| SEARCH OnWEAC |
|---|
The following memo from WEAC President Stan Johnson was presented to the state senators as they debated final passage of the 2002 budget adjustment bill.
Throughout the budget adjustment session, the Legislature has sought solutions to the state's $1.1 billion fiscal crisis. The Wisconsin Education Association Council has consistently supported answers that build a strong economy and guarantee a bright future for our children. Even in grim economic times, we cannot abandon our need to provide classrooms that work for Wisconsin's students. The Senate is poised to adopt a budget plan keeping education a top priority.
Members of the Senate who vote for the budget adjustment bill in its current form will send a message that they support the following priorities:
WEAC also supports components of the Senate's plan to ease the severity of budget reductions for state agencies. It is important to find solutions that balance the need to eliminate the deficit with the need to preserve essential state services to school districts and communities.
The Senate plan restores fairness to the bargaining table by including the QEO provisions that passed the Legislature as part of 2001 SB 55. Those provisions maintain conditions of employment, maintain provisions relating to permissive subjects of bargaining, and authorize binding arbitration if an employer's offer is not "qualified." Other fairness provisions will create additional mandatory subjects of bargaining. These are needed so educators can better plan time spent during the school day, separate from pupil contact time. These changes are needed for preparing lessons, labs, or educational materials; conferring or collaborating with other staff; performing the duties required of an Individualized Education Program team, or to complete administrative duties.
WEAC believes:
WEAC believes that the QEO law must be repealed in the future. It is because of the QEO law that the Senate early retirement window for state employees could not include K-12 employees. Under QEO costing procedures there was no equitable way to provide the retirement benefit to local school district employees.
One section of the bill that remains of great concern is the addition of SB 104 language relating to campaign finance laws. WEAC supports campaign finance reforms that are comprehensive, equitable, and practical. We further believe that reforms must respect the constitutional rights of Wisconsin citizens. The Enrolled SB 104 fails to meet equitable and practical standards and is constitutionally unsound.
There are no easy choices when the task before the Legislature is to fix a $1.1 billion state budget deficit. It is unfortunate that the Legislature has been unable to repeal the revenue caps and the QEO law in this session. School districts have been forced to make deep and painful budget cuts for nearly a decade under revenue caps. The revenue caps and the QEO are the strictest form of control that the state imposes on any local government and harm the ability of school districts to attract and maintain quality teachers and staff.
WEAC remains strongly committed to immediate and long-term fiscal solutions that ensure great schools for every child in every community in Wisconsin. We do, however, applaud the hard work and dedication of all those who have helped develop a budget adjustment plan that keeps our great schools a priority in the face of the current fiscal crisis.
Posted April 8, 2002