Reality Check (by Ben)
In the recent past, Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Chris Christie of New Jersey have implemented progressive changes related to public employee benefits, bargaining rights, and the educational process in their respective states. Governors attempting to be advocates for taxpayers and get a handle on powerful unions that are attempting to control their states. The tail has been wagging the dog for too long and now it’s time for the dog to wag the tail and retake control of the states business.
This “assault on education” as teachers in New Jersey and Wisconsin commonly refer to it, has brought the kettle to a boil. Of all the public sector employees, it has been the teachers (Educators as they prefer to be called) who have made the most noise. They have, without a doubt, the most powerful union of all the public employee sectors.
Teachers marched in protest in Madison and New Jersey against the same changes that have been quietly taking place for the majority of private sector employees for a few years now. It appears teachers (and other public employees) didn’t really care about their neighbors and relatives when our wages, benefits, and jobs were being compromised and outsourced. When the rubber hit the road for the teachers, the s— hit the fan. How dare anyone infringe on “their rights”. Teachers (and other public employees) mounted a recall on our governor and are hell bent at any cost to boot him from office.
The teachers rubbed us common folks the wrong way by all of their pompous and pious attitudes that their profession was on a pedestal above the rest of us commoners. When taking hits about their Cadillac benefits and 185 work days per year, teachers fired right back attempting to justify how important their jobs were. They act as if their profession is above the rest of us, because they are the ones who are educating our children, shaping and molding their lives. They are the ones who somehow work harder, have more stress, and take more flak than other occupations. They spend countless hours at home preparing for class and grading papers and spend money out of their pockets for supplies “for the children” (as if the rest of us don’t). They have higher college degrees than the rest of us and yada yada yada.
Since the march on Madison last spring, it was hard not to notice how many wayward teachers around the state made the news downloading porn on school computers, having inappropriate relationships with students and now our own school principle allegedly involved in illegal activity per the school board administrator.
As in every occupation and profession, there are some really good and above average people. There are some excellent teachers out there and it shows. Like every occupation and profession there are average employees and unfortunately there are also poor employees. The educational system is no different.
In the past week, I believe the Antigo School Board made a poor decision to re-run the referendum less than two months after a majority of voters said no. I also believe the recent news regarding a local school principle and football coach as well as a retired Antigo school teacher have really tarnished the profession and the school district. Like any profession, it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the basket. It is unfortunate for all the quality teachers out there to have the spotlight on your profession like this.
I think it’s time for a reality check. A reality check for the school board members who voted in favor of re-running the referendum and a reality check for all those teachers who believe everyone in their profession is above reproach. A reality check that the educational system has some serious chinks in its armor.
Do yourselves a favor and quit acting like others owe you a new school, owes you a benefit package better than your neighbor, and owes you summers off. Come down to earth and treat your private sector neighbors like the equals they are. Be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Take a step back and look at the big picture instead of just yourselves for a moment. The world doesn’t revolve around teachers, the teachers union and a new school building.
The teachers in the videos below made an a$$ of themselves on the world wide web. Unfortunately, this behavior is how the general public sees the teaching profession.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Nqk9e1kfY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEKhS2Dzcec&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbGLwAb-rMY&feature=related
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Well I agree with a portion of your statements I do not agree with the broad statment that teachers have placed themselves above us. First off let me say that the mentality of asking others to come down to our level in regards to pay, benifits etc is the opostie of the solution and makes you or in a more genreal term us part of the problem and not part of the solutuon. The reason is because corporate American (Forget about the private vs public sector issue for a moment) has slowly found ways to go from Dad making a living wage and benifits, to now getting mom and dad for the price of dad and now going one step farther by cryng poor as they reduce your benifits but continue to shove CEO and upper management wages through the roof! So as anyone jumps on the bandwaggon and runs around expressing how we don’t make this much and we don’t get these bennys so you shouldn;t what do you think is really happening? You are doing nothing more than helping reduce the incomes of all of us including yourself. We should all be working towards increasing the quality of life for everyone that wants to work hard and earn a living. To cover the the tax dollar/public sector dollar issue. It is nonsense to think there is a difference between the two. What is a tax dollar?It is a collective group of people pooling their money to purchase goods or services they need. No different than you and I kicking in some cash to buy something we can share or use. If you and wanted to get a truck and because we didn’t have much use for one we pitched in to buy it we would be laughed off the lot if we used the tax dollar approach and tried to get it at a much reduced rate. Then when we go to fill it up at the gas station we will be paying the same per gallon for gas even if we pool our money to buy the gas. A dollar is a dollar and things cost what they cost. I can tell you that if you look at the wages of the admin staff in this and many other districts you will find that they are paid well above the teacher and in some cases almost twice as high. Then find out what some of there education levels are and you will find teachers with masters degrees making less than non union admin staff with lesser schooling. Who do we blame for that, there is no union there?
Now with that being said, I am in agreement with getting our budgets in order. Lets get some regulations in place to control the school boards and how they throw our money around like there is no end to it. They do not have to say yes to eveything the unions ask for. in my opinion they is quite a bynch of scratching each others backs going on and it needs to stop. Also we need another school built like we need a new cattle barn. This is wastefull spending at its worst! If we need to close rural schools we have plenty of building space in the city to school the rural and city kids. More than enough room at the high school to run it as a Jr/Sr high as was intended when it was built. That frees up the whole middle school to be used for the rural kids and the problem is solved without 25 million dollars in debt with no benifit to anyone but the company that builds it.
Kind of funny how they crammed the high school down our throats last time and have forgot that they built it to house the JR/SR high like you said I do think some of those pushing for the new school think we’re nothing but a bunch of rubes that are dumb as a box of rocks.
I think the thinking behind the new cattle barn is that they need to keep 4H going, as this is something that we definitely do not want to lose. I am not involved with the fair or 4 H, so my opinion is just that.
I can stomach replacing that cattle barn, after seeing the condition, more so than sh!tcanning a bunch of good rural schools just “because”.
Actually, the high school was built to house 10th-12th grades and the 9th graders were thrown in after construction. That’s why there are oddities like the second floor science room in the social studies section.
I visit this site for cheap entertainment, and can hardly take it seriously. Who is “Ben”? It appears his aspirations of becoming a professional writer have fallen short in the form of blog entries on a website called “antigobuzz.com”. Nice job, Ben. Keep up the hard work.
Sad that is not true. The High School was bullt to house both the Jr and Sr High School kids. It was to replace the old Jr/Sr High School that was a supposed safety hazard. Of course that was only one of the excuses used to push it down our throats. Right now there are many wall lockers not being used because there is no need for them. The square footage of that building far exceeds the square footage of the middle school. Keep in mind that the Middle School was once the Jr/Sr High School at a time when the population was almost 2000 more in this town, not counting the rural areas of the district. You can feel free to ignore the obvious and keep the blinders on if you want but I am not going to play that game.
Right on Really. There is more than adequate room in the buildings we have.
This blog was great! I’ve heard a lot about classroom sizes being to big especially after the changes to collective bargaining. Just another whine from “educators”. (approx teacher to student ratio in Antigo is 1/15. http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/wisconsin/teacher-salary-in-antigo-school-district/). I’ve been around teachers my whole life. Have been involved with retired teachers organisations and the like. I’m sad to say that. Even though there’s a lot of humble teachers who’s real focus is teaching and they didn’t get a teaching degree to be rich. There are a seeming majority of them with the attitude described in this blog. I think the best improvement in the new system is being able to let go of bad teachers based on their teaching merit and not having to keep them because of seniority. Just because you’ve been teaching along time. Doesn’t make you a good teacher. And for the longest time. Those inefficient teachers were being protected bu things like “collective bargaining”. Did some things change for individual teachers. Yes. But. If teachers are honest. They’ll admit these changes are for the better and will translate into better education for our children. Thank you for pointing out the poor attitudes of a lot of teachers.
@Rod. If you came here looking for a writing contest you may as well just move along, this is a blog like any other where people post concerns and opinions.
@ Ret. Teacher… That is the worst sentence structure I have ever seen. Your language ability is terrible. I guarantee you were never a teacher. Holy s**t that is awful.
@Rod: I can hardly breath from laughing! Not sure they ment retired, maybe fired!
@Really: I know for a fact that the high school was built for three grades. Also, the old high school was torn down, only the middle school is still there.
@Gorobins. You must be thinking about some other towns high school lol. The current middle school is the old Antigo Jr/Sr High. The east side building was the jr high and the west side was the sr high. They were connected by a hall in the middle. That hall no longer exists because they added on to the building after the new high school was built and the size increase from that addition is substantial. You have either nnot been living in this town for a long time, or you are very confused. Also the new high school was not built for 3 grades. it was built to house all jr and sr high kids on the premis that we needed to knock the the old jr/sr high, now being use as a middle school with an addition?
Please show me your known fact that the high school was built for only 3 grades? Check out what the student cap is of that new building vs the 900 kids in it now and then repost for us.
@Really: You couldn’t be more wrong. The old high school was torn down and the only thing that remains of it is the old vocational building, which currently houses the 6th grade on the second floor and tech ed. etc. on the first floor. This building is on the south side of the block and one of the entrances has a sign above that says gymnasium entrance. The gymnasium that it is talking about is the old gym (commonly known as the girls gym) which was torn down along with the old high school. In the place of the old high school is a new building which has art rooms, the library, a gym which is used as a cafeteria, administrative offices, and a kitchen. It opened in 1998. It is in no way an addition to the old high school, which is completely gone. Also, the high school was built for three grades, I know I’m right on this.
The old high school (which is gone) was built in 1916 and the current middle school was built in 1927. The only part of the 1916 building that is left is the vocational building which I talked about in my previous post.
Going back to the topic, if restricting collective bargaining was a true budget saving measure, why were police and fire left alone? i know most police and fire unions predominantly vote republican, so was it a budget measure? i know a retired cop who 110 percent supports walker, but has no problem collecting his union pension check. maybe he should send them back but i doubt that would happen. politics in this country is disgusting no one is there for the people anymore its all about party lines. and any 24 hour news channels are alot too blame if anyone believes these people should have there voting rights taken away!
@ GOROBINS have you been in the middle school within the past few years???? They never tore down the old high school, I was just there last year while my son was an 8th grader and it is still the same place I went to back in the 80s. They did some updates and additions, but nothing was torn down.
@ Really, my point exactly, they never tore down the old high school.
The old HS complex on 7th Ave – the old “vocational school” on the southeast corner and the old gym, kitchen, cafeteria and entrance at the west end is still there and utilized. The 3 story 1916 high school was in between and was demolished when the new middle school portion was constructed several years ago.
WOWWW I am not sure if GROBINS has been in the city limits for quite some time because like you I attended in the 80s, mid 80s to be exact and I have adult kids that also went there. There was some walls taken down when the addition/remodeling was done but that’s it. As for the new high school. GOROBINS you go and get the student capacity for that building as I said and then come back and post more on it. I don’t care if you think they built if for 1 grade. The public was sold on a new Jr/Sr high school to replace the old one that was in such disrepair and dangerous. We currently have many wall lockers unused because of the declining enrollment and plenty of space to run a Jr/Sr high school there.
Seriously!!!!!!! You think nothing was torn down at site of the current middle school. Please go to this web address: http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1299&bih=603&q=antigo+high+school&gbv=2&oq=antigo+high+school&aq=f&aqi=g1g-S9&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1118l3539l0l3782l18l15l0l7l7l0l226l1164l0.5.2l7l0
if you get the same result as I did, which you should, you will see a picture of the old high school, which sat right where the new part of the middle school is, which opened in 1998. Before the new high school opened there was the Jr. High, which is in the current three story building that still exists, and the Sr. High, which was to the west of the Jr. High. The old high school is gone. THe only part that remains of it is the vocational building.
@Really: I hope you click on my link, I have a better one for you right here which shows the Vocational School (still there), the Jr. High (still there), and the Sr. High (torn down) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tatro/Antigo.htm
As for the new high school, it was never supposed to be a Jr/Sr high, it was originially supposed to have three grades, however, they decided to put four into it. I understand your argument that there is less kids in the high school now and that there is space to move more kids into that building. You are obviously against the referendum and feel the better option is to have the three current city elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school in operation rather than closing all seven elementary schools and building one brand new large one. I’m not going to argue with you about the referendum because I’m sure that argument will go nowhere. The only thing I’m trying to prove to you is that the old high school is gone, and that the new one was originally planned for three grades. I know that I am 100% correct about these two things.
GOROBINS I did click on your links. Thanks for posting them. The one shows the old building as it was from the 50s to the 80s. I left that school in 84 and it was not like the pictures so whatever you are talking about must have taken place before then. The school as it is today is no different except for the area where the long hall (also referred to as the tunnel) was torn down and the addition was put on. The area I am referring to is where the office is now as well as class rooms that did not exist when I was attending there.
In the second link I posted, the building in the top right corner was the old high school. It stood from 1916 until about 1996 1997. The addition to the middle school is where it stood, and yes, the tunnel is gone too.
The thing that is missing from the postcard is the “new” gym, which opened in the early 50′s. It would be to the right of the high school if the picture extended.
Sorry but I just don”t remember it being that way in the early 80s and it seems others agree. Either way there is more than enough room with that current building to use it for a grade school expansion if closing the rural schools is our only option.
@ Really, the original Antigo Senior High on 7th Ave burned to the ground in 1916. The “new” senior high was built in the same location in 1917 and was razed in 1994 after the current new senior high was built at the corner of 10th Ave and Western. If you click on the link below, the very top drawing shows the high school that was demolished in 1994 (The top right view) as it faced 7th Ave. GOROBINS is correct, the old high school was torn down leaving only the old Vocational school building which is on the south side of the block on 8th Ave. I graduated from the old school, my locker was in the basement. That building was torn down.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tatro/Antigo.htm
@ Ben. If this is correct and from what I see now there is still plenty of room to use this building as a grade school addition to the three we have in town. I went by the school today and I think I understand what you are explaining though. The remodel is just not as large as what was there before if I am looking at it correctly though the south side of the building still has the 3 stories.
I was listening to talk radio am 55 yesterday and a caller mentioned he saw a Toyota Prius with a “Recall Walker” sticker on the back bumber. The caller thought that was an oxymoron. A pro-union, anti Walker, liberal driving a non-union made quality car. The caller wonder to himself how many other pro-union, anti Walker liberals were driving non-union made autos. He said he took a slow drive through the employee/staff parking lots of several Wausau area public schools and counted something like 147 non-union made cars.
Toyota’s, Nissan’s, Honda’s, Kia’s, etc.
Now why would pro-union public union members who so strongly support the public unions when it pertains to their employment, drive non-union made quality automobiles ?
Because non-union member made auto’s are some of the best made vehicles on the road that’s why.
Alan Borsuk, a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, often writes about and advocates for the public schools. In a column February 12 he cited MPS budget figures: the average salary is currently $59,500 and will be going to $62,800 next year. The MPS contract is through the 2012-2013 school year so they have not yet been under the new law. More importantly, the average fringe benefit for an MPS teacher is $61,600 so the total average salary this year is $101,091. Next year the AVERAGE salaray will be $106,320. That is the problem. First, the norm for fringe benefits as a percent of salaries in the public school sector at the university level is 25%; MPS has fringe benefits at 69%. Remember, this is the average or mean, there will be many salaries far higher. Remember also that MPS is known nation-wide as one of the worst public school systems in America. And remember, too, that you here in Antigo are paying these salaries because of the way Wisconsin funds local schools. For decades American unions did this same thing in basic industries including auto, rubber, and steel. They got and demanded higher and higher fringe benefits so the base pay would not look so outrageous. That is why the auto and steel industires were nearly completely decimated by foreign competition. Japan and China, however, cannot take over the public schools so in this case the union has no fear. Nonetheless, the union has created a morass which will not easily be solved. IF money was the answer MPS would be shining: instead it is known as one of the worst public school systems in America. Can anyone out there argue that the average MPS teacher should be paid over $100,000? The average teacher. There is nothing more important than a good education and teachers are central to education. But this mess needs a major overhaul.
And even with those wages & benefits, MPS teachers filed a lawsuit when they were told that Viagra would no longer be covered by their insurance.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/06/milwaukee-teachers-viagra_n_673680.html
its a good thing all those rotten teachers didnt give you people your education that has gotten you this far in life! just imagine how horrible your lives would be had you had to put up with those money grubbers as a child.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxHfYNTrnic&feature=youtu.be
This is nothing I haven’t heard before but thought I would throw this out there for Jerry and his liberal posse. Jerry, what is your response to public school teachers brain washing students with liberal views like this ?
That “professor” asked kids what they wanted as a “dream”, right? Not as a political reality, but as a dream. So, what did he expect, recitation of Puritan self-denial? Did you ever entertain dreams that you knew were not going to happen in reality, Ben? FOX news, sheesh…. There’s a dream for you…. Now I gotta scrub my computer monitor out….
Wow! You people need to stop watching fox news for awhile , you think teachers are brain washing our children? What do you think fox news has done to you! And shure most of you went to public school and were taught by those good for nothing , money grubbing, union thugs who gave you the education that got you this far in life, and given you the ability to piss and moan about them! Why don’t you turn off fox news and quit listening to glen beck he is no patriot all he wants is you to be scared of democrats do you will keep listening to his show so his ratings
Will stay up and he will keep getting his fat paycheck! And I would bet if msnbc offered him the right price he would flop sides in a heartbeat!!so turn off the tv and go do something positive for our community!!
i apologize for grammar errors above i was in a hurry, but it should be so not do
Tell me these kids aren’t brain washed by liberal public school teachers. This kids are being taught one side of the issue and one side only by their teachers. I’ll bet a weeks pay that 20 years from now half the kids marching in this video will look back and realize how foolish they looked and admit they no longer share those liberal values. 20 years from now some of those kids will be conservatives by choice, not because of what news station they watch, but because they will be smart enough to realize there is no such thing as a free lunch (or free contraceptives like Obama wants us to believe).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkIJbsr75XM&feature=related
So your saying that those kids are brainwashed because they stood up for something they believe in? I didn’t hear them say in the video that their teachers made them march !and the principal said at the end that there would be punishments, one would think the principal would have been shaking their hands and chearing if they were brainwashed but go ahead and put your crazy conservative spin on it because like most of your arguments you have very little fact and alot of opinion.you call democrats socialists because they want everyone to pay their fair share. When in reality you are a Marxist because you want a one party ruling system and will not talk, budge, or compromise. I feel sorry for you that you can’t see what a great country we live in that was built on different ideas and compromise because founding fathers had a common goal. And I’m sure they would be ashamed of the politics in this country today. It’s sad when you see neighbors put up fences because their neighbor is a democrat! You need to quit watching fox news and go do something positive in your community instead of spreading fear and hatred.
Ben, why didn’t walker go after police and fire unions too? There money grubbing public unions just like teachers! What made them so special? Can you answer that ?and my next question to you is what did your teachers do to you to deserve all this hatred? Did they not give you a good enough education? It seem as though you can read and write and use a computer so they must have done something right! So why so bitter and narrow minded?
this is how kids have it in other countries, after watching this i am thankful for the teachers we have! but if we keep treating them the way you do now we will probably end up with teachers like this!
p.s. CAUTIONhttp://www.viatalaserviciu.ro/view_video.php?viewkey=c886e9247542e06ebb70 its very disturbing
http://www.viatalaserviciu.ro/view_video.php?viewkey=c886e9247542e06ebb70
CAUTION VERY DISTURBING
I wonder if any of the kids parents show up and beat that teacher to a pulp? My dad would have.
This is why we should take away peoples rights to have feet as a deadly weapon Jerry.
http://www.viatalaserviciu.ro/view_video.php?viewkey=2f88b2b3d566de51a538&page=&viewtype=&category= We all know it was you mistaking the poor guy for someone that slept with your wife. Good thing the concealed baseball bat holder was there to bring a stop to your reign of terror!
What does that have to do with the topic, and why such horrible attacks on Jerry I don’t see him getting personal like that towards you! Is name calling that important?
The comment is meant as a joke regarding some statements made quite some time back by Jerry about his feet while disusing concealed carry. If you have not read them you would not understand it. As for name calling I think you should go back and read many of your comments and how you refer to things you do not like.
@really, the only name i have called you it a tea bagger and i took that back, the only other thing i have called you is a conservative which that could be considered a bad name i guess. but you should go back and read your posts to me and others, i think you forget quickly the bashing you do. i have been trying to tone it down and have a civilized conversation. but you seem incapable of doing that.
@ ben still waiting for some answers, maybe you can be more civil and rational.
@ Don’t Drink The Kool-Aid. How many times are you going to ask the question about the police and fire dept unions? The answer to your question is obvious. Because the police and firemens union supported Walker when he was running for office duh. Is it right, NO. I disagree with his policy on that. He should be consistent across the board.
2. I don’t hate teachers and I’m not bitter. I call it like I see it. I know a good deal when I see one and public union members have a good deal. When the rest of America (the 99%) is getting pay freezes, pay cuts, lay offs and terminations, the public union members believe they shouldn’t have to. My question to you is, what makes public union members better than the general public ? Democrates keep saying the rich need to “pay their fare share” but when it comes to the public union members it means everybody needs to pay their fare share “except for us”. The Langlade County Treasurer just got a $13,000 pay raise. No college education required. She will be earning wages similar to Langlade County Public Health Registered Nurses which require a Bachelors degree. The current cost to go from an Associate Degree RN to B.S.N. RN is $25,000. What makes the unskilled treasurer position worth wages of a BSN Registered Nurse ?
Thank you Ben, the reason I kept asking the same question was I wanted to hear the real answer from a walker supporter! I would have agreed with it more if it was across the board also. But the fact that the unions agreed to contributing more to their pensions and healthcare so should have been enough. I dont care for unions I’ve had very bad experiences with them but I understand the need for them. They set the standard of living for all middle class. Do all teachers get paid well? No but some do. But everyone nowadays treats them with very little respect. It’s because of them we have jobs some good some ok but the education they gave us is very important and should not be tossed aside because of wage wars. There are plenty of blue collar jobs out there that pay better and have better Bennies than teachers and public unions. But we don’t go after them. As for our illustrious county board I don’t agree with that at all I can understand a pay increase but it should be proportionate and that is not. But as with all government especially here it’s easy to spend money that is not yours. The city council and county board should be made up of local business owners who understand what it takes to make and spend a dollar. But that won’t happen because if one of them were to make an unpopular decision people would stop going to their businesses. But republicans and democrats alike can spend like drunken monkeys.
@Don’t Drink The Kool-Aid. This we agree on. “But republicans and democrats alike can spend like drunken monkeys.”
hey kool aid. You think that because others make more than teachers that the teachers should be paid more? Just because a person goes to school is no reason to pay them more. People are paid according to value that they are to their employer. In the private sector, the market determines what the wages and benny’s should be . If a teacher is worth more per hour to the districts they will be paid accordingly. The problem with the public service unions is, they want even the worst employees paid as well as the higher performing employees. And as everyone knows higher performing employees have more value than a underperfoming employee. Just so we are clear I don’t think that the public service employees are paid too much, I just think that they are able to pay for a portion of their benny’s. The reason that the firefighters and policeman were not thrown into this buget reform bill, is if they were to walk away from their jobs, like teachers did. The safety of the residents would be at risk. And public safety is always a concern for whom ever is govenor. And the fact that they could possibly vote for walker is not always true. Just because the head of a union tells you to vote a certain way, is not always a guarntee that they will vote that way. I am sure that a few teachers will also vote for walker. Because they see the damage that has been done to this state by the public service unions. And also if you hate fox news, you should listen to Micheal Savage and you will see that fox news isn’t as radical as you think. Try both sides of the issue and then make a choice, just following 1 side will always make an uninformed voter.
@support scott walker. As much as I agree with you on most of this, I also have a problem with the way Walker did this. The firefighters and police should have and could have been included. We have a National Guard that can fill those gaps of the few police and firefighters that may walk off the job. Most will not because most of their contracts have a no strike clause unless they are between contracts. If they do then they can be fired and replaced and trust me there are many good police officers and fire fighters looking for jobs. Walker should have just made this a right to work state and the workers would have taken care of the Union problems on their own.