I know it's a broken record, but I have to keep pounding it. Today's October Wisconsin jobs report, and it was another debacle. 9,300 more jobs lost in the private sector, and 9,700 overall. Put together with last month's disaster, and this state has lost 20,700 jobs in the last 2 months, and 27,600 since Walker's budget took effect on July 1. All of these job losses are while the U.S. has added jobs at a relatively steady pace at the same time, showing that new DWD Secretary Reggie Newsom hasn't had the time in office to develop into a good liar, as he's trying to put these losses off on the "national economy". The national economy ain't the one losing jobs, Reg.
With these losses, it now puts Wisconsin below the number of total jobs it was at in February and has fewer private sector jobs than the state had back before Act 10 was passed in March. So much for the tools and its lower taxes leading to private sector growth. And given that Wisconsin has had increased new jobless claims for each of the last 4 weeks, don't count on the jobs numbers turning around any time soon. In fact, when the BLS state-by-state report comes out, I bet Wisconsin comes out Number 1 under Walker's budget...for job losses by any state in America.
The lack of jobs under the Fitzwalkerstani policies are also finding its way into damaging our budget, as the Dept. of Revenue also had a big release today, putting out its monthly revenue numbers. October 2011 collections were FLAT compared to October 2012- not a good sign when inflation has been 3.5% and the state budget counted on rev increases of just over 3%. Income taxes were up all of 0.2% compared to last October, and corporate taxes were DOWN 45.9% (gotta love those tax cuts to the "job creators"). The only thing that held up in October was sales taxes, but of course sales taxes did- every post-season Brewer ticket, "Division Champs" gear bought, beer consumed, and night spent at the bars in that amazing Wisconsin sports month had sales tax counted against it, so I'd hope sales taxes did well. Now that baseball season's over, don't count on that coming through again.
So the 5.4% year-over-year revenue advantage for the 3 months has slipped to 3.7%, and the revenue figures picked up for the last 8 months of the last fiscal year (remember the "upside revenue surprise" that made me scream BROKE MY ASS last May?). So expect the revenue gap to grow, to go along with the extra Medicaid cuts, and hateful targeted lapses to the UW System.
If you were stupid enough to fall for Scott Walker's moon-shot promises, you've have to have creashed to earth by now and seen that the "bomb" that Scotty dropped was on this state's economic performance. We need to RECALL all of these failures, and I'll gladly be adding my name to the hundreds of thousands that are more than ready to end this Reign of Error.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Would you devastate Wisconsin schools to save $18?
According to the numbers released today, that's the question you have to ask yourself. Because while the headline number of Wisconsin property tax levies going down $47 million statewide might sound big for the Sykes-suckers, but it's a drop in the bucket for the average Wisconsinite. And not just because the drop is all of 1.01% of total school levies.
If you look at 2010 Census figures, you'll see that we have just under 5.7 million people lucky enough to live in Wisconsin. So that $47 million in property taxes is all of $8.28 person. WOO-HOO!! But, to be fair, a lot of those people are kids who don't exactly pay property taxes or rent, so let's also use the 2.625 million state housing units and see what the average place got for a tax break.
$17.93. That's the reduction for each household. Not even $18. Keep that thought
But wait, there's more! Check out your individual school district here, then go to the end of the report and note the statewide numbers, which not only show the total levy, but the tax rate. Then compare the mill rate with 2011, and a hidden point comes up.
School mill rates 2011 vs. 2012
2010-2011- 9.76 overall, 9.80 K-12
2011-2012- 9.84 overall, 9.88 K-12
That's right, school property tax rates went up this year. So if your property's value stayed the same in Wisconsin, it's likely your school property taxes will go up, regardless of how the Sykes/Belling/Walker team try to spin it. And if they don't go up, it's probably because your home's value went DOWN, and not by a little. But hey, who cares if you're underwater on your house when you can save $1.50 a month in (deductible) property taxes, right?
And now let's talk about the damage your community is taking on for the sake of that $1.50 a month. This handy-dandy interactive map will give a good idea what your district had to do because of Walker's moves. You've taken thousands of dollars away from the take-home pay of many of your community members, denigrated the education profession, raised class sizes in the classrooms of our youngest students, and caused numerous experienced teachers to leave the profession. and in the process have taken away one of Wisconsin great advantages over other states - it's top-quality education.
And what happens in the long-term if this continues and Wisconsin gains a reputation as a place of Idiocracy with a low value for education? Why don't you ask the Confederacy, where home of 7 of the 12 states with the highest unemployment rates (page 18), including 5over 10%. And these places also rank highest in poverty and per capita income (what a coincidence!). Low-wage and anti-union policies haven't come close to saving that area from staying behind, and it's because of the anti-education mentality and low-skill workforce. This is where we're heading if we continue to denigrate education to save a few bucks, and it's not the state that I care for and have chosen to live in.
So ask yourself, what kind of person would destroy this state's high quality of life and respect for education for....getting an extra bite from the Dollar Menu each month? Apparently someone that could use some of that $18 saved to go and buy a mirror, because the type of pathetic low-life that finds the huge costs to be an acceptable outcome needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. Kinda like this guy who's been arrested. (He even looks a bit like Scott Walker).
They need to remember the wisdom of Marge Gunderson. There are indeed more things to life than a little money.
If you look at 2010 Census figures, you'll see that we have just under 5.7 million people lucky enough to live in Wisconsin. So that $47 million in property taxes is all of $8.28 person. WOO-HOO!! But, to be fair, a lot of those people are kids who don't exactly pay property taxes or rent, so let's also use the 2.625 million state housing units and see what the average place got for a tax break.
$17.93. That's the reduction for each household. Not even $18. Keep that thought
But wait, there's more! Check out your individual school district here, then go to the end of the report and note the statewide numbers, which not only show the total levy, but the tax rate. Then compare the mill rate with 2011, and a hidden point comes up.
School mill rates 2011 vs. 2012
2010-2011- 9.76 overall, 9.80 K-12
2011-2012- 9.84 overall, 9.88 K-12
That's right, school property tax rates went up this year. So if your property's value stayed the same in Wisconsin, it's likely your school property taxes will go up, regardless of how the Sykes/Belling/Walker team try to spin it. And if they don't go up, it's probably because your home's value went DOWN, and not by a little. But hey, who cares if you're underwater on your house when you can save $1.50 a month in (deductible) property taxes, right?
And now let's talk about the damage your community is taking on for the sake of that $1.50 a month. This handy-dandy interactive map will give a good idea what your district had to do because of Walker's moves. You've taken thousands of dollars away from the take-home pay of many of your community members, denigrated the education profession, raised class sizes in the classrooms of our youngest students, and caused numerous experienced teachers to leave the profession. and in the process have taken away one of Wisconsin great advantages over other states - it's top-quality education.
And what happens in the long-term if this continues and Wisconsin gains a reputation as a place of Idiocracy with a low value for education? Why don't you ask the Confederacy, where home of 7 of the 12 states with the highest unemployment rates (page 18), including 5over 10%. And these places also rank highest in poverty and per capita income (what a coincidence!). Low-wage and anti-union policies haven't come close to saving that area from staying behind, and it's because of the anti-education mentality and low-skill workforce. This is where we're heading if we continue to denigrate education to save a few bucks, and it's not the state that I care for and have chosen to live in.
So ask yourself, what kind of person would destroy this state's high quality of life and respect for education for....getting an extra bite from the Dollar Menu each month? Apparently someone that could use some of that $18 saved to go and buy a mirror, because the type of pathetic low-life that finds the huge costs to be an acceptable outcome needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. Kinda like this guy who's been arrested. (He even looks a bit like Scott Walker).
They need to remember the wisdom of Marge Gunderson. There are indeed more things to life than a little money.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
THIS...IS OURS!
And it ain't going out of this state any time soon. Minnesota may eat our lunch when it comes to jobs and having the Twin Cities be the progressive location that 20-somethings choose far too often over Milwaukee, but they sure as hell aren't beating us in football.
More fun later in the week...
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Yep, Kaukauna and other "tools" were Walker lies
Very interesting and telling survey from the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators that got released yesterday. Here's the major summary so you can check it out yourself, but a few key takeaways.
1. As Mike Tate and the DPW folks told us today, Walker and his honks' tired Kaukauna example has been shown to be a fraud, with increased class sizes and reduced teacher staffing. Yup, indeed it is , and looks Baraboo was also hurt on both counts by Walker's moves.
2. 82% of the districts responding reported that they lost personnel vs. last year, and nearly 2/3 of them lost teachers. Check out this map of places where teachers lost jobs, and you'll notice an interesting placement.
Note that a lot of those blue districts without teacher cutbacks seem to be clustered around the suburbs of Milwaukee and Madison, as well as a solid group in the Eau Claire/ La Crosse area. But the red, teacher-losing districts are a large amount of the rural districts outside of the Milwaukee area, as well as the big losses at MPS. Just the way Scott Walker designed it- help rich suburbs, hurt high-risk districts.
3. More than 2/5ths of the districts increased class sizes for Elementary School- the very times that they need smaller classes to allow for increased attention from teachers. At the higher grades, it's worth noting that over HALF of the districts responding cut class offerings in "career and tech" areas, and nearly half in art, music and phy.ed., choosing those cuts over "Core" areas (38%), foreign language (27%) and AP (22%).
While we need to offer classes for the college-bound in order to make our schools competitive academically, we also need to remember that employers say 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled because of a lack of skills< and that "most manufacturers expect the problem to worsen in coming years." So in light of this need and Wisconsin's strongly manufacturing-based economy...Scott Walker cut school aids which cut tech school classes at the K-12 level, and also cut tech college funding by 30 percent. And sorry Scotty, tech college students are likely to be just out of high school trying to expand on their voc-ed education, and you're trying to take both of these skill-gathering chances away from young people. Completely stupid and regressive on a lot of levels.
3. Lastly, THE "TOOLS" DID NOTHING TO CHANGE WHAT SCHOOLS DID THIS YEAR. Folkbum nails this point. The last pages of the study look into districts that stayed under their old bargaining agreements, and compared them to the schools that had no contract, no bargaining rights, and could use the "tools." There was a minor increase in teacher losses for the unionized schools, and an extra increase in class size for the "tool" schools. But there was really no difference at all, and now the "tool" schools have shot their bullets before next year's cuts come in.
In other words, the tools were a gimmick that accomplished nothing except to demonize teachers, push more of them into early retirement, and discourage others from entering the profession. The only reasons you'd want that result are 1. To send Wisconsin into Idiocracy and 2. To make schools "fail" so they can be sold off to Scooter Jensen and the voucher lobby.
And that is the Walker Admin's goal on public education, make no mistake about it. Remember, and RECALL.
1. As Mike Tate and the DPW folks told us today, Walker and his honks' tired Kaukauna example has been shown to be a fraud, with increased class sizes and reduced teacher staffing. Yup, indeed it is , and looks Baraboo was also hurt on both counts by Walker's moves.
2. 82% of the districts responding reported that they lost personnel vs. last year, and nearly 2/3 of them lost teachers. Check out this map of places where teachers lost jobs, and you'll notice an interesting placement.
Note that a lot of those blue districts without teacher cutbacks seem to be clustered around the suburbs of Milwaukee and Madison, as well as a solid group in the Eau Claire/ La Crosse area. But the red, teacher-losing districts are a large amount of the rural districts outside of the Milwaukee area, as well as the big losses at MPS. Just the way Scott Walker designed it- help rich suburbs, hurt high-risk districts.
3. More than 2/5ths of the districts increased class sizes for Elementary School- the very times that they need smaller classes to allow for increased attention from teachers. At the higher grades, it's worth noting that over HALF of the districts responding cut class offerings in "career and tech" areas, and nearly half in art, music and phy.ed., choosing those cuts over "Core" areas (38%), foreign language (27%) and AP (22%).
While we need to offer classes for the college-bound in order to make our schools competitive academically, we also need to remember that employers say 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled because of a lack of skills< and that "most manufacturers expect the problem to worsen in coming years." So in light of this need and Wisconsin's strongly manufacturing-based economy...Scott Walker cut school aids which cut tech school classes at the K-12 level, and also cut tech college funding by 30 percent. And sorry Scotty, tech college students are likely to be just out of high school trying to expand on their voc-ed education, and you're trying to take both of these skill-gathering chances away from young people. Completely stupid and regressive on a lot of levels.
3. Lastly, THE "TOOLS" DID NOTHING TO CHANGE WHAT SCHOOLS DID THIS YEAR. Folkbum nails this point. The last pages of the study look into districts that stayed under their old bargaining agreements, and compared them to the schools that had no contract, no bargaining rights, and could use the "tools." There was a minor increase in teacher losses for the unionized schools, and an extra increase in class size for the "tool" schools. But there was really no difference at all, and now the "tool" schools have shot their bullets before next year's cuts come in.
In other words, the tools were a gimmick that accomplished nothing except to demonize teachers, push more of them into early retirement, and discourage others from entering the profession. The only reasons you'd want that result are 1. To send Wisconsin into Idiocracy and 2. To make schools "fail" so they can be sold off to Scooter Jensen and the voucher lobby.
And that is the Walker Admin's goal on public education, make no mistake about it. Remember, and RECALL.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Jobs revisions show Wisconsin even further behind under Walker
Yesterday's October jobs report was notable not necessarily for the relatively tepid 80,000 job increase, but instead for the huge revisions in August and September, indicating 102,000 more jobs than previously reported. You can imagine the difference in the headlines if there were no revisions but 182,000 jobs were added. It would have been a "major upside surprise" instead of "jobs growth stays slow, around expectations." Guess it's all in how you look at the data, eh?
But what those revisions also do is make Scott Walker's failure to create jobs in Wisconsin even more blatant than before. I mentioned this when Wisconsin's brutal September job report came out, but let's run those numbers again with the positive revisions for the U.S.
Change in total jobs June-Sept. 2011
U.S. +0.30%
Wis. -0.69%
Change in private-sector jobs June-Sept. 2011
U.S. +0.40%
Wis. -0.50%
Let's put the numbers another way to show how far below the national trend Wisconsin is performing under Walker's budget:
June-Sept. 2011 Wisconsin jobs
Total jobs created in Wis. if at U.S. rate- 8,300
Actual total jobs created in Wisconsin - -19,300
Wisconsin underpeformance under Walker - 27,600 jobs
Private jobs created in Wis. if at U.S. rate - 9,400
Actual private jobs performance in Wisconsin - -11,900
Wisconsin underperformance under Walker- 21,300 jobs
These figures show that Scott Walker's approved policies could be held responsible for the loss of more than 27,000 total jobs and 21,000 private sector jobs, because if Wisconsin was just some normal state following the national trend, we would have had job growth these last 3 months.
And while the Brewer stimulus may reflect in the October numbers, this will still be well below the national trends for the last few months. And no matter what scummy dirty tricks Waukesha-County Republicans try to pull these massive failures and resulting budget deficit that'll result are the final nails in this corrupt administration's recall coffin.
See you downtown for football Saturday and Chase Bank protesting fun!
But what those revisions also do is make Scott Walker's failure to create jobs in Wisconsin even more blatant than before. I mentioned this when Wisconsin's brutal September job report came out, but let's run those numbers again with the positive revisions for the U.S.
Change in total jobs June-Sept. 2011
U.S. +0.30%
Wis. -0.69%
Change in private-sector jobs June-Sept. 2011
U.S. +0.40%
Wis. -0.50%
Let's put the numbers another way to show how far below the national trend Wisconsin is performing under Walker's budget:
June-Sept. 2011 Wisconsin jobs
Total jobs created in Wis. if at U.S. rate- 8,300
Actual total jobs created in Wisconsin - -19,300
Wisconsin underpeformance under Walker - 27,600 jobs
Private jobs created in Wis. if at U.S. rate - 9,400
Actual private jobs performance in Wisconsin - -11,900
Wisconsin underperformance under Walker- 21,300 jobs
These figures show that Scott Walker's approved policies could be held responsible for the loss of more than 27,000 total jobs and 21,000 private sector jobs, because if Wisconsin was just some normal state following the national trend, we would have had job growth these last 3 months.
And while the Brewer stimulus may reflect in the October numbers, this will still be well below the national trends for the last few months. And no matter what scummy dirty tricks Waukesha-County Republicans try to pull these massive failures and resulting budget deficit that'll result are the final nails in this corrupt administration's recall coffin.
See you downtown for football Saturday and Chase Bank protesting fun!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The CEO's lies come full-circle
Well, I'd like to thank Rep. Peggy Krusick for outing herself as the Jeff "Pay to" Plale of this legislative session. Peggy from Stallis (OK, SW Milwaukee, same thing) decided late last night that she would sponsor a race-baiting amendment removing race as a factor from consideration for the Talent Incentive Program. This program gives small college scholarships to people who come from several types of disadvantaged groups, with racial minority groups being among those (but not the only ones, as the J-S story points out that one-time imprisonment, first in family to college, and disabled are also groups that can get Talent Incentive scholarships).
After the Robin Voses of the world and the Wauzaukington County Republicans threw their wholehearted support behind the bill, every other Assembly Dem took the measure apart for the next several hours, so much so that the session was still live when I checked Wispolitics.com this morning.
This is culmination of that absurd study by the Koch-funded group trying to tear down affirmative action at the UW-Madison, which only succeeding in galvanizing massive protests on campus and confrontations against these Koch puppets, and it made me even more glad to be a Badger than I usually am (which is saying something). But you can see Koch's strategy- come up with a Big Lie (UW-Madison lets underserving minorities get into school at the expense of white students), try to let the narrative take hold in angry-man media and sucker in "both sides of the story" media to make your side seem legitimate, then use it as an excuse to have one of your legislative lackeys come up with a law that tries to take care of this "problem". This then allows the current power structure to stay in place, and if it REALLY works, dispirits minority students so much that they decline even more in achievement, which means the rich white folks don't have to work as hard to stay on top. That last part (not having to work as hard if you're rich) is the real intelligent part of the design, and the ultimate Koch goal of feudal oligarchy.
Let me reiterate one shocking stat I pointed out 7 weeks ago in a story on Wisconsin racial disparities in schooling.
I hope Peggy's got a lot of cash coming to her as the "token Dem" for the Charles Sykes show after that pathetic performance, and we'd better see a nice primary challenge to her in the 7th Assembly District next year, just like how Dems ran Plale out of the 7th Senate District last year and got Chris Larson in return- a key move, as Plale would never have had the moral compass to be one of the Wisconsin 14.
These numbers also illustrate how absurd it is for the GOP to try to pass a bill allowing students' low test scores to be a main factor in getting teachers fired. When poverty/race, social environment, and a student's family's educational achievement are the largest factors in determining success in school, why are teachers supposed to be the only ones responsible for how a student does in school. I've got no problem with looking at test scores as a way to identify a school's deficiencies and room for improvement-finding ways to improve student performance and skill sets should always be the top goal in educational policy, and I think test scores might have a part in that. But the words of Milwaukee teachers' union president Bob Peterson are on the money when it comes to how attaching incentives to those scores changes teaching for the worse:
Teachers can do a lot for a student, but those teachers' 7 hours a day in the classroom can't completely offset the other 17 hours a day and 3 months in summer that those same students are at a disadvantage. Anyone who believes that teachers are the sole determining factor in a student's test scores are clueless people that have no business making educational policy. Test-based compensation and retainment also leads to the classic adverse selection problem where some teachers may choose not to take jobs at challenging schools with at-risk kids because that teacher fears the students' low scores may lead to the teacher's reprimand. So guess who's left teaching the students who need the most dynamic teachers? Far too often, it's the low end of the barrell.
It's unwise at best to install test-based firings into law, but it's more likely that it's part of the scheme that CEO and Scooter Jensen and much of WisGOP want. These people want the end result of the privatization of education, both at the K-12 levels, and in universities. This allows for taxpayer funds to be funneled away from public, independent, fact-based education, and moved over to the voucher school lobby and the organizations that support them. And those lobbies, headed up by organizations like the Koch Brothers and the Bradley Foundation, are more than willing to sacrifice American competitiveness for a few dollars and legislators in their pockets.
That's a sacrifice Wisconsin and America can't afford to make. We gotta expose these sleazy groups, and take them down.
After the Robin Voses of the world and the Wauzaukington County Republicans threw their wholehearted support behind the bill, every other Assembly Dem took the measure apart for the next several hours, so much so that the session was still live when I checked Wispolitics.com this morning.
This is culmination of that absurd study by the Koch-funded group trying to tear down affirmative action at the UW-Madison, which only succeeding in galvanizing massive protests on campus and confrontations against these Koch puppets, and it made me even more glad to be a Badger than I usually am (which is saying something). But you can see Koch's strategy- come up with a Big Lie (UW-Madison lets underserving minorities get into school at the expense of white students), try to let the narrative take hold in angry-man media and sucker in "both sides of the story" media to make your side seem legitimate, then use it as an excuse to have one of your legislative lackeys come up with a law that tries to take care of this "problem". This then allows the current power structure to stay in place, and if it REALLY works, dispirits minority students so much that they decline even more in achievement, which means the rich white folks don't have to work as hard to stay on top. That last part (not having to work as hard if you're rich) is the real intelligent part of the design, and the ultimate Koch goal of feudal oligarchy.
Let me reiterate one shocking stat I pointed out 7 weeks ago in a story on Wisconsin racial disparities in schooling.
The percentage of 2011 graduates prepared for college-level core subject areas also varied greatly by race, with 36% of white students in Wisconsin considered ready for college classes compared with only 4% of black students.But the typical black student has the same chances as a white one in his or her K-12 schooling. Suuuuuure.
I hope Peggy's got a lot of cash coming to her as the "token Dem" for the Charles Sykes show after that pathetic performance, and we'd better see a nice primary challenge to her in the 7th Assembly District next year, just like how Dems ran Plale out of the 7th Senate District last year and got Chris Larson in return- a key move, as Plale would never have had the moral compass to be one of the Wisconsin 14.
These numbers also illustrate how absurd it is for the GOP to try to pass a bill allowing students' low test scores to be a main factor in getting teachers fired. When poverty/race, social environment, and a student's family's educational achievement are the largest factors in determining success in school, why are teachers supposed to be the only ones responsible for how a student does in school. I've got no problem with looking at test scores as a way to identify a school's deficiencies and room for improvement-finding ways to improve student performance and skill sets should always be the top goal in educational policy, and I think test scores might have a part in that. But the words of Milwaukee teachers' union president Bob Peterson are on the money when it comes to how attaching incentives to those scores changes teaching for the worse:
"There's no research that demonstrates that linking student test scores to teacher dismissal and discipline improves teaching and learning. In fact, it has been shown in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. - where these kinds of actions are taken - it narrows and dumbs down the curriculum, and encourages deceit and cheating," Peterson said.
Teachers can do a lot for a student, but those teachers' 7 hours a day in the classroom can't completely offset the other 17 hours a day and 3 months in summer that those same students are at a disadvantage. Anyone who believes that teachers are the sole determining factor in a student's test scores are clueless people that have no business making educational policy. Test-based compensation and retainment also leads to the classic adverse selection problem where some teachers may choose not to take jobs at challenging schools with at-risk kids because that teacher fears the students' low scores may lead to the teacher's reprimand. So guess who's left teaching the students who need the most dynamic teachers? Far too often, it's the low end of the barrell.
It's unwise at best to install test-based firings into law, but it's more likely that it's part of the scheme that CEO and Scooter Jensen and much of WisGOP want. These people want the end result of the privatization of education, both at the K-12 levels, and in universities. This allows for taxpayer funds to be funneled away from public, independent, fact-based education, and moved over to the voucher school lobby and the organizations that support them. And those lobbies, headed up by organizations like the Koch Brothers and the Bradley Foundation, are more than willing to sacrifice American competitiveness for a few dollars and legislators in their pockets.
That's a sacrifice Wisconsin and America can't afford to make. We gotta expose these sleazy groups, and take them down.
One year ago tonight...
""But to all those others who may not have voted for me, let me be clear, I intend to be governor of the entire state of Wisconsin. No matter where you live, no matter what your background, no matter who you voted for, we all live in Wisconsin together, and we're going to move this state forward together."Of all the lies that scumbag has told, this might be the biggest one. He's never followed through on these words for a second.
- Scott K. Walker, November 2, 2010, upon being elected governor of Wisconsin
Happy birthday, Scotty. Hope you enjoy it, because it's the last one you'll ever have in the Governor' Office.
H/t Sly in the Morning
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