Posted by Tina
The flap in Wisconsin over collective bargaining is over (for now) and the new law is resulting in dramatic change for school districts. One district that faced a $400,000 budget shortfall will now have a $1.5 million surplus. The reported change will mean smaller classrooms and more teachers for the district:
“These impacts will allow the district to hire additional teachers (and) reduce projected class sizes,” School Board President Todd Arnoldussen wrote in a statement Monday. “In addition, time will be available for staff to identify and support students needing individual assistance through individual and small group experiences.”
The district anticipates that elementary class size projections for next year will shrink from 26 students to 23 students. Class sizes for River View Middle School are expected to fall from 28 students to 26 students.Kaukauna High School classes could be reduced from 31 students to 25 students.
Teachers will be required to pay 12.6% of their health insurance and contribute 5.8% of their wages to the state’s pension plan but they also have smaller classrooms and a shot at earning some of the $300K the district set aside for merit pay.
Sounds like a big win for taxpayers, parents, and teachers. More importantly the kids will benefit and isn’t that what education, and our education dollars, are supposed to be about?
Let’s be very clear here. The teachers do not object to ponying up more of their pay for their benefits in the present emergency. They do, however, strongly object to being deprived of the legal right to re-negotiate when times improve.
Such doings are anti-labor and uncivilized and will not be allowed to stand … no, they will not.
Only if the state goes back to sleep will they return to idiocy.
It would be stupid to reinstitute the very thing mechanism that got them into unsustainable trouble in the first place. Being irresponsible just because times are better doesn’t work. Besides, they can still bargain for wage hikes…that is more than sufficient.