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| A group of education support professionals from WEAC-Fox Valley wear "Pull Together" T-shirts to demonstrate support for a New Business Item regarding the 1974 Hortonville teachers strike.
RA photo gallery |
Speakers and delegates at the 2006 WEAC Representative Assembly called for unity and strength in fighting for public schools and against public policies designed to undermine public education.
"I think it is time we stand up for each other," said WEAC President Stan Johnson. "Let's give 'em hell."
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More than 800 voting delegates attended the RA Friday through Sunday (May 5-7, 2006) at the Regency Suites Hotel and KI Convention Center in Green Bay.
Delegates approved a 2006-08 budget and passed eight New Business Items, which are motions calling for specific actions.
One of those New Business Items called for creation of a statewide grassroots network to help educate the public on the crisis in school funding.
The motion was presented by a teacher from the Cochrane-Fountain City School District, where some officials have said the financial crisis is so severe that the district could be dissolved. Teacher Sol Simon said the district already has cut 11 of the district's approximately 100 teaching positions as part of $750,000 in cuts for next year, and the district will likely face another half million in cuts the following year. The cuts were made after district voters rejected a $2.5 million referendum that would have authorized the school district to exceed its taxing limit by $500,000 annually over five years. The referendum failed by a 2-1 margin.
Under the New Business Item approved by the RA, the statewide grassroots network will "cooperatively share information and coordinate action to educate the public on these crises in school funding."
The need to work together - and with the community - to restore resources for quality public education was a topic that was addressed repeatedly by speakers and delegates.
WEAC Vice President Terry Meyer emphasized the need for achieving greater solidarity, rekindling of the sense of the union as "community," and developing a sense of citizenship in that community.
"Rekindle the desire to be a citizen again in your local community that is the union," Meyer said. "And in so doing light a fire that will be seen by friends and foes alike, and inspire all working men and women to greater unity and purpose."
WEAC Secretary-Treasurer Mary Bell used the metaphor of Lucy always pulling the football away from Charlie Brown just as he goes to kick it. "Do you see yourself in that drama?" she asked, suggesting that public officials set up educators for failure with policies like revenue controls, private school vouchers and the No Child Left Behind law.
"We can be blockheads or we can be activists," Bell said.
 Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton |
Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton applauded the fact that the Taxpayer Bill of Rights finally "died a slow death" in Wisconsin but warned that its supporters are continuing their same conversation. "Life for them is about lowering taxes," she said, regardless of the consequences.
They overlook the central role of quality education in creating a strong workforce and economy, she said. Addressing the roomful of educators, she said, "We have in our hands the future of our workforce."
"Perhaps the most important role of government today is to drive investments in human capital," Lawton said. "And a strong public education system is the only way to build a strong future."
Responding to the growing threat that inadequate school funding is now posing to many school districts, delegates approved a new WEAC Resolution stating that a "fair and adequate system of school funding and taxation would reduce or eliminate the need for school district closings and consolidations."
The new resolution goes on to state:
"Schools and school districts are central to the social and economic vitality of communities, and a school funding system that maintains great schools in every community supports a vibrant society and a strong economy.
"The Council believes all children must continue to receive quality education when districts are dissolved, consolidated or reorganized. The Council believes school districts should only consolidate or reorganize when it is in the best academic interests of students and contributes to great public schools.
"The Council believes that the bargaining rights of teachers and education support professionals must be retained in school districts that are dissolved, consolidated or reorganized. The terms of all employee collective bargaining agreements must be honored by the absorbing or new district. Changes to these agreements will be negotiated between the school district and their employee unions."
In other action, delegates:
Posted May 8-10, 2006
