Walker Savings Bringing Back Teachers

Teacher retirements may have doubled statewide in this year of Wisconsin budget wars, but some school districts are lessening the drain on classroom experience by bringing back teachers who left the classroom at the beginning of the summer.
Peter Hirt, superintendent of the North Lake School District, said his district has hired two teachers who announced their retirement in March.
Though the two are being paid at about the rate they would have been paid had they stayed on, Hirt said, the district is still saving money on their compensation - and would be even if the alternative was to hire replacements right out of college - because the district doesn't have to pay for their health insurance or contribute any more to their retirement fund.
At least three other Milwaukee-area districts - New Berlin, Wauwatosa and Greenfield - hired back retired staff this year at even greater saving, because the teachers are now being paid at lower rates than they were before.
The Associated Press reported last week that about twice as many public school teachers decided to retire in the first half of this year as in each of the past two full years.
Many of their departures apparently came in anticipation of Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, which restricted collective bargaining by most public employees, including teachers, and required them to make new pension and health insurance contributions. The new law, which led to weeks of protests at the Capitol, took effect in late June.
The hired-back teachers in North Lake are second-grade teacher Karen Niehausen and Spanish teacher Camille Faherty. Hirt said the two came to him in March and volunteered to retire to protect younger teachers from being laid off.
Hirt says at that time, before Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill became law, it looked as if the one-school elementary district would have to lose four of its 37 teachers to balance its budget. He said the district accepted the two retirements and announced the layoffs of two more junior teachers in March.
But after school officials crunched the budget numbers this summer and saw how much they'd save from the provisions in the Walker legislation, they realized they could afford to again fill the four positions that had been trimmed. They called back the two laid-off teachers and then chose the two retired teachers from lists of multiple applicants for the other two jobs. - JSOnline

Funny how this is being made Headline News.  Headlines are talking about the "waves of teacher retirements."  Now it seems that there are several that are now re-applying and coming back to work.  Thanks to the Savings from Gov. Scott Walker's Budget Repair Bill.

The Civility of the Left

Cranking up the anti-Tea Party rhetoric, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa called on workers to "take these son-of-a-bitches out" as he warmed up a crowd Monday in Detroit ahead of President Obama's Labor Day speech.

The rhetoric coming from speakers at the event was already heated before Hoffa took the stage. Hoffa then declared there's a "war on workers" and vowed that organized labor would "remember in November" which lawmakers were opposing the president's agenda.

"We've got to keep an eye on the battle that we face -- a war on workers. And you see it everywhere. It is the Tea Party," he said. "And there's only one way to beat and win that war -- the one thing about working people is, we like a good fight."

Hoffa called on workers to get involved in opposing Tea Party-aligned lawmakers next November.

"President Obama, this is your army, we are ready to march," Hoffa said. "But everybody here's got to vote. If we go back, and keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son-of-a-bitches out." - FOX News

While Obama and the left attacked Palin for targeting lawmakers for removal from office that had nothing to do with the shooting in Arizona, they now apparently condone Hoffa's comments.

The double standard shows a complete lack of leadership from the President and the Democratic party.

President preaches Country over party, just doesn't practice what he preaches.

First time since 1945, Zero added Jobs

Employers added no net workers last month and the unemployment rate was unchanged, a sign that many were nervous the U.S. economy could be at risk of slipping into another recession.

The Labor Department said Friday that total payrolls were unchanged in August, the weakest report in almost a year. It's the first time since February 1945 that the government has reported a net job change of zero. The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent. - FOX News

Union Intimidation out of Control

...

The unions are so angry and have become so obsessed with Scott Walker, that a contingency of union thugs followed him to Milwaukee’s Messmer Preparatory Catholic School last Friday where the governor was to read to students and tour the school.

An unidentified union thug tried to prevent the visit from occurring by tampering with the school’s door locks. Media reports indicate that the vandal put super glue and sticks in the locks of eight school doors late Thursday night. Things went downhill from there.

Protestors spent the day on the sidewalk outside the school, chanting and displaying anti- Walker signs, such as “War on Walker, not on workers.” One protestor was even arrested on battery charges.

The protests got so raucous that at least one parent said that she felt unsafe entering the school with her child. - Townhall.com

Why do people who support the union stand up and object to this type of behavior? This behavior should not only be unacceptable, but it doesn't do anything to help their cause.

Union Challenged at New Berlin School Board Meeting

In a meeting where teachers alternatively were cheered and booed, and Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law was shunned and embraced, the school board meeting Monday night encapsulated the drama that continues to surround the role of teachers unions in the state.

At issue was New Berlin's employee handbook, which the board approved in a unanimous vote, but not before teachers spoke about their lack of input in the new document and how the new rules could negatively affect their work and the district's reputation.

The meeting was moved to the Performing Arts Center at New Berlin West Middle/High School, 18695 W. Cleveland Ave., to accommodate crowds that were expected to be much larger than normal. That's in part because of a raucous school board meeting in Greenfield last week where teachers butted heads with the administration and school board members over a new handbook and the issue of collaboration with teachers. Police were called to the scene.

Districts around the state that no longer have collective bargaining agreements with educators have spent this month putting finishing touches on similar handbooks that spell out wages, work rules and benefits. Many have been approved without much fanfare.

Not in New Berlin. On Monday, the auditorium was filled close to its capacity. Some attendees had to hike through athletic fields from overflow parking to get to the meeting. Squad cars were parked outside with lights flashing.

Teachers and union supporters - from New Berlin and other cities - clapped and cheered for their peers. The other half of the audience appeared keen on keeping taxes low and supporting Walker. They cheered when the board approved the handbook.

New Berlin Education Association President Diane Lazewski estimated 200 New Berlin teachers came out to express displeasure with elements of the handbook. She said some of those elements include a longer work day with no extra pay, a reduction in the amount of sick days teachers can accrue, and new rules regarding everything from dress codes to time for teachers to collaborate.

Lazewski said she believes the changes New Berlin put in place are further-reaching than changes in other handbooks approved by Wisconsin districts.

"I would be surprised to see any other handbook as punitive as ours," Lazewski said.

Leslie Potter, a teacher at New Berlin West who left a mechanical engineering career to become a teacher in 1997, told the board the new rules in the handbook required her to work more hours but limited the time she could spend working with students.

She also said it eliminated any reference to prep time for teachers.

"The school board says that they value collaboration," Potter added. "We request that they approach this handbook in the same manner."

After teachers spoke, a citizen took the microphone and said he represented the 5.5 million taxpayers in Wisconsin who were in favor of Walker doing what he was elected to do.

Applause broke out in the auditorium as the teachers and union supporters sat silent. They walked out before the man was finished speaking.

New Berlin School Board member Art Marquardt said the board and administration had spent considerable time on the document.

He said they weren't trying to be punitive, but the environment in Wisconsin has shifted from one in which the union owned the conversation to one in which the elected representatives are now the dominant voice. - JSOnline

Schools Alter Sick Leave Policies

Many Wisconsin school districts have been making rapid changes to insurance benefits and work rules for employees no longer covered by collective bargaining agreements, but a few districts also are setting their sights on modifying sick-leave policies.

For educators, it's seen as one more benefit being sliced in the wake of Act 10, the new law signed by Gov. Scott Walker that limits collective bargaining.

For school boards and district officials, it's another benefit to be examined because of reduced state funding and limitations on raising property taxes to cover costs.

Financial savings from sick-leave changes are considerably smaller than big-ticket cost reductions often found in switching a health insurance plan design or carrier. So why is sick leave such a hot topic? - JSOnline

Protestors Disrupt School becuase of Walker

MILWAUKEE - Governor Scott Walker and others heading to Messmer Preparatory School on Milwaukee's north side had to go through alternate entrances on Friday after a protester made sure those doors wouldn't open in a normal fashion.

"Some of these folks superglued our front doors at the prep school," said Br. Bob Smith, OFM, the president of Messmer Catholic Schools, about the school on the corner of North Fratney and East Burleigh Streets.

He told Newsradio 620 WTMJ that a woman was walking in front of the school Thursday, asking people to protest.

According to Br. Smith, one protester said " 'Get ready for a riot,' because they were going to disrupt the visit." - 620WTMJ

County Exec to Cut Services, Give additional Worker Benefits

MILWAUKEE - It was a packed house at the Washington Park Senior Center Thursday evening. One by one, people stepped up to the microphone, to speak out out against proposed cuts to Milwaukee County Services.

The county faces a $55 million dollar budget shortfall. County Executive Chris Abele says the budget situation is dire, and even compared it to "the Titanic meeting the Hindenburg". -620WTMJ

County Exec Abele is threatening cuts to Mental Health, Bussing and Special Needs transportation. Stating the County Defecit as the reason for the needed cuts. Wasn't it just last month that he agreed to give benefits to County Workers Domestic Partners?

White Supremacy group plans Protest in West Allis

WEST ALLIS - A white supremacy group is planning a protest in response to the State Fair mob attack, and police are issuing an unusual alert.

Maureen Metzer owns a dance studio a block away from West Allis City Hall. She heard about the rally scheduled for Labor Day weekend and isn't taking any chances. "I am concerned. We actually did decide that we will not be open that day."

It's advice she and other business owners in the area got from the Police Chief in a letter recommending people "lock their doors and close during the time of this activity." Maureen is grateful for the warning. "They told me they've never experienced anything like this before, and I guess better safe than sorry." - 620WTMJ

Illinois Raising Tolls by almost 88%

Driving in Illinois is about to take a much bigger toll on motorists' wallets.

Tolls will shoot up an average of 88% next year to finance a $12 billion toll road expansion and renovation plan, the Illinois Toll Highway Authority decided Thursday.

For drivers who have an I-PASS, an electronic device that allows them to pay tolls automatically, it's the first toll increase in 28 years, the toll road authority said.

But for the occasional toll road user who pays in cash - including many Wisconsin drivers who don't have an I-PASS - it's going to be the second massive increase in seven years, with a third coming up three years later.

In 2005, tolls doubled for anyone without an I-PASS. Those drivers will face increases in both 2012 and 2015, while those with an I-PASS will see only a 2012 increase.

At mainline toll plazas, the ones that all drivers must pass through, the average toll will rise 35 cents, from 40 cents to 75 cents for an automobile equipped with an I-PASS on Jan. 1, the toll road authority said. Trucks pay more, depending on their size and the time of day; their rates will hold steady next year but rise in 2015.

Individual tolls vary from one plaza to another, however, and rates are above average at several of those closest to the Wisconsin border.

At the Waukegan Plaza on I-94, the I-PASS rate will jump from 75 cents to $1.40 next year. The cash rate will increase from $1.50 to $1.90 in 2012 and $2.65 in 2015. - JSOnline