You are misinformed. I know the left-wing media distorts "fact" on a regular basis; but it has been an eye-opening and disheartening experience to see the perpetuation of falsehoods from conservative media outlets who show no interest in researching and correcting their false information but continue to spread that which pushes their preferred narrative; the truth be damned. Sigh!!!!! .

Wisconsin teachers are NOT state workers with standardized state-wide contracts; teachers negotiate local contracts with local school boards. I work in a different part of the state; Milwaukee is an anomaly. I earn $50,000 a year after 30 years of teaching with a masters degree + 30 grad credits; and I pay 20% of my health care premiums. If I worked in the district south of mine, I would make $48,000 a year, to the North $62,000 (a mid-sized city); all three districts provide different negotiated benefits that were compromises in lieu of salary increases. Wisconsin teachers have had this right to bargain locally since 1969. Walker's bill will eliminate all locally negotiated benefits in lieu of salary.

By writing this bill behind closed doors and attempting to have it ratified without amendments,Governor Walker and state Republican leadership have brought "Pelosi and Reid" tactics to Wisconsin politics. Walker would have gotten benefit and wage concessions from state government employees, teachers, and local government employees if that is what he wanted. All Wisconsinites know the budget is not balanced and sacrifices need to be made. The exemption of state unions that endorsed Walker from the effects of the bill show that it is about more than that.

Before anyone hurls anti-union "garbage" ... I detest the state WEA and national NEA -- my local group of teachers, students, and my school board, I respect. That is why I ignored a weekday work-action call; I voiced my concerns in Madison today (Saturday) instead of a school day.

So stupid and so damaging in the world of public perception and opinion.

I am sorry for that!

I believe most Wisconsin teachers understand the need to make sacrifices in this economy. They are angry over the loss of work rule bargaining; and of course, the state/national education union is agitating to save those forced union dues.

I was trying to explain how the law would impact teachers since news articles just explain state government contracted employees.

Clever log in!

The issue of using public taxpayer money to try to gain union member votes disturbs me also; especially since national unions long ago became the voting arm of the most radical elements of the Democratic Party. I do not have the answer, and I share the concern. Surely, there is another way to address and limit the abuse without unleashing what Walker's actions have unleashed.

I was making such progress...as events of the last two years have unfolded, more of my fellow teachers have initiated political discussions than ever before. Many were having Obama remorse. I try hard to achieve credibility by exploring both political sides to an issue. Any changing of "hearts and minds" has been totally negated by Walker's actions; they will be Democrats for life! Sigh!

While many of my colleagues, including local union reps, agree with me that Wisconsin teachers are reaping the bitter fruit of the national and state union's policy of being Democratic fund-raising tools and voting minions, they are sickened by the impact that this bill will have on them. Most are upset more by the loss of the right to negotiate work rules than the economic impacts. It has been such a disheartening week to be a Wisconsin teacher who believes in limited government and constitutional principles.

I am a forced union member because of "fair-share" who pays union dues to a state and national union that I abhor. I am thrilled with the possibility of "starving" a national union organization that has abdicated "bread-and-butter" unionism for ideological, political goals that do not reflect my values and beliefs. I would have been teaching my classes today if school had been held. This is not the way to change public perceptions that the activities of the WEA and NEA have perpetuated. Just reading the comments posted here make that very evident.

However...

While the media has made no attempt to distinguish between teacher and state government workers' salaries, benefits and health care cost, posters here need to understand that Wisconsin teacher compensation is not standardized state-wide; salaries, benefits and health care costs vary from district to district based on negotiated agreements. For example, I earn $12,000 less than a teacher with my education and experience in a nearby district. Teachers pay 20% of health insurance premiums and do not receive insurance after they retire unless they pay 100% of the insurance premium in my district. This is a "far-cry" from state worker compensation.

The salary differences from district to district become extremely relevant now since a fifty year history of bargained benefits in lieu of salary increases will be negated if the Walker Bill passes as proposed. An example of one such negotiated benefit instead of a salary increase is my district's payment of the required teacher-supplied contribution to the state pension plan. Lost benefit monetary values will not be added to current salaries; they will simply disappear. To eliminate locally negotiated benefits that were accepted in lieu of past salary increases is not fair and is compounded by limits to any future salary increases and the fact that Wisconsin retirement benefits are based on a percent of salary and not a flat, standardized amount. When this law goes into effect, I will take an immediate $6,000 salary decrease due to lost negotiated benefits; when I retire in two years, I will loose a minimum of $30,000 over a three year period. That is the economic impact on my life; how many of those posting here would be pleased about this in their lives?

Additionally, there are two other issues involved in the "Walker Bill' that deserve comment. First, I see no difference between the type of back-room, closed door bill writing that Democrats in the last Federal Congress participated in and the bill that Governor Walker proposed. What hearings were held to gather information as the bill was crafted, when were Wisconsin citizens given an opportunity to speak on issues to be included in the bill, who wrote the bill, and what were their intentions? The state unions who endorsed Walker will not feel the effects of this legislation. The attempt to quickly call for a vote to push passage of this bill smacks of a heavy-handed, legislative power play and political pay-back. This is exactly what I loudly and vehemently condemned the Democrats for during the first two years of the Obama administration. Just like Congressional Democrats, Governor Walker could have accomplished his stated "tax-payer savings goals" in a bi-partisan, open legislative process. He chose not to do so.

Secondly, while no fan of my state and national union, denying locals the right to bargain work rules is particularly troubling to me, more so than the economic losses I will incur. In my first teaching position thirty years ago, a teacher was fired for not buying a new car from the local car dealer; are we going to see a return to those types of incidents again in Wisconsin? With no work rule protections, who will stand and question the idiotic, pie-in-the-sky, progressive education "reforms" advocated by the "experts" and seized upon as the new "holy-grail" by administrators and education specialists? My children learned to read because veteran teachers knew that teaching phonics was the best way to teach reading for most children so they taught what worked instead of doing what "experts" directed them to do. Who will provide that voice of reason in the future within our schools without the protection of negotiated work rules?

Walker's bill tailor-made to address state government contract worker issues will have a sweeping negative impact to the lives of other employees who work under entirely different and extremely varied contracts. For me, a dedicated teacher who works much more than a 40 hour work week to be the best teacher I can be, this "one-stop shopping" bill is extremely disheartening. It will be applied to teachers as if we are state government workers yet the realities of our salaries, benefits, and retirement are completely different and varied across the state.

I am a forced union member because of "fair-share" who pays union dues to a state and national union that I abhor. I am thrilled with the possibility of "starving" a national union organization that has abdicated "bread-and-butter" unionism for ideological, political goals that do not reflect my values and beliefs. I would have been teaching my classes today if school had been held. This is not the way to change public perceptions that the activities of the WEA and NEA have perpetuated. Just reading the comments posted here make that very evident.

However...

While the media has made no attempt to distinguish between teacher and state government workers' salaries, benefits and health care cost, posters here need to understand that Wisconsin teacher compensation is not standardized state-wide; salaries, benefits and health care costs vary from district to district based on negotiated agreements. For example, I earn $12,000 less than a teacher with my education and experience in a nearby district. Teachers pay 20% of health insurance premiums and do not receive insurance after they retire unless they pay 100% of the insurance premium in my district. This is a "far-cry" from state worker compensation.

The salary differences from district to district become extremely relevant now since a fifty year history of bargained benefits in lieu of salary increases will be negated if the Walker Bill passes as proposed. An example of one such negotiated benefit instead of a salary increase is my district's payment of the required teacher-supplied contribution to the state pension plan. Lost benefit monetary values will not be added to current salaries; they will simply disappear. To eliminate locally negotiated benefits that were accepted in lieu of past salary increases is not fair and is compounded by limits to any future salary increases and the fact that Wisconsin retirement benefits are based on a percent of salary and not a flat, standardized amount. When this law goes into effect, I will take an immediate $6,000 salary decrease due to lost negotiated benefits; when I retire in two years, I will loose a minimum of $30,000 over a three year period. That is the economic impact on my life; how many of those posting here would be pleased about this in their lives?

Additionally, there are two other issues involved in the "Walker Bill' that deserve comment. First, I see no difference between the type of back-room, closed door bill writing that Democrats in the last Federal Congress participated in and the bill that Governor Walker proposed. What hearings were held to gather information as the bill was crafted, when were Wisconsin citizens given an opportunity to speak on issues to be included in the bill, who wrote the bill, and what were their intentions? The state unions who endorsed Walker will not feel the effects of this legislation. The attempt to quickly call for a vote to push passage of this bill smacks of a heavy-handed, legislative power play and political pay-back. This is exactly what I loudly and vehemently condemned the Democrats for during the first two years of the Obama administration. Just like Congressional Democrats, Governor Walker could have accomplished his stated "tax-payer savings goals" in a bi-partisan, open legislative process. He chose not to do so.

Secondly, while no fan of my state and national union, denying locals the right to bargain work rules is particularly troubling to me, more so than the economic losses I will incur. In my first teaching position thirty years ago, a teacher was fired for not buying a new car from the local car dealer; are we going to see a return to those types of incidents again in Wisconsin? With no work rule protections, who will stand and question the idiotic, pie-in-the-sky, progressive education "reforms" advocated by the "experts" and seized upon as the new "holy-grail" by administrators and education specialists? My children learned to read because veteran teachers knew that teaching phonics was the best way to teach reading for most children so they taught what worked instead of doing what "experts" directed them to do. Who will provide that voice of reason in the future within our schools without the protection of negotiated work rules?

Walker's bill tailor-made to address state government contract worker issues will have a sweeping negative impact to the lives of other employees who work under entirely different and extremely varied contracts. For me, a dedicated teacher who works much more than a 40 hour work week to be the best teacher I can be, this "one-stop shopping" bill is extremely disheartening. It will be applied to teachers as if we are state government workers yet the realities of our salaries, benefits, and retirement are completely different and varied across the state.

I am a forced union member because of "fair-share" who pays union dues to a state and national union that I abhor. I am thrilled with the possibility of "starving" a national union organization that has abdicated "bread-and-butter" unionism for ideological, political goals that do not reflect my values and beliefs. I would have been teaching my classes today if school had been held. This is not the way to change public perceptions that the activities of the WEA and NEA have perpetuated. Just reading the comments posted here make that very evident.

However...

While the media has made no attempt to distinguish between teacher and state government workers' salaries, benefits and health care cost, posters here need to understand that Wisconsin teacher compensation is not standardized state-wide; salaries, benefits and health care costs vary from district to district based on negotiated agreements. For example, I earn $12,000 less than a teacher with my education and experience in a nearby district. Teachers pay 20% of health insurance premiums and do not receive insurance after they retire unless they pay 100% of the insurance premium in my district. This is a "far-cry" from state worker compensation.

The salary differences from district to district become extremely relevant now since a fifty year history of bargained benefits in lieu of salary increases will be negated if the Walker Bill passes as proposed. An example of one such negotiated benefit instead of a salary increase is my district's payment of the required teacher-supplied contribution to the state pension plan. Lost benefit monetary values will not be added to current salaries; they will simply disappear. To eliminate locally negotiated benefits that were accepted in lieu of past salary increases is not fair and is compounded by limits to any future salary increases and the fact that Wisconsin retirement benefits are based on a percent of salary and not a flat, standardized amount. When this law goes into effect, I will take an immediate $6,000 salary decrease due to lost negotiated benefits; when I retire in two years, I will loose a minimum of $30,000 over a three year period. That is the economic impact on my life; how many of those posting here would be pleased about this in their lives?

Additionally, there are two other issues involved in the "Walker Bill' that deserve comment. First, I see no difference between the type of back-room, closed door bill writing that Democrats in the last Federal Congress participated in and the bill that Governor Walker proposed. What hearings were held to gather information as the bill was crafted, when were Wisconsin citizens given an opportunity to speak on issues to be included in the bill, who wrote the bill, and what were their intentions? The state unions who endorsed Walker will not feel the effects of this legislation. The attempt to quickly call for a vote to push passage of this bill smacks of a heavy-handed, legislative power play and political pay-back. This is exactly what I loudly and vehemently condemned the Democrats for during the first two years of the Obama administration. Just like Congressional Democrats, Governor Walker could have accomplished his stated "tax-payer savings goals" in a bi-partisan, open legislative process. He chose not to do so.

Secondly, while no fan of my state and national union, denying locals the right to bargain work rules is particularly troubling to me, more so than the economic losses I will incur. In my first teaching position thirty years ago, a teacher was fired for not buying a new car from the local car dealer; are we going to see a return to those types of incidents again in Wisconsin? With no work rule protections, who will stand and question the idiotic, pie-in-the-sky, progressive education "reforms" advocated by the "experts" and seized upon as the new "holy-grail" by administrators and education specialists? My children learned to read because veteran teachers knew that teaching phonics was the best way to teach reading for most children so they taught what worked instead of doing what "experts" directed them to do. Who will provide that voice of reason in the future within our schools without the protection of negotiated work rules?

Walker's bill tailor-made to address state government contract worker issues will have a sweeping negative impact to the lives of other employees who work under entirely different and extremely varied contracts. For me, a dedicated teacher who works much more than a 40 hour work week to be the best teacher I can be, this "one-stop shopping" bill is extremely disheartening. It will be applied to teachers as if we are state government workers yet the realities of our salaries, benefits, and retirement are completely different and varied across the state.

I am a forced union member because of "fair-share" who pays union dues to a state and national union that I abhor. I am thrilled with the possibility of "starving" a national union organization that has abdicated "bread-and-butter" unionism for ideological, political goals that do not reflect my values and beliefs. I would have been teaching my classes today if school had been held. This is not the way to change public perceptions that the activities of the WEA and NEA have perpetuated. Just reading the comments posted here make that very evident.

However...

While the media has made no attempt to distinguish between teacher and state government workers' salaries, benefits and health care cost, posters here need to understand that Wisconsin teacher compensation is not standardized state-wide; salaries, benefits and health care costs vary from district to district based on negotiated agreements. For example, I earn $12,000 less than a teacher with my education and experience in a nearby district. Teachers pay 20% of health insurance premiums and do not receive insurance after they retire unless they pay 100% of the insurance premium in my district. This is a "far-cry" from state worker compensation.

The salary differences from district to district become extremely relevant now since a fifty year history of bargained benefits in lieu of salary increases will be negated if the Walker Bill passes as proposed. An example of one such negotiated benefit instead of a salary increase is my district's payment of the required teacher-supplied contribution to the state pension plan. Lost benefit monetary values will not be added to current salaries; they will simply disappear. To eliminate locally negotiated benefits that were accepted in lieu of past salary increases is not fair and is compounded by limits to any future salary increases and the fact that Wisconsin retirement benefits are based on a percent of salary and not a flat, standardized amount. When this law goes into effect, I will take an immediate $6,000 salary decrease due to lost negotiated benefits; when I retire in two years, I will loose a minimum of $30,000 over a three year period. That is the economic impact on my life; how many of those posting here would be pleased about this in their lives?

Additionally, there are two other issues involved in the "Walker Bill' that deserve comment. First, I see no difference between the type of back-room, closed door bill writing that Democrats in the last Federal Congress participated in and the bill that Governor Walker proposed. What hearings were held to gather information as the bill was crafted, when were Wisconsin citizens given an opportunity to speak on issues to be included in the bill, who wrote the bill, and what were their intentions? The state unions who endorsed Walker will not feel the effects of this legislation. The attempt to quickly call for a vote to push passage of this bill smacks of a heavy-handed, legislative power play and political pay-back. This is exactly what I loudly and vehemently condemned the Democrats for during the first two years of the Obama administration. Just like Congressional Democrats, Governor Walker could have accomplished his stated "tax-payer savings goals" in a bi-partisan, open legislative process. He chose not to do so.

Secondly, while no fan of my state and national union, denying locals the right to bargain work rules is particularly troubling to me, more so than the economic losses I will incur. In my first teaching position thirty years ago, a teacher was fired for not buying a new car from the local car dealer; are we going to see a return to those types of incidents again in Wisconsin? With no work rule protections, who will stand and question the idiotic, pie-in-the-sky, progressive education "reforms" advocated by the "experts" and seized upon as the new "holy-grail" by administrators and education specialists? My children learned to read because veteran teachers knew that teaching phonics was the best way to teach reading for most children so they taught what worked instead of doing what "experts" directed them to do. Who will provide that voice of reason in the future within our schools without the protection of negotiated work rules?

Walker's bill tailor-made to address state government contract worker issues will have a sweeping negative impact to the lives of other employees who work under entirely different and extremely varied contracts. For me, a dedicated teacher who works much more than a 40 hour work week to be the best teacher I can be, this "one-stop shopping" bill is extremely disheartening. It will be applied to teachers as if we are state government workers yet the realities of our salaries, benefits, and retirement are completely different and varied across the state.

Have you encountered their children yet?!

"Atlas Shrugged" had been on my "To-Read" list for over twenty years. After one year of life under a Democratic-controlled federal government headed by Obama and his ilk, I finally decided to purchase and read Rand's classic. The bookstore clerk checking me out said, "A lot of people have been buying this book lately." When I smirked and said, "There's a reason for that," she lowered her voice, looked around, and quietly said, "I know!"

Who is John Galt!