aspiring teacher to look before borrowing: One of the worse unintended consequences of good intentions in government is the way Washington has eagerly helped young Americans accumulate huge piles of student debt. Since 2010, the federal government has simply run most student lending, so this mess is Washington’s handiwork.

It’s not a mess at all. High tuition is a result of GOP cuts to public colleges, not student borrowing.

But here’s the most insulting part of Johnson’s twisted thinking; he’s saying it’s harder to be a teacher now because their pay isn't very high, making it harder to pay off your loan debt. Thank you GOP?

You can see the result in the testimony of a young woman, Brittany Jones, who wanted to be a schoolteacher. It’s honorable work that pays reasonably well, but it is not known for paying high salaries right out of college. Jones went to a four-year state college and graduated with “well over $70,000” in student debt … I asked her whether any high school or college counselors ever went through the calculation of how much debt was appropriate and whether she would be able to repay it, based on the profession she was planning.

She answered: “They did not. Actually, when we started the conversations about college, they simply, you know, let us know you can apply for millions of dollars in scholarships and grants. They're available, you just have to apply for them."

Did her conversation with that counselor ever touch upon the ability to repay?“Not in the initial stages. They simply were saying you have this much of a balance, you can pay with it using this financial-aid package of your subsidized or unsubsidized loan. And you can take them if you want, or you can borrow from your family.”

...student aid was meant to make college more affordable. It’s fair to ask whether it had the unintended and exactly opposite effect.

Republican Sen. Dale Schultz dishes out the truth on Walker and his Party.

While Democratic Party searches for right words to criticize our current Republican administration, outgoing Sen. Dale Schultz had no problem taking on his own party. 

I put together a condensed 7 minute lesson in messaging for Democrats, using Schultz's no nonsense take down of Walker and his fellow Republicans. Not once does he give the benefit of the doubt to his majority party's intentions, like so many Democrats often do.

I can't tell you how many times I've screamed at the radio and TV, when without fail, Democrats blather on about hoping the 'Republicans will come back to the table and work together with them, blah, blah, blah'...stop it please.  

My favorite Schultz line leads off the clip:  

“Life has in recent years we've been steered by a group of people with enormous power and very powerful media organs, and you know, they've sort of picked at the scab of the carnage of the great recession. It’s a damn poor kind of leadership when people seek to divide, don’t appeal to the best in people, they appeal to the worst.”

Or this top contender:

“I think it fair to challenge educators … but we have had generations of Wisconsinites who have built one of the finest educational systems in the world, and I think just trashing it, ah, and demonizing the professionals that serve us, doesn't improve education and again tears at the fabric of our society.” 

 Worth a listen (audio) to say the least. From WPT:

Walker Flips Position, Injects himself into legal System to Fire Teacher. This after rejecting a Veterans pardon. But Walker loves teachers?

Firing teachers at will is something Republicans have been working on for a long time. Now they have their first execution to prove their "moral" purity.

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."-Bush

No Pardons-the Law is the Law: Scott Walker believes in the legal system so much that he even turned down an Iraq war veteran's request for a pardon (the guy wanted to become a police officer):  

Walker has said he doesn't consider pardon requests because he doesn't believe he should inject himself into the criminal justice system. "To me, the only people who are seeking pardons are people who have been guilty of a crime and I have a hard time undermining the actions of a jury and of a court."

Flip Flop: "Undermining the actions" of the court(s): Even a decision by the state's highest court of law didn't slow Walker down in what he saw as an election year story of "moral" values. After a court ordered a fired teacher to be reinstated and the state Supreme Court agreed, Scott Walker's respect for the law and courts disappeared. After all, didn't Walker just defeat and vilify teachers? 

Gov. Scott Walker has asked State Superintendent Tony Evers to begin license revocation proceedings for a Middleton teacher reinstated to his job this month after being fired in 2010 for looking at pornographic images at school. “After hearing from concerned parents..."

Here's Channel3000 with their coverage:



Actually only one parent.

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said the governor sent the letter to Evers after hearing from one of those parents. In an email last week, an aide to the governor told parent Kira Dott that the matter was under the jurisdiction of the local school board and “further from the Governor’s jurisdiction as this was decided in the courts.”

Flip Flop: Just like that, Scott Walker is setting out to undermine the local school board and courts, in a big way. Here's a short history, a legal process Walker is about to reverse: 

Other teachers also found to be violating the district’s policies on Internet and technology were not fired. An arbitrator ruled in 2012 that the district “has just cause to discipline Harris but because the penalty of discharge is excessive, arbitrary and an abuse of discretion, the penalty needs to be reduced to be comparable to other penalties for similar offenses,” and that he should be given a 15-day suspension instead.

Circuit and appellate courts upheld that ruling. Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear the school board’s appeal of the arbitrator’s ruling, prompting the district to comply with the ruling and reinstate Harris.

 But a little known law passed in the shadow of Act 10 has suddenly put Walker in control:

A law known as Act 84 that was passed in 2011 further clarified immoral conduct to include looking at pornography on school computers. In the letter, Walker said “it appears (Harris’) behavior meets the definition of ‘Immoral conduct’” … giving Evers the ability to revoke Harris’ license … reforms Walker worked to put in place that gave “local school districts the tools they need to hire and fire teachers based on … professional conduct. 

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator:"

 “We have a legal system in this country,” Harris’ lawyer, William Haus said. “You go through four years of litigation and now the governor chimes in? There has to be an end of a process ... you can’t go through four years of expensive litigation and it goes all the way to the Supreme Court and suddenly we have someone who knows better.”

9.6 percent swing and drop in teacher enrollment since Act 10.

Thank you Scott Walker, for diminishing a once admired profession, and reducing the number of teachers getting into education:

WSJ: Since Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature enacted sweeping changes to collective bargaining and teacher compensation, the number of junior and senior undergraduates enrolled in state teacher-training programs appears to have dropped, state data show. The 2.8 percent decrease between 2010 and 2012 at University of Wisconsin System campuses comes after a 6.8 percent increase between 2008 and 2010.

That's a 9.6% swing. Walker’s insulting response to statewide teacher hatred? He denies he had anything to do with their vilification, and instead, challenges everyone to search through and watch all of his YouTube videos for just one time he might have said something negative. Gee, can’t wait to do that.

Teaching Poisoned by Politics: And yet, teachers on the front line are now complaining about the politicization of the teaching profession:

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, associate dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, said some graduates there are now reporting feeling ill prepared for what they call the political atmosphere surrounding teaching. “Until our most recent surveys, we’ve never had a complaint that ‘you didn’t prepare us for the political atmosphere’” of teaching…

Profession now just a Short Term Job: But that’s not all. The future looks even worse for experience educators:

Hanley-Maxwell also said since 2009, the number of survey respondents planning to teach as long as they are able or until retirement has dropped significantly — from 85 percent in 2009 to 39 percent last year. She said she doesn’t know why just yet. “There’s something going on out there — whether it’s Act 10 or negative commentary (about teachers),” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something going on out there.”

I thought I would include the following comment so everyone could see it.

Actually the decline in teaching candidates is FAR worse than 10%. 

The study only looked at larger UW campuses; in the smaller campuses and private colleges, the decline is closer to 50%.

Even better for Wisconsin's future is that the number of candidates going into STEM areas (science, technology, mathematics) is down about 80%...and most of the recent graduates during the past 2 years have left Wisconsin for teaching jobs in Minnesota, Illinois, or Michigan where a teacher will earn well over 1 million dollars more during their career than if they stay in the WORST place to teach in America: Wisconsin.

One former math teacher put it best: "Life is short, don't waste it in Wisconsin". 

ABC News Honors Teachers in Oklahoma as Persons of the Week.

Remember this the next time you hear snarky conservatives bash teachers as thugs, money grubbing and less than dedicated. Moving and honest, this is what I see in every teacher watching over my sons. Send a link over to trash mouth Vicki McKenna.

It's working, Scott Walker. Milwaukee Public Schools anticipate the loss of 700 teachers/staff.

The vast wealth of experienced teachers is about to take a hit, as many try to salvage their earned benefits by retiring. Most don’t want to leave, but Scott Walker’s Act 10 “tools” have left them no choice.

Milwaukee’s loss is a direct result of Scott Walker’s disdain for PUBLIC education. This teacher purge can’t be good, not the numbers reported below. All indications point to Republican legislators taking advantage of those dedicated individuals willing to spend every waking hour educating children. Still, it won’t be long before overbearing school boards drum them out of the business too.

The following represents a new era for public schools, where conservative whiners can no longer blame unions for every imagined problem. Yet in the comments section of this article, Republican low information voters continue to beat up on teachers. You've got to wonder who their next scapegoat is going to be to explain away educational policy failures.

jsonline: Faced with the task of filling about 700 teacher and other staff vacancies next fall, Milwaukee Public Schools is staging the first of five recruitment sessions today. The hiring spree is a result of the higher than normal number of teachers who are expected to retire when the current collective bargaining agreement ends at the end of the school year. The district also is looking to hire paraprofessionals and 12 principals.

10% of Janesville Teachers may Retire Early, working for nothing, and for "the Kids" Insulting.

Janesville School Board President Bill Sodeman I think revealed unintentionally how conservatives are trying to take advantage of our teachers dedication and love for kids and jobs. In reference to the cuts in Act 10:

Sodeman: "I think  those changes are minor compared to other things that are more important; you know are you still effective at your job, do you enjoy doing it, working with the kids. If you do, please stay. We're not trying to push anyone away."

Yeah, do it for the kids. Sodeman should try taking his own advice. Here's Channel3000:

Dave Parr, president of the Janesville Education Association, said as many as 75 teachers have come to him looking for advice, but with contract talks stalled he has few answers.

Fifth grade teacher Kimberly Bern may leave the classroom. She said uncertainty about benefits after June has her considering retirement. "I don't want to retire," Bern said. "I love coming to work every day. I would miss that interaction with the students, and I feel like I can still make a difference in children's lives."

U.S. Cutting Jobs in Education thanks to Republican Dominated States.

Nothing says dumb like cutting education when there are fewer manufacturing jobs, and a greater need for a college education. The pride of Republican public job reductions is showing, and President Obama clearly noticed:



This will not mean a thing to Republicans, who are proud of vilifying public education, firing teachers, and privatizing schools. It's cheaper and shifts the blame for private failures on parent who supposedly "knows what their kids need."

Walker's Campaign to Vilify Teachers just another Tool, that's Working.

In the past, it would have been almost impossible to imagine an adult making such a derogatory comment about the teaching profession, but thanks to Scott Walker, we're working with a new set of tools. Acting like a 14 year school yard bully, Burlington County Board member Philip Ketterhagen said what most Republican privateers are saying behind our backs:

jsonline: A Burlington Area School Board member has been censured for saying during a meeting that teachers were like cattle who should be struck with a board to get their attention, the Racine Journal Times reports.

The censured board member, Philip Ketterhagen, made the comment while discussing test scores and teacher pay raises ... Ketterhagen said during a meeting that teacher pay raises should not be included in the next budget based on the lower-than-desired scores. He then said "school personnel were like cattle and should be struck with a two-by-four so as to get their attention."

Romney will cut Police, Firefighters and Teachers. Claims Teacher Levels haven't changed, lots of dead Weight.

The Romney campaign is sticking with Mitt’s recent teacher bashing gaffe:

Mitt:“(President Obama) says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.” 

Bad areas to make cuts, no doubt about it. But in fact, Romney has only double down on that idiotic statement by claiming schools across the country are needlessly holding onto too many teachers?

Where in god’s name have they been for the last 15 years?

ThinkProgress: Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign isn’t backing off the candidate’s claim that America needs fewer teachers, firefighters, and police officers. Instead, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), a top Romney campaign surrogate, backed Romney’s call this morning, telling MSNBC that changes in technology and population shifts have made layoffs of teachers and public safety officials necessary. Romney’s original comments left little room for interpretation. 

SUNUNU: If there’s fewer kids in the classrooms, the taxpayers really do want to hear there will be fewer teachers. [...] You have a lot of places where that is happening. You have a very mobile country now where things are changing. You have cities in this country in which the school population peaked ten, 15 years ago. And, yet the number of teachers that may have maintained has not changed. I think this is a real issue. And people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe and understand there’s wisdom in the comment. 

8 yr old's Catastrophe Award for the most excuses for missing homework stirs outrage.

So are we for or against teachers doing their jobs? I just loved this story:

FoxNews: Usually an award from your child's teacher is something to brag about. But that wasn't the case for one Tucson family -- and now a teacher could be in big trouble. The certificate given to 8-year-old Cassandra Garcia looks harmless. "You're tops" … But take a look at what's written underneath. "The Catastrophe Award" -- 'given to the one student with the most excuses for not having their homework done.'

Instead of a concerned talk with her kid, the parent shift the attention and blame to the…teacher.

"No child is going to be excited or happy, because they received and award like this," said Cassandra's mother. She is furious about the award that was given to Cassandra in front of her daughter's entire 3rd grade class. "All the children were laughing at her."

The teacher, Mrs. Plowman, calls the award a joke. Cassandra's mother however calls it bullying.

Bullying? The kid got what she deserved, with a little humor thrown in. Personally, I thought the award was creative and a subtle message to an irresponsible mom. 

Here are a few of the posted comments:

You are a disgrace to the profession of teaching. Suggest you resign before you are fired in disgrace … REAL teachers understand that not all parents are helpful with homework … Another clueless parent with an entitlement mentality and no concept of responsibility, sadly she seems to represent the wave of the future. This “mom” is too simple to realize that she is drawing attention to her ignorance – for this she truly deserves an award certificate, all of her own … This is an obvious case of lack of parental involvement. Mrs. Plowman is frustrated because she can't do anything of any consequence to motivate this child … Oh for crying out loud. The parents expect us teachers to educate their kids but never do their job of checking on homework and assigments. I think it was great the teacher did this maybe the child will learn to be more responsible than her lazy publicity seeking low life mother is … The mother needs to get her panties out of a twist and realize it's the teacher's job to assign homework, it's the parent's job to make sure it gets done. If the girl lied and said she had no homework, then she deserves the award. If she told her mother she had homework and her mother didn't make sure she got it done, then it's the mother's fault and she deserves the award...

Orville Seymer leaves Slug Like Slime Trail in Janesville!

Add caption

If anyone epitomizes the low life leadership in the tea party movement, it's Orville Seymer, from the ridiculously named Citizens for Responsible Government.

It's more than obvious now that Walker conservatives don't just hate public workers, they're also green with envy over other peoples bigger paychecks. Gee, it looks like Orville Seymer wants to penalize success, doesn't he?

Seymore on the anger of anonymous unpopular cowardly tea party snakes: "They're angry that the teachers are getting such a good deal, and the taxpayers are paying for that.

Freeloader. But the following comment betrayed Seymer's blathering idiocy to the world.

"We don't know what's going on in that classroom."

As a parent of a 9 and 13 year old, I know exactly what's going on in that classroom. Seymer either doesn't have kids or he's a lousy dad. Another numskull ramming his stupidity down our throats. You bet I'm angry. Oh, there's more low information thinking:

"It's a guaranteed salary. They work nine months of the year. They get some pretty good benefits. I think that's what's got the public outraged about this is. They get paid that kind of money."

Pure envy. This is the tea party movement folks. Anyone ready to turn the state over to Orville Seymer? Sorry, but right now, he and Walker are in charge.  From WKOW and WISC:

Teacher Satisfaction drops dramatically, 29 percent say they're leaving profession.

So what did we expect?

The attack on teachers has more to do with their union membership, than their ability in the classroom, although that too has come under fire.

Oddly though, these same conservative critics seem to think teachers in the private sector are better, happier and the answer to our educational problems. The attacks on teachers will eventually find its way to the private, publically funded private schools. Conversely, Republicans are pushing to remove all measures of accountability, like a statewide standardized test for all schools. This confusing policy one way to keep people guessing, off kilter, angry and backed into a corner. 

I guess you can repeat the conservative line, “If you don’t like the job, quit,” but that doesn’t change the anger and public perception that teachers are bad. That does more to encourage many teachers to leave the profession, with no way of replacing them.   

Edweek: With schools throughout the country facing leaner budgets, the threat of layoffs, and increasingly demanding accountability measures, teachers are experiencing new and varied workplace pressures. And according to the 28th annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, released in March, these pressures may be taking a toll. The percentage of teachers who are "very satisfied" with their jobs has dropped from 59 percent in 2009 to 44 percent, bringing teacher job satisfaction to its lowest point in more than two decades. And in another indication of declining morale, 29 percent of teachers say they are likely to leave the teaching profession within the next five years—up from 17 percent in 2009.

So what did we expect?

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.