Thoughts on the Election
Here are the results from the primary election for West Bend School Board.
Kathy Van Eerden - 1386 - 21.69%
Lynn Corazzi - 1379 - 21.58%
Randy Marquardt - 1339 - 20.96%
David Weigand - 1326 - 20.75%
Doug Ziegler - 652 - 10.21%
Douglas Rakowski - 173 - 2.71%
Carl W. Knepel - 76 - 1.19%
Bart Williams - 47 - 0.74%
Write-in Votes - 11 - 0.17%
The top four advance to the general election. Few thoughts…
- Turnout was horrible, but that’s pretty typical for a February primary election.
- Only 60 votes separate the top four candidates. It’s very close.
- For the general election, I think it’s safe to bet that most of Ziegler’s, Rakowski’s, and Williams’ votes will go to Marquardt and Weigand - minus their family and friends who voted for them but don’t agree with them politically.
- The good news is that the voters have a very clear choice in April.
- I expect that it will get nasty before the election. Look for the same folks who organized for the referenda and levy increase to organize again. The teachers’ union will pull out the stops to get the incumbents reelected.
- As usual with these kind of elections, turnout will be key. We’ll have to see if any other races in the district heat up that might drive turnout (like West Bend’s 3rd Aldermanic District).
- I suspect that there’s no way that the teachers’ sign a new contract before the election.
“I expect that it will get nasty before the election. Look for the same folks who organized for the referenda and levy increase to organize again. The teachers’ union will pull out the stops to get the incumbents reelected. “
Do you really mean to be implying that people getting organized is them getting “nasty”? Or is it only when the OTHER side gets organized that suddenly organization is a bad thing?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 1538 hrs
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 1559 hrs
Badger meeting #1 was not organized, per se….
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 1618 hrs
Do you really mean to be implying that people getting organized is them getting “nasty”?
Not at all. Organization, in and of itself, does not constitute nastiness. Nastiness is a behavior. It is a behavior in which several people have indulged and I expect it to rear again.
Posted by Owen on February 17, 2010 at 1624 hrs
BTW, I’m sensing a lot of defensiveness from our anonymous liberal commenters on that point.
Curious…
Posted by Owen on February 17, 2010 at 1626 hrs
Owen, you say it will get nasty, and then in the next sentence in the same bullet point you talk about people on the other side getting organized. The implication is there. If it was not intentional you should just rewrite it to more accurately reflect what you are actually trying to say.
Unless of course it already does accurately reflect what you are trying to say
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 1648 hrs
Sad to see that turnout was down - sounds like our elections.
Posted by Snow Report on February 17, 2010 at 1710 hrs
Imply whatever you like, Pope. I told you my meaning. If you choose to imply, you know what they say… it just makes you an imp and a ly… or something like that
Posted by Owen on February 17, 2010 at 1714 hrs
History has proven these types of elections hold little interest for the “average” voter, and I expect WEAC will get their people to fill the gap.
After all, “It’s for the children”. cough,coughbullshitcough,cough
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 1907 hrs
- I expect that it will get nasty before the election.
Weren’t grown ups supposed to leave this “getting nasty” attitude on the schoolyard playground decades ago? Disgusting.
Politics…when you think your too mature to act like a childhood bully on the playground, just run for office!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 2032 hrs
Ohhh I made a grammar error. This just proves how bad we need internet licensing.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 2035 hrs
Clear choices await the elected too.
*The money coming from the state for the next three years is much clearer. No need for candidates or incumbents with extra Sensory Budget Perception powers (as some skeptics of the current board have stated is a required skill).
*Year 1 of a 3-year budget reduction plan will be made concrete in early March. New board members (if there are New board members) can avoid this stress and being politically tied to the reductions. Bonus.
*Two more years of budget reductions are spelled out = less stress.
* New board members (if there are New board members) can use their creativity, skills and life experiences they are bringing to the table to explain to their constituents why the next levy taxes will go down, remain the same or go up. Advil anyone? Answering the phones and emails and having yourself scrutinized for the length of your terms in office and on the street - Good luck to all satisfying all stakeholders with a deal everyone hates.
* Voters, please mind the offerings, graduation rates, dropouts, suspensions, population numbers, college bound, ACT and state test scores and all the other stats as well as the taxes. It’s all part of the legacy.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2010 at 2250 hrs
- Good luck to all satisfying all stakeholders with a deal everyone hates.
... except the teachers.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 0842 hrs
I suspect that there’s no way that the teachers’ sign a new contract before the election.
What incentive do they have to wait? The challengers have made it clear that they are not going to be more willing to increase pay or improve benefits for teachers.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 0912 hrs
It’s already gone to the arbitration process. The board members have little to do with it anymore. But the union won’t want the incumbents to have to justify or defend a contract that increases their pay and benefits in this climate.
Posted by Owen on February 18, 2010 at 0916 hrs
How would this matter? Wouldn’t the contract have gone to arbitration anyway if Marquardt and Weigand were on the board? Wouldn’t the two offers be similar? If the board didn’t bother to try to make an offer similar to the one that was made, wouldn’t the arbitrator be more likely to give the teachers what they were asking for?
It seems to me that West Bend voters understand that the board has to deal with the rules as they exist and that negotiating teachers’ pay is a negotiation, not an arbitrary decision of the board, that a board that is totally intransigent is more likely to end up paying higher salaries in arbitration than one that makes a fair effort to meet the needs of the teachers.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1016 hrs
You’re thinking of reality and not politics
From a political point of view… if the teachers get the contract they want with a 13% raise over 3 years and no concessions on paying for benefits, the public will likely be a bit upset at that. They will place the blame on the current school board without respect to the parameters of existing law and the arbitration process. The union wants the incumbents elected because they are more friendly to the union than the challengers appear to be. Ergo, the union won’t want to damage the incumbents by signing a contract with wage increases prior to the election.
On a side note, I challenge this statement:
more likely to end up paying higher salaries in arbitration than one that makes a fair effort to meet the needs of the teachers.
I disagree because of the subjective definition of the word “fair.” Under the current law, the union is in the driver’s seat. I fully expect that if they don’t get what they want they will go to arbitration every time. Personally I think there are levers in place that the board could use (like firing swaths of teachers), but there is absolutely no resolve to do so.
Posted by Owen on February 18, 2010 at 1027 hrs
I know the arbitration law was changed some with the new law, but I thought that the arbitrator was still required to pick from either the offer of the school district or the union. If the school district cannot persuade the arbitrator that they have made a reasonable offer, a fair offer, the union will win (I wouldn’t be surprised if the district offer is selected by the arbitrator this time because it does make an offer that is sensible by current economic standards).
What good is firing teachers? That can happen. It would save some money, but it costs the students. The suburban parents who are the new drivers of growth in West Bend schools did not move here to see bigger class sizes and fewer options for their kids.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1039 hrs
The arbitration law has been substantially changed in that they no longer have to consider the economic conditions of the community. They merely have to weigh the offers against the contracts in surrounding communities.
As for firing teachers (staff), there are 1,000 staff members for 7,200 kids. Please try to convince me that there isn’t any fat.
Posted by Owen on February 18, 2010 at 1046 hrs
Is that 1000 teachers or 1000 total employees? If it is employees then at least some of them are part time and it seems obvious that you need some that are not teachers, because you need cooks, janitors and such to do all of those kinds of jobs. I don’t think that just throwing out that ratio is accurate.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1108 hrs
As for firing teachers (staff), there are 1,000 staff members for 7,200 kids. Please try to convince me that there isn’t any fat.
No reason to. I thought you were just talking about firing teachers, not limiting non-teaching staff. The number of employees of the school district by itself isn’t particularly helpful. I’ve seen organizations hire contract workers so they can claim to have cut staff, even though the contract workers cost them more.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1119 hrs
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1330 hrs
WB citizens understand that a board full of Kathy Van Eerdens and Kris Beavers
will tax to the max and a board of David Weigands will not…@ Andrew Kougl: I don’t know what the fact that teachers are the only happy stakeholders in the district has to do with your strawman, but I work full time, own decent small business on the side, and am pursuing a Master’s Degree in Product Development from Northwestern. I’m overqualified to be a teacher…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1348 hrs
If we as teachers have it so good, get your application in to district central. If you are not licensed, just add a couple years to your undergrad, go to school as a baccalaureate, and get your teaching certificate. Then, beat out the other 100 applicants. That’s all you have to do to get “signed up”.
... the humility of the WB school teachers is truly second to none…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1403 hrs
First name Andrew
Last name Lohr-Kougl
Year and session 2008/09
Highest degree Master’s degree
Local experience 16
Salary $73,564
Fringe $30,430
Position title Teacher
assign descript Chemistry
Low grade served 9
High grade served 12
Bilingual code No
Full time equivalency 100%
Work site West Bend Sch Dist - West High
County name Washington County
Not too shabby, Andy, since you only work part time.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1406 hrs
Careful, it’s not about the Teachers.
It’s really for the kids!And for the rest of us,
In another report Thursday, the Labor Department said that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits jumped to 473,000 last week, an increase of 31,000 over the previous week. Economists had expected a decline and the large increase served notice that the labor market is still facing serious problems.
-Thugs!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1427 hrs
Then, beat out the other 100 applicants.
Let’s focus on that… any employer should pay a fair wage for the labor they want performed. If there are 100 qualified applicants for every open position, then the district is overpaying for the position.
Posted by Owen on February 18, 2010 at 1446 hrs
I believe we’ve heard the last of Andy as he just figured out the hard way why
most teachers post anonymously on B&S…..
- - - - -
... Andy’s numbers are two years old; throw in the 13% Andy wants over the next
three years and Andy is at roughly $90k. That doesn’t take into account the
‘fringe’.... that’s gotta put Andy @ $130k total compensation per year in three years.
That’s a lot of guacamole. And I don’t believe that includes his retirement, but I could
be wrong, it’s been known to happen….Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1459 hrs
What a joke
Andy feels he needs to justify his salary and benefits.
Notice how Andy has spare time at work to be out blogging using taxpayers funds. Andy needs more to do at work, yet we should pay him more so he can post his union agenda on the taxpayers dime.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1520 hrs
Oh my….this is really good…
Where’s TominGrRapids? Wanna share?
:zpopcorn:
Posted by GAMazy on February 18, 2010 at 1528 hrs
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1807 hrs
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1812 hrs
You guys, we like it when people use their names on B&S. Don’t scare them into being like “anon” by cyberstalking them.
He’s just arguing the other side of the issue, not making lampshades and sausages out of third graders. Be nice.
(My Lutheran upbringing makes me want to type “This is most certainly true” at the end of all my comments, so you get a pass for misspelling “cannon.”)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1831 hrs
This is most certainly true.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 1923 hrs
Touché, Wendy.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 2008 hrs
Glad you are working again, Smeety.
I still do not get the bitterness: 6 months, consistently, you have not lightened up a hairsbreadth.
I admire you’re dedication to your philosophy.
TAXTOTHEMAX: “It’s really for the kids!” ...
Seriously, are you a School administrator?
I here this line in some shape or form every time some new initiative is rolled out as we reconfigure.No disrespect, Boss.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 2252 hrs
hear nor here.
PS: Just finished Cormac McCarthy’s incredible The Road.
“It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed all civilization and, apparently, almost all life on earth.” Viggo Mortensen is in the film that should be out on video October 16, 2009.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 2300 hrs
Why do “new initiatives” have to cost anything? Why not just concentrate on “teaching” students the necessary “basic” skills they need to function in society, and stop with the indoctrination and brain washing on the evils of this country?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2010 at 2301 hrs
Scott,
What are you talking about? The new initiatives are designed to help provide better education. No one said they have a cost. There is no brain washing about the evils of this country. Sheesh. How can you think that solving problems will actually happen when the first words out of your mouth is a criticism or some load of crap like you just laid out there.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 0723 hrs
JP, Might I also suggest “The Marketing of Evil”? I have 2 extra copies. You can have one of them. I can drop it off…. (not kidding)
Posted by GAMazy on February 19, 2010 at 0855 hrs
Kris, You can have my personal copy if you like.
Posted by GAMazy on February 19, 2010 at 0856 hrs
Kris, call your “new initiatives” whatever you want, I stand by my assertion. If they are designed to provide a better education why are children today less educated than those from the 1920s through the 1960s? Our educational standards have declined dramatically since the 70s and are woefully substandard in comparison to other industrialized nations and even some third world nations. And with a pervert like Kevin Jennings as Safe School Czar things can only get worse. I defy you to show me what “crap” I’ve laid out. With the Liberals firm foot hold on the universities of this country there is no way their ideology is not being disseminated throughout the country in the form of “new initiatives” designed to provide better education. Didn’t Bill Ayers admit this in saying (paraphrasing) “to implement our ideology it is imperative we indoctrinate the young”?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 1035 hrs
JP,
thx. And I do need to lighten up
.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 1137 hrs
stop with the indoctrination and brain washing on the evils of this country?
i don’t know what others will say but that sounds like “crap”.
why are children today less educated than those from the 1920s through the 1960s?
That’s beyond crap. That’s just stupid.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 1204 hrs
Yeah, okay anon, you’ve convinced me with your well stated, thought provoking reply. How will I ever live down such a scathing rebuttal?
Seems your reply has just proved my point. Thank you.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 1235 hrs
Ginny,
Goona pass for now: I am reading the Politically Correct series, and reading books I can rec. to students.Scott,
WB and many schools are in a constant state of reconstruction that is typically at little or no cost.Educational standards have declined since the 70s? The 1970s was a time of fewer standards and a child centered curriculm philosophy was being implemented: Instilling in students a desire to “fix” the world’s problems was part of this too. It would remain this way until the standards based approach came into being again thanks to Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations as well as the book A Nation at Risk (comparison of international schools to U.S. schools is not apples to apples.)
necessary “basic” skills change every five or fewer years; by the time educators agree on the language about newer “basic” skils, times have changed. I wish at times we would all slow down.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 1256 hrs
Smeety
Dont lighten up ,your a rock and roll animal dont change a thing. Is so refreshing to read direct no BS truthful comments rather than someone tap dancing over everything.Whatever JP tells ya do the direct polar opposite.
FIST BUMP
Carry on my good man.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 19, 2010 at 1345 hrs
...a tap dancer? That’s a nice way to put it.
Don’t take the political compass test:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/testMy political compass
Economic Left/Right: -0.75 ...Centrist
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.44 ...LibertarianPosted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 20, 2010 at 0955 hrs
Note: Engaging in dialogs for all to see with my real name about things connected to my career, employer, bosses, colleagues, students, community, family etc., encourages tap dancing for a reason? Yes?
The effect on my ego is more intense than using an alias.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 20, 2010 at 1030 hrs
JP
I was not making any assumptions of you tap dancing it was meant as a broad stroke in general, I know how excited and flattered you get when someone talks about you but sorry its not the case here.But as long as I am here.
A couple weeks back you blogged your butt off in defense of the challenge program, but now with the district dropping this notion I suppose your views have also changed to be in line with the districts. You are a certified grade A strawman, Wikipedia has now removed the scarecrow from the Wizard of oz and inserted your picture,. congrats your famous.
You can call yourself a Libertarian, I like call myself a chef when I microwave dinner. I think you lean so far left that as you grow older you will start to walk with a limp, left is not enough for you european left is more your situation.
Yes we all are aware of your love affair with your employer and it may make you an excellent employee but to us not employed by the district your rantings in defense are just comical, to be taken with a grain a salt as we all know who butters your bread.Have a nice week Jason.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 22, 2010 at 0953 hrs
I still think the challenge program is sound (participation is 100% voluntary) but the board/admin. decide and I comply. My complaints/concerns with any employer are discretely handled, so…
Clever/orginal insults - a sweeping generalization fallacy though. I obviously care about public schools, but what proof do you have I am so left?
Didja take the test?
http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
I’m betting your 1/2 way to the right and 1/4 authoritarian (or less).
Have a solid week
Tues Sunrise 6:39 a.m Sunset 5:34 p.mPosted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 22, 2010 at 1315 hrs
JP
Its a gut call by me aligning you on the left, sometimes you need to look past the numbers and go with common sense.
No I did not take the test but I did look it over, a bunch of dribble, why not just read my palm its the same accuracy.Arne Duncan on Sunday said, good superintendants are going to start sending out pink slips in March and April, as they start to plan for their budgets. I wonder who appointed the secretary of education former CEO of Chicago Public Schools?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 22, 2010 at 1415 hrs
Crusher,
As to your Chicago “super” question: Pres. Big Bank Bailout (pt.2) put him in the job?West Bend pink slips will be issued mid-March: Student class sign-up numbers will be in and the board will have agreed to the 1st year of cuts. HR will be prepared with seniority/ licensure bumping rights. Other district jobs openings are starting to be publicized due to retirements, non-renews and layoffs. These events are quite synchronous season to season.
You caught the CPAC straw poll? : Ron Paul - 31%; Mitt Romney - 22%; Sarah Palin - 7%; Tim Pawlenty - 6%.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 22, 2010 at 2104 hrs
Personally I think there are levers in place that the board could use (like firing swaths of teachers), but there is absolutely no resolve to do so.
As you can tell from the story in the paper today the statement above is not an accurate depiction of what is going on.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 23, 2010 at 2110 hrs
The public can always count on the ability and accuracy of the West Bend News .
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 24, 2010 at 1006 hrs
Crusher,
Are you accusing the paper of not telling the truth?
Posted by on February 24, 2010 at 2127 hrs
Not at all Kris but the paper is only as accurate as the propaganda it is fed.
The district is already setting the table in regards to the next dash for cash. Thats why we need new leadership on the board Kris not just a rubber stamp.
We all want strong schools but should that be the only thing in life we can afford.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 25, 2010 at 0939 hrs
Crusher,
Are you calling Kris a rubber stamp?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 25, 2010 at 0959 hrs
Two things. One, no one rubberstamps anything. Come to a committee meeting and listen to the questions that get asked. We choose to have those hard discussions in committee rather than during board meetings. The reason is that we have long meetings already and if we had all of those discussions during meetings we would still be there after midnight on a regular basis.
Two, the paper comes and covers the meetings asks questions and puts three hours worth of meeting into 300-500 words. You’re only going to get so much info from reading the paper. There used to be more coverage, but the radio station doesn’t cover the meetings anymore. We don’t do propaganda.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 25, 2010 at 2109 hrs
I suspect the newspaper is still a more reliable place to get information than the blogosphere, crusher. As someone trying to keep an open mind (I read the paper and many of the community blogs) I will admit I don’t often go to school board meetings. And school board meetings haven’t required auditorium-capacity seating since the fall so I suspect the public isn’t turning out en mass to these meetings either. I think people should actually GO to the meetings and find out what is going on instead of relying on the biased blogosphere (which does not pass as journalism) or the newspaper if they want the truth. It sounds like there are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there. If the school district is a propaganda machine it’s REALLY ineffective.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 25, 2010 at 2145 hrs
As you can tell by reading Bernies letter in the paper we have many issues.
I took your advice Kris whatever I read in the local paper in reference to the school district I will consider an accurate depiction of whats going on.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 26, 2010 at 0911 hrs
Thursdays paper reports Bill P. gave an update on Badger, Bill P. was not even in the building Dave Ross spoke for him as he was absent.
More of your sound advice Kris we should rely on the West Bend News for accurate desriptions of whats going on.I get it we should only take it to heart when Lord Kris grants his approval.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 26, 2010 at 1053 hrs
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 26, 2010 at 1617 hrs
The article says:
“Miller, who is overseeing the $27.4 million Badger Middle School construction/remodeling project with Bill Pennoyer of VJS Construction Services, gave school board members an update on the progress that’s been made since January at the board meeting Monday night.”
My understanding is that Miller gave the presentation, but Bill Pennoyer is also overseeing the project. Is that incorrect? I later read a quote by Dave Ross, who was also apparently there. Even if the information is in the newspaper it doesn’t do people any good if they don’t know how to read. Hopefully reading comprehension in the West Bend School district is better now than when Crusher went to school.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 26, 2010 at 1847 hrs
While surfing Yahoo I clicked on your link…very informative! I enjoy staying up-to-date about this kind of info. I’ll definitely bookmark your site for additional review.
Posted by Teeth Whitening on February 27, 2010 at 0204 hrs
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