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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:
“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