Burmaster Seeks Veto Pledge from McCallum

It is time for Governor McCallum to "take the next step" and pledge that he will veto any bill that cuts education funding, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster said Friday (February 22, 2002) in a speech at the WEAC Spring Conference.

McCallum has put forth a 2002 budget adjustment bill that protects K-12 education from cuts. The Legislature is now rewriting the bill, and Republican plans in both the Senate and Assembly include cuts in K-12 education.

Burmaster has been conducting community dialogues throughout the state, and the message she is hearing is that we must put children first.

"When Wisconsin families prioritize, they put their children and their children's education first, and the State of Wisconsin must do the same thing," Burmaster said.

She said public schools are "the heart and soul" of our democracy and it is essential that every child has an opportunity to receive a quality education. To deny quality education to just one child, she said, is to turn our backs on a lifetime of hopes and dreams.

"We know the single best investment our society can make is in our children," she said.

Schools not only create an educated work force, they create future citizens. In addition to learning the basic skills, children learn justice, free speech, creativity, and responsibility.

Quality education is a civil right, and we must end the social stratification that denies equal educational opportunity to some children, she said. That's why Burmaster said her top priorities are for programs such as P-5, SAGE and 4-year-old kindergarten that provide an added boost to disadvantaged children.

"We must keep our eyes on the prize of quality education for every child," she said.