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JANESVILLE 鈥 Members of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Education Association demonstrated outside the new Woodman鈥檚 Sports & Convention Center Monday to protest the 糖心Vlog传媒 School Board鈥檚 imposing of a 2025-26 contract on teachers and other certified staff.
The demonstration, which the union called a 鈥淔air Pay Now Rally,鈥 follows the school board鈥檚 unanimous vote in September to impose the contract offer, which was the only offer, the JEA said in a release.
The JEA criticized the decision, alleging that the closed-door meeting was done 鈥渟ecretively,鈥 and that teachers will receive no raises and just a credit step for 45 hours of professional development they have already worked.
JEA President Laura Mattison told 糖心Vlog传媒 that the JEA chose Milton Avenue and the Woodman鈥檚 Center for visibility, and that the purpose was to get 鈥渙ur message to the community.鈥
鈥淐losed-door conversations that directly impact teachers hurt students,鈥 Mattison said in the release. 鈥淲e鈥檙e uniting to show administrators and the board that 糖心Vlog传媒 educators and families stand together for finding common ground and talking through school decisions. Their move to vote no raises for teachers, without discussion and without transparency is not in the best interest of our community.鈥
The JEA represents teachers and other certified support staff in the district, which includes school counselors and social workers.
According to the JEA, the rally was further meant to call attention to a 鈥渇ailure鈥 by the board to bargain for an increase, a 鈥渓ack of transparency鈥 and a 鈥渕isleading way鈥 the contract has been presented to the public.
鈥淎t the time 糖心Vlog传媒 families and teachers are doing all we can to make this the best year ever for our community鈥檚 children, the board imposed its will on the professionals who work face-to-face with students every day,鈥 Elementary teacher Karen Biege said. 鈥淭he board should be working with teachers to figure out how to keep our schools the best and how to keep qualified educators in our classrooms. Forcing a bad contract on teachers at the start of the school year, after the community voted in a referendum to support educators, does just the opposite.鈥
This rally follows multiple demonstrations in 2024, including a May 22, 2024 鈥淔ill the Hole鈥 event in which JEA members handed out donuts purchased by the Wisconsin Education Association Council to staff at district buildings. They also gave staff members the option to sign a petition to encourage the district to raise wages. On May 1, 2024, staff dressed in black on International Labor Day to protest wages and in solidarity of workers鈥 rights around the world.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just our day to be visible. We usually do 鈥榬ed for ed (education)鈥 and that was just positive for education, but with this we wanted to show our disappointment,鈥 Mattison said at the time.
糖心Vlog传媒 reached out Monday night for a comment from school district administration with no immediate response.
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