Get back to work

UPDATE The head of the teacher’s union is encouraging all teachers to get back to the classroom this week. If I were a parent with a student in a district that closed for them to protest the budget repair bill, I would be very upset. I think these teachers need to get back to the classroom and do what they are paid to do - teach. Democrats who fled the state of Wisconsin need to return and vote on the bill sooner than later. And doctors who have issued notes to protesters so they can return to work with pay for the days they missed, how unethical was that? If you are sick, stay home and rest. Do not go to Madison and protest.

Wisconsin needs bill to pass

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has made state workers unhappy with a bill that takes away bargaining rights and makes public workers pay half of their pension costs and up to 12.6 percent of their health care coverage. Somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 people showed up at the State Capital in Madison this week to protest the bill. Because 2,600 of those that showed up were school teachers and families from school districts in Madison, classes in the Madison area were closed for a second day. So because the teachers want to protest the bill, students get the day off and are not learning. What are these teachers teaching the students? With the state budget shortfall at $3.6 billion, union concessions are one way of saving the state some money. The union concessions are projected to save the state $30 million by July 1 and $300 million over the next two years. It would also close the state’s $137 million shortfall in the current budget. I support Walker’s bill and would like to see public employees pay their fair share. If they don’t like what is passed, they can always get a different job - maybe in the private sector. The state, just like the federal government, needs to make cuts in order to balance the budget. And this is just one way Walker plans to do just that.