Dan Burkhalter - Executive Director
WEAC Leadership Team
Dan Burkhalter
Executive Director
Wisconsin Education Association Council
Dan Burkhalter was hired as executive director of the Wisconsin Education Association Council effective May 2, 2005, after 12 years as the Illinois Education Association’s director of government relations and chief lobbyist.
Since joining WEAC, Burkhalter has focused much of his time working with coalitions on school funding, addressing the health care challenges facing members and building relationships with external partners, as well as managing a team of nine WEAC department managers.
Prior to joining WEAC, Burkhalter worked at the Illinois Education Association since 1982, first as a membership organizer, then as a government relations specialist before becoming director of government relations in 1993.
Burkhalter represents WEAC in a coalition working to achieve comprehensive school funding reform called the School Finance Network and the Wisconsin Way project, working with diverse business and governmental advocacy organizations to ensure high quality public services in Wisconsin.
Born and raised in Illinois, Burkhalter is a product of its public schools and is a political science graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Burkhalter and his wife, Sharon Corrigan, have two daughters, Molly and Brighid. Burkhalter also has a son, James, and a daughter, Kourtney.
WEAC is a professional organization representing the public policy, labor and professional interests of its more than 98,000 members. Great schools benefit everyone, and WEAC’s mission is to support public education and the men and women who work in Wisconsin’s public schools.
Updated September 2010