Cyberlobby Day sends a clear message
WEAC members sent a clear message to state legislators last week ... many times over. Members sent more than 1,400 e-mails in connection with Cyberlobby Day, an activity of the Great Schools Statewide Action Plan.
"WEAC members told their legislators how their great schools are suffering under current laws," WEAC President Stan Johnson said. "They asked their lawmakers to adequately fund our schools, and repeal the Qualified Economic Offer law and revenue controls."
The Action Plan was adopted by the WEAC Representative Assembly last spring. Its goal is to achieve a revised system of school funding that ensures that every child has access to an adequately funded public education, and a fair collective bargaining law for teachers and education support professionals.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/1_17/1.htm
Governor reflects values of Wisconsin residents
In his State of the State speech last week, Governor Doyle shared his vision for Wisconsin's future in education, economic development, the environment and more.
"The governor reflects the values of Wisconsin residents," WEAC President Stan Johnson said. "He said putting kids first is a priority. He supports adequate funding for public education, and programs that are proven to improve student achievement, like the SAGE class-size reduction program and 4-year-old kindergarten."
Most recently, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the state's largest and most influential newspaper, editorialized against a proposal to use the Consumer Price Index to set local spending limits under a TABOR constitutional amendment.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/1_17/2.htm WPRI attacks teachers, teaching
WEAC and the WEA Trust are moving quickly to counter a politically motivated report on teacher health insurance.
The right-wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute issued a report claiming that the state could save $100 million by forcing teachers into the state employee health insurance plan.
"That report is based on flawed methodology and should be taken for what it really is: political bias disguised as research," WEAC President Stan Johnson said. "It perpetuates many myths and misunderstandings about public employee health insurance that need to be clarified."
WEAC and the Trust have issued responses to the report to newspapers throughout the state. If your local paper runs a story, please contact Barb Brady in WEAC Public Relations and Communications at (800) 362-8034, extension 239, or at bradyb@weac.org.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/1_17/3.htm TABOR push is based on false premises, researcher says
The so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights is unnecessary and is based on falsehoods, University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Andrew Reschovsky said Saturday in a presentation to the WEAC Board of Directors.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/1_17/4.htm Democrats schedule hearings on minimum wage legislation
Democratic members of the Senate and Assembly will hold a series of public forums this week to discuss Governor Doyle's call for an increase in the statewide minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.50 an hour.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/1_17/5.htm |
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Among the first pieces of legislation being pursued by Republicans in the new legislative session are measures to freeze property taxes and lift the cap on enrollment in the Milwaukee private school voucher program. The property tax freeze legislation, which would further rob school districts of drastically needed resources and result in an estimated $300 million reduction in allowed revenue, is still being circulated for signatures of sponsoring legislators. The bill to remove voucher enrollment caps - currently set at 15% of MPS enrollment - has been introduced as Assembly Bill 3 and Senate Bill 6. Go to OnWEAC for background and to keep track of developments. http://www.weac.org/taxgimmicks
Registration will open soon for the 2005 WEAC Winter Conference, which is February 25-27 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Milwaukee. The conference will feature training sessions in a number of areas, including collective bargaining, political action, public relations and communications, teaching and learning, emerging voices, education support professionals, the Wisconsin Technical College System, and the Great Schools Statewide Action Plan. The keynote speaker is Ronald Ferguson, of the Wiener Center for Social Policy Research at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His topic is "Addressing the Achievement Gap." Conference attendees will have opportunities to network with colleagues, visit informational booths, and send messages to their legislators via the OnWEAC Cyberlobby. Once registration opens, members can sign up online or by mail. For more information, visit the Winter Conference page on OnWEAC. http://www.weac.org/AboutWEA/2004-05/winterconf05/default.htm |
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