WEAC History Book Conclusion

As of this writing, revenue controls and the QEO are still in place, teachers and educational support personnel are underpaid, many classes are too large and many classrooms are under-equipped and in need of updating. Meanwhile, the governor has proposed a 2001–2003 budget that will be a disaster for public education if it is not substantially altered before its passage.

But WEAC has seen this all before, and as we head into the new millennium WEAC does so as a strong, confident union that is prepared for anything and has the promise of good things ahead. And that means good things for Wisconsin’s schools and schoolchildren.

The April 2001 election results were a clear repudiation of school privatization schemes and the anti-public-education rhetoric that had characterized much of the previous decade’s talk about Wisconsin’s public schools. In spite of this rhetoric and the challenges it portended, WEAC was able to win important victories for public schools, schoolchildren and educators throughout the 1990s.

Wisconsin may be the birthplace of private school vouchers, but the state’s voters sent a clear message on April 3, 2001. The WEAC-backed candidate was elected state superintendent of public instruction with about 60 percent of the vote, soundly defeating a candidate who opposed WEAC on virtually every substantive education issue. Milwaukee voters elected school board candidates who opposed expanded vouchers and defeated the sitting Milwaukee School Board president, who was a voucher backer. Voters throughout the state approved local referendum initiatives to override revenue caps for new school buildings and operating costs. The new state superintendent’s large margin of victory shows that Wisconsin residents want an education leader who puts the interests of children first.

Policymakers in the state and the nation should be expected to listen closely to the residents of Wisconsin this time. They should see that vouchers and privatization are not the way for every kid to attend a great school. Initiatives with proven track records, like the SAGE class-size reduction program, are the way to maintain and improve quality education for all children. Voters are calling for strengthening children’s reading skills, ensuring that our schools are safe and orderly, encouraging parental involvement in schools, and making sure charter schools are accountable to taxpayers and the public.

The way to use this momentum and make it work for public schools and the union is to have all members active, engaged, invigorated and involved in their union and their communities. Just as a school benefits from having parents, business owners and community members interested and involved in its efforts, so does the union. WEAC gets its strength from the collective action of its members, and the challenge of the new millennium is to involve new members and continue to benefit from the involvement of veteran members. WEAC depends on members voting and contacting their elected officials, and contributing to discussions about union policies, programs, strategies and plans for the future. WEAC also depends on members being involved in their communities, actively participating in discussions of school quality and the importance of public education to their communities’ future.

Whether it’s attending a union meeting, writing a letter to the editor, speaking up at a town board meeting, marching during a pro-education rally, becoming a building representative, or walking a picket line, this is the stuff that history is made of.