Stop the Lies! Hundreds Rally for Public Education

WEAC President Stan Johnson speaks at a pro-education rally Thursday (October 25, 2001) outside the Midwest Express Center in Milwaukee. More Convention coverage

Hundreds of WEAC members participated in a raucous rally in Milwaukee Thursday (October 25, 2001) in support of fair and adequate funding of schools and a fair system of collective bargaining for teachers.

"The QEO must go! The QEO must go!" was one of many slogans chanted by teachers and education support professionals attending the annual WEAC Convention at the Midwest Express Center. The rally was held outside the center at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and 4th Street.

The frustrated teachers and support staff chanted "Stop the Lies," referring to efforts by anti-education politicians and certain organizations to mislead the public into believing that teachers are fairly paid and schools are adequately funded.

Participants braved a powerfully chilling wind to strongly express their frustration with current laws and their feelings that:

WEAC Executive Director Michael A. Butera displays a "Stop the Lies" sticker.

Wisconsin public school are severely underfunded as the result of state-imposed school district revenue controls that have starved school budgets since 1993.
Wisconsin teachers have not received fair or adequate pay increases since the collective bargaining law was changed in 1993. That year, the system changed from one of arbitration to one that is governed by the so-called Qualified Economic Offer provision, or QEO. That law puts all the negotiating power in the hands of school boards.