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Members of the Rock Valley United Educators UniServ pose with Senator Judy Robson.
Why they came WEAC members said they came to Madison for the 2007 WEAC Lobby Day because they feel deeply about the need to adequately fund public schools so that children can continue to receive quality education. Listen to four members (below) tell why they came. Lodi teacher Anne Lembcke
Sun Prairie teacher Brad Lutes
Kenosha teacher Chris Perillo Milwaukee educational assistant |
The message was plain and simple. It was loud and clear.
Education must be a priority in the 2007-09 Wisconsin state budget.
Each of the more than 500 WEAC members who participated in WEAC’s Great Schools Lobby Day (June 19, 2007) carried a personal message.
“I’m really concerned about meeting kids’ needs,” said Mary Ellen “Mimi” Dobbins, a 1st-grade teacher and member of the Green Bay Education Association.
For Dobbins, climbing the steps to the State Capitol gave her the opportunity to lay out the facts to her legislators. At the office of State Representative Phil Montgomery, she spoke out against the Republican proposal to increase revenue caps by only $100 per pupil. She cited the increasing costs of energy and providing safe schools. “Every school in the whole state has concerns like this,” she said.
Dean DeBroux of the Ashwaubenon Education Association has been attending Lobby Days for years. Together with other members and Bayland Educators UniServ Director Kathy Rohde, he took time to talk about the challenges his declining-enrollment district is facing. The Ashwaubenon School District would lose $1.4 million in revenue authority under the Republican $100-per-pupil increase proposal.
DeBroux rejected the idea of consolidating declining-enrollment districts with nearby schools as a solution to the problems created by revenue caps. “Community schools are important,” DeBroux said.
Members from the Sheboygan Education Association, along with Kettle Moraine UniServ Director Clyde Clauson, stopped in at the office of State Representative Terry Van Akkeren to talk about issues such as 4-year-old kindergarten and school breakfast.
Annie Robinson of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association said it was the first time she participated in Lobby Day. “This is awesome,” she said from the steps of the State Capitol. “I had to speak out. The Republicans are asking us to educate children without money or resources.”
Teresa Thomas-Boyd, also an MTEA member, agreed. She told her legislators to stand behind programs that are proven to work, such as the SAGE class size reduction program. “Republicans are proposing programs without research,” she said. “Somewhere there’s a missing link.”
Latesha Jude (right), a substitute teacher at John Muir Middle School in Milwaukee, said, "I'm here to represent students and families and be a voice for the people back in Milwaukee. I am here to make a difference."
Alpha Roland (left), who teaches at the same school, said she too wanted to help children by coming to Madison to support the pro-education provisions in the governor's budget. "I want to support the governor's increase in the per-pupil revenue cap because school funding now is not keeping up with costs," she said.
At a meeting prior to going to the Capitol, WEAC Government Relations Director Bob Burke encouraged members to embrace the day, saying “Today is about you. Tell your stories.”
One of the stories members told was what their school districts would stand to lose in revenue authority over the next two years if revenue caps were only allowed to increase by $100-per-pupil versus $264 to $270 under Governor Doyle’s budget proposal.
Soua Xiong, of the Milwaukee Educational Assistants Association, held up her tag to show her district would lose about $47.3 million with a $100-per-pupil increase.
David Newby, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, also was on hand. “We absolutely have common interests,” he told WEAC members. “The AFL-CIO supports everything you support, and opposes everything you oppose.”
Newby said his organization is working to repeal the Qualified Economic Offer law, achieve collective bargaining rights for the University of Wisconsin faculty and academic staff, and reform health care.
“We look forward to getting stronger and closer,” he said.
Posted June 21, 2007
