All over the state, public executives are exercising new authority. Instead of raising teachers’ salaries, the Mequon-Thiensville School District, near Milwaukee, froze them for two years, saving $560,000. It saved an additional $400,000 a year by increasing employee contributions for health care, said its superintendent, Demond Means. And it is starting a merit pay system for teachers, a move that has been opposed by some teachers and embraced by others.
Ted Neitzke, school superintendent in West Bend, a city of 31,000 people north of Milwaukee, said that before Act 10 his budget-squeezed district had to cut course offerings and increase class sizes. Now, the district has raised the retirement age for teachers and revamped its health plan, saving $250,000 a year. “We couldn’t negotiate or maneuver around that when there was bargaining,” Mr. Neitzke said. “We’ve been able to shift money out of the health plan back into the classroom. We’ve increased programming.”
Why yes. Those things would save you money. SO WOULD TURNING THE HEAT OFF. Jesus H. Christ, the question was never “is saving money good?” If it was, elminating the superintendent’s salary would have been just as valid an option, but somehow it wasn’t.
A.
Yeah, and they could also get rid of additional “waste” like textbooks, indoor plumbing, electric lights, general building maintenance, school buses, and so on. We could revert to a 19th century paradise when taxes were low, low, low…along with career options and life expectancy. But hey, freedom, am I right?
Believe me… they’re working on it, MichaelF!
so they can preserve the tax cuts. god forbid we raise taxes.
thanks reagan.
Yeah, let’s treat teachers like waitstaff. That’ll do a lot to attract the best and brightest to the profession. (sarcasm off)