This post is a compilation of letters received by the school board. This is by no means all of the letters and instead only those who have responded to my request to post them here. I believe I have sent all members of the public a follow up asking if I could post their letter, but if I have missed anyone I apologize and will post your letter if you resend it to me. If anyone else would like me to post a letter on their behalf please send it to me.
I am not giving an opinion on these letters. I urge you to review both sides of this issue by looking at the MGEA and MG District websites.
Lastly, I gave the authors the option to include their names. Some agreed and some declined, but I decided to be consistent and not publish any names. So without further ado.....
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There are Districts across the State that are settling for 0% increases in contracts. I'd like to see MG join them. You represent 65% of my taxes. 5.??% is one "raise" I don't want.
Thanks,
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MG School Board:
I am writing regarding the teachers' contract. I generally support whatever teachers want; I think that in general they are underpaid and undervalued for the important work they do. That said, my purpose in writing is to ask that you not allow their current "job action" of "working the contract" to affect your negotiations. I think the worst thing we can do -- worse than letting the kids and the district continue to suffer because of the teachers' "action" -- would be to reward the union for this unethical tactic; if we do that, I'm sure we can expect more of the same in the future.
Thanks for considering my point of view.
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in the next contract I would say be sure one of their required duties
is to write letters of recommendation for students. Not sure why this
would be an optional duty, seems like they could fit it into their
day.
So there's no 'other duties as assigned" on a teacher's job contract,
like there is in every job I've ever had? (asked in a follow up e-mail)
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Please don't give in! I just read where teachers in the MGSD are basically using extortion to get what they want, by not writing letters of recommendation for students. There aren't words to express my disgust. All around us people are losing jobs, being paid less, and having to pay more for everything. Dane County and State workers took a pay CUT!
Isn't writing a letter a part of their JOB? I know you won't believe this, but I do NOT have any ax to grind with teachers. It's the union and the greed they exhibit that makes me sick. I worked for the WI Retirement Fund and I know teachers get paid well and have a very good retirement package. I implore members of the MG School Board to demand those teachers do the job they are paid to do, and do it well. If they don't, let them go out on strike. You could rehire replacements in a few days. There are thousands of people in the Madison area with the proper credentials.
Many other school boards (like Madison) don't have a backbone. They laid off some poor (almost minimum wage) kitchen workers so they could afford to give a RAISE to the teachers. There should be a special place in hell for people who do that. And if you go to binding arbitration, all some person does is compare your offer with the others that have already ALL gone up. Until some school board shows some real courage, it will never end. Please think about the people who are struggling and have to pay the bills. But more importantly, please think of what the teachers union is doing to the students. Students are nothing but pawns in their sick game, and I implore you again to do the right thing. Just say NO to removing the retirement adjustment off the table.
THANK YOU!!!!
P.S. A reply would be welcomed!
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Hello,
The recent article published in the Herald-Independent is informative and revealing.
There is no rational reason for continuing the practice of having teachers’ compensation and benefits be much better than that enjoyed by virtually all of the district taxpayers who pay the bills.
The strategy of phasing out of today’s structure into a more reasonable and sustainable structure in the future is a good one.
The Board and Superintendent need to be strong in their resolve to bring needed change to our district.
People, like me, who are retired and on a fixed income, can no longer tolerate the unfairness of the current compensation and benefit programs.
Thank you,
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Again, I just copied and pasted these. I offer no opinion on them one way or the other. I only post them here, so that everyone can see what some of the e-mails say that the board is getting.
Jason
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Here is another letter.
ReplyDeleteDear Board Members,
I fully support your efforts to negotiate a new contract that is fiscally responsible. I have just read your half-page article in the current issue of The Herald-Independent newspaper. As a federal civil service retiree, I would like to compare some of my benefits to those of the MGEA retired teachers. (Please note that the federal Civil Service Retirement System , CSRS, was replaced with FERS in 1986 for all new employees. FERS implemented a 401k-like retirement system but insurance benefits did not change.)
I do NOT get 100% paid health insurance; I paid as an employee - and as a retiree - 30% of the health insurance premium even when the premium increases!
I do NOT get 80-100% paid dental; I receive a dental coverage that pays approximately $80 per year for dental as part of my health insurance. I get no other dental coverage unless I pay 100% of the premium.
I do NOT get any vision insurance; if I want it, I pay 100% of the premium.
I received NO life or disability insurance as an employee unless I paid the premium and that applies to retirees.
I received NO stipend when I retired.
During my career, I paid 7 to 8 percent of my salary per annum toward my retirement.
The current teachers' total compensation package (salary plus benefits and pension) is very, very generous and I encourage the Board to remain strong in its efforts to reduce the taxpayer's burden in the new contract negotiations. Thank you for publishing the half-page update in the Sept. 23 issue of The Herald-Independent.
(Follow up information from writer)
Correction on federal employee/retiree term life insurance (FEGLI) follows. The govt. pays 1/3 of the Basic Life Insurance coverage but none of the additional optional coverages. The point is that the employee shares in the premium.
QUOTE:
Most employees are eligible for FEGLI coverage. FEGLI provides group term life insurance. As such, it does not build up any cash value or paid-up value. It consists of Basic life insurance coverage and three options. In most cases, if you are a new Federal employee, you are automatically covered by Basic life insurance and your payroll office deducts premiums from your paycheck unless you waive the coverage. In addition to the Basic, there are three forms of Optional insurance you can elect. You must have Basic insurance in order to elect any of the options. Unlike Basic, enrollment in Optional insurance is not automatic -- you must take action to elect the options.
The cost of Basic insurance is shared between you and the Government. You pay 2/3 of the total cost and the Government pays 1/3. Your age does not affect the cost of Basic insurance. You pay the full cost of Optional insurance, and the cost depends on your age.
UNQUOTE
Another citizen who allowed me to post their letter.
ReplyDeleteTo The Monona Grove School Board,
I want to express how upset I have been and still am over the teachers at MG with their contract negotiations. Many people not only in this community, but around the world are continuing to loose their jobs and needless to say their benefits (which by the way are not even close to as great as what the teachers have been getting for years).
How is it that we, the taxpayers, can continue to meet the unrealistic demands of the teachers. Their annual increase in pay is above the cost of living and the benefits are outrageous, the rest of us don't get these type of pay increases nor benefits. If they don't like the current contract negotiations, then they should look elsewhere for employment, just like the rest of us.
I think the teachers pay scale and benefits should be based on the same scale as many other places of employment. Most companies give pay increases based on ones performance and how that company did during the current economy, not based on additional credits or degrees in our field of expertise and longevity. When we further our education or receive additional training, it is to stay current with the ever-changing requirements for our current position and often times take on additional responsibilities for the same pay, it does not qualify us for any additional pay increase.
Many people (for many, many years now) have been forced to take pay cuts as well as benefit cuts and put in additional hours due to down-sizing within the company, out-sourcing, etc, just to keep their jobs. But, here at MG, we see that the teachers don't want to put in any additional hours beyond what their contract indicates. Well, if they had a salary position with a company, you wouldn't see them only working a 40 hour week and they wouldn't get paid for additional hours put in either. What about all the volunteer hours parents put in to help fund programs at the school. Should we stop volunteering? We all know who that would hurt...it would be the students in those programs. This is exactly what is happening now with the teachers not wanting to put in any more hours than what their contract dictates.
How is it that these teachers feel their contract negotiations haven't been taken out on the students when that is indeed what has happened. Seniors, as well as juniors, have asked teachers if they would write them letters of recommendation for college applications and also scholarships, that of course have deadlines for submittal. Well, you know the story here, the teachers decided that they weren't going to write those letters of recommendation because this would be time beyond what their contract dictated. These teachers have put all kinds of stress on these students and families by not even wanting to put in additional time to do that for the students. Funny, how its okay for the parents to volunteer in the schools to fund programs but it isn't okay for the teachers to volunteer to write letters of recommendations for our kids!?!?!
We have been very blessed over the years with good teachers, but for what they have and are putting the students and families through at this time, I feel each and every one that isn't volunteering to write a letter of recommendation for these students should be REPRIMANDED!!!!!!!!!! THE STUDENTS NOR THE FAMILIES DESERVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!
I have been one of those parents that has volunteered in each and every school that my daughter has attended and I am appalled at the choices these teachers have made!!!!!
IT IS TIME TO BRING THE TEACHERS BENEFITS DOWN TO EARTH, GET RID OF THE CONTRACT, THE TEACHERS UNION, AND FOR THE TEACHERS TO BE REPRIMANDED FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!