Doyle vows to protect public schools

In an address to the nearly 900 WEAC Representative Assembly delegates gathered in La Crosse Saturday, Governor Jim Doyle applauded Wisconsin's tradition of supporting great schools, but cautioned that the tradition is in jeopardy with a Legislature that supports larger class sizes, cuts in education programs, and layoffs of teachers and education support professionals.

Doyle said he would continue to use his veto pen to protect schools, and will continue to fight to repeal the Qualified Economic Offer law.

WEAC wins Supreme Court ruling

The Wisconsin Supreme Court granted additional pension fund credits to two teachers who had taught in the 1960s, withdrew their retirement funds prior to 1965, and later returned to teaching.

The court held that the plaintiffs, who were represented by WEAC legal counsel Joanne Huston, did not forfeit membership in the retirement system when they withdrew their deposits from their accounts, and that they should have been given credit for their years of service when their pension benefit was calculated at retirement.

The ruling will affect other members who were enrolled in the Wisconsin Retirement System and withdrew money from the system before returning to the profession. Many who left the profession for indefinite periods of time prior to 1965 were women who left teaching to raise families when salaries were low and child care hard to find.

State employees rally at Capitol

Thousands of Wisconsin public employees marched on the Capitol last Thursday to call upon the state to bargain fairly and give state employees the respect they deserve.

The rally's organizers said their intention was to send a message to elected officials and taxpayers that state employees deserve adequate wages, affordable and secure benefits, security in employment and freedom from outsourcing.

Only eight of the 19 state employee bargaining units have reached 2003-05 contract settlements.