 | | Angela Jimenez | Angela C. Jimenez
Lodi Teachers Association
Because of the QEO, I did not get a raise this year, and I continue
to work throughout the summer and school year with a second job.
Instead of a raise, my district used benefits to cover the 3.8%
increase. However, my rent increased by over 5%, my grocery bills
increased with inflation and my utilities also increased dramatically.
In order to cover the extra expenses, I work two jobs during the
school year and full time during the summer. I know that working
so much limits my time to be the best teacher that I could be,
and should be.
David C. Rendall
Big Foot Educators
I sit at home, paying bills, trying to decide which ones not to
pay because I can’t cover them all. As I reflect on my 30
years of teaching, I’ve never before had this problem. Since
the QEO’s inception, teachers’ buying power has been
eroding. This year, our teaching staff received a cut in pay.
We asked the school board members why they chose to do this, and
the QEO was thrown at us harder than a slap in the face. What
does this do to morale at a school? How many teachers are going
to stay in the teaching field?
Personally, I’m stuck here. No one will
hire a 52-year-old with credits far beyond a master’s. All
I can do is wait for retirement, and even then my pension will
be greatly reduced as a result of the QEO.
 | | Deborah Meredith | Deborah Meredith
Kaukauna Education Association
The QEO singles out one group of people – the people who
educate our children – our future. I have been living under
the QEO for 10 years. It undermines our collective bargaining
rights. Great schools depend on great teachers and staff. All
of this puts our children’s education and our community’s
future at risk.
 | | Tom Jooss | Tom Jooss
Lake Geneva Education Association
I am a teacher who is nearing retirement age. I am at the top
end of the pay schedule but have not seen my income grow in recent
years. This will affect my lifelong retirement income. I teach
because I love to teach, but being singled out for limits on income
growth seems unfair and sends a message that Wisconsin does not
value its teachers. My son has invested in a college education
to become a teacher. I hope that Wisconsin makes teaching a valued
profession again. Jennifer Taylor
Big Foot Educators
My name is Jennifer Taylor. I moved to Wisconsin seven years ago
from Illinois to finish my education and start a family with my
husband. I started teaching last fall at Big Foot High School
in Walworth.
I have always wanted to teach, but due to the
QEO and what is happening in our district, I may be forced to
move back to Illinois and give up the one dream that I have always
had, teaching math. I have two small children, and as anyone with
children knows, it gets expensive season after season to clothe
growing kids.
I took a rollback in pay the very first year
of my teaching experience due to the QEO. My student loans continue
to increase, and my pay is going to continue to decrease if the
QEO stays in place.
I am not the only one getting hurt by the QEO.
My students are getting hurt because I cannot afford to buy the
extra necessities for my classroom. And, because of the shortage
of funds, they are cutting things from our budgets, such as learning
posters, compasses, rulers, graph paper, calculators, etc.
This past month I was told I am replaceable
and that there is no money for educators ... . When I was a student,
teachers worked with me after school when I needed help, came
to evening parent-teacher conferences, and gave up their lunch
to give me a quiz that I had missed on a day I was absent. I find
myself wanting to do the same things for my students, but due
to the QEO, I have a hard time doing that. Day care is expensive,
and every minute I spend extra at school with someone else’s
kids, I have to pay to have someone else watch mine.
Please help by repealing the QEO and making
it fair for teachers to negotiate fair contracts. The education
of my children and yours depends on it. George Adams
Wausau Education Association
If our salary schedule from 1993 had been adjusted for inflation
each year, I would be making over $5,000 more than I am this year. Keith Binversie
Sheboygan Falls Faculty Association
The QEO law has stripped our local union of our collective bargaining
rights. Since the QEO law has been in effect (1993), our salaries
have increased less than 2% a year, well behind the pace of the
increase in the cost of living. Jason Teske
Wausau Education Association
Inflation has limited my buying power. The cost of earning graduate
credits for my master’s degree offsets any minimal salary
increases. Casualties of the QEO law
Resource page on the Qualified
Economic Offer law Posted June 11, 2003 |