Senate poised to pass tax gimmick
A tax gimmick that would devastate Wisconsin's great schools is on the brink of final legislative passage.
A week after the Assembly passed a so-called property tax freeze, the Senate is scheduled to vote on the measure on Tuesday, February 22.
The Assembly early last week delayed its vote after a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report found the freeze in Governor Jim Doyle's 2005-07 budget proposal would reduce taxes, while the Assembly version would increase taxes.
Assembly leaders revised their bill to clamp down even harder on public education, and then passed the measure.
The proposal now in the Senate would cut public education by $716 million with no guarantee of any new funding for schools.
"Legislative leaders are playing a dangerous game with the future of our children and our state," WEAC President Stan Johnson said. "They are passing proposals that will gut our great school system. WEAC members can help fight this dangerous plan by contacting their senators and urging them to vote against AB 58."
Johnson asked members to use the OnWEAC Cyberlobby to encourage their senators to support the governor's rational property tax freeze plan instead of the Republican gimmick.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/2_21/1.htm
Great Schools Community Session guides available
A guide for locals and UniServs planning to hold Great Schools Community Sessions is now available. UniServs are coordinating the sessions as part of the Great Schools Statewide Action Plan.
The Action Plan calls for locals to hold sessions with their state legislators to discuss critical issues like school funding, state-imposed revenue controls and the Qualified Economic Offer law.
Locals will gather by legislative district and invite their legislators to discuss their positions on these issues.
"The Great Schools Community Sessions will invite all members of a community to ask their legislators to take a stand on specific issues," WEAC President Stan Johnson said. "There is a specific process that participants will work through with their elected officials. The outcome should be improved communication between voters and legislators, and legislators committing to specific actions."
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/2_21/2.htm |
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A very limited number of slots are still open for WEAC's popular Winter Conference this weekend. The conference features training sessions in a number of areas, including collective bargaining, 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 "Narrowing the Achievement Gap: How Educators Can Help Get it Done." The conference is at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel Milwaukee Airport. Members who would still like to attend the conference should call Kelly Perna at (800) 362-8034, extension 272 to register. http://www.weac.org/AboutWEA/2004-05/winterconf05/default.htm |
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