Let's start with the basics. James' salary is $68,255. James is certified to teach grades 6 through 12th in both English and social studies. He has taught the following classes at Lomira: 7th grade geography, World History, US history, Social Problems, Psychology, AP Psychology, Independent Study Psychology, English 9, English 10, English 11, English 12. James also teaches one of the largest AP classes where students earn college credit with a yearly average of 25.375 students being enrolled. Comparatively, for the 2026 school year AP Government has 7 students and AP US History has 10. James has also taught English classes for 16 years in Lomira.
We were told James was terminated due to financial reasons. Over the last 6 years, support services have increased by 26% and non-program spending has increased by 42%, while instruction has increased by 3%. Even with the assumption of good faith and allocation of this money to correct causes, it still does not explain the reasoning behind the need to cut Joshua James. As someone that sat down with the comptroller, Ty Breitlow, and Jamie Feucht. I can only hope their explanation was true for the increases in these categories as there is no public data about such. Assuming a cut needed to be made, did it have to be James' position? I actually believe due to the circumstances, his position did make sense to cut. As I'll explain though, his position should have been cut and he should've replaced other teachers.
What Does Cutting James Actually Save?
So, how much does the district actually save from cutting James? James' salary is $68,255, which is only 1% higher than the average salary at Lomira even after 24 years of service. James receives benefits in the amount of $30,031.45. Altogether, at face value cutting him seems like a $98,286.45 cut. However, basic forecasting of the future budget will show that this is not the amount to be accounted for. Joshua James' wife, Katie James, works at the school and currently does not take these benefits as Joshua does. This is why many schools hire husband and wife as it is cheaper for the district. James also has two kids who attend the district who each contribute $11,650 to the school through taxes which in total equals $23,300.
So, when you cut James there will be two outcomes that happen that must be accounted for. A. The James family leaves Lomira to find teaching positions elsewhere and the district loses $23,300 in revenue and the $98,286.45 cut becomes $74,986.45. B. Joshua looks for a job elsewhere and Katie James takes health and dental benefits which cost the school $30,031.45. The $98,286.45 cut now becomes $68,255. By cutting James the school district saves at most $74,986.45 but it's possible depending on the James family decisions that the cut is only $68,255. Mind you, I have had faith in this district; I have given it the benefit of the doubt. I had to argue and stand my ground against Ty Breitlow, Jamie Feucht, and the comptroller that at the very least the amount of losing 2 kids to the district has to be considered as you have two options of what will happen. They told me they can't do that as it is a "personal decision" and that it is a $98,286.45 cut. I stated that you have to forecast and see what you're actually going to save and it is already bold to assume you are saving the most through choice A already. That debate spanned around 10 minutes before they conceded and finally agreed that it wasn't a $98,286.45 cut.
The "Financial Analysis" That Wasn't
I agreed with all the other budget cuts talked about except James' because financially it didn't make sense. I was told Debra Janke did the financial analysis of James' position and could justify it. I was sent her way to retrieve such. Upon a phone call with her, I was told numerous amounts of misinformation either stemming from malicious intent to deceive me or incompetence. Shortly into the conversation she had to admit that it wasn't done for financial reasons as she quickly turned to claiming James can't replace an English teacher's position because he hasn't taught English for 12 years and hasn't been to training. First off, James' last year of teaching English was 2018 which is an 8 year gap. Secondly, I reached out to James about this and he states, "The last round of CESA training (which took three years) included me, Katie James, Sid Lehman, Stacey Clark, Patrick Davis. The other English teachers, Sara Sarazin, Angie Recklau, and Amy Wilke were not a part of that."
There was little to no "financial analysis" done. Because a quick look at numbers will show that Amy Wilke's salary is $59,225 and Patrick Davis's salary is $57,624. Now include benefits, which isn't public so let's use the average fringe data from the years 24-25 of $28,962. Accounting for this, which I will admit is an estimate due to not having public data, a cut to Amy Wilke would result in savings of $88,187 and a cut to Patrick Davis would be $86,586. James can fill both of their positions and the school would save more money. Isn't that why we are having cuts? So, the question we must ask is why didn't we swap James into either position? For context, both individuals are high school English teachers, the swapping can also be said about two teachers in the middle school that make more in terms of salary than both of the mentioned individuals. But since I really only need to prove James made more sense in one spot, that's what I will do.
The Test Scores
Can I ask you a genuine question? If you had to guess how well the school scores on their English and Math scores compared to other schools, what would you say? 70th percentile? 85th? 50th? Well, the high school's growth score was the same or higher than 28.2% of 9–12 schools in the state. The growth area measures year-to-year student progress on statewide tests, essentially seeing how quickly students on average in the school are progressing compared to other schools. If you look at the middle school report card, the school's score was the same or higher than 74.6% of 6–8 schools in the state. The math scores that were tested remained the same in terms of the growth. Why such a sharp decline in English? This also isn't a single year issue either. It has been steadily declining since the 22-23 school year and maybe even more years; I could only find data back to the school year 22-23.
- 2022–23: English growth score 54.6
- 2023–24: English growth score 47.0
- 2024–25: English growth score 39.4
Math scores have also declined from 100 in 22-23 to now 67.9; however, steps were actually taken to address that. The data is clear: students are learning less and less than other schools in these subjects and specifically in English.
What Is Actually Being Taught in English Class?
As a recent alum of the class of 2024, let me set the stage to the "learning" that takes place in English 9. Amy Wilke read the class a book called How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi. The overwhelming majority of the first semester was her reading this book to students in which it made wildly historically inaccurate claims treated as absolute truth. One of which was that the United States colonies broke away from Britain because Britain had abolished slavery. A quick Google search will show that Britain didn't abolish slavery till 1833. When corrected, she completely rewrote history and said that the colonies broke away due to fear that Britain would abolish slavery. Students were also told that because they were all white they are racist no matter what. Excellent learning of English in an English class. In the second semester, students were tasked with reading books off her library shelves — with bookends on the shelf depicting pigs in a sexual position. I have heard they have since been removed. Additionally, this was supposed to be "Accelerated" English 9.
The other high school English teacher, Patrick Davis, recently had to apologize for making his students read a book called Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki. The worst part of this book is that it is essentially a comic book with very few words, yet some of the words it does include are graphic and completely inappropriate for 10th grade English. In a locker room scene, the book shows shirtless boys comparing bodies, then includes lines with graphic sexual and body-related dialogue about minors in a school locker room. A teacher choosing this for sophomores shows terrible judgment. Students should be learning grammar, writing, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and real literary analysis — not reading a mostly visual comic book with locker room imagery, body humiliation, slurs, and sexualized comments about a minor's private development.
For a subject that is about English, it sure seems strange to keep with sexual themes and the discarding of grammar. In fact, as a recent graduate, I will bet that fewer than 10 kids in each class can tell you what an adverb is. The ones that can will be your privately schooled kids because Lomira English students can all testify that no grammar is taught in 9th and 10th grade.
School Politics Over Student Outcomes
Now that we have a stronger understanding of our two high school teachers that teach our 9th and 10th graders English, we can easily understand why the high school scores are in the bottom 28th percentile. Why are these individuals still teachers here at a school where "the subject is excellence"? It's because the budget cut of James truly wasn't a financial decision. It was school politics. And because of school politics we keep talent out of the district and ensure our students are not even learning from the worst, but are simply not learning. James was cut not because he was a bad English teacher and certainly not due to "the numbers." This was a grave injustice that deserves to be brought to light.
I stand to gain or lose nothing from the termination of James besides the idea of marginal benefits or losses through the community. I hate the school politics and that's why I have no problem writing this. I understand by writing this that it burns bridges and severs ties but I refuse to sit back and not tell the truth. It is my duty as a member of this community to ensure transparency and hold elected officials and administration to a standard. Clearly this case showed something else. James could have easily filled an English position creating win-wins across the district or even filled many of the social studies teachers positions where money would've been saved as well. I am truly disappointed in this district for either an oblivious oversight and negligence or a directed attack towards Joshua James. These are the facts. If we are evaluating people based on how good of a job they have done — which is what should be done — it has been a failure across the district.
A Challenge and A Call for Accountability
In the case that anyone who voted in favor of the termination of James or was involved in it and fears their reputation due to this document: feel free to reach out. We can find a public setting and have a debate in front of the whole community on this issue. Bring anyone else involved — this can be a 1-versus-many debate and you can make your case publicly. I will not stop sharing this until the entire community knows of this injustice and will make sure this is remembered in the future. If a public apology is sent out by Debra Janke or the Lomira School Board, I will back down on this.
As always, if anyone would like the numbers, a breakdown, more info, or sources, I am always willing to discuss it. Please contact me at grantluedtke2@gmail.com. I believe in transparency. God bless.