“A Penny for Kids” campaign is in the news

“A Penny for Kids” continues to capture the imagination ofthe public as it spreads the idea of school-funding reform around Wisconsin. Sunday, Jan. 31st's edition of the Wisconsin State Journal carried a great story about the campaign and about WAES.

Make sure you read and then pass along the story. WAES members and friends need to keep reminding legislators that our public schools, our kids, and our communities are in a crisis and “A Penny for Kids” meets that crisis head-on.

Here’s an idea: Use the ideas in the State Journal story to write a letter to the editor of your hometown paper. A good idea is hard to dismiss but a good idea with the backing of the public is impossible to ignore. If you need some help, go to the “A Penny for Kids” website and click on “You can help.”

School-funding reform on the air

One of the underappreciated resources for those who follow how government works in Wisconsin is WisconsinEye. It offers video and audio on everything from the legislative committee meetings to oral arguments before the Supreme Court to features on any number of public policy topics.

Senior producer Steve Walters, former writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, hosts a regular feature called “Newsmakers,” and two of his recent programs dealt with school-funding reform.

Dec. 22, 2009, Walters held a roundtable discussion with Miles Turner of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators; Madison schools superintendent Dan Nerad, former Department of Administration Secretary Mark Burgher, who chaired the Governor’s task force on school-funding reform Chris Patritto, Hurley schools superintendent; and former superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster. You can see this discussion on reform by clicking on this link.

That same day, Walters talked with Ken Kasinski, administrator of CESA 12 in northwestern Wisconsin. They talk about cuts to instructional programs and services for children that have been forced on the 17 CESA 12 school districts by the state’s school-funding system. According to Kasinski, some of these districts are going to shutter their doors or end up offering only “core” classes in math, reading, and a few other subjects. Click here to watch this edition of “Newsmakers” .

For more about the interviews...

Time to stand up for schools, kids, and communities

For over a decade, the state's proportion of the cost of quality education has declined leading to staff lay-offs, larger class sizes, cuts in programs and services, and rising property taxes. As part of the last biennial budget, things actually got worse when, in an unprecedented move, state aid was cut.

Our school-funding system is in crisis, and that crisis is leading to less education in our schools and higher property taxes on our homes. It is time to say, "Enough is enough.”

The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES) is asking State Government to raise Wisconsin's sales tax by one penny. "A Penny for Kids" will put about $850 million a year toward saving programs and services in our schools and holding the line on property tax increases. It only makes sense.

You can be involved in this important effort by going to the "A Penny for Kids" website at http://www.apennyforkids.org and signing the petition to tell your elected officials you want them to do the right thing.

Follow "A Penny for Kids" on Facebook by clicking on the below links.