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Craney applauds state budget gains, pension legislation; sees potential for more advances through Great Schools initiative
The recently completed 1999-2001 state budget is "the best budget for public education ever signed by" Governor Tommy Thompson, WEAC President Terry Craney said Thursday (October 28, 1999) in a keynote speech to the 1999 WEAC Convention in Milwaukee.
"We still believe that both the revenue caps and the QEO (Qualified Economic Offer) laws must be repealed, but this budget is a positive step in the right direction," Craney said.
He said positive education items in the budget include:
The budget also includes what Craney called two very significant changes to the QEO law. First, the cost of salary increases earned by teachers who complete college credits will no longer be counted in a QEO.
"This will encourage teachers to pursue further learning and is critical to maintaining Wisconsin's quality schools," Craney said.
Second, the definition of an economic issue will be narrowed.
"As you know, when the QEO was implemented in 1993, some districts chose to stop bargaining many contract language items," he said. "Their excuse? They said everything had an economic impact. Twenty years of labor peace in our schools came to an end. This change will allow more issues to be bargained that enhance student learning. More clearly defining what an economic issue is will begin to level the playing field that has been tilted in favor of the school boards and will help reduce the negative impact that the QEO has on schools."
Craney also applauded the new public employee retirement legislation, which has passed the Legislature and is now awaiting Thompson's signature. The measure benefits all WEAC members, Craney said.
Craney urged members to contact Thompson and urge him to sign the bill. One way members can do that is through the OnWEAC Cyberlobby. A Cyberlobby site was set up at the Convention.
With the budget behind them, legislators will now turn their attention to other items, including legislation improving the way teachers in Wisconsin are licensed.
Craney urged members to actively become involved in shaping and passing that legislation.
"Teachers have the opportunity to define and take control of the teaching profession," he said. "And, quite honestly, if teachers don't define our profession, someone else will.
"Teachers need to take control of their profession. Doctors have. CPAs have. So too have union plumbers, pipefitters, carpenters. This is a worthy task for a union of professionals."
Craney said WEAC has a very basic criterion for whether it will support an education reform measure: Does it increase student achievement?
"WEAC opposes private school vouchers because there is no evidence that private school vouchers increase student achievement," he said.
"If increased student achievement for low-income children is the true goal of the Milwaukee voucher program, it is time, after nine years, to admit that it is a failure and stop taking precious tax dollars from the public schools."
Noting that 84% of children participating in the voucher program have never attended a public school, Craney said, "It is time to admit that this is a plan to give those who are already attending private schools a tax break, a hand-out, at the expense of the very people the voucher program was intended to assist."
Craney highlighted WEAC's expansive Great Schools initiative, calling it "a bold plan which will shape the future of public education for years to come."
Mirroring the format of a popular credit card commercial, Craney said:
"We in Wisconsin can be proud to say that we have great public schools across the state," Craney said. "Schools in which children achieve success day after day. By all objective measures, our students are doing well."
Craney cited these facts:
Great Schools, Craney said, is designed to build on our past successes.
"We believe that Wisconsin has high quality schools, that community involvement is essential in maintaining that quality, and that increased community involvement will lead to more active support for our public schools," he said.
That is why the project will create Great Schools Committees in every school building.
"These committees will define their vision of a Great School and develop plans to achieve that vision. They allow for discussions between educators and community members about what is needed to ensure that every child succeeds to the best of his/her ability. And it is this opportunity to create significant dialogues in our communities that makes the Great Schools project different from any other school improvement effort," he said.
Great Schools is built on the premise that education does not occur in isolation at school; it occurs in the context of communities.
"If our communities want high student achievement," Craney said, "then we, as a community, as a society, must show children that we value that achievement."
Posted October 28, 1999