Walkers Rally Against Revenue Controls

Walkers conclude the 240-mile trip to Madison and prepare to rally at the Capitol.

It's for the kids." That's the reason more than 200 WEAC members and supporters say they walked 240 miles in 13 days during the third annual "Walk on the Child's Side."

"Walk on the Child's Side" is a protest against state-imposed revenue controls in public schools. It is a grassroots event organized by the Committee for Alternative Revenues for Education (CARE), a group of concerned citizens and educators from Price County who seek to bring greater awareness of the damage being done to Wisconsin public schools by state-imposed revenue caps.

CARE members and supporters started their walk during a thunderstorm in Butternut on June 16; and ended in Madison on June 28.

"I've been surprised it's taken so long for word to get out on how devastating the caps are," CARE spokesperson Randy Kunsch said after the walk. "Kids have to be the priority. They have to come first in the state."

That message was repeated over and over during the walk and at the June 28 rally.

"It's an uphill battle," walker Kelly Meredith of Butternut said. "I have faith that we've made a difference. Two years ago, nothing much was being done - now we're seeing things happen."

Meredith said the group won't give up fighting revenue controls.
"A bright shining day will come when we agree the needs of the kids come first," she said. "It's important not to give up and to keep at it."

The walk finished June 28 with a march up State Street and around the Capitol, a rally on the Capitol steps, and meetings with the governor's staff and legislators.

Walkers marched up State Street chanting, "Put kids first," "One, two, three, four, revenue controls out the door," and "Caps are for baseball players."

"Some of us have walked 240 miles - from northern Wisconsin - through forests, lightning, mud, mosquitoes and 90-degree temperatures to bring the public the message that revenue controls are not working for our kids," CARE spokesperson Teri Hanson told the Capitol rally. "We need to stand up, we need to show up. We need to raise our voices together. We need to tell the public and legislators that this is a bad law for our children."

NEA Director Mark Cebulski told the rally that the Assembly Republicans are working to harm public education.

"What's wrong with building great schools?" he asked. "It's not a cliché: every kid deserves a great school - it's a fact."

About 25 of the walkers met with a representative from the governor's office following the rally. They presented petitions with more than 1,000 signatures calling for the end to revenue controls; and exacted assurances of a meeting with the governor in the future.

"The governor needs to meet with the people who are on the front lines of public education," Kunsch told the aide, who said a request for a meeting would be filed with the governor's scheduler.

Kunsch said the group would wait and see if the meeting materializes.

"We'll see if they start to see what the children need," he said. "The bottom line is that it's for the kids."

Posted June 29, 2001