Educators Plan 2nd Walk to the Capitol to Protest Revenue Controls

Educators who organized a 240-mile relay walk from Butternut to Madison last summer to protest school district revenue controls are planning another march this summer.

The event is designed to educate the public on the devastating impact of revenue controls. Protesters are urging repeal of the controls.

“This is a grassroots movement meaning there is no official government or professional body organizing and funding this event,” the organizers said in a summary statement. “It relies on individual citizens volunteering their time, money and efforts to assure quality education for the children of Wisconsin.”

The event is put together by the Committee for Alternative Revenues in Education (CARE), which is made up of several school teachers and support staff from the Phillips School District.

Anyone interested in participating in the march can join it and leave at any point.

“Keep in mind that no one is required to walk the entire walk,” the summary states. “A few symbolic miles is just as significant and necessary to the march as walking a hundred miles.”

The march begins at 7:30 a.m., Monday, June 19, at the Butternut Lake boat landing just off Highway 13 and proceeds to the State Capitol over the next 10 days. The end-of-the-day stops are in Fifield, Prentice, Medford, Abbotsford, Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids, Friendship, Wisconsin Dells, Portage, and Madison.

On the final day, protesters will march from the UW Library Mall to the State Capitol in Madison.

Last year, protesters rallied at the Capitol, and some met with aides to Governor Thompson, who was out of town. One month later, several protesters returned to Madison to meet personally with the governor.

For more information, call the Northern Tier UniServ-Central office at 715-369-2222, or see the group's Web site at www.nocaps.org.