Janesville Teachers, School Officials Unite Against Revenue Controls
Members of the Janesville School District’s Joint Legislative Committee
hold a news conference to speak out about the financial problems caused
by the state-imposed revenue controls and the Qualified Economic Offer
law. The committee has 14 members. Those pictured here are (left to right)
Michael Rundle, a local PTA representative, teacher Colleen Neumann, Superintendent
Tom Evert (who is not a committee member), teacher Dierdre Golberg, School
Board member Virginia Wyss, teacher John Eyster, and banker Tom Wolfe.
– Photo by Bill Hurley
Janesville teachers and school officials are putting their recent bargaining
conflict behind them and jointly calling for significant changes in the
school district revenue control law and the Qualified Economic Offer law.
“These issues are having a negative impact on education in our district,”
School Board Commissioner Virginia Wyss said at a news conference Monday
(September 21, 1998).
A special district committee is asking the governor and Legislature to
make adjustments to revenue controls, she said, “before the serious
issues facing our district become extreme.”
Wyss made her comments at a news conference in which the Janesville School
District’s Joint Legislative Committee announced its unified efforts.
The committee is unique because it consists of school board members, teachers,
administrators, students and community leaders. It was created as part
of the teachers’ collective bargaining agreement that was approved
last December after what Superintendent Tom Evert described as a “strained
and difficult” bargain.
Although committee members came to the table with varying perspectives
and priorities, they agreed the revenue control law is unfair and harmful
to the quality of education in Janesville, members said. State laws, they
said, have basically stripped school boards of the ability to make the
key financial decisions regarding education in their community.
In its report, the committee asked the Legislature and governor to:
- Return local control to school boards.
- Provide full state payment for the cost of implementing educational
programs required by the state.
- Reimburse school boards the full amount required by law for special
education programs. The state has not been providing the full amount
required, forcing school districts to make up the difference.
“This is not just Janesville,” said committee John Eyster,
a teacher at Parker High School. “This is just a snapshot of what’s
happening all over the state.”
Colleen Neumann, who teaches at Marshall Middle School, said the financial
crunch already has forced her school to increase its student-teacher ratio
from 25 to 27, which makes the teachers’ jobs more difficult and
reduces the opportunity for students to get the personal attention they
need and deserve.
Janesville Education Association President Dierdre Golberg said at the
beginning of this school year, she had 29 students in a classroom designed
for 24. “In the first week of school, it was literally musical chairs
for some students,” she said.
“I think we’re seeing an erosion of quality,” Eyster said.
Golberg said as a result of revenue controls and the QEO, teachers are
forced to work longer hours for relatively less money.
“During the contract dispute,” she said, “teachers stated
their salaries had been capped for five years. For this reason, teachers
were asking for wages in excess of the Qualfied Economic Offer of 3.8%
(in salary and benefits total). ... The board stated that a settlement
above 3.8% would put the district in a position of considerable economic
hardship.”
The result was a protracted and unpleasant bargain that included a great
deal of community conflict and widespread job actions by Janesville teachers.
Evert said that Janesville is blessed with a “dedicated and professional
teaching staff” and acknowledged that veteran teachers are paid less
than veteran teachers in other large school districts in Wisconsin. Creation
of this committee, he said, was one step toward improving relations between
teachers and the board while also seeking ways to improve education for
children.
“Our goal, as we head into a new round of negotiations, is to increase
understanding and increase the ability to work together cooperatively,”
Evert said.
Posted September 21, 1998