A uniformed on-duty Monona Police officer dropped this off at my house earlier today:
I have a couple of problems with the flyer. The biggest one is that board did not decide to vote on this issue on Feb. 24th. Our budget timeline lists March 24th as the date for action. The mayor should have taken a moment to check with the district office before using city resources to send out misinformation. I questioned Rob about this, instead of taking responsibility, he blamed the Monona PTO. The date, and general tone of the flyer, give the impression that the board is trying to rush this through and hide it from the public. This isn't true.
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72 comments:
I see the mayor is embarrasing himself again, this time at public expense.
The mayor writes up an inflammatory note -- at a time when the school board and superintendent have worked very hard (and succeeded), in creating a civil climate for these difficult issues to be discussed -- and then apparently has the police drop it off around Monona. Why doesn't the mayor direct the police to do something related to their jobs, like making sure our children can walk to school safely?
Then again, perhaps the mayor cares more about the school buildings our children attend, than in the safety of our children being able to get to and from those schools.
What a disgrace.
Mayor Kahl seems to have missed the top line on the items not on the preliminary list of proposed reductions and the explanation as to why it was not included.
http://www.mononagrove.org/cms_files/resources/Budget%20Documents%20from%200127101.pdf
Glad to see he is putting our tax dollars and public resources to go use today. Maybe tomorrow the police department can help conduct the census since they have all this free time.
I think it's awesome...no one else seems to be informing the public of this...other than a few emails flying around from concerned parents...many people are just finding out about this today...I just found out last week!
I don't understand how this is a disgrace that he obviously cares about the schools in the community and that his children go to...
I agree that using the police and taxpayers $ is not the way to get the word out but I am sure it was last minute and who will volunteer to do such things last minute!?
And by the way...the mayor has been working for more than a year on trying to figure out how to make our streets safer...maybe you could catch up on the city council meetings...the last one is especially of interest since many neighborhood families appeared to voice their concern!!!
If the city has people on the payroll hanging about who can be sent out to distribute fliers at the drop of the hat, then its clear we have way too many city employees and its time to cut the budget.
He's not only embarrassing himself, he's embarrassing our entire community. What bush league stuff this is. Unbelievable. This is just so incredibly bad on so many levels. I am sorry the school board and the district employees have to deal with this idiotic behavior. I think everyone truly is trying to do this best thing under the circumstances and Mayor Kahl clearly does not believe they are capable of this.
"I think it's awesome...no one else seems to be informing the public of this...other than a few emails flying around from concerned parents."
This is total BS. The school board has practically taken out billboards to inform people about what's going on with the budget cuts -- it's been in the papers, on the district website, with all kinds of information available. Say what you will about the board, they've done a better job than previous boards about keeping citizens informed about all this.
Actually, the person who has done a better job than in the past is the current editor of the Herald. If you don't read the local paper, ya got no excuse to complain.
To me the district has been clear about the budget cuts (including Maywood), though I also believe that having the Board rank Maywood a month ago would have been better.
Clearly there is a population of residents who feel the Board did not make the Maywood option clear (as other posts suggest).
I can't tell from the note if the Mayor part of this population, or is responding to the group and doing something to satisfy residents. Mayor Kahl usually takes issues seriously when residents complain (sometimes too seriously in my opinion). However, even when I don't agree with those issues, I think it's good the Mayor is listening and tries to help.
There is an article in today's paper about Madison being 30 million short. The board/superintendent should emphasize how we're in better shape then this, and while the cuts are tough, many districts have it far worse.
The last time the mayor got involved in school board business with his inflammatory rhetoric it definitly hurt his cause. Will he ever learn?
Hey, thanks to the person who wrote: "If you don't read the local paper, ya got no excuse to complain."
We've been reporting on the budget issue for months, and Maywood was definitely included on the original list of 39 possible cuts. The story from the Feb. 10 meeting is now online, if you'd like to learn more about the current administrative recommendation.
herald-independent.com
-Adam
Peter
I heard something today, who heard something from someone else-
So.
How much of a salary icrease do the budget projecations assume for next fy?
ty
Ya know, I like the mayor- and his family- and I understand that he wants his kids to go to Maywood.
But he should, without a doubt, be recalled for this. Using our police force not to enforce the law, but to promote his personal feelings about a controversial issue- it is unforgivable. The second poster here is right- the School board has done a good job of posting information and getting the word out. Our elementary school principal, who is phenomenal, has voiced her views, and the mayor pushes his own agenda WHILE USING ON DUTY POLICE OFFICERS? A recall, or he should resign in shame. Or at the very least pay back the money spent on their salaries today out of his own pocket. How about it Mayor Kahl?
I am THANKFUL that Mayor Kahl actually took the time to tell Monona citizens about the meeting tonight. The TRUTH is that NO ONE on the school board took the time to inform parents about this meeting tonight or the vote on Feb. 24th. We learned about this from the PTO. Not cool. Parents are outraged, and should be. Mayor Kahl was responding, most likely, to outcries from the community members who elected him, and TRYING TO HELP.
And regarding Peter's comment in the Cap Times today, since when is a school a "luxury?" Luxuries are the 6-figure salaries of the Monona Grove administrators - interesting that salary freezes or cuts are not being considered.
Thanks for the link to the Herald article but in it - right at the very end - Adam says:
"Because of aforementioned scheduling issues, these decisions will have to be made final at the February 24 meeting in order to move forward with these changes for the 2010-2011 school year, starting next fall."
So how exactly is it inaccurate to say in the flyer that action is being taken on the 24th when even the paper says that? Do you see how WE VOTERS are confused?
I thank Mayor Kahl for actually filing us in before it is too late.
I hope the speeding on lower Winneq. did not get out of hand while the pd handed out flyers.
Dear Peter,
"The board made no decision to vote on the closure at tje Feb. 24th meeting. "
It does not say that.
The mayor has every right to give public notice to the community. At least he is looking out for his community, unlike the school board.
The budget timeline is posted on the district web site http://www.mononagrove.org/cms_files/resources/BUDGET%20CALENDAR.pdf
It says:
" March 24 Board of Education to take action on proposed budgetary reductions."
But he doesn't have a right to use public employees to make false and inflammatory statements.
Peter-
So one speaker tonight asked for the teachers/staff to assist the district in closing the budget gap.
thoughts?
Why is the school board so quick to try to settle for a short-term fix on such huge and long-term problems? Closing a school, cutting good programs, cutting much needed staffing positions. Why hasn't THE SCHOOL BOARD proposed a referendum? So that the people of the community can decide what is best for said community.
The many comments about the mayor using the police force to get the word out about the meeting tonight are ludicrous, to say the least. It's not as if he was having them hand out flyers for a personal issue - it was for the good of the community - for people to be informed - where they obviously have not been previously, and should have been. Good for you Mayor Kahl! - for standing up for your community and caring on a level that most politicians DON'T anymore. That should be an inspiration for this community - not something to complain about.
Why such defensiveness about Monona citizens learning about the meeting tonight? I would think that, as a board member, you'd want people to be informed. I'm glad the Mayor got the word out and used a tax-funded way of doing so. We are paying them to look out for our own good.
The fact that the mayor put together a false, misleading and inflammatory flyer, instead of an accurate and informative one, indicates that this is personal issue.
Yes, we as tax payers pay for our services. And if that means that the police force has to be handing out flyers door-to-door because the school board fails to inform the citizens of Monona about issues that are critical to our community, then so be it! I say the school board members should be handing out the flyers next time.
The Mayor's flyer was false, misleading, and inflammatory? No. Informative for the citizens of Monona? Yes. Unless there was something trying to be hidden, why would anyone use those words? Hmmmmm........
What exactly was "inflammatory" about the flyer? It reflected a vote date of Feb. 24, which several people present at the school board meeting heard.
I've been a resident of Monona for over 40 years, and after watching tonight's televised meeting regarding the current state of the school district's issues, I'd have to say that that the board is definitely not listening to it's citizens. I hope that will change.
I thought it was funny how the board, particularly Susan Fox, was trying to defend themselves tonight about how they did due diligence getting the word out by telling media and posting online. Not everyone has time to read the paper everyday! Especially families with young kids. The mayor, realizing that the community has not been informed about this, does what he can to ensure his constituents get this information and he is vilified. Embarrassing himself? What kind of people think that way? Peter should be the one that is embarrassed for not doing his due diligence. Sorry if you didn't want everyone to know about the meeting, but to shame the mayor for doing the "right thing" is reprehensible.
What more, exactly, do you think the board should do to publicize this?
What more should the board do to publicize things? WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO GET THE WORD OUT TO THE CITIZENS OF MONONA ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT! You are our elected officials. Figure it out!!! That's what you're elected to do for crying out loud. This is just too ridiculous. Mayor Kahl reached more people in one day than you have in the past year! We elected you...you can't come up with anything but rude retorts?
Mayor Kahl had a staff of paid city employees distribute flyers, are you suggesting the district do the same? I would point out that Kahl didn't even attempt to reach half the citizens of the district. I don't think that the school district has employees sitting around idle to run odd jobs for the mayor the way the city does.
" I would think that, as a board member, you'd want people to be informed."
Why do you think I have spent so much time keeping up this blog? I've posted these issues over and over again!
"Peter-
So one speaker tonight asked for the teachers/staff to assist the district in closing the budget gap.
thoughts?"
We are currently in negotiations with the teachers union, so I can't really talk about it. That said, it isn't fair to the teachers to ask them to bear the brunt of the structural deficit over the long haul. A short term issue yes, but it can't solve the structural deficit, we need to think bigger.
"What more should the board do to publicize things? WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO GET THE WORD OUT TO THE CITIZENS OF MONONA ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT!"...I have an idea how about if the Monona PD and the oh so concerned Mayor Kahl personally deliver the MG School Board meeting agendas, meeting minutes and all handouts and supplementary materials, the Herald Independent, the Cap Times and the State Journal, the Grade Configuration AdHoc Report, and any information related to the 2006 referendum directly to each and every household in Monona. That way the Monona Police Department will have fulfilled their public service duties, (justifying their expense) Mayor Kahl will have done his duty by keeping his constituents abreast of the latest school board issues and actions (and getting himself some air time for more ridiculous behavior) and then those of us claiming to be so woefully uninformed will have no more excuses. The only difficulty I see is how Mayor Kahl and the Monona PD will actually force feed this delivered information to the oh so unwilling. Honestly folks, when did claiming ignorance, in particular self imposed ignorance, become such a fashionable excuse for being uninformed. Mayor Kahl isn’t the only one who should be embarrassed.
Peter, I really hope I'm reading this wrong...are you suggesting that the way parents should be informed about the issues is by logging on and reading your blog? How about a letter sent home with students? I'd prefer to read an objective, unbiased account when it comes to my kids education and what is happening with their school...not get my info from one board member via a string of info and comments under the heading "The police stopped by..."
How about going to the library and reading the local paper, which has done a very good job of writing about this?
How about visiting the district website, which is full of budget information with even a minor amount of searching?
How about watching a cable broadcast of the meetings, all taped and shown after board meetings?
How about contacting a board member, via phone or email, with questions?
How about actually, you know, going to a board meeting to stay informed?
All of these needy, hand-holding pleas to "keep us informed" smacks of people who only want to be informed when they don't like the decisions that are being made.
The board has done a wonderful job informing people. The details have been in the community paper and online. Schools sent out information about the listening sessions. People who say they were unaware haven't been paying attention.
Peter, I just saw the post stating that one speaker asked staff/teachers to consider pay cuts to help. Did anyone take a look at the salaries of the administrators? There are rumors going around that Gerlach just got a $12,000 increase. Is that accurate? Are school administrator salaries open record?
"I just saw the post stating that one speaker asked staff/teachers to consider pay cuts to help. Did anyone take a look at the salaries of the administrators? "
Actually, I thought that speaker did a great job. He just said to the teachers can you help us out a little and then when things change we will help you?
"Peter, I really hope I'm reading this wrong...are you suggesting that the way parents should be informed about the issues is by logging on and reading your blog? "
No, I was responding to the comment that implied I don't want people informed. I was submitting this blog as evidence to the contrary. I'm trying to do my part.
People should read the paper (at least), if you are going to rely on the mayor, then you are only going to be aware of issues that he finds important when he wants you to. I don't think that's a formula for success.
I'm open to suggestions as to what we should do to reach the whole community, especially the majority that don't have children in the schools. Would people volunteer to distribute information door-to-door on a regular basis?
"Peter, I just saw the post stating that one speaker asked staff/teachers to consider pay cuts to help. Did anyone take a look at the salaries of the administrators? There are rumors going around that Gerlach just got a $12,000 increase. Is that accurate? Are school administrator salaries open record?"
School administrator pay increases have been tied to the teachers contract. Total admin compensation (including Craig) increases at the same rate. This year, however, Craig suggested we do something different - we set the administrative salaries before the contract is settled at less (salaries + benefits) than what we anticipate for the teachers contract. Most of the increase is typically taken up by increased health care costs- district employees typically see very small increases in their paychecks.
"Most of the increase is typically taken up by increased health care costs- district employees typically see very small increases in their paychecks."
Aaaahhhh, most state, county and city employees have seen negative increases in their take home-I am just sayin.
How I feel about the budget cuts.
http://www.archive.org/details/AbelLeblancOutburst
Ok, I do not really feel that way. We are in a spot-sorry.
I must say they way the board and Super Gerlach handled last night was better than I have seen in years.
I watched the meeting. The camera often panned to the audience. If Maywood is supposedly such a concern to Monona people, why was the audience so small? People who don't have small kids, which is most of Monona, could have easily attended after the Mayor's personalized delivery, but they did not. I have seen much bigger crowds at meetings in the past.
Here's the thing. The mayor revealed his bias by making the flyer focus primarily on Maywood. Who says that the other stuff on the chopping blocks is not more important to people in Monona? Is it conceivable that some of us might care more about increasing high school class size or related arts? If he really cared about education, he would have had the Chief of Police deliver a flyer that focused on that, but his agenda is clearly Maywood and that's why I am angry he used my tax dollars for his personal agenda. And sorry, using city employees is way out of line and adds a level of hysteria to this situation that is unnecessary and unhelpful.
"And sorry, using city employees is way out of line and adds a level of hysteria to this situation that is unnecessary and unhelpful."
Strongly agree and I believe the board has worked hard to educate the public.
Bottom line folks – most of us would not have been in the know here if not for Mayor Kahl’s actions. I am more than willing to pay a few city employees, ONE of which happened to be from the police force, to get the word out. As has been pointed out, even the newspaper is reporting the decision is set to be made February 24th so nothing inaccurate there at the time the flyer went out. As has also been pointed out, the preliminary proposed list of cuts did not list closing Maywood so nothing inaccurate there in the flyer. The flyer also notes that other cuts are being considered per the list and so I think the Mayor focused on Maywood because IT WAS NOT ON THE LIST. We need to move forward now and try, with our friends and neighbors in Cottage Grove, to come up with a comprehensive plan to fix our budget situation. I think Peter’s preliminary plan laid out in his most recent post is a great start. Finally, to the comment that more people should have been at the hearing last night if they were so concerned about Maywood – remember these people with young kids need to figure out babysitting and while they got some notice thanks to Mayor Kahl I know it was not enough for most to make arrangements to get to the hearing.
The flyer was wrong, and if the mayor had done due diligence (or even just vague diligence) he would have not disseminated incorrect information. Maywood has been on the list since 12/16/09 look at the board documents.
"School administrator pay increases have been tied to the teachers contract. Total admin compensation (including Craig) increases at the same rate. This year, however, Craig suggested we do something different - we set the administrative salaries before the contract is settled at less (salaries + benefits) than what we anticipate for the teachers contract. Most of the increase is typically taken up by increased health care costs- district employees typically see very small increases in their paychecks."
Any increase is disgusting and innapropriate when everyone is asking for cuts, especially for someone that is making over $150,000+ a year. Could you please answer the prior post questioning if Craig recieved a $12,000 increase? Are these approvals posted online? Other districts are seeing pay freezes, unions across the country are seeing pay cuts or freezes in order to save jobs. The fact that the children suffer while any pay increases are happening is appalling. A small percentage paycut could save a lot of the programs. Will there be an analysis of closing/selling Nichols and moving the adminstrators to Winnequah in order to prevent Maywood from closing?
"Any increase is disgusting and innapropriate when everyone is asking for cuts"
I think the comment is right one-who approved pay raises when rome was about to burn?
layoffs
programs cut
class sizes increased
school closed
Gosh, Peter, I understand we have to cut our budget, but to give increases? I worked at a place that had to do layoffs (10-12). When the layoffs were complete, the leader gave pay raises of 5 to 10%. When that word got out no one believed in the leader.
For those who want the admin or teachers to take a pay cut, will you really be ready to give a larger pay increase when times are good?
We've made a deal (through the board, who we elect) that says in exchange for your work, we promise to give small increases each year in good times or bad. We should keep our word.
Most of us have a different deal, that says, you get more when times are good, and less or none when times are bad. It probably is better for us then them, because good times typically last longer then bad (the last 10 years being a big exception).
If we want to change the deal, we have to be willing to keep our word, which would mean 5-10% raises when things turn around. Given how much some don't like the 3-4% increase each year now, I think they'll really not like it under that agreement, even with years of 0%.
Administrative salaries are linked to teachers salaries. It is a sound policy that puts everyone in the same boat and prevents one group from being pitted against another in contract negotiations- something that would have a corrosive effect on the working relationships in the district. There is a real need for this.
Teacher contract negotiations are governed by state law with binding arbitration as the final step. In practice this prevents the district from significantly reducing annual salary increases. I heard that since the implementation of the QEO law in 1993 no district had settled for less than 3.8% annual (total package) increase. If a settlement can't be reached the decision goes to the arbitrator who picks the the proposal of the side he finds most reasonable- and the arbitrator's word is final. For example if the district goes in with 1% and the union goes in asking for 5% the arbitrator might very well pick the 5%, and then the district is stuck. You can see the result - there is a powerful incentive for settlements to converge on averages.
I can't talk about current contract negotiations, except to say that I believe the board is negotiating with what we all believe to be the best long term interests of the district in mind.
As for Craig, I believe he took no increase in his contract this year. Craig volunteered this before we started the budget process.
"For those who want the admin or teachers to take a pay cut, will you really be ready to give a larger pay increase when times are good?"
Absolutely!
Let us take a vote and see how many of your readers got an increase in take home.
Who ever got a raise last year post the word RAISE and if your take home went down post DOWN and same SAME.
DOWN
DOWN for me and my husband voted for a contract with a net zero raise for the next two years so that jobs could be protected.
DOWN-by 5% that is not counting how much my insurance went up.
SAME, my wife was SAME with a couple of furloghs so it becomes a DOWN.
However, I don't think we should cut the teacher's pay. We should stand by them and other hard working Americans.
I feel like the middle class is being pitted against one another in this ecconomy, and it was not the poor, or teachers, or any other person making under $200,000 a year that caused the bulk of the problems.
Up, but only because I went from un-employed back to employed.
I feel like the middle class is being pitted against one another in this ecconomy, and it was not the poor, or teachers, or any other person making under $200,000 a year that caused the bulk of the problems.
I have worked for over 18 years in this district, have a master's degree, earn under $55,000 a year....and I deserve a pay cut?
I don't think any resident of the district thinks teacher "deserve" a pay cut.
But it's worth nothing that numerous other public-sector employees at all levels of government here in the Madison area -- Monona city employees, county workers, all state employees, and nearly all UW employees (the above list includes many, many residents of the MG district) -- have effectively taken pay cuts this past year through either voluntary pay cuts or mandatory furloughs -- some on the order of 5 percent wage cuts.
It's impraticable to have teachers take furloughs. But in light of sacrifices made by other public-sector employees, why can't teachers take no pay increase for a year or two (not a pay cut, but no pay increase)? It would make the current district budget problem go away in an instance, and spare the community the very difficult (and overly politicized) debate about sacrificing teachers and beloved elementary schools.
"I have worked for over 18 years in this district, have a master's degree, earn under $55,000 a year....and I deserve a pay cut?"
No you do not deserve a pay cut, but that is not the question at hand.
Our economy is being restructured and major shifts are happening.
For the record- I have worked for 15 years for the state, have a masters and my pay went DOWN about 5% (take home more because of the increase in health care) and I doubt it will ever return.
My wife stayed the same-she has a bachelors.
So you see it is a little hard for me to imagine or fathom a teacher getting a 4% raise.
Dear Teacher,
I agree with the previsous poster because it is not about you.
In this house, I work for the state, earned a masters and make about what you make and lost money.
It is difficult for me to understand why you will be getting a 4% raise that is paid, in part, by me and my family-while I slide backwards.
This says nothing about your work, years of service or education.
MG teachers and State workers did not ruin the economy. Both groups should be fighting together.
Our elected representatives, have slowly moved from funding schools and other state programs with income and corporate taxes (which are progressive and take incrementally more as you make more), to property and sales taxes (which are regressive, and hurt poor and middle class workers). They did this under the theory that giving money to the top 5% will spur job and salary growth. Instead much of the money was pocketed and the other 95% is left to pick up the tab.
Do a survey at the big WMC office on East Wash and I imagine most will say SAME or UP. Do a survey of the legislators who got automatic raises, I think only 1/3 returned it this year. Read how many bailed out firms gave out millions in bonuses. It hurts to loose money (my wife and I are fortunate to have only lost through furloughs), and I'm grateful to still have a job, but I'm not going to take out my anger at other middle class workers.
I'm mad at the scam between our State and Federal Representatives, and big business. They are extorting us (if you raise our taxes, we'll have to cut jobs), not representing us, and making millions doing so. If you are mad at a pay cut, I suggest this is where to direct your anger too.
That's all fine and good, but misplaced in the context of the current budget dilemma the school district faces. And that budget problem could be dealt with in a way that spares actual teachers actual jobs (thus maintaining great school programs) if collectively the teachers (and other school employees) chose to absorb -- briefly, for a year or two -- similar pay/benefit hardships nearly everyone else has lately.
The problem is that it is not a temporary problem so temporary solutions can't solve it.
We aren't dealing with a temporary one or two year problem here, we are dealing with a structural deficit created by the WI school funding system that is projected to continue to increase each year. If we think about this problem as a temporary one, then we are liable to make short term decisions that may make the long term situation harder to deal with.
A health-benefit plan that requires no payment by staff into it is a long-term budget problem, crying out for a long-term solution that might be made more acceptable by a 1-to-2 year short-term cut up front.
"We aren't dealing with a temporary one or two year problem here, we are dealing with a structural deficit created by the WI school funding system that is projected to continue to increase each year."
And the problem with that one is you are going to continue to have the pay and health ins problem AND have the problem of going to a public who is always making less.
It is silly to not address this at this time and I find it appalling that admin were given a raise-it is shameful.
This is almost my 20th year in the district and in the 90's, when the economy was thriving, the teachers had to take a step/pay freeze. So it really doesn't matter what the economy is doing, when the school needs money, many people think that the teachers should just take a pay freeze to fix it. And if that happens again, it will make it difficult for teachers to continue to pay out of their own pockets for items such as school supplies, snack, birthday treats, boots, hats, gloves, coats, valentines, Halloween costumes, etc. for their students whose families are unable to provide those things.
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