3 months ago
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Ripon Paper on Ref Voting
There was an article in the Ripon paper by Aaron Becker on the voting in the last school referendum. He made very good points and backed it up with numbers. I look forward the next referendum. I have a feeling it will pass this time. They school board did a very bad job of educating the public about the need for the increase, why we have such a high per student cost and renewing Ken Bates contract just before they are asking for more money. Not the best planning on their part. Have they considered any consolidation of high schools at all? I can understand a community wanting to keep a grade school in a town, but what about High School consolidation? Is this being discussed at any level or are we going to be hit with these referendums forever?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Subscribe To The Green Lake Blog
Posts
Comments
About Me
- Chief Highknocker
- You aren't local until you have at least three generations in the cemetery.
328 comments:
1 – 200 of 328 Newer› Newest»I too, think the next referendum will pass in April. There will be more people voting then and I think people will vote in favor of it.
I like Aaron Becker's reporting. He covers Green Lake well and put the Ripon lady with the loud mouth in her place.
What we voters need are THE FACTS. The SCHOOL BOARD must clear up several inconsistencies regarding the referendum stated by Ken Bates. Before the first referendum vote he stated that 58% of the budget goes to personal. Now he is stating that 78% of the budget goes to personal - 3 weeks later. He has been heard to say various numbers of staff that would have to be laid off if the referendum did not pass. We heard HIM say anywhere from 6 to 13. What other "facts" has he misled us on? (The amount spent on IB training over 2 years - and the amount received from "grants" that even teachers say is not enough to pay for their training - flying all over the country, eating, staying in first class motels. AND the number of students who have chosen Green Lake due to IB? And HOW MANY CHOSE TO OPEN ENROLL AT GL BEFORE CUTOFF IN FEBRUARY? HOW MANY OPEN ENROLLED OUT OF GL - say to get tech ed courses for other reasons? WE NEED FACTS from the school board - not from Bates - before we will vote yes.
Three interrelated questions:
Assuming the revised referendum doesn't pass in April,
1) how many more times can the school attempt a referendum by putting it out for a 'vote'?
2) is there a waiting period between attempts?
3) what is the cost to taxpayers each time this thing is paraded around for a vote?
This entire situation is insidious in that the majority of people voted one way and yet the school can continuously throw this thing out until they get their way. They can tweek the thing and make it seem more palatable but the bottom line remains the same....
In a democracy you vote and the majority vote decides the outcome.
Haven't we already done this?
What a sad commentary...keep throwing the thing out there until people get sick of it and give in to the whims of the already ill-run GLSD. More wasted money!
And please Ken, Barb an the rest of the self-perpetuating scavengers...stop acting like the voters of Green Lake are 'pitted' against the poor defenseless children / students. Stop claiming that the concept of the referendum pits people with limited income against children. Or, the whole "Children First" battle cry of the free-spending staff/administration/school board of GLSD who haven't espoused fiscal responsibility but who are in it for their own self-serving whims of IB and Charter...give us all a break.
The only thing the voters of Green Lake want to see eliminated is the unabated, wasteful spending which has gotten us to this point in the first place!
The folks who run GLSD should be ashamed and embarrassed that they can't figure out how to educate a child with $20,000 PER YEAR.
Furthermore, Bates, and whomever else is in the boat with this referendum should be fired / replaced for mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
The bottom line says it all...and the one at GLSD is in shambles!
On February 18th, Ken Bates emailed the following to the entire staff of the GLSD:
Please refer students to the website or share handout we have prepared for them. During the school day discussion should be limited to informational items rather than pros and cons or consequences of a no vote. There are rumors in the community that our staff told students that since the referendum failed we are consolidating with Princeton next year and students were crying because of it. I know this is not the case, but please realize how things can get shifted once a story gets retold. Also, I heard another rumor that a staff member was at the library yesterday and told people that it would have been nice to have been told by the administration what they were supposed to tell the students.
*******************
Is this the same Ken Bates, who in a recent School Talk column inferred that the “children were in conflict with people who are on fixed incomes or those whose income has been reduced”? So, let’s get this straight. It is okay for the school administrator to tell the teachers to use the students as pawns in their quest for more money? This is completely unacceptable to me. This is insidious! Leave the children alone! How dare you USE them the way you did! I think there is more to the rumors than Ken Bates gives credit for (once a story gets retold?) I have heard that teacher(s) told their students to go home and tell their parents to vote yes, or they would not have a school anymore. Now I hear that the children were emotionally blackmailed and traumatized after the election as well? I would like to know which teacher(s) said this. Parents, if you have any information about this, please post it.
Why is it that the school has yet to explain why they need more money? Shouldn’t the onus be on them to accurately show why they do not have enough money? Why can’t they continue to operate with the $20,000 per student spending as it now stands? Where exactly is the problem? Does the school realize that our country is in such a bad financial state that our entire economy is on the verge of collapse? Does the school understand that everyone is exercising frugality and wisdom to ensure even their immediate future? Our school is not lacking for money! There is NO plan to close the school or consolidate, and that information damn well better be PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED AND MENTIONED in the next round of “informational” meetings! How can Ken Bates declare that the school will need to pass a referendum every five years, yet this does “not reflect the fiscal practices of the school district”. What part of “balanced budget” don’t you understand, Mr.Bates?
Every single school referendum in Wisconsin and neighboring states is because of a growing population, increased enrollment, building repair and new building needs. There are schools holding classes in trailers. Yet here in Green Lake, there is NO population growth. We do not need to build a new school. We do not need to add on to our existing school. THAT is why schools hold referendums, but Ken Bates decides to have a referendum because he apparently cannot figure out how to balance a very ample budget. Green Lake schools now have 13 aides! Guess how many we had a few years ago? Four. And if the April referendum fails, Ken Bates plans “to have another one in May or June”. The school does not need more money, what the school needs is someone who knows how to effectively manage money. And we need a school board that can do the same. I will be voting for Sydney Rouse and Dick Mrazik in April. Please vote NO on the school referendum. Until the school can manage the money they have wisely, they should not receive another dime.
I am disgusted to hear that Bates is telling the teachers to manipulate the children like this. This is just wrong.
Why should a teacher with 9 or 10 students in a class need an aide? Don't they know how to teach? If they can't handle their job, they should be replaced.
It's clear that we have too much staff at school. No wonder they want more of our tax money. This is not a jobs program, and it's not our duty to save jobs that are not needed. The only job growth in this country right now is government jobs. This is a classic example of what is wrong with our country.
When I was voting in Brooklyn Town Hall a young woman came in and told the poll worker who was registering her that "Mr. BATES said we have to vote - and vote yes - or our kids will have to go to Princeton next year." Interesting!
If we can prove this, Bates should be terminated. That will mean children and parents stepping forward with the truth.
This entire referendum business is not about the children, it is about teachers and administrators trying to hang onto their jobs in a school that is overstaffed and the teachers underutilized. Class sizes should be double what they are.
Bates is running the school into the ground and now he wants us to give him more money. It's insane. It has to be the IB school that is the reason for all the rampant spending. GLSD did not have these problems until the IB and Charter schools were implemented. Other schools pay hundreds of thousand of dollars every year for the IB program. I am sure that is the case here in Green Lake, too. It's not worth the money. All we need here is a public school with good teachers. We used to have that before Bates came and he and Tracy drove away many students and our best teachers. His attempt at damage control is laughable, or would be if it weren't costing all of us so much money.
Referendum voting should be limited to property owners, in my opinion. Why should renters be able to decide to raise my taxes and yours? This vote should only apply to the people who actually pay for tax increases.
Here is an email that was sent out by Barb Eddy on Feb.17th, from her school email account. It looks like it was sent to nearly every person who works at the school, and more.
Just a note to all: I am upset about the returns on our referendum last night. I feel there is a negative group in our community that purposely mislead voters. As a strong proponent of free speech, I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with our position, but I draw the line when half truths are promoted as truth. I am very disappointed in our board member(s?) who actively worked against the referendum, and believes integrity would ask that those persons promote the board’s decision and not their own agenda. For those of you who may not have heard, some of our signs were torn apart and thrown down on private property. This is shameful in my opinion. I am also ashamed of citizens who allowed past personal disagreements with administration keeping them from promoting the future of our school. Enough.
Enough indeed! Enough lies and coercion to go all around the school. Exactly how did a “negative group” purposely mislead voters? Did they mislead by stating their opinion? What half-truths were promoted as truth? Name ONE. Let’s talk about half truths. Let’s talk about LIES. Since Barb Eddy draws the line when half truths are promoted as truth, then surely she must also draw the line when LIES are promoted as truth, as in Deb Kneser’s email where she states "If the referendum does not pass, Green Lake will be forced to consolidate with another district." So I am quite sure that Barb Eddy will agree with that Deb Kneser should resign immediately. What about the multitude of phone calls that were placed by teachers before the election, telling people that the school would be forced to consolidate and close if the referendum fails. Who made those calls, Barb? Let’s have some accountability here. I personally spoke with people at the polls who wholeheartedly stated that they received a phone call saying that if the referendum failed, the school would close. Isn’t that interesting?
Now let’s examine why Barb Eddy is bad-mouthing the school board member(s) to the entire staff at the school and other people in the community? Does Barb Eddy have solid facts on what school board members said and did to earn her scorn? Please Barb, share with us the facts about this. Let’s hear exactly why you are chastising certain school board member(s). According to my information, even school board members have rights as American citizens; have a right to their beliefs, and the right to free speech. Remember that thing called the Constitution? So what was said and done, specifically, that you felt the urgency to talk about this in an email to 60 people? Please elaborate.
Why should an atheist and a socialist care anything about the Constitution?
Can you believe these people work in our school system?
IBO not only teaches its own worldview, it simultaneously undermines the beliefs and values of the United States (also called the "American creed"). And what are the beliefs and values of the United States? They are stated in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The American creed includes national sovereignty; universal truth; the equality of all persons; God-given, inalienable rights of life, liberty and property; limited government; free enterprise; natural law; rule by the people; constitutional government and other related values and principles.
It is important to understand that the American creed says its principles are true not only for Americans, but are also true and right for all people. The principles are universal.
It is this universal nature of the American creed that is consistently undermined by IB. That is, IB teaches that our creed may be acceptable to some Americans, but it does not contain universal truths and values that are good for all Americans and certainly not good for other nations.
Being a socialist or an atheist means one doesn't support the constitution?
People who are not in the majority need the protections of the constitution perhaps MORE than others.
Your prejudices are showing.
And how does IB undermine American principles? Be specific, specific, specific.
It may or may not be a good teaching program, and it may or may not be appropriate for Green Lake, but what a bunch of blather gets spouted here.
Schools across the nation are dropping the IB Program for a variety of reasons.
If you want to know more, there is plenty of information available on the Internet. Look for yourself.
Why should we pay more property taxes so that our tax dollars can be sent to Switzerland so that our children can be indoctrinated with their "global" brainwashing? Why won't the school tell us how much they are spending in this IB nonsense?
I want answers.
To answer your question chief, Yes, as long as you want to support something that isn't economically viable, like a K-12 school in a town of 1200 people, you will get hit with referendums and tax increases until the public says enough is enough; there has to be a better way. We are probably close to that point now. That "better way" could result in a lot of outcomes.
Consolidation might be an answer, but opponents argue it will raise taxes. If you take our three surrounding school, P, M & GL and turn then into an Elementary, Middle and HS, are you saving anything? Are you better off to keep one and put all three K-12’s together? Add on to that one if need be. I would think that would be Markesan, but I’m certainly no expert.
It's sad to think of not having a school, but I've been around long enough to see many changes, some are easy, some are not. Quite frankly, this town's a shadow of what it once was. Changing or losing our school system would be just another loss/change in a long list of many.
Good luck to all involved.
I don't think that anybody wants our school to close. That is why we need fiscal responsibility from the school board. We cannot continue to spend money with no concern for the future. Why is our school spending growing at a fast pace when enrollment is down more every year. This is not right, and it is not good money management.
Our school will run into the ground if we allow this rampant spending to continue. We can all help prevent our school from closing (one day) or consolidating (one day) by voting NO on April 6th.
I heard on TV this morning that some schools are turning to a 4 day school week in order to maintain. We should not be looking at spending MORE money. The larger our school budget becomes, the more likely that it will fail. The key to our schools future is in conserving and planning for tomorrow. Look what happened to the banks and mortgage companies. You cannot be successful if you are not responsible. It will catch up to you one day.
Do not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. The folks around here cannot afford to pay more in taxes. This referendum is a very bad move for Green Lake. It will drive even more families out of the area.
An interesting newspaper article by the Associated Press today about the Kansas City School District. Was given $2 BILLION as part of a groundbreaking Desegregated case, and have since been spending that money on improvements, but keep losing students and now want to close 29 of its 61 schools and lay off 700 (285 teachers) of the 3,000 jobs because the expect to overspend the $316 million budget by $15 million and will be in the red by 2011 if nothing is done. At the height of their spending in 1991-1992, they spent more than $11,700 per student, more than double the national average of $5,001. Today, the district spends an average of $15,158 on each student, compared to the national average of $9,666 in 2006-2007, the latest figures available. They have olympic size swiming pools, High schools with Fencing programs, Recording studios, six lane indoor tracks, mock court house etc.Enrollment went from 75,000 at its peak to 35,000 a decade ago and now sits at just under 18,000. Goes to show you can not spend your way out of a declining enrollment.
I am able to make link exchange with HIGH pr pages on related keywords like [url=http://www.usainstantpayday.com]bad credit loans[/url] and other financial keywords.
My web page is www.usainstantpayday.com
If your page is important contact me.
please only good pages, wih PR>2 and related to financial keywords
Thanks
arernonna
Chief wrote: “The school board did a very bad job of educating the public about the need for the increase, why we have such a high per student cost and renewing Ken Bates contract just before they are asking for more money.”
Chief, the decision to renew Ken’s contract was due to the contract language, not the referendum. The School Board had to act before February 1st, or the contract would renew automatically. In January, some Board members forced the issue because they wanted to vote “no,” but the renewal passed 5-2 anyway.
A few questions: Why do the Bates haters (all three of them, seemingly) only post anonymously on this blog? Why are you afraid to share your views publicly? Why are you not speaking up at School Board meetings, forming a citizen group or writing to the newspaper? Is it perhaps that the Bates haters are in the MINORITY in this community?
Simply put, most of them are cowards. Why else would they be afraid to go public with their concerns?
Nobody hates the man (I don't think)...they just hate that he's putting on this dog-and-pony show at the GLSD and not stepping to the plate to try and help save the school.
He is not a very adept administrator and his lack of ability has put him in this position. He is inept at handling conflict situations (reference the e.jon tracy debacle) and he's handled other situations just as poorly. He has no concept of 'budgeting' or finance, and his lack of knowledge and expertise allows him to be pushed into all different, wonderful directions.
Other than that...he's doing a wonderful job.
People have spoken up at school board meetings...editorials have been in the paper...people have individually voiced their concern about these situation to no avail.
The unfortunate reality is that this
town is too small to be unbiased in their feelings. That is, too many people attain / stay in positions due to their affiliations and connections. Perfect example...Gordy Farrell will not lose a school board election because of his connection with the Federated Church. Barring something happening with that affiliation, he will always garner enough votes from the faithful at the federated to keep him on the board. It doesn't matter what he does as a school board member, which way he votes or whatever. He'll always be the very nice guy from Federated which will keep him in position for as long as he likes.
These biases cause problems because other folks 'frame' things into the affiliations. Gordy might be all mucked up in his thought process but his 'peeps' at the church will continue to cast their votes in his favor. Please understand that this was just an example...I'm sure Mr. Farrell keeps it all real with regard to his responsibilities as a board member...Like fiscal responsibilities and doing what's best for the community as a whole.
Correction: I have more faith in and knowledge of my fellow Federated Members. Though Gordy is very well liked and highly respected as a person and dedicated hard worker for the church, but as every Green Lake citizen should, we separate personal friendships from our decision of how we will vote according to our thoughts, i.e. - the lack of budgeting wisely in these times - especially monies spent on IB, etc. I know of several other Federated members who feel the same and will vote accordingly for school board members as well.
Your example of Gordy and his church connections as some unfair advantage, holds no water for me. This could be true of every board member and potential board member. They likely all have relationships in the community, whether through church, school, library, Lions Club, fishing buddies, family history, work or whatever.
I think you are selling people short on their ability to think for themselves and use their judgement on what they want in a board member, no matter what church they go to. Just because someone shares a church pew or goes to the same coffee hour, does not automatically earn their vote from others there.
I happen to attend at Federated and I do not consider where Gordy or any other candidate goes to church on Sunday, in any of my thought process on who I will or will not vote for.
Let's trust in our citizens to vote with their own conscience and priorities, whether it is school board or referendum or both.
I understand what you are saying, but don't agree completely. Some people do think for themselves, especially if they are abreast of the issues. But many just tag along with the crowd. How else would you explain why Gordy keeps getting re-elected when his performance as a school board member has been completely sub-par for years now? He apparently cannot think for himself and goes along with whatever Ken and Wendy want. Gordy's voting record is a clear indication of why spending is out of control at the school and why they are now crying for more money even though they spend more per student than any other school system in the state of Wisconsin.
Time to vote Gordy out! Are we going to need term limits for school board members now? I hope the last poster is right, that people at the Federated church will think for themselves. But I doubt it.
"Before the first referendum vote he (Ken) stated that 58% of the budget goes to personal. Now he is stating that 78% of the budget goes to personal - 3 weeks later."
Would someone please elaborate on this statement?
"Before the first referendum vote he (Ken) stated that 58% of the budget goes to personal. Now he is stating that 78% of the budget goes to personal - 3 weeks later."
Would someone please elaborate on this statement?
You know, it could be that the reason Gordy is being reelected is that a majority of people like the way he is going in his direction on the school board. It just might not be in sync with what some people think or want, but the voters will speak their mind at the April election.
A blogger asked, "Before the first referendum vote he (Ken) stated that 58% of the budget goes to personal. Now he is stating that 78% of the budget goes to personal - 3 weeks later."
Would someone please elaborate on this statement?
A. First, I think they meant "personnel", not "personal"
I think you can find the answer if you go to the school and ask to see a copy of the budget.
My guess he is stating that the costs related to operating the school are tied to 78% of the budget when you add up all teaching positions, support staff, aides, and admin. As compared to remaining costs such as supplies, utilities, insurance, food, transportation, maintenance, curriculum, and equipment.
Last blogger hit it on the head...
Why are we left to 'interpret' the suspect data that the school put out in the informational meetings? Why isn't it Ken Bates who is giving all of the presentations at the informational meetings? Why does the school hire 'financial' experts when they (We, the taxpayers) are paying an administrator a ridiculous 6-figure salary when he can't even tell us, truthfully and without embellishment, why the school can't function with the over-inflated budget they've enjoyed for years (decades).
Ken fumbles and stumbles around the topic of finances because he isn't qualified!
Now, I'm all for the old adage, 'hire the best person for the job and then allow them to do that job' but I think the blush has left the rose in the case of ken bates being the best person for the job at GLSD. In a time when the school board should have been looking for someone to 'bridge' the gap between unmitigated spending and fiscal responsibility, they failed miserably when they re-upped Ken's contract.
Ken is a good flim-flam man but he isn't the leader GLSD needed/needs.
Unfortunately, the board made the decision and now we are stuck with a situation that may bring GLSD to an end as we know it.
Has nothing to do with the 'wants' of the people to have a school...WE ALL DO!
We really needed someone who understood the inner workings of the $$$ part of the equation and staid the course of reduced spending, budgeting for infrastructure, cutting unnecessary costs (travel; discretionary spending; etc.). What we got, and still have, is someone crying wolf and trying to scare the voters into perpetuating the problem for another few years until he can move on to some other lucrative position.
I don't care how many times they put a referendum to a vote...how many times they reduce the amounts, change the time limits, etc....
The only vote that makes sense and sends a message to the administration and school board is NO! Repeatedly, the answer must be NO or the problem will only continue until there is an empty building sitting 612 Mill Street!
Vote NO and SAVE the school!
Even the Democrats in Washington are beginning to understand:
We cannot raise taxes in the middle of a recession!
You have access to the complete budget. What expeditures specifically do you want cut?
You have access to the referendum information. It clearly explains the reduction of revenue limits (authority) and the assumed incremental cost increases. What specifically do you not understand about the budget projections and referendum information presented? What specifically do you not agree with?
Ask a specific question and you might get a specific answer.
Can someone post the budget on line so we review it's details?
https://www2.dpi.state.wi.us/safr_ro/Financial_Home.asp
I've been asking specific questions for ages. I never once got an answer. How about this, how much are we paying, above and beyond the regular public school spending, for the International Baccalaureate program at the school? The Charter school? How much extra is that costing us? Extra teachers? Extra substitute teachers? Airfare and hotel costs, restaurants and meals? Fees, laptops, bus transportation for field trips related to IB and Charter? Tests, books, materials, other expenses?
How much money could we save annually if we went back to a good ol' public school in a nice little small town in Wisconsin. That's what I want to know.
I want to know how much we are paying Deb Kneser to work at the school and then lie about the referendum? Has anything been done about this? Has Ken Bates taken any disciplinary action against Ms. Kneser? Why is she still working at the school?
You should look her up on Wisconsin Circuit Court open records. Interesting...
State of Wisconsin vs. Debra M Kneser
We cannot raise taxes in the middle of a recession!
No, but you can rescind the tax cuts for the rich that helped fuel the recession.
We were talking about the school referendum here.
Don't you think it is a bit immature to be posting someone's court history on this blog? Seriously. You act like it has significance, yet you don't even know the details of it. Interesting you didn't sign off your name...of course not, because what could people say on here about you.
What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. ~Karl Menninger
I tried the link to the budget but the address as listed does not work. I looked at the site in general and could not find the full budget, only generalized parts compared to other district averages. Is the actual budget with all of its line items on line?
Thank you, Melissa Sonntag, for taking the idiot to task who wanted to raise a question of Deb Kneser's court record.
Anyone who knows Deb over the years, knows she is a decent caring human being who has taken very good care of Green Lake students, and has helped the community in many ways. To think any different is to not know who Deb really is.
The private lives and circumstances for people that are really no one's business, do not warrant public scrutiny, and need to be respected and not thrown out there, especially with no basis in fact, in a poor attempt to discredit another human being. Shame on the blogger who obviously has no shame, and indiscriminately attempts to ruin other people. I can only hope someone returns the favor to you some day, so you can have a taste of what unfair attacks feel like.
God forbid we should care about what kind of people are shaping our children's minds.
I have to agree, we should care about this. This brings up an interesting question. Are background checks done on teachers in the GLSD? Just curious. Look at this information from wisegeek.com.
A teacher background check is a procedure that provides educational institutions more information about an applicant or prospective teacher. The information gathered through the investigation includes criminal records, driving records, past employment records, civil records, educational certification, health and medical records, current and previous addresses, credit history, court records, criminal records, and bankruptcies, among others.
Teaching may be one of the few professions where experience and professional history are as closely scrutinized as personal history. An educational institution carries out a teacher background check as part of its pre-screening process to guarantee the safety of the students. This procedure is legally mandated in the 50 states of the USA. Individual persons such as parents can also hire agencies to do background checks.
https://www2.dpi.state.wi.us/safr_ro/
choose the district you want
choose financial data reporting portal
choose budget report
choose fiscal year
click continuse without password
click for pdf or other type files
here is your budget by department line item
I heard that the school spent several thousand dollars flying Marsh Krahn to New York for two days for IB TRAINING.
This is ridiculous. She is a gym teacher.
And the school wants to continue wasting our tax dollars. Perhaps it is time to recall members of the school board. This has to stop.
Oh, you heard that the school invested several thousand dollars to train Marsha Grahn in IB?
Who told you that, Marsha?
I agree with you. Marsha is not worth investing that kind of money. The school can be more fiscually responsible by sharing a gym teacher with Princeton or Markesan.
I am wondering, do you think that Princeton, Markesan and Green Lake will ever be able to drop their ego's and self pride enough to sit down and talk to figure out how the schools can form one school district and make some massive cost effective cuts. Reduce teaching staff, Reduce Superintendents from three to ONE, reduce building costs, Reduce electric, heating bills. All while giving the best bang for our buck to our kids. I am willing to switch to a neutral name for this "new" district. But again is this pie in the sky, can our school board and the boards of Markesan and Princeton ever "lower" themselves to realizing we can't all do it alone anymore.
My understanding is that all three schools are looking at consolidation options.
As much as I like having a school here in Green Lake, and I do, I think it is reality in the future, just depends what finally forces the issue.
Interesting letter to the editor this week in the GL Reporter from a woman in the Dalton area, to Markesan School District. In it she comments on 4 schools that used to exist out in that area, such as Dalton and Fairwater, that are now consolidated into Markesan.
Made me think about our situation even more. I am a very big supporter of our school in Green Lake, but it will be hard for us to continue to justify all of these continued expenses in declining school systems.
I think this will come.
If the school was as concerned about keeping the school and educating the children as much as they are concerned about keeping jobs in an overstaffed school, we would not be in this predicament. The only way to keep the school is to cut back the budget, conserve money and be responsible.
The referendum is not about the children or the quality of education. I am disgusted by this money-grab. The superfluous programs that have been implemented at the school are running the school to financial ruin. It has to stop.
Let me put it to you this way. Say you own a home but are on the verge of foreclosure. Money is tight, you and your spouse just are not making enough to pay the mortgage and bills. What do you do?
If you are like me, you cut back your expenses, quit all unnecessary spending and start living frugally and responsibly. You trade in your new Denali for a used compact. Do you want to keep your house? Of course.
If you are Ken Bates and the school board, you decide to buy all new furniture, a new luxury motor home (even though you can't afford the mortgage payments on the house) and eat steak and lobster every Saturday night. There is no way to justify the rampant spending at school. It is unacceptable, and has to stop.
Nice fill someone in on and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you for your information.
I have given some thought to some efficiencies that could be made and have come up with a few to consider.
1. Electricity. Let's have kids make candles in art class. They could then carry those through class to class, eliminating the need for lighting and thus saving electricity.
All computers could be sold at a yard sale. Each child could be issued an abacus and learn to count the old fashioned Chinese way, which would be helpful in dealing with the Chinese in the future as that seems to be a given.
This would also eliminate the ability to do research, so we could have senior citizens bring in all of their old Encyclopedia Britannica's that have been stored in their basements for the past 25 years and pass those out to students. History, science and world politic information could be taught based on only anything that took place before 1985.
Food. All leftovers from each day on each students plate could be scraped and mixed together to form a type of interesting stew. Whatever combination it is could be served each Friday, thereby eliminating 1/5th of the food budget.
Language. Start a movement demanding that the entire world only speak English. Insist that all parents teach children everything they need to know about the English language, by age 5 when they start kindergarten. This should eliminate Spanish & French teachers, and eliminate the need for grammar, English, etc. and trim down staff.
There was a letter from a GL Charter student in this weeks Ripon Commonwealth. It typifies what is wrong with GLSD.
This charter student talks about how he likes school because he got to go ice fishing in the morning, go back to school for lunch, and then go cross country skiing in the afternoon. This instilled an appreciation for nature in this otherwise unappreciative youngster.
It is not GLSD's job to instill a love of nature in the students. My kids had a love a nature before they ever started school, and they got it from their parents.
It is not GLSD's place to teach a kid how to go ice fishing. That is Dad's job, Grandpas job, Uncle Jim's job. NOT the school.
It is not GLSD's job to teach the students how to cross country ski. This is a huge waste of time and money. What happened to English, Math, Science, Social Studies? And they have the nerve to hold another referendum because they don't have enough money. Incredible.
We need to get our school back on the right track. Enough of the three-ring circus and side-shows. I am appalled at how our tax dollars are being "spent" aka wasted by this administration.
Why not insist that each school district must maintain a website that shows exactly where each dollar is budgeted and spent so we can all see where the money is going. Everyone is suffering in this economy. I personally would like to know how much the teachers and administrators are cutting back to help out. You just can't keep raising taxes along when people can't afford it. Especially so that the school can keep wasting it on unnecessary crap.
VOTE NO ON APRIL 6TH. Let's take back our school. We can make the cuts necessary to see that the school can afford to stay here in Green Lake for a long time. The only way to avoid school closure or consolidation is to be fiscally responsible (for a change).
Totally agree with these comments. At dinner with friends last night we were talking about the letter from the Charter School student - and that it confirmed that we are right to vote NO for the referendum. Teachers MUST focus on basic subjects - including those for students that do not plan - or have money - to go to college. They are the forgotten students at GL - Bates & Co. want to have an elite, private school with all emphasis on going to college. We are curious how many stay 4 years - or quit and go to tech schools or get on-the-job training. GL School MUST gets back to basics and ALL children will get the same education - and not feel left out when friends are going ice fishing, etc, etc., etc. Total waste of educational time and money. Then it will allow money to fix the building instead of spending our money on "frills" for the Charter kids and expensive training trips for IB. Join the wagon of us that are voting NO - unless we get PROOF - not the threats and inconsistencies from self-serving Bates.
To the person that said it is not the school's job to teach cross country skiing: I would have to disagree. I am guessing that this is taught in life activities phy ed. In case you are not aware, there is an obesity problem in the United States and I believe the school does have a part in teaching kids ways to be healthy.
I didn't learn cross country skiing in grade school or high school. I am not obese or even overweight. We are talking about a school that is asking for more of our tax dollars because they apparently feel that they don't get enough. There are many ways to get exercise, maybe next year the school will buy polo ponies for each of the kids. Impressed, aren't you?
If the school is concerned about obesity then they should not be serving chocolate milk with High Fructose Corn Syrup to the students. They should not even offer chocolate milk at school. And a lot more students are drinking chocolate milk than white milk. I guess that shows just how much the school is concerned about the children's health.
Check out the menu for the breakfast they are now providing before school. Not food considered healthy to start the day. Granted, there are children who come to school without breakfast, or eating a granola bar on the way, but if school is spending money so the children have a healthy start to the day, they need to have nutritious food.
The breakfast menu is bad, and the lunch menu is even worse. Look at the menu posted on the school website. March 1 has tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Tomato soup is extremely high sodium and has a lot of high fructose corn syrup. Cheese in sandwich is processed, very high in sodium and fat. Bread is refined white flour, partially hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup. This menu is offered twice in the month of March. Totally toxic.
Chicken nuggets are also offered twice in March. Among the chemicals added to a chicken nugget are sodium aluminum phosphate,sodium monocalcium phosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and calcium lactate. Dimethylpolysiloxene is added to chicken nuggets, a suspected cause of cancer. There is also something called tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ. This chemical is made from petroleum and is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in. It helps to "preserve freshness". TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting,ringing in the ears, delirium,and sense of suffocation, and collapse". Ingesting 5 grams of TBHQ can kill you. But it's in the chicken nuggets that are served at school. As if that's not bad enough, 6 chicken nuggets contain nearly twice as much fat as a regular hamburger.
The rest of the March menu is not any better, I'm afraid. Hot dogs, ham, pizza etc. It is all high sodium, high fat and HFCS. If the school is worried about obesity in children, it is pretty ironic to me because school lunch and breakfast are definitely contributing to it.
I agree that the school is not doing what they can to teach healthy living. However, cross skiing is most likely taught by Mrs. Krahn and she does care about health. I was taught cross country skiing and this was an experience I would have never had if it wasn't for this class. It is something I have tried to continue as I got older.
As for the lunch menu, I completely agree. I attended the wellness meeting (did you?) and we talked about switching to whole grains, organic milk, possibly only offering chocolate milk on fridays (like when I was kid), and getting rid of sugar food for daily snacks and on holiday parties. What I got from the meeting is that the person in charge of the lunch room is not as open to these changes and the school was not willing to make these changes mandatory regardless of what the lunch room worker wanted. A few years ago I went to the school to get the salad bar available to younger elementary kids. The lunch room worker did not think this was appropraite. Well, they agreed to give it a trial run and a few years later it still going! However, I think it is iceberg lettuce, which has no nutritional value. As it should be the schools role to teach our children healthy eating habits, it should also be their role to teach a variety of outdoor activities that keep us healthy. It is these things that make us well rounded individuals.
If cross country skiing was taught as merely a phys-ed related class, I would have no problem with that. We enjoyed a variety of sports in high school, but managed to maintain an hour long class schedule, it was a class after all. But I don't think it was "gym class" that brought the students to the GLCC to go cross-country skiing all afternoon. Especially when they went ice-fishing all morning. Taking half a school day to go skiing (or fishing)for the Charter school is not gym class, and it is not school. Is that like when the Charter students spent a week at GLCC, playing games, going sailing and having a banquet? Sorry, that isn't school, that is summer camp and it usually happens in summer, and is not paid for by taxpayers.
The bottom line is, the school is wasting a lot of money, and then they have the nerve to ask for even more. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way for me. The school should show me how they can be responsible for the money they currently spend before they should ever consider asking for more. People are mad as hell, there are a lot of folks who want answers to the inconsistencies in the budget. Look at the referendum handout that the school distributes. If you crunch the numbers, things just don't add up right.
Why has spending spiked these past few years? The IB and charter schools are sucking our resources dry, and I for one truly cannot afford to pay more taxes. Why do we need to have so many of these "schools within a school" programs? Our enrollment is too small to have all of these grand notions of supremacy. Honestly, what a waste. This is just ridiculous. My family and I can't even make ends meet now, how can we pay more in taxes? And you know inflation is going to hit and soon. The Feds printed so much new money, inflation is inevitable and it won't be pretty. You know as well as I do that our earnings are being spread out thinner and thinner these days.
I know for a fact there is waste in the schools, they could easily trim the fat and save hundreds of thousands of dollars if they really cared about anything other than themselves. This isn't about the children, and you all know that. This referendum is gluttonous, especially considering we are in the middle of a historic recession. We are all frayed and frazzled by our current economic reality, and doing all we can to maintain. We have all had to cut back and make sacrifices. The school has not even tried to cut back and do it's part to help our community and ensure that the school can remain in Green Lake. Oh, quite the opposite. The school has gone on spending frenzy and wants to continue to do so for years to come. Enough of this insanity, this is far beyond what is needed right now, what is sensible right now, or what is even ethical right now.
We need to run the school responsibly, and things have to change in order to make that happen. Please VOTE NO on Tuesday, April 6th.
The problem with the school menu and some of the issues with the nutritional content of some of what is served, is more to do with the cook and her limited training in nutrition. I think she is a hard worker and tries to do a good job, but does not have the skill sets and training needed to truly design a menu that is reasonably affordable and nutritionally sound. We may have a chance to change that as I understand she will be retiring at the end of this school year. Hopefully the school can look for someone who can truly cook from whole foods and not just warm up a pan of Stauffer's lasanga, or rip open a package of frozen chicken nuggets.
I agree about the chocolate milk thing as well. It would be better if they just served white, skim milk, or how about water? What is wrong with water?
Same with the iceberg lettuce thing. No real nutritional value there and that should be easy to remedy.
Hopefully this will be better next year with a new head cook, and a clear direction from the wellness committee on guidelines the cook will have to follow in a more balanced menu that is good for the students.
We have way too many overweight kids in our school, as well as across the nation.
Complaining about the lunch menu and blaming them for overweight kids is utter nonsense. Have any of you gone to the school and observied what goes on in the lunch hour? First of all, the salad bar is open to all students and does not just have iceberg lettuce. I have watched my child come back with Romaine, carrots, whole grain bagels, fresh fruit, yogurt and more. I have also heard other parents comment on the quality of the offerings. You can't do much better for the price. As to the hot lunch, it is not all prepackaged junk. I have volunteered in the kitchen for National School Lunch week and have seen the cooks making things from scratch. I have seen them make the lasagna and casseroles. How dare anyone say that they just open up a box and throw it in the oven. You are obiously uninformed. Also, as to making everything on the menu healthier, how many of the kids would go for that? Give me a break. It would all end up in the trash because the kids would not eat it. I've already watched the kids throw away uneaten apples, bananas, whole grain muffins and more. They don't like the stuff. Watch what they are bringing from home in their lunches when they don't want the healthy hot lunch. It is nothing but junk and sugar. I've been there and seen it with my own eyes. I ask anyone else to do the same. Nutrition begins at home. The school only provides 5 meals a week out of 21 (10 if you count breakfast). Quit blaming the school for kid's health issues. It all begins at home.....
Our nation is in huge debt. As of today, every man, woman and child "owns" $40,000 of debt due to our government's botched plans. Ten years from now, every person in this country will owe $133,000, thanks to what's been going on in Washington by the Chosen One and his team of thieves and bandits. Government spending is getting worse by the day,and that includes school spending. This has to stop.
Apparently the administration and staff of GLSD does not A) Know about our nations financial woes or B) Does not care about it. For the school to come after us taxpayers for more money when they have been foolishly wasting our tax dollars is unacceptable. Work with the budget you have now, and figure out how to make ends meet. The school does not NEED more money to operate, they have plenty of money to effectively educate our children. We need to plan for the future, not SPEND our future. If you are not worried about this, then pull your head out of the sand and wise up.
We are fighting two wars. Debt follows. Unemployment benefits being paid out are huge. Do you want to turn that off? For whom? It's easy to say that you don't like debt. I don't like it either and it is not how I run my home. Sometimes it can't be avoided. So don't talk about bands of thieves, etc. That's meaningless and helps no one. Pick your issues and defend your point of view with facts..
to the person who complains that there is no reason to have students ice fishing or sailing -
Actually, ice fishing can be an excellent way to teach students science - you can learn about fish and other wildlife, you can learn about water management and impact of invasive species, you can learn about weather patterns. Good teachers use real life experiences to bring what could be dry lectures into living experiences - which makes for much more effective learning. Sailing - what an excellent way to learn about wind, about geometry and physics, about water and wind resistence - all while learning a skill which may lead to both hobby and employment opportunities.
My point is that a good teacher (and I know there are some very good teachers at Green Lake School) uses every experience to teach the relevant math and science - then asks students to write about the experience so there is also language learning.
So don't be so quick to insist that students would be better off spending the day in a classroom studying wind patterns or reading about different types of fish.
-"For the school to come after us taxpayers for more money"
-"Work with the budget you have now, and figure out how to make ends meet. The school does not NEED more money to operate, they have plenty of money to effectively educate our children."
-"The folks around here cannot afford to pay more in taxes."
-"they are asking for more money."
Just where are you getting your facts from?
As I understand (with this referendum) our tax levy is projected to go DOWN 2% to about $4.9M for the next two years and then go up 2% (from this year) to about $5.1M for the following three years.
That does not sound like asking for more money to me. It sounds like a wash (status quo) over the next five years.
-"pull your head out of the sand and wise up."
Oh for goodness sake, that makes no sense at all. the referendum is asking for permission to levy MORE taxes....if you don't undertand that there is no hope. Watch the referendum video on the school web site(if it's still up) it even acknowledges that.
You also probably believe that a new 3 trillion dollar entitlement called health care is going to lower the deficit!! Wake up!!
I agree with Sally Struthers 100%! The problem with all of these 'reforms' and referendums is that the sheeple go out and vote for something that they have little or no REAL information about. Please people, educate yourselves before it's too late. Don't just go by what the school is saying since they are the one's asking for (yes, Sally is right on this also) MORE money when they've had MORE money for a very long time.
If you actually think it will be a wash...you need your head examined.
Before you vote yes (or no) think about the recent reassessment of our properties in Green Lake. Remember how we were all OK with our NEW taxes after the reassessment and the city was nice enough to have the assessors available to answer our questions and make nice with us? It was a good thing...Until the city came back this year and really socked us with a big increase saying that they 'screwed' up last year and sent out incorrectly low tax bills! What a joke...we were duped then...let's not be duped again!
Fight the good fight...keep the school a viable, fiscally responsible entity within our city by VOTING NO!
The Kansas City school board is closing nearly half the district's schools in a desperate bid to stay afloat. Kansas school districts have seen the state cut $200 million over the past year, while Missouri has cut $30.3 million for elementary and secondary education. Currently, in Chicago a total of eight schools will be part of the closing or consolidation plan. Oshkosh is planning on closing several of their public schools. Madison is looking at closing three of their elementary schools. Nineteen schools in New York have been nominated for closure. School districts in Cleveland, Ohio and Providence, Rhode Island have also recently proposed closing schools in an attempt to boost student performance and address budget shortfalls. The list goes on and on.
On March 10,the Florida House and Senate adopted positions eliminating all funding for Florida’s State Aid to Public Libraries program. In Boston, eight to 10 neighborhood libraries could close as part of a drastic overhaul of the Boston Public Library system to bridge a $3.6 million budget gap, due in large part to a steep drop in state funding. The Philadelphia Free Library system is broke, and they're shutting it down, including canceling "all branch and regional library programs, programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults." Library funding is down 30 percent in South Carolina -- 24 percent in Florida. Big cities to little towns have been forced to either trim public library hours or close their doors all together.
For those of you who are not good at putting two plus two together, let me explain this. The Federal Government is broke. The States are either broke or going broke. There is no big rescue on it's way. Life as we all know it is changing for the worse and this will not be a temporary problem.
Now is the time for all public institutions to be extremely careful with their spending. Public Schools should be reducing their spending as much as possible right now, NOT INCREASING SPENDING!!!!
So Ken Bates and the rest of you who are pushing this greedy referendum at folks who cannot afford it, what part of OUR COUNTRY IS BROKE don't you understand?
It is the people who are pushing for MORE MONEY who will see to it that Green Lake schools close, NOT the other way around.
If you want to keep schools in Green Lake, VOTE NO on April 6th.
It only makes sense that the school should be trying to cut back right now. Why aren't they? For one thing, there are simply too many teachers and administrators, and that is the major part of the school budget. Why are there only 9 students per classroom? Why are some grades "split" when they could easily fit in one classroom. This way of running a school is irresponsible. We need new school board members who understand how to work within a budget and use common sense. Our school board majority is extremely disappointing. A school our size does not need a full time administrator and principal. This is ridiculous.
I am voting for Dick Mrazik and Sydney Rouse for school board. Fiscal responsibility has to become a priority, or our schools will end up closing.
A large part of the over-spending at the school (besides too many teachers) comes from Ken Bates. He has hired one consultant after another to do his job. This is because Ken Bates is not capable of the job that he was hired to do. So not only are we paying him way too much money for a school system this size, we are also paying other people to do the job that Bates was hired to do! How can the school board put up with this crap? To make matters even worse, Bates only shows up for work 3 or 4 days per week. Just try calling the school and see if he's there.
I agree that the more money the school spends, the more likely it will have to close.
I would like to know where all of you people who agree with me that the school district is overspending and not cutting in the right areas are???? Do you show up at school board meetings and share your concerns? Do you call your school board representatives (numbers are listed on the school website)and tell them your thought?? Are you meeting with Ken Bates and demanding that you be shown past, current and future budgets and district spendings for the past three years? Are you having organizational meetings to ensure that this referendum doesn't pass without the administration and board showing some fiscal responsibility??? Are you writing Letters to the Editor of the Green Lake and Ripon paper to point out your views? PLEASE save our school! In addition to complaining on this blog PLEASE do something constructive and complain to the people who can make a change and HOPEFULLY hold Ken Bates responsible for the mess he's made. MANY people in the School District of Green Lake agree with you but for various reasons (school choice children in/can't vote, have spouses or selves who are employeed by the district etc.) can't make a difference but would if they could. PLEASE help and do your part, the very existance of the school depends on it. Nothing is worse than a small community without a school, and that could be where we're at in five years or less. :(
The last poster is correct. We MUST make appointments with Ken Bates or school board members to express our views and get answers to our questions. Bates is very inconsistent - changes his threats depending on who he is talking to. We MUST pin him down and get the truth - who is being paid, get rid of high paying administration, get rid of extra classes - many of us have faced layoffs - sorry teachers, but we can't keep paying your salary when we don't have one. If he wants our hard-earned money - all of us especially retired are on strict budgets - he MUST convince us he too is budgeting our tax money. Even teachers are shaking their heads at his inconsistencies. Find out how and where the $800 per night rate comes from for 5 teachers to spend 5 days in NY for the IB school training - which several teachers say is worthless - they learned it all and more in their college educ courses. Plus their meals and transportation in NYC ..... There is a very active "Vote Yes" group meeting weekly - but can we trust them to get the truth out or more of Bate's propaganda. For those of us who want to save our school, get involved, ask questions, state your opinion - NOT JUST ON THIS BLOG but to school board or Bates who will hear us. Right now, We are going to talk to him, and if no truthful answers will definitely Vote NO. We are on a fixed income, only pay for necessities, and school should too - no IB and Charter - instead spend money for students who do not have money for college, or prefer a tech education. Only reason they don't is they brag 82% go to college - we know many do not even finish one year, much less graduate. But they do not give out those numbers - just that 82% go to college. Arrogance - not caring for students. HELP SAVE OUR SCHOOL - DO NOT JUST GO ALONG WITH BATES' EFFORT TO GET A BIG ADMINISTRATION JOB elsewhere. WE CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDREN AND KEEPING OUR SCHOOL IN GREEN LAKE.
Lets plan a meeting place for the no voters and talk about all of this before April 6th. We need to do it now.
Already facing a trend of declining enrollment, the Green Lake School District has received troubling news for next school year.
Following the recent open-enrollment period in February, the district has learned 19 new students have applied to enroll into Green Lake, while 26 Green Lake students have applied to enroll elsewhere.
So much for spending a lot of money to attract students to get some state money.
The question we need to ask is WHY the 26 Green Lake Students chose to open enroll in another school. Only if the administration SERIOUSLY searches to find that out, and tells the voters the TRUTH, and MAKES CHANGES to keep our students, will Green Lake be a better school. If you want our yes vote, we first need to know WHY these students are leaving - and WHAT you intend to do to prevent other GL students to prefer other schools.
Hmnnn...19 in / 26 out...Based on the school census, 7 students is approximately 2.5% of the entire student population.
With less students one would think the school could easily keep operating on what they already have...IF NOT LESS!
VOTE NO TO THE 'KEN BATES / DEB KNESER' EXPERIMENT...
VOTE NO ON THE REFERENDUM!
So how much money are we taxpayers paying so that Ken Bates can get his doctorate at our expense? Why should I be paying for HIS education when I can't afford to send my own children to college?
We heard there is a "Vote No" group, but no specifics or who is involved. We'd like to know and get involved.
There is a Referendum informational meeting on on March 24 at 6 p.m. at the school. Interesting - they must not want those of us who work - or parents who need to feed their children to come since at that hour. There is one at Town of Brooklyn on Tuesday the 30th at 6:30.
For right now, the best way to get involved is to make a donation to the group. We have just had signs printed and any size contribution will be greatly appreciated.
The Citizens Advocating for Responsible Education (C.A.R.E.) will be putting up signs and distributing information about the referendum.
Donations can be sent to C.A.R.E., Fred Barke, Treasurer 382 Palmer St Green Lake , WI 54941.
More information will be available soon. Thank you very much for your support.
C.A.R.E. asks all voters to use their good sense and judgment to vote NO to a spending strategy that is both unrealistic and lacking in fiscal restraint.
Please talk with your friends and neighbors, and write letters to both the Green Lake Reporter and the Ripon Commonwealth. We need to make our voices heard.
The time has come for the school administration and board to face the reality that revenues will NOT increase, enrollment is NOT going up, and taxpayers will NOT continue to carry the burden of ever-increasing tax levies; therefore, expenses must go DOWN, not UP.
Amen! NOW we are getting somewhere!
This reminds me (in a very disturbing way) of what is taking place in Washington this week. Out of control spending and trying to force through a bad plan that the majority of people do not want. We can do better than this!
Why did we choose to open enroll to another district? Because there are no options left for the kids who don't want to be (or can't be) part of the charter school and are not cut out for the IB curriculum. Simple answer to a simple question. There is nothing left in Green Lake.
A vote No group, A vote Yes group and now C.A.R.E. Yet, so far, no progress on getting the budget up on the website. If it's there, it's hidden very well.
Also needed; a clear and precise non political answer as to why it costs so much more to educate a child in GL than it does in other districts. Why is this so hard? This could then be followed up with: where do you (school board and bates) see it possible to make cuts and what is the community willing to accept?
Are you (community) willing to accept larger class size, individual user fees by participants in sports and other extra curricular activities? Eliminate the breakfast program, eliminate anything that requires additional staff time that is non-essential to school operation? Are you willing to eliminate arts and music? What does it cost to put on a school play and do admission fees cover the cost? If they don’t, if your child is in such an event, would you kick in $25 to cover the additional expenses? If your kids in football, those uniforms, coaching salaries and transportation cost a lot. I doubt admission fees cover it all. Would you be willing to pay $100 to help cover some costs for sports? or, would you rather just have your taxes go up a little? On and On this could go.
We will definitely open enroll our son to another school next year because he wants to take courses to equip him for jobs in carpentry, plumbing, electrician, or other such vocations. A couple of his friends at Green Lake also are considering the same thing. We parents are exploring the schools that offer these possibilities. It is sad that students at GL feel "left out" and inferior, therefore embarrassed to admit this due to the whole emphasis at Green Lake is "you must go to college." P.S. - two of these students were devastated when they found out they did not get in to the Charter School because their name was not drawn. VOTE NO and GET OUR SCHOOL BACK FOR ALL GREEN LAKE CHILDREN.
I am part of this community, and agree wholeheartedly. We should be looking for ways to help the school manage, since they don't seem to understand how. Giving them more money certainly is not the answer. You asked the million dollar question! Why can other schools manage just fine on far less money than GLSD? And why isn't the budget on the website yet? (I know the answer to that one. They don't want us to see what they are spending our money on).
It truly irks me that there are people working FOR this referendum who do not live here and do not pay taxes here. What should they care if my taxes go up? That is why the last blogger has it right, it is time for the families whose children attend GLSD to start paying fees for THEIR children's activities. I had to pay fees 20+ years ago when my kids were in school. ALL extra-curricular activities should have a fee attached. We lived in a small town in Wisconsin and every year at the beginning of the school year, I had to write a check for each of my children for book fees along with the registration forms, contact and health info etc. Look at what other schools charge for these types of fees. It is incomprehensible that GLSD requires no fees, for anything.
Why should fewer students mean higher costs? What sense does it make to pay more money for fewer kids? It’s the classic lose/lose. If a district has declining enrollment they need more money and if they had increasing enrollment they need more money. As usual, it’s never enough, no matter what they need more and I have to deal with less. What a scam!
Fewer students does mean higher per student cost because there are fixed costs. Building, heat, lighting, teacher.ect. It is actually more efficient to have say 20 kids in a class then 11. That being said the budget is still definitely large enough at its current level to operate a fine learning environment, without fees. Still can't understand where all the cash is going! I'm really confused about this charter school business. The purpose of public charter schools was to offer a quality education to children in underachieving school districts. It was a way out of failing public schools for students motivated to learn. It doesn't exactly sound like GLSD would qualify, Ripon either, so why the designer schools are necessary is a mystery to me.
I understand that fewer students means higher per student spending, but that should mean "slightly" higher, not "extremely" higher costs! We have 100 less students, and that SHOULD mean that we spend LESS MONEY than we did then. Instead of adding teachers, we should be subtracting teachers. We should also have less administration, less aides, etc.
I realize this might be difficult even for a school administrator to understand, but please Ken, don't hire yet another consultant to explain it to you.
My friends and relatives are voting YES for the referendum.
The negative advertising, negative and personal attacks by by those opposed to the referendum swayed me to vote in favor of supporting the school.
When the opposition stoops that low it speaks volumes about their character. I give them a failing grade.
You have got to be kidding me...Negative campaigning and advertising. How would you put a 'positive' twist on the situation that the administration, staff and school board at GLSD has put our school in.
No organization gets into the financial quagmire that our school presently is in without gross mismanagement and lack of oversight!
But, lets get back to the audacity of the NO VOTERS and their negativity:
How dare those "NO" voters question irresponsible spending.
How dare those "NO" voters question why a school of less than 300 students can't operate on one of the HIGHEST PER STUDENT BUDGETS IN THE STATE!
How dare those "NO" voters question why Ken Bates, an administrator of a school of less than 300 students, who is compensated in EXCESS OF $170,000 PER YEAR IN SALARY AND BENEFITS, still can't run the school in a fiscally responsible manner.
How dare those "NO" voters allow factual information about the excesses at the school get in the way of the BS rhetoric that the staff and administrators at the school have perpetrated.
How dare those "NO" voters expose the lies and conniving ways of those who have perpetuated the scare tactics of "The school will close without this referendum" and "consolidation is imminent without this referendum".
Negative advertising and personal attacks!!! Please get real. The false statements are on the side of the Yes voters.
As I stated earlier...Please Don't let the FACTS get in the way when you make your arguments for this referendum. The truth is...spending has been, and continues to be out of control at GLSD.
Nothing short of voting NO will save this school from it's demise. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in denial. I would suggest that you, and your relatives and friends, get to some of the informational meetings where the facts are being discussed and not some paid 'dog and pony' show put on by the school where they don't really answer the BOTTOM LINE QUESTION!
Where is all this money REALLY being spent and why are families pulling their children out of GLSD!
Get the facts...use your head, not your heart...and make an educated vote to keep our school in Green Lake for as long as possible in these tough economic times!
No, is the only correct answer to this referendum!
How Dare those NO voters don't have the guts to show up at a school board meeting and demand answers to their questions. How dare they rather bitch here on this useless blog of dribble and trash talking. (My apologies to the few of you who have posted intelligent comments)
How dare those NO voters indeed! Get your act together, behave in a constructive and productive manner and demand answers to your very serious concerns.
When the school board members can't even get answers from Ken Bates and have to wait months for spending reports, why should I go to a school board meeting to listen to the same old run-around. I don't want to hear the sob stories and the lies about how poor little Green Lake needs more money. It's bull.
Even teachers are disgusted about Bates' varying threats that the school is closing. Even that Fitness Center will be the first - told to some who were in there working out. That money was GIVEN to the school by a citizen who also was able to get a grant that completely covered all the costs. IT CANNOT BE CLOSED since it is not on the schools expense. Teacher also said kids were crying the day after no vote because Mr. Bates had told them they would have to go to Princeton if their parents voted no. When confronted by a parent about kids being upset, he sent an e-mail to staff saying not to use students by telling untrue things. Teachers had heard him tell students and parents that. Believe him - no way!
To How Dare they Indeed and My Friends & Relatives are Voting Yes:
I find it so interesting that someone would dis' the "NO" voters for their negativity.
Inherently, the word NO is negative so how do you suggest we 'NO's' put a positive spin on what is truly happening at the school.
I'm not questioning the spirit of the school and give high praise to the basketball team that's gone farther in the state tourney than any other team that's gone before them (from GLSD that is).
I'm not questioning the teachers who put forth a fair days work for a fair days pay...day in and day out and are grouped in with the whole even though they know in their hearts what is right!
I'm not questioning the students who go to school each and every day with the cloud of doubt created by those who would twist and manipulate the truth to put fear into the poor kids hearts that their school will close if mom, dad, grandpa, grandma and everyone else votes yes to more non-essential spending.
The NO voters are looking for one thing and one thing only...Run the school in a fiscally responsible manner and within, OR UNDER, the money budgeted.
It's very plain...very simple. It's not negative, unless you think that unabashed spending on completely unnecessary items is a good thing.
Truth be told...The NO voters want the school to stay much more than those who would vote YES.
You ask, "But, how can that be"?
I answer:
By voting yes you are selling the school off. IF the referendum passes the school will be gone in no time.
IF you vote no, the administration will finally be forced to live within budget. If you don't force them to do it, they'll continue down this path and in very short order WE WILL HAVE TO LOCK THE DOORS AND KISS THE SCHOOL GOODBYE!
Be Positive...VOTE NO, and SAVE OUR SCHOOL!
How dare those NO voters write that they are giving up, ask why they should bother going to meetings, they say "why should I go to a school board meeting to listen to the same old run-around." They say "It's all bull."
Why should you... because if you truly believe in a cause you fight for it, you never quit and you never give in, although you may need to comprimise to get most of what you want. Right now, you've obviously given up, that's a shame. Keep the pressure on, demand answers!!
In February, I voted yes for the referendum because I thought the school would close or consolidate if they didn't get more money to operate. Thank GOD the referendum failed! The more I am learning about this topic, the more outraged I become. This referendum should not even we allowed to take place! It is completely unnecessary, and the school receives an exceedingly large amount of money to educate less than 300 students. Aren't there legal guidelines for holding a referendum? I do not believe that GLSD qualifies as being financially underfunded. There really ought to be laws to protect the taxpayers so that schools cannot get away with extortion of our tax dollars.
On April 6th, I will be voting an astoundingly loud NO, and I will encourage the voters of Green Lake and Brooklyn to do the same. The problems at school have to be fixed and giving a very poorly run school system MORE money is NOT the answer.
In response to Rodney,
Read this week's editorial in the Ripon Commonwealth by Dean Sommers, a former school board member.
Sommers echoes what Marty Valasek stated earlier in the Commonwealth, in an ad that he paid for. Small schools (not just Green Lake) end up paying for higher dollars per pupil because of declining enrollment.
Whether the number is 15 students per class or 30, the school must still pay same heating and utility costs, transportation costs et cetera.
Sydney Rouse and Dick Marazek offer simplistic solutions: cut programs and services. Then we'll all pay less money for school funding. Wrong.
Rouse and Mrazek are connected to local education about as much as they are connected to Al Queda. They may have good intentions, but they have no clue about how school programs and services impact students and their families.
And Rodney, you are a condenscending know-it-all who doesn't bother with FACTS. You really don't want to understand how it works because it opposes your idealogy. Negativity? One just has to read the past blogs you have posted to understand how you use fear, sarcasm and personal attacks to close down our school.
You don't have (and apparently don't want) all the FACTS, Rodney. Closing a school is a process, and voting NO is the beginning of the end.
I am voting YES. I have more faith in what the school and students have achieved than your
diatribes.
You have my full agreement that fixed costs are just that, 'fixed' no matter the variables applied.
What we are speaking of is 'variable' costs which are in total control of the administration and school board.
The referendum is not for anything 'fixed'. The school speaks of the roof and the boiler. Then why wouldn't they put forth a referendum specifically for repairing those items (please reference Ripon and the referendum(s) they had in the last year or so).
The variable costs are the ones driving the school into the ground and the reason the school hasn't operated within budget for years!
Charter and IB are pet programs of Ken Bates, Deb Kneser, et al. The standard programs that should be offered are being sucked dry by these pie-in-the-sky adventures that we, the taxpayers, are paying the bill for.
Deb gets her doctorate and flees to greener pastures (while still filling her bank account with 'consulting'fees from GLSD...I'd say a better word would be 'insulting' fees because they do so to all of our intelligence.)
Ken Bates is working on his doctorate (at our expense), and playing ring-leader for the 3-ring circus that he has created at GLSD. If you don't think he'll use his time at Green Lake as a springboard to someplace bigger, better, and with a more lucrative deal than his $170K in salary and benefits - you are sadly mistaken.
I agree with keeping the children first when it comes to education. Unfortunately at GLSD what seems to be coming first are Kenny and Deb's pet programs and hired consultants. All other things take a back seat!
Voting NO on the referendum will allow the school to survive a much longer time than a yes vote.
Ultimately, at some point in the future, with dwindling population in Green Lake proper, as well as the surrounding communities, the reality is that the school will probably see some sort of consolidation or downsizing to just a K-6 or K-8 type of school.
However, that being said...would you rather see the school survive as a fiscally responsible entity for many years...or continue down the road to ruin by spending wildly and foolishly on Kenny's Folly!
I know my answer...and you know my answer!
Sorry if I sound condescending but when something is so blatantly obvious it does irritate me that so many people turn a blind eye to the realities of GLSD! Oh, and by the way...when we moved here many years ago, much of our decision was swayed by the quality of education at GLSD and what it offered. If the same decision had to be made today, with all other 'fixed' variables taken into consideration...the situation at the school would have been the impetus for my family and I to move elsewhere.
Our child got into the charter school. We are very happy that he will have this experience that our friends have been very positive on with their children.
We are voting yes on the referendum.
Whew...that was painful. With any luck composition and writing skills are part of the Charter curriculum.
To Rodney Blog-OY-ovich
Why are you obsessed with Ken Bates' salary? Why not compare what other district admininstrators in Wisconsin earn? You come off bitter and spiteful. Angry about your own situation?
Taxpayers money? Why not blog about the cost to Green Lake land owners? Check it out. You'll be amazed.
Rodney, it is obvious that you are fixated on Ken Bates. Are you in contact with ex-Green Lake faculty and aids that were dismissed because they could not do their jobs? Why are you not investigating why they were dismissed?
The upcoming referendum is about supporting a school in the community or closing the school and busing our kids to neighboring communities.
I urge you to vote YES for the referendum. People like Rodney have a personal bias for why our school should be closed.
Rodney is likely one of those loser types who couldn't cut it in high school, and ended up with a "going nowhere" job. Now he want's to complain about the salary others make because he has no chance of ever making a decent salary and getting a job anything like a professional position. Sounds to me like he has a lot of time to spend on this blog, complaining about life, and how everything is not fair, instead of doing something to better his skills and change his life.
He's probably a fan of Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and believes what they spew is actually real.
I do agree with the previous blogger. The salary package is about even for many similar sized school districts. Can our administrator find some cost savings? I believe so as he has done so in previous years, just check the records.
Could Rodney be connected to the aids and faculty who were let go, several years ago? Don't know, but he sure sounds like them.
Vote Yes for the referendum.
Oh my gosh...I feel like a celebrity! You've made my day by pointing out that I do think Ken Bates is comparable to the "Music Man"...Lot's of show, but no substance.
I've actually gotta hand it to Kenny. Starting out as a gym teacher and working his way up to a $170,000 per year 'hirer of consultants' is one hell of a leap. Kudos to the flim-flam man!
And thank you for waxing nostalgic about my past (I'm not asking you for anything but go ahead and bash me.)Actually, I did okay in school, went on to college and graduate school. I've worked hard and became relatively accomplished at what I do (at least those whom I report to seem to think so).
And, just like Kenny, my salary is right in line with others who are in my profession and at the level I've attained.
Now, when it comes to jobs, the difference between myself and Ken, is that I do mine!
In my area of responsibility, I'm held accountable to stay within budget and meet prescribed performance standards. I am compensated accordingly, with bonuses for exceptional performance...and penalties for failing to meet standards.
That is called reality!
If you think Ken is doing an exceptional job...then you too are not dealing with reality. This referendum is about one thing, and one thing only, the IB programme which is sucking the $$$ from everything else that is necessary at the school!
But yes...I am just a complainer. Everything is just fantastic at the school and we should just keep throwing money at a problem...I'm sure it will correct itself.
In fact, thanks to the efforts of Ken, and his paid consultants and paid advertisements touting how great GLSD is...the school is realizing a negative opt-in, open enrollment situation yet again!
I hate to burst your bubble but I'm not the only one that thinks there are better options than GLSD. Look at the numbers and they'll tell you just how splendidly the former gym teacher is doing!
Yep, Rodney does come off as a know-it-all sour grapes sort of person. Ken Bates isn't the reason you are so unhappy, Rodney. You are. The previous blogger nailed it--you have lots of time on your hands blogging as you do. They're hiring Walmart greeters right now. Go for it.
And sorry to burst your bubble, there are many supporters of Ken Bates and the school out here.
Vote YES for the referendum on April 6.
Whomever has taken it upon themselves to make this blog about 'Rodney' please...stay focused on the subject matter. It's about the referendum, why it isn't needed, and the people (Ken Bates, et al.) who have chosen to pit the taxpayers in this community against each other.
If there are really so many supporters of both Ken Bates and the referendum, then why didn't the first attempt pass without a hitch? Truth be told...the only reason it almost passed is because this is a small community and many people are directly connected to the school in some fashion. People don't want to lose their 'life lines' so they are willing to cannibalize from the necessary programs at GLSD to keep their pipe dreams alive and kicking. Short term results are what a con man gets from situations. Blow into town with a great deal of pomp and circumstance...and leave when the chips are down and the cash cow has been tapped out!
Truth can sometimes be a bitter pill but it is one that the folks at the school need to swallow before we can move forward as a community. As the truth behind the referendum comes out in the next two weeks the realities of the finances at GLSD will come to light.
If the school was run in a fiscally responsible manner and didn't have so many nonessential programmes taking funds from necessary programs then WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS SITUATION.
Remember, you can't separate the actions from the people perpetrating the actions. The old, 'I don't dislike him (or her), I just don't like what he (or she) is doing', doesn't fly.
When you go to vote consider that the additional money being asked for is due to poor decision making by the people in charge. This is no different than the big Bailout on Wall Street. People made bad decisions and were then rewarded with MORE MONEY! Does that make any sense to anyone? The school is going off in too many different directions. There is no real focus on education and developing the true 'identity' of the school. GLSD administration should know that when you try to be all things to all people, you end up being a big nothing to everyone. I don't want a big, empty 'nothing' sitting at the corner of Mill and Scott Streets but a yes vote will bring just that!
Please, I urge everyone to go to the upcoming referendum meetings and get the truths behind this sham. Don't be afraid to speak up and ask the hard questions. And, once you get the facts, don't be afraid to admit you were wrong and make the educated choice to vote 'NO' to the bailout of GLSD!
The school will still be standing the day after the next NO vote...and the administration will still have $19,394 PER STUDENT (reference Ken Bates own handout)
to provide focused, directed quality education to our children! If that kind of money does not put 'children first', then the money is not being used responsibly or ethically!
To Rodney,
So now you chacterize the referendum on par with a Wall Street bailout. You're certifiably nuts.
You and your ilk have'nt a leg to stand on when it comes pitting taxpayers against one another.
Check yourself into Winnebago.
Rodney,
Your fan club is shrinking. Same song, different verse.
Now all of a sudden, with you, it's all about the IB program as the evil of the day.
Another day, it's Ken not managing the budget to your liking.
Get over yourself. The school board is in favor of the referendum, the referendum is likely to pass this time, and Ken Bates will be the administrator for at least the next two years.
The previous blogger had a good suggestion. Wal-Mart is calling...
can you say, " Welcome to Wal-Mart, may I help you?"
Hmnn...the previous blogger must be Sybil since 'they' are all one-in-the- same person. Let me put it to you a simply as I can since you seem to be struggling with the concept of connecting the dots:
Ken Bates + Deb Kneser + IB Programme =
Green Lake School District in Financial Turmoil.
SO, if you remove the 3 negative impacts on the school you don't need a referendum...you still have more than enough money to run the school.
Deb is the one who brought in IB as the curriculum coordinator and now remains a 'consultant' to continue her 'legacy'.
Ken Bates allowed her to do it since he pretty much goes along with anything and is just a yes man with no clue about being an administrator. Please take note of the other problems the school has had to deal with under his watch: legal issues; lack of discipline with both teachers, principals and students; people pulling their kids out of a school which is out of control; etc.
And now IB itself...what an expensive joke the staff of GLSD is pulling on the community. It needs to be removed from the school and allow GLSD to cut its losses!
So, there you have it Sybil...all laid out for you nice and simple. I'd provide pictures if allowed in the blog format but I'll leave it up to you to color on your own...please make sure to stay within the lines!
I've never swayed from my 3 simple points of voting NO on this referendum. The problems are, and have been, Bates / Kneser / IB. Those 3 things are sucking GLSD dry.
That the school board extended Bates contract was a travesty but that's over and done with and barring some sort of buyout, we are stuck with him for a couple more years.
We DON'T have to stick with Kneser or the IB.
Rodney, you are right, and you hit the nail on the head.
The school board needs to change, and fast. Gordy Farrell apparently does not think for himself or represent the people of Green Lake! Gordy is a shame to the school board and the community. Wendy Schultz is even worse. Words cannot express my disappointment in Amy Pipho and Meade Grim. The only ones with common sense, fiscal responsibility and reason are Dennis Deyo and Harley Reabe. I am ashamed of our school board and what they are doing to our school and our community and the good people of Green Lake.
I will be voting for Sydney Rouse and Dick Mrazik for school board. Along with Dennis and Harley, they would ensure the continued existence of a school in Green Lake. Otherwise, we are doomed collapse. We cannot continue along this path of excessive spending and maintain a school for much longer. If you want the school to close then go ahead and vote yes. I will be voting NO to see that Green Lake schools survive and that our children receive a solid, quality education that will prepare them for their future. If this referendum passes, our children's future is cast to the wind.
Rodney,
There you go again, spewing sarcasm and bitterness. Yammering away your personal and ignorant biases. You really don't know anything about IB, do you? Are you opposed to students using hand-held calculators in math class, too?
We're curious why you would continue the personal attacks against Ken Bates and Deb Kneser. You just don't have the FACTS, Rodney. You pride yourself being a clairvoyant, ie a yes referendum is the end of the school and community, but you don't have any FACTS to support your view. The best you offer are personal attacks and shouting louder than the next guy.
You are one pitiful pistachio.
One pitiful pistachio...OMG / LMAO!
How is this for a fact? The school is spending over $250,000 more than their budget. Their budget is already padded with an extra $600,000 per year. Ken Bates does not know how to balance a budget. The IB program and Charter school are sucking our school dry, and it is NOT worth the money it is costing us, no way.
You want more facts? I have plenty. I bet other Inquisitor bloggers have some they could contribute. Let's bring it on.
Your stupid tactics to cast blame away from the school and onto Rodney are lame. The school is a mess, and if the administration continues as they are it will be too late to save it.
Let's work on having one GREAT school, not three overpriced and wasteful experiments.
Rodney,
Here's a FACT. Education costs have increased and enrollment decreased. Is Ken Bates responsible for referendums in Ripon? Markesan? Oshkosh? There are dozens of school referenda being decided statewide in 2010. You mean to tell us that all of these schools are fiscally irresponsible? You don't have the facts, Rodney. Not by a longshot.
Here's another FACT. IB and the charter school are not responsible for a referendum, contrary to your claim.
Here's a another FACT. Research supports IB and charter schools as progressive means to package and deliver education to students and the supporting communities.
Rodney, your personal control issues cannot be twisted into facts.
Walmart is still hiring.
Here is another FACT. There are schools all over the United States that DO NOT have an IB program that offer an excellent quality education.
Green Lake cannot afford to keep paying for this expensive program, and it is NOT NECESSARY. We have good teachers, let them teach. Get the IB OUT of Green Lake!
Now that the start-up money is gone for both IB and the "Green" Charter school, these schools are in FACT the reason Bates is holding a referendum in a recession and trying to raise taxes on struggling families.
Look at how much the budget has increased since Bates came to GLSD. Now there is a FACT for you.
We don't need a three-ring circus in Green Lake, all we need is a good, well-run school. And that is what we could have for far less than Bates is spending now. His delusional spending has proved to be a waste of our resources. People are NOT flocking to Green Lake for the school. Did he really think they would? Impressed, aren't you? Not a bit. Quite the opposite.
Almost half the schools in a Kansas City, Missouri, school district are facing closure. Schools in at least 17 states are considering four-day weeks.
GLSD needs to scale back spending, or face the certainty of closure. The US Government is broke. In fact, our nation is not just broke, but deeply in debt. The State of Wisconsin is also in debt and not operating with a balanced budget.
The future of public schools is bleak. GLSD is spending far too much money, has far too many teachers and support staff, and too much administration. We CANNOT SUSTAIN this out of control spending. It has to stop, and voting NO on the referendum is the first step to keeping our school in Green Lake.
1. The IB and Charter "grants" have run out. We are supporting paying for them.
2. Teachers say IB training is not worth it - they learned the same things in college and get updates all the time from teacher's magazines and workshops.
3. Obviously these two programs are NOT bringing people to GL school.
4. Only parents who like Charter are the ones whose kids names got drawn - at the expense of the students who deservedly feel left out. her kids feel left out.
5. Numbers of students who "go" to college are very misleading - only a fraction of those graduate. Others drop out due to interests in other fields - but everyone at GO is "expected" to go to college - looks good on Bate's resume.
SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL AND KIDS- VOTE NO so we get back to a good education for all.
Whomever it is that keeps listing 'FACTS' in favor of the referendum...I suggest you watch the current Domino's/Pizza Hut/Papa John commercials about "puffery"!
The difference between fact and opinion (puffery) is that a fact is something that is empirically true and can be supported by evidence while an opinion is a belief that may or may not be backed up with some type of evidence.
I look forward to the upcoming referendum meetings so that the school can tell us what the additional money is actually needed for...let me give you a hint - it's not a roof, it's not a boiler, it has nothing to do with building or grounds maintenance.
So that leaves us pretty much in the realm of 'operating expenses'.
People need to ask the hard questions and the folks at GLSD better have the hard answers!
Please, let the concerned citizens of Green Lake go to the polls with the FACTS...backed up with numbers and justified with data. This has gone on long enough and the taxpayers deserve better from the entire staff and school board.
If it really isn't IB taking away the necessary dollars...what is it? It's pretty much the only thing that's changed over the last several years at GLSD (other than cutting many quality offerings for which kids now attend school elsewhere for instruction).
"People need to ask the hard questions and the folks at GLSD better have the hard answers!"
Doesn't matter, neither side will believe or accept the answers they hear until they hear the one that they believe to be the truth. That's the problem here, no body trusts or believes anyone else.
That's pretty convoluted thinking. I feel it's the uncertain use of the requested 'additional' money that everyone is questioning.
If the school would just come out and say, "we need $$$ for the roof", or "this many dollars will be spend on this widget".
The school has yet to say WHY they need all the extra money, and this at a time when they don't spend what they have wisely.
That's the main problem...there haven't been any concrete, definitive answers!
You are absolutely correct. I was just saying this to my husband the other day. The school does not even say what they want the money for. Don't you think that a school holding a referendum should have to say, specifically, what the money is for?
Absolutely - we have our chance to ask them at the referendum meeting Wednesday night at 6:00. Just be sure to sign in if you want to ask a question! (I won't be able to be there - so post the answer on this site.) Thanks!
I attended a referendum meeting prior to the first vote. The money is for paying only existing programs and services. Since then, the school dropped $100k which was to be earmarked for technology stuff, wireless infrastructure, computers, etc.
The 100k that was dropped from the referendum was originally intended for maintenance, and the balance is for operating expenses.
Some have asked where the money has gone. Ask Wendy, Gordy, and Ken why it cost $30,000.+ in legal fees and other expenses to acquire the "free" land in Lindenwood.
And how much did they spend in legal fees to harrass one of the board members?
Harassing a board member? You mean Dennis Deyo. Deyo, a malicious malcontent, in cahoots with Marsha Krahn, more of the same, gossiped and spread sexually explicit rumors about Ken Bates and Wendy Schultz. Those two should pay the legal costs then leave town.
I agree with the last poster 110%...Ken and Wendy should pay the legal fees and leave town. Finally some people are getting the true picture of the problems at GLSD!
The school funding problem is not just a local nightmare. Schools in every state of the nation are going through drastic changes. There are a multitude of reasons why this is taking place, but in a nutshell, it is because our government-run public school system has been spending far too much money to educate the nation’s children. Privatization of schools would force competition and cut waste. Like our prison systems, public schools need major reform.
According to the US Census, sixteen (16) is the average number of pupils per elementary and secondary school teacher. Wisconsin’s student/teacher ratio is 15.2. Green Lake’s student/teacher ratio is 9.5. I don’t know about you, but when I was in school back in the 60’s, we never (ever) had less than 28 student s in a class. We usually had 30-32 students per class. The teachers did not have aides and managed very well on their own. I received a quality public school education.
Another factor in the equation is that the birth rate has declined over the decades while the school teacher rate has increased nearly two-fold. The birth rate decline is attributed to working mothers, birth control and legal abortion Not to get into the moral issue of abortion, 49,551,703 babies had died since 1973 due to Roe v. Wade being passed. Currently in the USA, there are 76.6 million students in public schools, according to the US Dept. of Education. Continuing a 12-year decline, the U.S. birth rate has dropped to the lowest level since national data have been available, according to statistics just released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Now we have public schools full of teachers, and declining enrollment. We have to face reality. The economy is teetering on the edge of collapse, the gig is up. There are simply too many teachers and WE as a country, as a state and as a community cannot afford to keep paying their salaries!
The changes that must be decided for the future of Green Lake public schools are necessary, difficult as it may be. We have too many teachers in the school. We have too many aides, and we certainly do not need a full-time superintendent and principal. It would be financially irresponsible to continue paying salaries to teachers that simply are not needed any longer.
From the Chicago Tribune: Chicago Public Schools is facing a deficit of up to $1 billion next year that can be reduced only through a combination of pension reform, union concessions and job cuts, schools chief Ron Huberman said Thursday. Without all three measures in conjunction, Huberman said, teacher layoffs, increased class sizes and cuts to important programs are distinct possibilities.
The grim 2011 budget forecast takes into account a skyrocketing pension obligation next year and contractual raises for teachers that together increase costs by about $450 million over this year, district officials said.
The dire prognosis comes in the middle of an already tough budget year that started with a half-billion-dollar deficit. To balance this year's budget, the district trimmed millions in programs, laid off 536 employees and mandated six furlough days for nonunion staff. Huberman announced Thursday another three weeks of furlough days and 500 more layoffs for nonunion staff to better position the district for next year's deficit and the impending teacher negotiations.
GLSD administration, school board & citizens of Green Lake...The writing is on the wall. Do you want to keep control of your own destinies by becoming fiscally responsible or continue down the road to ruin with unmitigated / unwarranted spending?
The answer to that question will be answered April 2nd...and it should be YES we want to control our future so we are VOTING NO to the unnecessary referendum!
We must get the TRUTH stated by the last 3 writers out to the public. The Vote Yes group met at School last night. Over 35 cars there. And they will just spin support for Bates and Kneser. We must get the TRUTH out to voters. Get rid of the high costs of paying Bates, Kneser, IB, and Charter.
Here is the schedule for upcoming 'information' meetings:
Tomorrow night,Wednesday, March 24 – 6:00 p.m. at Green Lake School Library Media Center
Tuesday, March 30 – 6:30 p.m. at Town of Brooklyn Hall
I encourage everyone to go to the meetings and ask questions. Don't just accept the 'pat' answers that we've been fed up to this point.
Doesn't anyone wonder what happened to the money from the last referendum that was earmarked for the new boiler?
I agree with Squeaky Wheel and think we should know exactly what our money is spent on and a big (huge!) ticket item like the boiler should be addressed and answered.
OMGosh! You're driving by the school counting cars to spy on the opposition? Did you actually go inside or are you to chicken to do that? You do know there were 3 or 4events at the school last night.
What a joke this town is! You're all like a bunch of bickering children. You should all enroll in therapy for you strange behaviors, at the least get yourselves a mediator to work this out before you destroy everything you have with your fighting, name calling and back stabbing!
I have to agree...pretty soon there will be secret handshakes and Green Lake decoder rings!
Are ye' with me or agin' me?
The animosity in this city/town is a very sad testament to what those in local politics / school leadership roles have done to this community. Where once people were unified...they've been divided. Sad, sad state of affairs!
Simply Unbelievable is the one who has a problem. So somebody mentioned that there were a lot of cars by school. Big deal. You're the one who jumped on it like a rabid dog. Your tactics are quite obvious.
Exactly, you just did what I was talking about; you backed right up in your corner and said it's not me, it's them, or in this case you said it’s me not you… nothing but more childish behavior. Get over yourselves and realize you yahoos had better work this out. You have the potential for a tremendous school, but you have chosen to take up sides, put silly signs in your yards and fight. My gosh get off the playground battlefield and settle this like adults. It’s down right embarrassing to our community.
Behave like an adult now and go to those referendum meetings, ask the hard questions and demand solid non political answers.
Here is yet another example why GREEN LAKE SCHOOLS MUST BEGIN A NEW PATH OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND QUIT SPENDING LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW.
From WSAU.com, March 23, 2010
STEVENS POINT, Wis (WSAU) The Stevens Point Area School Board is notifying 42 teachers that they could be laid off before the start of the next school year. 25 actually will be, as the district struggles to close a 4-point-5 million dollar budget shortfall.
School board leaders say those cuts will happen whether or not a school referendum passes next month. District residents said 'no' to a larger referendum last fall. If the current measure fails, another 2-point-9 million will be eliminated.
All school administrators received similar layoff notices earlier this year, although it's not clear how many might be let go before next fall.
The district is struggling with declining enrollment and less state aid.
If this truly was about the children, there wouldn't be a single person who would want to increase spending. But it's not about the children, it's not about education either. This referendum is about the teachers, support staff and administration trying to keep their jobs, even if they are not needed.
Why should the school have to let go teachers if the referendum fails? If GLSD was not OVERSTAFFED, then this would not be necessary. Why is the school overstaffed? I attribute that to the International Baccalaureate School and the Charter school. Look at the school website, the amount of staff for 300 students is mind-boggling!
The handwriting is on the wall. Will you ignore it and pretend that all is well at GLSD? I won't! There are people who care deeply about the children and their education. If they really wanted to put "children first" then we wouldn't even be having this referendum. Let's just call it "Teacher's First" instead.
VOTE NO ON APRIL 6TH! We owe it to our children and the future of our schools.
Dead on with the last blog. It makes me sick that the pro-referendum folks chose a group name that would immediately cause biases within the community. 'Children First' is an anomaly to what the referendum is actually for. Perhaps the group wants GLSD to have the absolute, highest per student cost in the state and if the referendum passes then it would accomplish this...
First in spending
First in legal fees paid
First in land ownership
First in hired consultants
First in unnecessary aides
First in P.O'ed taxpayers
That's quite a few firsts...none of them actually benefiting the students.
What is GLSD's Fund 10 2009-2010 budget???
For Yet Another Prime Example,
No additional teachers have been hired for the IB program and the charter school. Those classes are being taught by teachers already employed by the school.
That's because Green Lake SD already had enough teachers to go around. Case in point. Enough. Too many!
There are about 10 more aides at the school than there was a few years ago. And we haven't even touched on the subject of substitute teachers yet.
Many of the school aides are for children with special needs, both physical and learning. What other options would you suggest for these children?
You are mistaken! Yes there are aides specific to 'special needs' students (just how many of them are there) but that does not begin to tell the story of why there are so many.
Any insight?
Sorry, no special insight. I just know some of the aides are for kids with special needs. And God bless them for the work they do.
How many special needs students does the school have? I believe that there are more aides than special needs students.
Since we are asking valid questions about the school, do any of you know why Barb Eddy received a teaching job that was never listed and did not have to go through the legal hiring process (with competition) that other teachers go through? This seems very strange to me and raises a lot of other questions. Since she is not listed on the school website, just what is her job at the school?
Bates should put away all his graphs and charts and be willing to answer basic questions without getting defensive as he - and members of the audience - did when asked why the focus on and monies spent on IB, when, though they do not want to admit it, all Green Lake students do not have the money or the desire to go to college - and WHAT ARE THEY DOING FOR THOSE? They feel left out - just ask our son and 2 of his friends - not important. This is a public school, not private, so don't expect us taxpayers to pay more when our child and others are not receiving the education they wants and DESERVE. Meeting NOT WORTH going to - proof that this is a private school for one group of students, and others left out - and consequently feel like losers.
I can't believe the ignorance and selfishness of people in this community. With recent changes the referendum will cost Green Lake taxpayers approximately $40 per $100,000 of property value over a 5year period - that works out to a grand total of $8 per year or a little over 2 cents per day. In fact taxes actually will go down in each of the first two years approximately $10 before kicking-in in years 3 thru 5. As the saying goes people are "spending dollars to save dimes" - pretty foolish isn't. If the referendum doesn't pass the kids become the real casualties. My hats off to Ken Bates and the School Board for making the last referendum last almost twice as long as forecasted. They were able to accomplish this by being extremely fiscally responsible. Over the last 4 years the administration has cut over $600,000 out of the budget! If we end up having to combine with another school the mill rate will sky rocket costing tax payers many times more than the small investment this referendum would impose on tax payers. However probablly the most damaging result of combining with another school would be the certain loss of property values. Let's come together as a community and put our children first before our petty differences.
Did anyone catch how obstinate Ken got at the end of the meeting when he was challenged on IB, its efficacy, and why it has failed in so many states that have 'experimented' with it!
His arrogance came out with the last statement and showed his true colors and 'commitment' to Children First!...
"I'm doing my doctoral thesis on IB"!
Well, not only are we paying for Ken's doctorate (yes, just as we paid for Deb's doctorate we are paying for Ken's). BUT, isn't it convenient that Ken gets to advance his career and play with the taxpayers dollars by having the IB experiment at his fingertips to do his dissertation about!
And the stuff about bringing families and kids into the district with IB! That's a bunch of hogwash. The school has been touting IB for over a year and people are not opting in, they are opting out! Look at the numbers. Just because the school was just 'certified' (or whatever it is called) doesn't change the ongoing trend.
Lastly, with regard to getting college credits through completion of IB, versus getting college credits through AP coursework...
From the UW website...
252 AP credits are accepted into the University!
112 IB credits are accepted into the University!
Seems odd that the GLSD folks basically dissed AP coursework as too 'limited' in scope. Check it out for yourself...AP coursework covers the gamut of academia from literature, foreign language skills, mathematics, natural sciences, etc. It's as about as inclusive as you can get so how does IB give you more?
Answer, it doesn't...once again - you get less for spending more.
Lot's of holes in the arguments. Lot's of self-serving issues with the school, it's administration and staff.
Lot's of animosity over very few tangible, quantifiable 'answers' in favor of more unjustified spending of taxpayer money.
To the previous blogger,
"Well, not only are we paying for Ken's doctorate (yes, just as we paid for Deb's doctorate we are paying for Ken's)."
Stop with spreading lies.
The school did not pay for Kneser's degree. Nor is the school paying for Bates' degree.
I have heard otherwise. The school has an annual allowance for continuing education. The school did help pay for Kneser's degree and is helping to pay for Ken Bates as well. This is one thing that needs to be addressed by new school board members, and eliminated from the budget. The taxpayers are taxed out. Teachers and administrators should come to Green Lake qualified for their positions.
Did Deb Kneser get dismissed from Green Lake School District yet for LYING about the last referendum?
If not, WHY NOT???
My favorite direct quotes from Ken Bate’s at Wednesday’s school referendum meeting:
“I can guarantee you that the teachers will get raises.”
“A major part of our budget increase is that salaries will go up.”
“The budget up there is not growing by all that much”.
“I hope you trust the school board here.”
“We have buses that aren’t always full”.
I went to the referendum meeting last night, because people on this blog kept saying, if you have questions, go the meeting(s) and ask them. The meeting was a farce. It was set up and designed for to deter questions, and scheduling a school board meeting at 7:00 ensured that little would be accomplished. None of those who attended from the “NO” group had opportunity to ask questions. We had to blurt out our queries just to be heard.
For those of you who missed the meeting let me fill you in. Bates and his audience plants took up the lion’s share of the meeting with their rehearsed rhetoric. With the little bit of time that the general public had to ask questions, most were diverted, answered only in part, or not answered at all. Conveniently, the meeting ended before the general public had time to ask many of the questions that they came with.
I went into the meeting not really expecting to hear anything that might change my mind about voting NO. I left the meeting feeling so much more certified in my convictions that the school needs to do what is necessary to curb spending and tighten their belt. Let’s use some common sense here and do what is right for the future of the school. VOTE NO on April 6th, and vote for Dick Mrazik and Sydney Rouse for school board.
I agree! The meeting was a ridiculous waste of time. For one thing, all the pro-referendum people should stay home. I didn't attend this meeting to hear their propaganda. I came to ask questions and get answers that contain facts, not opinions. And I did not attend to hear anyone from Teachers First spout off their well-rehearsed speeches. Disgraceful that teacher and school board members were planted in the audience and that for the most part the people who wanted to speak and ask questions could not. It was pathetic. The entire hour should have been devoted the public and not the audience plants, and Ken Bates should have been ready and able to answer the questions from those who oppose the referendum.
So what you want is a meeting where only "no" members could ask questions? Last time I checked, this is America. These are public meetings and anyone can come. Also, there is a signup sheet in the back of the room that anyone can sign up on prior to the start of the meeting, to be able to express their comments. This is done so their can be orderly fashion to the comments portion of the meeting. If someone or some people did not get to speak, it is because they did not take the time to sign up. That is their fault, no one else's. This system has been in place for years, and is commmon in many school board meetings in other districts.
It also follows the rules of a school board meeting held in public. The board has a specific agenda they post, and they stay on those topics. When they get comments or questions on the front end during comments section, that is exactly what that is,... comments or questions from the public to the board. They do not go into discussion on those comments or engage in dialogue on those questions at that point, based on procedure.
It is their job to hear those comments or questions and take those into consideration going forward. They also can place items on their agenda for discussion for their next board meeting, based on the questions they hear, or direct staff to bring certain material for the board to review, etc.
That is the process the school board has to work under, not just here, but all schools or public entities.
Quit blaming the board or Ken for "planting" people in the audience. You just didn't like it because it's not the way you think, so you don't want to hear it.
Again, last time I checked, this is America and people can, in an orderly fashion, say what is on their mind, for or against.
Perhaps you just can't handle the fact that there are more people out there who are for the referendum or at least willing to support it as necessary, than you believe exists. Certainly, anyone is welcome to vote against it, or have their opinions about the right or wrong of it. But in this country, it is freedom of speech for all sides to be heard.
Wow, some serious whining going on, on this blog. It strikes me that some of the "no voters" on this blog cannot deal with another opinion or want it squashed or not recognized.
Personally, I will support the referendum, because from what I have read and heard, there is a shortfall and I want to see the school offer what it has been offering.
But I also accept the will of the community. If the vote is yes, so be it and that is where the majority wants the school to go. If the vote is no, then that is the direction the community wants to go in, and I will accept that as well. Either way, I hope the community can move forward after the vote and focus back on the kids and school.
...and people were supposed to know HOW that there was a sign-up sheet for questions? Was there someone at the door to tell people this? Did Ken Bates ask once during the meeting for people on the list to ask their questions? No! I picked up the referendum packet off the back table. I did not see a "sign-in sheet". And just when was Bate's going to call on the people on the sheet? He never did. This is a bogus response to a valid concern.
The people who are already FOR the referendum do not need to attend a meeting for this purpose. They were there purely to promote their agenda and not to listen and learn. This is America, and the people who attended the meeting to ask genuine questions were not given the opportunity. Spin it how ever you want to, it was lame.
Yes, the leader of the meeting, who is Ken Bates, should have begun the meeting (which should have started on time) by stating that there is a sign up sheet for those with questions. That is, if the "leader" had any leadership skills.
I want to know why there wasn't a tray of huge cookies from Fat Bruce's at this meeting? Did the school spend all their cookie money on staff pizza this month?
Fat Bruce cookie money is separate from staff pizza money. Didn't you read the pie chart?
Anyone who has ever attended a school board meeting in the past would know this procedure has been in place for years.
If you didn't know, that tells me you haven't been to a school board meeting in years. So where has your concern and commitment been all this time?
Now you show up at the last minute when you should have been there over the years to get involved.
And now, you don't like the rules?
I have no sympathy for your lack of involvement in going to school board meetings.
So the school holds a public meeting, and expects that everyone who attends has been to these meetings before and knows the protocol. That is an asinine assumption! You are not just judgmental, you are clueless.
The public was invited to attend this meeting. This was not a school board meeting. It was a meeting to discuss the referendum. I didn't see a sign up sheet. Was the sign-up sheet on a clipboard? Did it say SIGN UP SHEET FOR QUESTIONS across the top? Did Bates ask to take the questions from the sign up sheet or call on the people who signed up? I didn't hear him ask.
I attended the school referendum meeting yesterday with an open mind and undecided how I was going to vote. I was very impressed with the open and professional exchange between Ken Bates and the audience members. Also I thought Ken did a exceptional job explaining a fairly complicated subject.
The meeting was very informal - encouraging audience participation and exchange. Any audience member who had a question simply asked it and it was addressed in a very through and courteous manner.
I couldn't disagree more with the bloggers above who stated you needed to sign-up for questions or that the "No" group didn't recieve equal opportunity to ask questions - that's simply a fabricated lie! Although I didn't keep tabs I'd say the "No" group certainly asked the majority of the questions while the people in support of the referendum asked less questions but rather made comments as to why they were in support of the referendum - an excellent exchange by both points of view.
In summary, the meeting was very informative and gave me the information I needed to make an "informed" decision. My understanding is that another meeting will be held next Monday March 29th. I'd urge everyone to attend so you can get the facts rather than some of the "BS" being slung around.
There are now four teachers we know of who are using the advanced degree monies we are paying for - two will be leaving for "greener pastures" when they get theirs - thanks to us.
It is not uncommon to have employees to further their education and then leave. However, does the school a policy in place that if they get any type of tuition reimbursement they would have to pay it back if they leave within so many months?
What the heck are advanced degree monies???
Isn't it written into the teachers and administrators agreement that the school will pay a certain percent for the classes they take?
I think it's a good thing to encourage our staff to learn more about their field.
PLEASE STOP THE BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How the heck do you know that specific teachers will leave for "greener pastures"? I'm totally disgusted with the people out there spreading lies about the school and anyone supporting the school. I certainly don't have any problems with people differing from my position, after all we live in America where freedom of speech is one of our greatest rights. However people cross the line when they fabricate lies, spread rumors, and defame peoples reputation just because someone disagrees with them. I'm tempted to name some of the people I've personally heard doing these things, however that would stoop me down to their level. Although I'm for the referendum I respect people who disagree with me. Let's stick to the facts and quite fabricating all the "BS" to sway someone to your point of view.
Don't you think that if the teachers and staff of the school are worried about the school closing, they would eliminate all of the "extra" costs such as tuition reimbursement and try to keep the school open? Same with teacher salaries. If the teachers really want to keep their jobs, they would forgo a raise in salary like so many of us had to do recently. I haven't had a raise in two years, my spouse has not had a raise in over three years and in fact, took a pay-cut. Yet Bates announced at the Wednesday meeting that "I can guarantee you that the teachers will get raises", and "A major part of our budget increase is that salaries will go up."
If the "Children First" group actually put "children first", they would do the right thing when it comes to fiscal responsibility.
I have heard that there are built in salary increases for the teacher for the next five years! This is why they are holding the REFERENDUM!
Teachers First!
You have got to be kidding me! Salary increases? Do you know what type of salary packages our teachers already receive???
Baranowski - $85,600
Ruth 71,061
Poock 81,130
Borgardt 81,329
Reininger 85,415
Roti Roti 86,631
Owens 85,474
TEACHERS SALARIES ARE ABOUT 75% OF THE BUDGET, AND THEY WANT MORE!
THIS IS WHY THEY ARE HOLDING THE REFERENDUM, PEOPLE! THIS IS CRAZY!!!
This is insane. Seriously, I thought teachers earned in the 40,000 - $50,000 range. I realize those figures include benefits, but this is just outrageous!
It's a 5 year referendum for Christ Sake! I would image there will be multiple pay increases during that time. Ken did say that it may not be much of an increase. I give Ken credit for being so honest and open about the future wage increase - I don't believe many administors would have had the integrity to bring that up so much in advance. Also schools are somewhat limited in the control of teachers salaries because of state mandates. If that bothers you so much why the heck aren't you equally vocal about all the other city employees tax payers are responsible for. I don't hear anyone complaining about the wages of our mayor, police, judge, or any other city or town employee. Why hold anyone connected to the school to a different standard? Where were you when they put up a $28 million dollar Court House and Security Building when the existing building had an entire third floor empty? Did you believe that was a neccessary expenditure? Do we really need the number of cops we have in such a small community? Did we need to spend tax payers monies for the current Mill Street side walk and curve project or the future redo of Lake Street? Not one word was mentioned when they put up the new Fire Department building in the Industrial Park. With the school referendum being such a small investment ($8 per year for a $100,000 property value) and all these examples of other city/town expenditures not even raising an eye brow it is apparent that this is not about the school being "fiscally responsible". In fact what other city or town institution has cut over $600,000 out of their budget over the last 4 years? How can you ignore that the school made the last referendum last almost twice as long as projected? Obviously, this is more about personal grudges than fiscal matters and you'd have to be in a state of denial not to see this.
Give me a break! When will the "BS" ever stop. If you have a question about teacher wages and benifits get the facts at the upcomming referendum meeting next Monday. I can assure you Green Lake teachers wages/benifits are in line with other school districts. Do you really think people are gullible enough to believe anything printed here? You must be pretty desperate to stoop to level you are.
I simply stated the facts that are printed on my sheet. You seriously think that these wage packages are in line with other schools our size? These teachers work 181 days per year and have 9.5 students per class.
Give ME a break. I'm not desperate, I am angry and so are most of the people in this community. Enough is enough!
$46,390 is the average teacher salary in Wisconsin.
I'm sure our teacher salaries are within the norm or slightly lower than state averages. Who knows what "trumped-up" numbers are being displayed above. Come to the meeting Monday and ask Ken Bates to respond - otherwise your just spreading rumors and half truths. Let's give our School Board a little credit for overseeing that wages are in line with other districts.
What's wrong with some of you people? If you have a question or complaint bring it to the meeting and have it addressed accurately there - unless your afraid of hearing the truth!
I couldn't agree with the blogger above more, come to the meeting if you have a concern or need to have an issue clarified. That is the only way you can get the facts and clear-up any misunderstandings. If you don't go about doing things this way it's obvious that you don't want the truth to come out, but would rather spread lies or half-truths to support your position.
I don't have a question. Quit trying to discredit the facts. The referendum is to pay teacher salaries. State employees were mandated to take a pay-cut, schools are closing all over the place, and GLSD teachers are worried about how much MORE money they will get! Can't you see how WRONG this is? There are too many teachers at the school, and they are already TOO highly paid. We cannot afford to keep paying for all the extra staff. This is not a jobs program! Teachers only work 181 days per year. The average worker works 260 days per year. I don't have a question except, can't you see how WRONG this is?
If we are to keep the school, we have to cut expenses!
Let's talk about lies and half-truths here.
Why are children once again coming home from school crying because their teacher told them that if they didn't go home and tell their parents to vote YES that their school would close.
This happened yesterday, and if and when I find out which teacher(s) are emotionally abusing the students, I will not stop until these teacher(s) are fired. This is not acceptable!
You have it wrong. My kid came home yesterday and told us that her classmates told her that the NO referendum folks want to fire teachers.
I believe it. Just look on this blog. The NO referendum bloggers make numerous references that the school will fail unless they "cut taxes".
So, stop spreading the hype. You have done enough damage to the school and the community.
Vote YES!
I think we should try to keep good teachers here, and if you have to pay them decently, then so be it. When you throw names out there like Mrs. Baranowski, Mr. Poock, Mr. Rot-Roti, Mrs. Reininger,,,, these are teachers the students love and have been with us a number of years.
Same could be said of Mr. Eddy and others.
So what if we need to pay them a decent salary to represent years of accomplished teaching. They probably also had beginning years of earning crap. If we can keep them here, and pay them to be able to raise their own families, and it is good for our students and community, then I have no problem voting yes. Not everyone has to earn what is made in a cookie factory or at McDonald's. Good for these people who took the time and effort to get educated and make a lifetime commitment to their career of teaching young people.
You aren't kidding...or are you? A decent wage is one thing but I must have spent too much time working in the private sector if this is a decent wage in the public sector.
I'll be gracious in applying a full work day to the teaching staff but with the salary/benefit packages listed above, you consider a decent wage to be $60-$75 per hour? So much for the poor underpaid teachers!
Has anyone in Green Lake realized that we've been in a recession for the last 1-1/2 years. That unemployment is at, or near, all time highs. That extremely qualified people who have put in years of intensive academic and professional training are out of work and available. That we've all had to learn how to do without the 'disposable' income and deal with budgeting and going without the niceties of life!
When you go to these referendum meetings and read the moronic 'they are worth it' blogs...it makes me sick! These are the same people who think grants and 'federal funding' don't cost us anything.
At the last referendum dog on pony show (or perhaps that should be the Jon Roti Roti 'french horn and piccolo' show thanks to the unabashed attempt at exhibiting some of GL's gems at the end of the meeting...how silly that was!) a discussion took place in the hallway where a huge proponent of the referendum, Mary Jo Johnson, was overheard saying (shouting) that the IB Programme didn't cost Green Lake anything since 'it has been paid for with grants'! I was appalled by this statement, especially from a business person. Do we need a reminder of where grant money, both federal and state grant money, comes from? Every time I hear about all of this 'free money' that the grant writers get, it makes me cringe! Lest we forget...IT'S TAX DOLLARS...IT'S NOT FREE MONEY!
Therein lies the root of the problem. The only way to save the school is to run it more like a private sector 'business'. No doubt there are differences in what can and can't be done simply due to state mandates and DPI oversight. However, there is nothing wrong with fiscal responsibility and you won't find anything from DPI that prohibits administrators and school boards from acting in the best interests of the community it serves.
Why is is "silly" to showcase some of our students who have developed musical talent within our school music program at a public meeting about the school? They were just using it as an example of some of what is offered at Green Lake, that helps make Green Lake special. They could have showcased kids who are in Forensics Club, or kids who have learned something about getting ready for life after high school...
anything really. It was just an example. Believe it or not, there will be kids who will graduate and not just sit behind a desk or drive a truck or say, "Welcome to Walmart, may I help you?". Yes, we are in a recession, but the world is not over. We have had recessions and depressions in this country and in the world and we will see these again, as well as better times. There will be a future for these kids, and some of them will be involved in the arts, or engineers, or lawyers, or biologists. And some will be carpenters and electricians. And some will be in service industries, working at motels, or in convenience stores. And some will play "french horn" and " piccolo, for enjoyment, or help with a community band, or entertain us at summer in the park concerts. Just like us as adults. So right now, in their education, part of it is to expose them to more of the world than just Green Lake, and different possibilities so they can expand their horizons and be successful adults, in the areas they are interested and skilled at. Bring it on, John Roti-Roti and school board! Thank you for the great music program you are giving to our kids, and everything else you are presenting to them, paychecks and all!
VOTE YES April 6th!
NO voters need to get off their soapboxes. They preach about wasteful spending as they sit in the bars buying rounds of drinks and smoking their cigarettes. Glad to know where their priorities are. And by the way, if yo are so ticked off about wasteful spending, let's see you turn away your Social Security and Medicare checks. What about the wasteful spending in those programs? Let me guess, we can't ouch those but we sure as heck have to say no to the school. Most of the NO voters are out of touch and have no vested interest in the school. They don't have kids that attend there and they themselves hardly ever attend school events. That makes it really easy to say "Cut em' off-who cares if the school closes?". If anyone truely cares about this community, they would vote YES....
There is a time and place for everything. A public meeting on a school referendum is not the place to 'showcase', and now is not the time to increase spending and salaries with a school referendum.
Everything is relative and it's time for a reality check at the school. It seems clear that the administration and school board feel that GLSD is exempt from dealing with the realities of the world.
Guess what Green Lakers...reality has come to small town America and we need to deal with big city problems. Things like budgeting and living within ones means! These are real life concepts that our learn and appreciate.
Some time back there was a suggestion made on this blog that those who want their children to have the 'Best' of all worlds should pay the additional monies being asked for in this referendum. Those who want their children to excel at music...pay the extra dollars for advanced music instruction. It's not fair to ask the general population of the city, etc., to pay for the Rolls-Royce musings of the minority. And yes, there should be fee's placed on sports and other extra-curricular activities for which we all now pay every dime for!
Going back to the last posters comment about showcasing the talent of GLSD...I would have loved to see something from the forensics program that no longer exists other than as an extracurricular activity. I was extremely upset when GLSD decided to do away with forensics as an instructed course. Talk about something that would truly benefit the children, being able to convey their thoughts and build self-confidence through public speaking. But, that too was tossed in the trash for some other 'pie in the sky' dream.
Oh, and by the way, I'm also a big fan of music and band but once again...not sure why a k- 12 school of less than 300 total students would need a music director ($80,059/yr); a band director ($86,631/yr) and another PT instructor ($20,252/yr)...almost $190,000 just in salaries/fringes for band/music!
"Impressed"...Not really?
Hi Dave,
The next referendum sign you remove or knowck down off private property I'm taking these photos to the DA.
Go ahead. Make my day.
Holy cow! I hope this can't be true. Someone in our community taking signs off of other people's property just because they don't agree with their point of view. How sad if this has happened that someone would stoop that low. I don't care which side you are on. We do need to respect each others' rights to having our own point of view, and for private property. I only know a few Dave's out there and I hope it is not one of them.
I AM OVER THE EDGE! I TRIED KEEPING MY OPINION TO MYSELF THRU ALL OF THIS, BUT THE NO VOTERS HAVE DONE ME IN. WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO RIP APART MY YES SIGN? I AM TOTALLY DISGUSTED BY YOUR NEGATIVE ATTACKS! IT REALLY SHOWS THE NATURE OF SOME OF THESE PEOPLE'S CHARACTER AND I HOPE THAT VOTERS IN THIS DISTRICT TAKE NOTICE AND REALLY THINK THIS THING THRU. DON'T BELIEVE ALL THE B.S AND NEGATIVITY! IF YOU HAVE TO STOOP AS LOW AS TAKING DOWN YES SIGNS, YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM. DO YOU AS A VOTER REALLY WANT TO RELY ON INFORMATION FROM A GROUP THAT DOES THIS? GIVE ME A BREAK!
Isn't it nice that all the "NO" voters are portrayed as low-life's who, when they aren't working their menial jobs as Wal-Mart greeters,or truck drivers, or just 'sitting behind a desk', are at the tavern, smoking and joking and planning the demise of GLSD.
Reality check...those who have been running (ruining?) the school the past many years are going to be the demise of the school not the folks who keep Green Lake afloat by patronizing the local establishments!
The lowly 'folks' who are asking for fiscal responsibility and truthful answers should be applauded for FINALLY, calling out the administration and school board for what's been going on at GLSD! When money was seemingly free & easy nobody asked where it was being spent...it just happened. And now that questions are being raised, where are the answers? The real, bottom line answers?
Whomever suggested, "Most of the NO voters are out of touch and have no vested interest in the school. They don't have kids that attend there and they themselves hardly ever attend school events."
You are sadly mistaken since regardless of whether or not we have children in the school or attend school events, we all have a vested interest in keeping the school a viable, responsible entity in Green Lake.
However, not all of us can wrap our minds around paying grossly exaggerated monies for non-essential functions. We keep hearing that the school has cut money from the budget...but where (real, tangible cuts...not moving dollars from one area to another)? We keep hearing that IB will bring students into the district...but how? This is not Milwaukee Country so using Ronald Reagan School as an example of what will happen with GLSD's enrollment is like comparing apples to wing-nuts...What a ridiculous comparison!
Open your eyes, get the facts and vote with your head, not your heart. Let intelligence guide your decision, not wild-eyed, impassioned rhetoric.
And by the way...there is nothing wrong with driving truck, sitting behind a desk or working at Walmart...we all have a roll to play in life and unfortunately not all of us were lucky enough to have been born with a silver spoon sticking out of our mouths! Perhaps if there were a bunch more $80k/yr jobs available at the school we wouldn't have to actually work for a living to pay taxes and support our community!
Agree to take a cut on your social security and medicare and then I'll agree to that the school spending needs to be cut. All three have wasteful spending. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
For the record, I am a member of the NO Group and we have taken the respectful stand that we will not remove a single YES sign, and we expect the same courtesy in return. We obviously disagree on the subject, but winning fairly is the only way to win. We will not stoop so low as to take down your signs.
If you are having a problem with your sign, this is not the place to address it. Especially since you seem to know the person who allegedly took your sign. Quit trying to make the opposition look bad by smearing them on the blog. You are looking desperate, mean and pathetic.
I am very glad to hear that about the No group wanting to be respectful. I hope someone in your group will have a talk with Dave and tell him to stop taking down YES signs on private property, as you are right, his misplaced enthusiasm is not putting your group in the best of light. I don't believe he represents your group.
To Rodney and his ilk,
You said, "And by the way...there is nothing wrong with driving truck, sitting behind a desk or working at Walmart...we all have a roll to play in life and unfortunately not all of us were lucky enough to have been born with a silver spoon sticking out of our mouths! Perhaps if there were a bunch more $80k/yr jobs available at the school we wouldn't have to actually work for a living to pay taxes and support our community!"
How do you know these people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth? Just because they went to school and educated themselves, doesn't mean they got any special breaks. Maybe they had to take loans to get through school. Maybe they earned a scholarship. Maybe their parents had to take a second mortgage to help them or they had to work two jobs. If they earned it, and they can find jobs that pay well, so what? If you want a job that pays well, get yourself in the right position to do so and go after it. Your sour grapes just because you don't have one is so telling. Another news flash... last time I checked, teachers and administrators pay taxes too, just like everyone else.
I agree with the previous blogger. Rodney, or whoever you are, you speak about fiscal responsibility throughout this blog. No problem. I agree with you.
At the same time, YOU need to demonstrate some civility toward others who do not agree with you. When I read through your earlier blogs, your comments are personal, sarcastic, and disrespectful.
If you represent the NO referendum voters, then it is a no-brainer.
Vote YES for the referendum.
Post a Comment