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SAA Budget Alert – Your Response Needed

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 5, 2015

The next 2-3 weeks are absolutely critical to our 2015-17 state budget objectives.  This week, we expect the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) to release new revenue estimates.  As you know, many legislators support putting more money into public education if the estimates show more money is available.  We also expect the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) to take up K-12 budget issues sometime around May 20th or so.

SAA members have done an absolutely outstanding job up to now in our state budget advocacy efforts with board resolutions, letters to legislators, legislative forums and media events.  Several veteran administrators have told me they have never seen more SAA members this active in advocacy efforts.  More impressive to me however, have been the efforts to engage parents and community members regarding the damage the governor’s proposed state budget will inflict upon Wisconsin public schools and public school children.  The feedback I am receiving inside the Capitol, in addition to public comments in the news, indicate that our advocacy efforts are indeed having an impact on this budget process.

Yes, we have done a great job up till now.  But, if we are silent in the next 2-3 weeks of the budget deliberations, we will lose.

So, I implore you to act once again on behalf of the children you serve.  Yesterday, the SAA sent its State Budget Priorities to the Joint Finance Committee.  Today, I urge every single SAA member to contact the 16 members of the Joint Finance Committee, as well as your own legislators, in support of the SAA’s State Budget Priorities.

For your convenience in contacting your own legislators, I have provided links to the Senate Directory, the Assembly Directory and Who Are My Legislators.  I encourage you to use the information in the SAA State Budget Priorities in your communications.  Simply encourage these legislators to:

  1. Support restoring the $150 ($127 million statewide) cut in the per pupil categorical aid in the first year of the biennium.
  2. Support an inflationary increase in per pupil revenues in each year of the biennium. Anything less than an inflationary increase in per pupil revenues will require reductions in educational opportunities for public school children across Wisconsin.
  3. Oppose all private school voucher expansion proposals in the budget. The current under-funding of our public schools shows we simply cannot afford two systems of education in Wisconsin.
  4. Oppose all independent charter school expansion proposals in the budget. These proposals will siphon state aid away from public schools and likely result in local property tax increases.
  5. Oppose inclusion in the budget of clearly non-fiscal policy items related to educational standards, school accountability reports, notice of educational options and alternative teacher licensure.

As you prepare your communication, make sure you highlight the budgetary and human impact that the proposed $150 per pupil cut and the proposed revenue cap freeze will have on your school district.  Emphasize the lost educational opportunities for your students.  You may also wish to share the difficult conversations your board and administrative team are having about potential budget cuts should the state budget proposal pass largely unchanged.  For many of you, the unconscionable decisions you may be forced to make will clearly be “lose-lose” for kids.

I’m so proud of all of you for the battle we have waged thus far against extremely powerful political adversaries.  It’s been a long fight so far…and it’s not over.  I know you are busy, but I need you to carry the fight a bit longer.

So let’s fight.  Let’s fight for everything that is good in public education.  Let’s fight for all the reasons we made education our life’s work.  But, most importantly, let’s fight for the children we serve today…and for those we will serve tomorrow.

Let’s get it done!  Thank you.

Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »

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