The Price Is Right?

How about a shorter route to what's going on at this week's school board and committee meetings.  We'll tell you the cost up front AND provide a quick link to the info!


First up is the FTT Committee meeting, where somebody wants to spend:
---$240K to remodel the district office
---$1.7M to upgrade Ashley Field
---$240K of referendum surplus for a greenhouse and new diving boards.

Monday, March 14, 2011

FACILITIES, TECHNOLOGY & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING (Revised), 5:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 300 E. Main St., Sun Prairie. Chair: David Stackhouse

3. Committee Business Items

3.01 Consideration of Bids for District Office Remodeling and Upgrades to the Electrical for the Main Data Room ($240K) 

District Office re-model agenda detail

3.02 Discuss and Act on Ashley Field Improvements  ($1.7M)

Ashley Field agenda item detail

3.03 Discuss and Act on Grosse Farm House ($23.6K)

Repairs to Grosse Farm property agenda detail

3.04 Discuss Pool Diving Boards ($3,400-7,800)

Pool Diving Boards agenda item detail

3.06 Discuss and Act on a Greenhouse at the High School ($230K)

=============================================================

Then we have the full school board meeting, where somebody wants to spend:

---what will add up to over $10M on a "minor revisions" to the Kobussen busing contract.  These amendments contains a critical  "addendum" which was missing from the original plus many language changes.  Hmmmm

---$62K to "re-do" the brand new bleachers at Summit Field (but they don't want you to know that (A) insufficient were purchased, and (B) with the ones purchased, the first 5-8 rows have their view blocked by the dugouts.

---a decision to "spend" the rest of the $1.1M in EdJobs Fund money and "put it in fund balance"...yeah....rrrright!

---$90K to extend the contract for Youth Advocates. 

---Last but not least is a change to policy regarding "Complaints" or "Concerns" regarding the district.  Know which one you have/had?  Does the district know?  Is there a difference?  How do you "get heard"?

REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING (Revised), 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 300 E. Main St., Sun Prairie. President: John Whalen

4. Old Business

4.01 Revisions to Kobussen Transportation Contract (~$10M)

Kobussen amended contract agenda item detail

5. New Business

5.04 Consideration of Bleachers for Summit Field  ($62K)

Bleachers for Summit Field agenda item detail

5.05 Spending Remaining $1.1M of Education Jobs Fund Money in the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year

Spending $1.1M EdJobs $$ agenda item detail

5.06 Consideration of Contract for Youth Advocates ($90K)

Youth Advocates contract agenda item detail

5.07 Revise Policy BDDI, Public Concerns, and Procedure BDDI-R, Procedures for Handling Public Suggestions, Concerns and Complaints - 1st reading

Policy on district "complaints" & "concerns"

Basketball Closure at Last?

A peek at the school board's agenda for this coming Monday includes the following closed session:

Agenda Item Details

 Mar 14, 2011 - REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING (Revised), 

7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 300 E. Main St., Sun Prairie. President: John Whalen

 Category -  Closed Session

 Accept a motion to go into closed session for the purpose of taking action on closed School Board minutes of February 17 & 21, 2011; discussion and action on a personnel retirement issue; discussion and action on a grievance settlement; consideration of negotiation of changes to District Administrator's employment contract; and discussing Sun Prairie Substitute Teachers Association (SPSTA) negotiation parameters [Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) & (e)].

 Multiple Monday!

We hear rumors that the grievance settlement involves former girls basketball coach Liz Hrodey.  Settlement?  Sounds like the checkbook is coming out!

And then in the 2nd part of our doubleheader, comes none other than Tim Culver's double genie wish list of 6 contract proposals.  Keep that checkbook warmed up!

Why Apologize?

At its February 28th meeting, the Sun Prairie School Board voted to approve 1-year contract extensions with both the teachers union (SPEA) and school support staff union (AFSCME Local 60).
On the one hand, this was a magnanimous gesture from the employer to its employees.  On the other, it was a slap in the face to both the community at large, and the full intent behind Wisconsin's Open Meetings Laws. How could one move have such dichotomous implications?  Why did one community resident demand that the school board apologize to the community? Let us explain.
On the plus side
Unless you've been in a coma, it is abundantly clear that KingGovernor Scott Walker is hellbent on disintegrating Democrat-supporting unions. The contract approved by the school board actually incorporates more of the Governor's fiscal mandates than would have been required.  Yet it retains the actual contract language and ability to collectively bargain for another year (through June 20, 2012).  Yes, the district could have squished the life-force from the unions and forced a slightly larger concession on health insurance premiums.  
And yes, the board could have gone for the jugular and (without the contract) torched the salary grid matrix with it's automatic step and lane increases. But unlike Scott Walker, the board chose discretion as the better part of valor.  The board and the district and their employees chose to work collaboratively through tight financial times.  Gee...what a novel concept.  [Can you say "collaborative", Scott?  We didn't think so.]  And the board chose to be human.  And these are good things.  Those are the reasons why rushing this contract through served "the greater good".
Whoa!  Where's the fire?
Why the rush to push the contracts through in the span of less than 4 days?  Because the possibility existed that at any moment, the Senate Democrats who left the building to allow time for the public--and the Legislature-- to ponder things could have returned.  If the Budget Repair Bill gets signed in its current form, then --at that moment-- the district's hands would be tied, and there would be no such ability to contract as they did.  That would mean loss of control at the local level.  And it would destroy the unions once and for all.   And people--because the teachers and other district employees ARE people--- deserve better treatment.  So, in the end, pushing these contracts through was the right thing to do.


Not so fast...the other perspective
What's the hub, bub?  Why did citizen Mealy demand an apology to the community?  Why? Because despite Walker tossing out everything including the kitchen sink in his budget bills, there are still these teensy little annoyances called Open Meetings Laws.


Yes, the school board satisfied the Open Meetings Laws with respect to public noticing.  The problem is that they didn't give the public a chance to even SEE what they were approving until 2:45 pm on Monday 2-28-2011.  That's less than FIVE HOURS before the school board meeting.  And then what they posted was over 100 pages of contract documents.  And they weren't even complete!  Why on earth should the public support a huge, incomplete contract with less than 5 hours to review it???
Not that we're advocating for it, but the district COULD have just let the chips fall, and we ultimately we would have made the same or a better deal.
You can't have it both ways.   
Those affected by Walker's Budget Repair Bill were up in arms when it was made available on Friday 2-11-2011.  The protests started, not only because it effectively neutered the unions, but the public would have less than 5 days to review it before it was voted (in theory) into law.  The plan was to vote on it on Tuesday 2-15-2011.  But then those 14 Democrats left the building to allow the public court of opinion more time to ponder the severity of Walkers action. In Sun Prairie, the public didn't have any such fortune.  They also got even less time to decide.  And they didn't even know what was being agreed upon.  The board ramrodded the contracts through without pausing to consider the public.  And that was wrong. It was bad form to the n^th power.  
You can't protest the timing of the Governor's Budget Repair Bill and then argue in support of the exact same thing here. Life doesn't work that way.  Not to induce nausea here, but...what does that "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality teach our children?


What SHOULD have been done
What the board SHOULD have done to mitigate the situation was to IMMEDIATELY post SOMETHING on Friday.  Even just a simple bulleted list of what the board agreed to would have been enough. SOMEONE should have hammered out the key points of these contracts, posted them liberally on the District website, and e-mailed them to Dr. Tim's "Key Communicators".  It would not have taken even 30 minutes.  And it could have been written such that it was not only logical, but fiscally responsible.  
In the end, these contracts were right for the district, the employees, and the community.  But the community deserves an opportunity to make that judgement for them selves.  Unfortunately, they were left to trust the school board to make good judgement.  And in recent history, the community is more likely to trust Bernie Madoff with their nest egg than to trust the school board's ability to make good, sound decisions.


Why Whalen Gets it...and McCourt does not
To his credit, board president John Whalen took it on the chin and opted to offer a public apology.  Thanks for no letting pride get in the way, Mr. Whalen!  Yeah...pride doesn't taste so good going down the hatch, but you win points for taking a few moments to recognize that you--and the board-- owed the public better.  The community appreciated your willingness to do that.
McCourt on the other hand is...well...McCourt.  He boldly declared that he would NOT apologize.  He missed the point, but that's kinda par for the course for ole' Jimbo.  He applies his warped form of logic to rationalize his every move.  But, then,  this is a guy that still doesn't get the whole sea bass thing.  Just remember, Jimmy...pride goeth before the fall.  Frankly, we wouldn't have it any other way.  You just continue to stay the course.  Doing so provides an endless source of immensely entertaining amusement.  Carry on!
No apologies, nah suckers I'm not sorry
You can all sue me; y'all could be the cause of me
No apologies, y'all feeling the force of me
No remorse for me, like there was no recourse for me

No apologies, not even acknowledging you at all
Till I get a call that God's coming
No apologies, laugh f*ckers, its all funny
I can spit in your face while you're standing across from me
No apologies
---Eminem "No Apologies"

Fish and bear paws-one can't have both.
--ancient Chinese proverb

Has Anyone Noticed....

• ...Tim Culver seems to have quietly dropped the "Superintendent" title?
• ...John Whalen still says, "All in favor say 'aye'; all opposed same sign"?
• ...that there are 2 classrooms in Creekside Elementary (opened fall 2008) that have never had a class in them!
• ...People are up in arms about the Governor potentially selling power plants without bids, yet the Sun Prairie School Board didn't bid the architectural work (~5% fee) for any of the last $150-$200 MILLION of school construction projects?
• ...speaking of architects, one reader astutely points out that in each of the many meetings regarding high school design, we were told that we didn't bid out the work because our architect "knew what we needed".  So how come we now need $76K for different bleachers and diving boards?
• ....during the 2-28-11 board meeting, board President John Whalen let many folks speak freely with no time limit, yet he tried to cut off the one gentleman who offered a critical perspective to the contracts issue?
• ....we seem to have had a lot of issues with construction (bleachers, pool, diving boards, to name a few)...didn't we pay a Construction Manager $7500 per month to make sure this DIDN'T happen?
• ...the school district has provided a financial boon to a number of companies and individuals, yet some are glaringly missing from the list of "sponsors"?

This last one is off the topic, but another alert reader pointed it out: ... [Sun Prairie Alderman] Zach Weber and Governor Scott Walker look like they could be brothers

What An Awesome Idea! Why Didn't WE Think of This?

Apparently, the 3rd time IS the charm :)

School Supply Lists Simplified For 2011-2012 School Year

School supply lists for the upcoming school year are now available for students in SP4K - Grade 7.  Parents and families will notice a change to the lists as they are consistent for all elementary and middle schools by grade level.   Fourth grade students across the district will have the same list - no matter which school they attend.  The new lists also contain fewer items to make school supply shopping more economical for families.   For more information and to check out the supply lists, please visit the district website athttp://www.sunprairie.k12.wi.us/school_supply_11_12.cfm#d167635.

"During the past few months, principals have been working with the teachers and Building Leadership Councils to review the school supply lists...In the past, the lists had become unique -- by school and sometimes by individual teacher. This uniqueness had caused the list of supplies to become costly and some of the requested items were hard to find.  We are committed to using these lists with consistency through 2011-2012.  Feedback will be sought from parents and teachers with modifications made, if needed, for 2012-2013"

---Alice Murphy, Assistant District Administrator of Instructional Programs.

http://www.sunprairie.k12.wi.us/school_supply_11_12.cfm#d167635

A round of applause to the school district for finally listening on what has become a significant --and questionable-- investment for struggling families.


Why didn't WE think of it?
Oh yeah....we did:
.................................................................
8-22-10  school supplies issue snowballing
8-21-10 even more school supply shenanigans
8-19-10 gifts for teacher.html
8-14-10 school supply list frustrations
9-8-09  more letters: class-fees & supply lists
9-7-09  school-supply lists come under fire

Signs You Should--But Won't--See

...at least we think :-)

Thanks to those that shared their creative witticisms!
We'd like to take credit for all these....but hey...we're not like the school district administration and (most...but not all) school board members .  We give credit where credit is due.  And we'd name them...but you know...fear of retribution and all...

Detail from the Budget in Brief(s)

To create sustainable financial support for public education, the Governor proposes the following: 


 Reduce general equalization aid by $749.4 million over the biennium to help address the state budget deficit.  Annually, the decreases compared to base will be $390.5 million (8.4 percent) in fiscal year 2011-12 and $358.9 million in fiscal year 2012-13 (7.7 percent).  To prevent major aid reductions to individual school districts, the special adjustment aid hold harmless provision is increased to guarantee school districts 90 percent of their prior year general aid amounts for fiscal year 2011-12.
Current law guarantees 85 percent.

 Eliminate the following GPR-funded categorical aid programs, totaling $29.9 million annually:
advanced placement; alternative education; alcohol and other drug abuse prevention and intervention; children-at-risk; English for Southeast Asian children; improving pupil academic achievement; nursing services; preschool to grade 5 programs; science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs; and supplemental aid.  With the exception of the grants for improving academic achievement program, which provides aid to the Milwaukee Public Schools district, the remaining programs were all recommended for repeal and repurposing by the Department of Public Instruction in its budget request.  The department recognized that these programs are either too small to provide meaningful resources to school districts or have unproven results.  While the department proposes to reallocate these funds to create a new competitive grant program to reduce dropouts and improve graduation rates, the goal is not backed up with a proven plan to achieve it.  The Governor proposes, instead, to use a portion of the savings to create new initiatives to improve student reading levels and create a state-of-the-art student information system, and the remainder to help address the state budget deficit.



To protect property taxpayers from significant levy increases, the Governor recommends: 
 Reducing school district revenue limits per pupil in fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13 by 5.5 percent below the amounts authorized in fiscal year 2010-11.  While revenue limits will decrease, school boards will have more tools to manage these decreases through increasing school district employees' share of fringe benefit costs and the repeal of some state mandates.

 Repealing state mandates that prevent school districts from:

• scheduling fewer than 180 school days annually even though they meet current hours of instruction requirements; 
• providing reading instruction without employing reading specialists; 
• employing school nurses who are licensed, but may not have a bachelor's degree; 
• addressing indoor environmental quality without adopting a plan approved by the Department of Public Instruction; 
• providing staff training on administering prescription and nonprescription drugs to students only if the training is approved by the Department of Public Instruction; and 
• exceeding 200 teaching service days for Milwaukee Public Schools. 

 Repealing revenue limit exemptions for school nurses, pupil transportation costs, school safety equipment and security officers.  These revenue limit exemptions were signed into law as part of the 2009-11 biennial budget, but were not scheduled to go into effect until fiscal year 2011-12.  Repealing these exemptions will protect property taxpayers in future years without impacting current school district spending for these activities.

http://www.doa.state.wi.us/debf/pdf_files/bib1113.pdf

Budget to Clobber Sun Prairie for $1M More than Projected?

We  received this this afternoon from a Sun Prairie reader...

State Superintendent Tony Evers commented today on the Feb. 25 working paper from Dr. Andrew Reschovsky, a professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Reschovsky’s study, “An Analysis of the Proposal to Reduce Revenue Limits for Wisconsin School Districts,” is based on widely reported reductions in school aid of more than $900 million and a new revenue limit that mandates a $500 per-pupil reduction in property tax authority.

 

Additional information is available on the Department of Public Instruction newsroom website http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_22.pdf. A printout of the impact of reported per-pupil revenue limit reductions for the state’s 424 school districts is available at http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_22_districtprojections.pdf.

 

 

SP could face 4.6 MILLION less based on the link at http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_22_districtprojections.pdf

............................

Note:  Walker's Budget Bill calls for a slightly smaller ($834M) reduction in state aid, but further reduces the revenue limit (ability of a district to collect revenues) by another $50 per student, for a total reduction of $550/student.

Reader's Write: Culver's 6 Wishes

We couldn't resist sharing this from our inbox:

Just noticed in the latest bimonthly installment of Dr. Tim's Daily Dose of Bad Medicine* that he "empathizes" with the teachers on the issue of skipping work.  This is wrong.  He means he "sympathizes" with them.

Sympathy is having feeling for someone/something.  Empathy is sharing someone's feelings/situation.  Dr. Tim didn't play hookie last week, and teachers would LOVE to share Dr. Tim's retirement situation.  They are looking at paying half of their retirement, and he has a steady check coming and a Scrooge McDuck vault of bonus cash that he is trying to sweeten a little more.

How much sweeter is a matter of speculation.  What we do know is that he has two old lamps, possibly looted from the Cairo Museum during the recent uprising.  We know there are two lamps, because each genie grants three wishes, and Dr. Tim has six wishes. Assuming Dr. Tim's math skills are better than his vocab skills, he should be able to divide six wishes by three per genie and come up with two lamps.

If so, ali Whalen and ali Seabass are wearing turbans and floating in a puff of smoke and refusing to divulge the nature of the wishes.  I guess we won't know what he asked for until 1) he gets it and they have to tell us;  2) ali Whalen and ali Seabass develop a little respect for open government and community engagement and share the wishes with the people who will be funding the wishes; or, 3) we actually see the twelve-inch pianist.

Hopefully, we can catch those slippery genies and each get six wishes.  I would only need four:  end world hunger, bring world peace, a Scrooge McDuck vault, and a twelve-inch pianist.  Then you would wish you could empathize with me.


* Culver's blog, "InspirED", aka ConspirED, backfirED, haywirED, misfirED, quagmirED, retirED, vampirED, tripwirED, underwirED, and just plain tirED (not to mention heavy on the ED)

Whatever Happened To....

Dr. Culver's 6 Contract Proposals?
It's been several weeks.  No new "negotiation" meetings have been held.  It hasn't appeared as an agenda item. Whalen and Culver are still hiding behind a non-existent exclusion from Open Records laws and refuse to release the contract proposals.   We wonder why.  Two days ago, the SPEA and Local 60 contract proposals were openly shared with the public--as well as the board's counter offer.  So...why do they refuse to release the proposals?  No one ever wants to air their dirty laundry...right?  So something must be soiled.  Time to do a little investigating.
Let's take a look at the provisions of Culver's contract and see if we can ferret out what he might be up to...shall we?

[from Culver's contract] 3. Compensation

• (a) salary & deferred compensation.  He's not so crazy as to suggest a raise, given the state fiscal landscape
• (c) Salary adjustment - he already has a clause that doesn't allow REDUCING his salary.  So that isn't a concern

 Conclusion:  This can't be about a raise.

4. Benefits

• (a) Payment for health and dental "as provided for other Administrators"...maybe hes looking to pay nothing?  Again, given Governor Walker's stance, not gonna happen 
• (c) The board may require a physical exam and medical ability to work  if health is an issue"...maybe?
• (d) Full payment of term life insurance at 4 times salary ($142,193 ) to the nearest $10,000 ($570,000).  According to the contract, we already provide Culver with over $500,000 of life insurance...surely he couldn't want more than that???  Who has that kind of term life insurance?  But....that would move us back to wondering about his health.
• (e) The Board will pay the Administrators required contribution to the WRS?  Our stench-o-meter just went crazy. Did Culver have an early whiff of the Governor's plan?  Is he trying to solidify what already appears to be solid language?  
• (f) Board already pays his share of Social Security
• (15) days of non-designated leave (sick and emergency)...does he want more???
• (28) vacation days....and can cash out 5 days per year.  He already doesn't lose unused leave days.  Maybe he wants to cash out more???
• (j) Board pays required dues for 1 state and 1 national professional association...does he want a 3rd?  It would seem unlikely at this stage of the game.  Besides the board has already added payment for his membership in the Rotary Club.
• (k) Flat monthly payment of $325 for use of personal car with Dane Co.  Gas prices are up...is he looking for more?
• (l) $125/month for "miscellaneous costs incurred in "carrying out his official duties".  Please!  He wouldn't even dare go here...would he?
• (m)  District Administrator pays for Long Term Disability insurance at his own expense.  Maybe he wants it paid by the taxpayers?  Another health bell is ringing.
• (o) Longevity separation pay : unused leave (section g)  up to 205 days at separation at year 12 is already 100% of per diem pay.  Paid in 2 installments... (1) Half w/in 30 days of leaving and (2) Half on 1st anniversary of leaving.  This one has the shenanigans meter twitching.   He could have as much as nearly a full year of pay banked.  That could cost a big tax hit.   Perhaps he's trying to spread this out longer?  It's noteworthy that the district pays interest on any amount not yet paid out.  Hmmm.

Conclusion:  This HAS to be about Culver finding a way to increase his pay during retirement...or...more to the point, reduce his taxes.  Remember, sports fans,  there's also the matter of the $109,962 we're already squirreling away from him in the Reserved/Designated Fund Balance.

Google Saves the Day
A few creative Google searches led us to the concept of pension boosting.  Since Culver is clearly zeroing in on retirement, and the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) bases retirement benefits on the 3 highest salary years, it's clear Culver is looking for ways  to increase his retirement benefit.  
How do you increase your salary without really increasing your salary?  Hmm.  We'll get back to that in just a minute.  Now it's time to recall how quickly the issue of Culver's proposals appeared relative to Scott Walker taking office.  The issue of the contract proposals and the timing MUST be linked to the Budget Repair Bill.  It seems clear that Culver needed to get something done quickly because of moves being made by Governor Walker.

"...pumping up pension payouts is among the newest -- and most lucrative -- benefits for administrators. Much of the added money comes when districts offer money in lieu of benefits such as health or dental insurance."

---IndyStar: School chiefs quietly pad pensions, collect perks  


BINGO! That one little sentence seems to put all the dominoes neatly in line.  It's brilliant.  All Culver has to do is offer to pay for things for which the school district already pays 100% of his contribution...like Social Security, Medicare, WRS, and even health insurance.  In exchange, they could increase his salary so Culver recoups his costs.  It's beautiful.... it effectively increases his monthly retirement benefits, yet it's cost neutral for the school district.  And it has to happen before Walker rains on his parade.  This has got to be the angle Culver is shooting for.

There's only one teensy weensy problem with it.  Should the school board be working to pad the retirement of any one individual?  Are we offering the same deal for all employees?  And now we see the root problem.  Scott Walker is going to force people like Culver to pay their own way for the WRS and at least 12% of health insurance.  This neatly explains the rush to push this through.  Once Walker's Budget Bill goes through, Culver wouldn't be able to finagle this deal.  This is a singular opportunity to bump his salary by $8,0000-10,000...which would put more than a few dollars in his pocket every month for the rest of his life.
We won't know for sure until Culver/Whalen release those 6 proposals.  But our gut feel is that we're at least barking in the rights stand of trees.

Board Changes Agenda...Adds SPEA & Local 60 Contracts

In a follow up to our earlier posts, we wanted to alert the community that it appears that the school board has reached agreement on two contract proposals.

Quietly, the school board has updated its agenda to this coming Monday night to include action on new contracts for SPEA (teachers union) and [AFSCME] Local 60 (support staff).  

The only question we have is what final agreement was reached.  Did the school board budge on their counter proposals?  One would think that union membership would have to ratify any agreement.  It would seem that that is happening this weekend.

Once again, however, we the people are treated like mushrooms...kept in the dark and fed...well...you know...

If one checks Board Docs, there is no agreement posted [as of 3:30 PM Saturday 2-26-11] , nor is there any bullet list of changes from the board's counter-proposal.  How is the public supposed to speak on a topic when they don't know the details of the topic?

Also note that the board has pulled the Kobussen busing contract.  Hmmm... Trouble in paradise?

More Signage

Damn!  'Sconnies sure are a creative bunch!

Somebody's Awake - A Response to the 11th Hour Contracts

Somebody is awake and alert.  We received this from one of our readers..

Tim Culver, Editorialist for the SPEA newsletter

Instead of the usual senseless drivel and vacation photos, Dr. Culver took the opportunity in his latest installment of underwirED (Dispatches from the District Doorknocker) to tell us how bleak the future is for our children because of laws proposed and yet to be proposed. The double whammy of “extreme changes” and “foreshadowed massive cuts to schools” promises to lead to much gloom, despair, and agony on us. Deep dark depression, excessive misery is also a distinct possibility.

According to Culver (channeling Martin Luther King, Jr., who once faced a similar situation when people beat his friends, burned their churches down and crosses in their yards, and lynched them), “…we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems to close around us.” Though Dr. Culver may be minimizing his abject suffering compared to the trials of Dr. King, he is right about one thing—the administration and the board are in the dark, and trying to find a way to bring the community in too.

Culver tells us that “we need your informed involvement and we need your voice.” What he doesn't tell us is that there was a Friday night closed session to exchange contract proposals with SPEA and Local 60 that, as of Thursday night, had not been drafted yet. There is also an item on the school board agenda for Monday night for "Action Regarding Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill".  This leads inquiring minds to wonder why the Negotiations Committee would find it so urgent to exchange contracts, when the only thing to bargain under the proposed law is wages.  Surely that is not notice for the ratification of two new contracts to slide in under the wire (Hmmm...underwirED) before the legislation gets signed.

If that is the plan, the resulting contract may need to be approved Monday, with less than one business day for review. Over the course of his blog entry, Dr. Underwire preaches (much like Martin Luther King, Jr.) the essential role of informed involvement of the community, but neglects to mention that he and the board are on the verge of committing millions of district dollars on absolutely no notice or time for input by essential stakeholders. If that is the plan, it kinda' sounds like his criticism of the budget repair bill, now doesn't it?

The last time a complicated document that had a drastic impact on our district and was rammed through with no notice or opportunity for input, it was cause for half of the district's teachers to violate their contract and force the district to cancel school for the day. Many of them cut class to walk in circles around the Capital condemning the lack of openness, transparency, and deliberation in the actions of the Governor.

Greasing a contract through under the wire might be a good idea, but there is no way for the community to ever know. For Dr. Culver to go into such great detail about the new law and it's impact on the district without mentioning the impending contract would be dishonest. It would be sleazy. It would contradict everything he says about the need for informed opinions from the community. If the board goes along with this and slides a contract through without community involvement, they will hear about it in October. And two of them may hear about it in April.

Then again, that may not be the plan.  Maybe I am just paranoid due to the many other times that the district has slid major actions under the wire by closed session shenanigans, obfuscation, and lightning-strike action.  I guess I'll have to check the Star's website on Tuesday.

A Rush To Contract

Raise your hand if the sudden scheduling of a school board Negotiations Committee meeting for 4:00 PM yesterday registered on your personal radar screen.  We thought not.


At the 11th hour, as the Capitol Endgame appears to be drawing near, contract proposals were exchanged between the school board and the teachers union (SPEA) and also the support staff (Local 60).  The game of negotiations is played in this manner:
1. Parties meet in open session
2. Contract proposals from the unions/group are offered (note this is the public's only opportunity to see proposals)
3. Then the school board passes over its "counter" proposal
4. Then the fun begins.  Now they go into closed session and discuss the proposals, possibly reaching agreement.
5. We, the public, only learn the outcome when they schedule an open session.


The SPEA proposal
In what our fact checkers are attempting to verify to be the most concise contract proposal in labor history, the teachers union offered this proposal (verbatim):

SPEA Settlement Offer for February 25th

Status quo on language of contract and concessions on WRS and health insurance premiums.

(during open discussion SPEA indicated that "ideally" they were seeking a 2-year contract extension.  It was also clarified that by "concessions", the intent was to accept the shares of retirement and health insurance contributions as outlined in Gov. Wokka's Budget Repair Bill)

The Local 60 Proposal
Proposal to....February 25, 2011
1. Effective July 1, 2011, increase wages by 0% (steps would still occur)
2. Effective July 1, 2012, increase wages by 0% (steps would still occur)
3. Effective July 1, 2012, increase the employee contribution toward health insurance to 12% 
4. Effective July 1, 2011, employees would be required to contribute toward their WRS pensions per Statutory requirement
5. Contract duration July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013

The School Board/District counter proposal

• No increase to the salary matrix/grid.
• Step and lane increases will be provided per contract.
• No increase to employees that are "off the grid".
• Employees that participate in a Health Risk Assessment shall pay 9% of health insurance premiums.
• Employees that do NOT participate in a Health Risk Assessment shall pay 10% of health insurance premiums.
• 3-tier co-pays for prescription drugs ($0/$5.00/$20.00) remain the same.
• Employees pay the "statutory required" Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) contributions (5.8% of salary in the Budget Repair Bill)
• Athletic/Activity (coaches/clubs) positions will be offered to the most qualified applicant ( instead of being offered outside the union only if there are no qualified union applicants)
• 1 one-year offer for July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012

The Case AGAINST this Deal
Hardliners would argue that while the school board's counter-proposal comes very close to what would result from Govictator Walker's Budget Repair Bill, the salary grid remains in force, which translates to at least 3% annual increase s for bargaining unit members who are still "on the grid".  The budget repair bills would allow only negotiations for wages capped at the Consumer Price Index.  Read emphasis on "capped".  Most believe that Walker will deny any raises.


More importantly, detractors will --and should--point to the fact that this "deal" provides only a single business day to review any contracts, assuming the contracts are posted for the public by Monday. (As of Saturday morning, contracts had not been made available to th public through BoardDocs.  We don't even know whether or not the Board struck a deal.  All we know is that at 7:57 PM on Friday 2/25/2011, a new "public notice" was issued to "Key Communicators" announcing that Contract ratifications between the Board and SPA and the Board and Local 60 had been added to the agenda for the Board's Monday 2/28/2011 meeting. 


It will not go unnoticed that the teachers union has enjoined complaints about Wokka's rush to push the Budget Repair Bill through.  Walker's bill was announced on a Friday and discussion wasn't initiated until the following Tuesday.


The Case FOR this deal
Look, we can argue till the cows comes back from California that the school board is offering a deal where none is required.  We can argue about the timing.  Yes this came up with virtually no public notice.  Yes, the school board appears to be continuing a long-standing trend of trying to operate beneath the public's radar coverage.  But maybe...just maybe...we can take the high road on this one and see if our doing so will transform into a quid pro quo of sorts.  District staff are not on the state health insurance system, so the 12% insurance premiums would not have been required.


Yes, we could certainly plant our collective foot firmly on the necks of ALL school district employees.  Governor Walker has given us the freedom to do what the school board would never have done independently.  But do we have to transform ourselves into his own image?  More to the point:  why would we even want to?  We're better than he is.  We're more sensitive to people and their lives.   Walker has kicked all union employees down with his proposals and desire to eliminate castrate bargaining rights and destroy unions once and for all.  Do we need to kick these people while they lie writhing on the ground?  We don't think so.


While we could certainly extract blood from a stone, this is a GOOD deal that provides the following:

• It raises the floor for young/new teachers, allowing us to be competitive in hiring
• It caps the ceiling; a long-term issue has been paying teachers $90,000 or more.
• It provides us the relief from fringe benefit costs we've sought for years.
• It allows us to re-capture projected losses in state aid (gee thanks, Scottie...) through retirements, WRS contributions, and increased health insurance premiums.
• It allows the district to hire the best individuals to lead sports and activities instead of being forced (in most cases) to select from the union.
• It allows us to maintain the quality of education in Sun Prairie without risking class size increases or staff cuts.
• It allows us to be human.

Let's show the Governor that, unlike him, we don't just say that we value people and their rights to collective bargaining.   We sit down at the table like grown-up human beings.  We negotiate, not dictate.  We are concerned about the taxpayers that support education AND we are concerned  about the PEOPLE that make up our labor force.  We will ALL hurt as a result of Walker's actions.  But we don't have to suck the life force out of our people.  We can give them hope for brighter days tomorrow.

Signage From The Frontlines

Regardless of one's position on the issue, you have to admire some of the creativity. We're not representing either side of the issue here; nor do we agree with the messages...just offering a smattering of favorite signs.