Welcome Back!

I hope your school year is off to a great start.With a new semester underway, we can often get caught up in the individual tasks required to serve our students well. All too often, we forget the impact we can have on our work environment through our unions.Take a moment to consider the role your local union, UniServ, and WEAC play in shaping your work life during this and subsequent years. Through your union, you have a tremendous voice in the decisions that impact your employment.Your union is most effective when a large number of individuals come together to accomplish common goals.This year, consider getting involved in your union. It will require some time and energy, but you can start off small to see what facet of union work most appeals to you. Together with your colleagues you can make changes to you workplace and accomplish what no one can on their own.

Make this the year you get involved in your union!

State Budget Stalemate

As many seasoned budget-watchers had predicted, the July 1st start of the 2007-08 fiscal year has long since passed and Wisconsin is still without a state budget. Members of the budget conference committee - the group of legislative leaders tasked with reconciling difference between the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget - have been meeting for weeks without any meaningful agreement.

Succession Talk Unproductive

In a rare move with serious consequences, officials in the Village of Germantown are seeking to redraw the boundaries of two technical colleges. The Germantown School District is currently a part of the Milwaukee Area Technical Colleges; Germantown officials are petitioning to move to Moraine Park Technical College.

WEAC Supports AB 469

At a recent legislative committee meeting, the Wisconsin Education Association Council submitted testimony in support of Assembly Bill 469. If enacted, AB 469 would require the University of Wisconsin (UW) and Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) to establish a repository of instructional materials in electronic or alternative formats for use by students with disabilities. The bill further requires publishers to provide, upon request, electronic versions of instructional materials.

Click below for WEAC's testimony.