Institute for Wisconsin's Future

09/27/2022

08/03/2015

Check out the amazing agenda for this August 20 Wisconsin Public Education Summit! FREE and open to all - register before it's full! Deadline for registration is Aug. 10.

FIRST ANNUAL WISCONSIN PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK SUMMER SUMMIT 2015 Thursday, August 20, 2015 12:30 to 5 pm (Registration starts at noon) Kromrey Middle School 7009 Donna Dr, Middleton, WI 53562 Open to all REGISTER TODAY! SPACE IS LIMITED Registration deadline: August 9, 2015 Event includes break ou…

07/22/2015

Please join us for this one-day summit on organizing to support Wisconsin public schools! Register soon - space is limited!

Join education advocates from all over the state for the Wisconsin Public Education event of the summer!

Parents, educators, board members, administrators and community members are all welcome to participate in this one-day summit on the state of public education in Wisconsin.

Click here to register today! http://goo.gl/forms/zgzml4cEfI

Registration deadline: August 10

Contact [email protected] to learn more.

05/17/2015

JFC contact info is in the caption -- copy/paste into an email to send your message today!

We have been told that the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee [contact info below] will meet Tues. May 19 to vote on the education items in the 2015-2017 budget. This budget includes, amongst other things:
* A $150/per pupil CUT to public schools
* Expansion of the statewide voucher program and removal of the enrollment caps
* Creation of a "state charter authority" that would further revoke local control of local schools and allow the state to "authorize" independent charter schools that the local community and school board would have no control over
* Inclusion of the proposal from Sen. Darling and Rep. Kooyenga to takeover Milwaukee public schools and turn control over the Milwaukee County Executive. Under this plan, public schools could be converted to private schools and the local democratically elected school board and superintendent of MPS would have no authority over them. Inclusion of this unvetted proposal without a public hearing would be a double attack on democracy.
* Inclusion of many non-fiscal items that would diminish the quality of education in our schools, such as a provision that would allow anyone with a bachelor's degree in any subject area to obtain a teaching license. For more information on the items that affect our children in the 2015-17 budget, visit http://www.wisconsinbudgetproject.org/childrens-issues-in-the-2015-17-budget-bill

Contact members of the JFC TODAY to show your support for FULL FUNDING OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS and removal of these harmful items from the budget. You can also attend the meeting on Tuesday and send the message in person that WE LOVE & SUPPORT OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

We encourage you to ask for the following:

1. An INCREASE in PER-PUPIL FUNDING.
Stopping the cuts does not meet the needs of our students. Restore the $150/pupil cut in special categorical aid and increase the education budget at least to an amount that keeps up with inflation.
2. INCREASE THE REVENUE CAP
3. REMOVE THE CHARTER SCHOOL LEGISLATION FROM THE BUDGET
4. STOP THE EXPANSION OF STATEWIDE VOUCHERS
REMOVE NON-FISCAL EDUCATION ITEMS FROM THE BUDGET (lowering requirements for teacher licensure, accountability/testing provisions, etc).

Education is a non-partisan issue. 78% of Wisconsinites oppose cuts to public schools. We call on all legislators and all Wisconsinites to fully support the public schools that are the heart of our communities.

Here are the emails for the members of the JFC, followed by their phone numbers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

JOINT FINANCE COMMITTEE phone numbers
Sen. Alberta Darling (R) 266-5830 CO-CHAIR
Sen. Luther Olsen (R) 266-0751
Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R) 266-7745
Sen. Leah Vukmir (R) 266-2512
Sen. Tom Tiffany (R) 266-2509
Sen. Howard Marklein (R) 266-0703
Se. Jon Erbenbach (D) 888-549-0027
Sen. Lena Taylor (D) 266-5810

Rep. John Nygren (R) 266-2343 CO-CHAIR
Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R) 266-9180
Rep. Amy Loudenbeck (R) 266-9967
Rep. Dean Knudson (R) 266-1526
Rep. Michael Schraa (R) 267-7990
Rep. Mary Czaja (R) 266-7694
Rep. Chris Taylor (D) 266-5342
Rep. Gordon Hintz(D) 266-2254

03/28/2015

If you are subscribed to the IWF page, thank you very, very much for your support over the years. We have now evolved into the Wisconsin Public Education Network, a network that represents that next step in protecting and supporting Wisconsin's public schools. It is a powerful and growing network of statewide organizations, individuals, community groups, and others who want all of our children to have the opportunities they deserve and have been promised.

If you want to continue the good work of IWF, "join" WPEN. Lend your support, get active, and fight for our children, our public schools, and Wisconsin's communities.

Don't wait too long because the IWF page will be taken down soon.

Wisconsin's connection for strong public schools! A nonpartisan, nonprofit, statewide coalition.

03/27/2015

Hundreds more at Reedsburg testify against Governor's 2015-17 budget, with the vast majority asking that public schools -- the heart of their communities -- be supported and strengthened. Will legislators listen their constituents or continue to play politics?

REEDSBURG — They came by the hundreds, from as far south as Beloit and as far north as Florence, to tell Wisconsin lawmakers what they think of Gov. Scott Walker’s

03/26/2015

Parents and other citizens of Wauwatosa have joined district educators to demand the Governor and majority legislators restore and increase funding for public schools. Support Our Schools, or SOS, members of SOS have penned letters, made phone calls and personally testified in budget hearings to get their message to their lawmakers, state Sen. Leah Vukmir and state Reps. Rob Hutton and Dale Kooyenga.

"There's a lot of passionate parents and teachers involved in this group wanting to do the right thing for the Wauwatosa School District," said Superintendent Phil Ertl. "Legislators don't want to hear from superintendents. It's better to hear from the parents, the ones who are paying the taxes to support our schools, who are sending their children to our schools."

With the Wauwatosa School District standing to lose about $900,000 under Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget, district officials quickly began advocating for more public education funding earlier this year. As more parents and residents have become involved, the district's advocacy efforts have take…

03/26/2015

Have you heard about Alberta Darling's plan to propose a Milwaukee "Recovery District" Takeover proposal? Meet three activist immersed in the fight for public education in New Orleans who can tell us what this means to Wisconsin.

Two events planned:
On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. at Milwaukee High School of the Arts (2300 W. Highland Ave.) they will conduct workshops. All are invited.

Friday, March 27, 2015 • 6:00 p.m. at Parklawn Assembly of God (3725 N. Sherman Blvd.) they will participate in a community meeting and panel

More info here: https://millermps.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/milwaukee-needs-to-learn-the-truth-about-the-new-orleans-recovery-school-district/

On March 26th and 27th you will have a chance to interact with three activist immersed in the fight for public education in New Orleans. On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. at Milwaukee High S...

03/25/2015

"Schools are going to have larger class sizes," said Dan Rossmiller of the Wisconsin School Board Association. "They are going to have to let go of some of their teaching staff. We’re reaching kind of a breaking point. Many of them are concerned about lost opportunities and loss of services that will be available for their students.”

As the Joint Finance Committee hearings on the proposed state budget wrap up later this week, funding changes for Wisconsin's K-12 public education system continue to be at center of much of the debate.

03/25/2015

Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) has joined the growing list of communities around Wisconsin asking the Governor and Legislature to do the right things for the children of the state and restore state aid that has been stripped from schools and continues to be reduced in the 2015-17 state budget.

KUSD approved a resolution (http://thewheelerreport.com/wheeler_docs/files/0325kusdres.pdf) and sent an open letter to the public (http://thewheelerreport.com/wheeler_docs/files/0325kusd.pdf) from Superintendent Dr. Sue Savaglio-Jarvis asking the Governor and Legislature to fulfill its constitutional and moral obligation to the children of Wisconsin.

Savaglio-Jarvis said, “Given Gov. Walker’s significant cut to education in 2012, the Kenosha Unified School District was forced to reduce hundreds of employees. The funding cut during that time has never been fully restored, causing the district to continue to reduce and be thrifty in any way possible without having a tremendous impact on student learning. This is an extremely difficult task.”

“I ask that you reach out to Gov. Walker and your local legislators to ask them to support public schools. Share that Kenosha Unified needs funding sustained so we may continue to offer first-rate academic opportunities; safe, welcoming learning environments; award-winning fine arts programs; industry-leading career and technical education programs; highly-qualified, dedicated educators; superior athletics and access to state-of-the art technology.”

03/24/2015

From Green Bay: "Changes to state funding in Gov. Scott Walker's 2015-17 budget proposal would force area school districts to cut nearly $7 million for the 2015-16 school year. The budget in its first year halts an annual per-student increase in state aid that schools have received for the past several years, but reestablishes the increase for the following academic year.

Statewide, districts estimate the provision will require $127 million in budget cuts for the next school year."

They expect to work in ways that won't impact students

03/24/2015

They’re at it again. The Wisconsin Legislature is using is using smoke, mirrors, and dishonesty to propose yet another tax cut for those who don’t need it …. and calling it a school aid increase.

Republicans and Democrats have done it for years. The shell game is called the property tax levy credit. Over a decade ago, legislators defined school aid to include property tax relief …. cynical, illogical, and deceitful, but a way for lawmakers to have their cake and eat it too—especially during election season.

According to the Wisconsin Budget Project, “the way the credit is structured means that an estimated $103 million, or 49 percent of the proposed increase, would go towards boosting the bottom line of businesses and corporations, reducing property taxes for owners of second homes, (and) cutting taxes for people who live outside of Wisconsin.”

Rather than increasing a gimmick that would provide larger benefits to the wealthy and to profitable companies, lawmakers should prioritize tax cuts aimed at Wisconsin residents who struggle to pay high property tax bills relative to their incomes.

Governor Walker has asked the Legislature to increase a property tax credit whose beneficiaries include profitable corporations, wealthy individuals, and Wisconsin property owners who live out of s...