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Wisconsin's Famous Cream Puffs...now brought to you by Illinois!

Wisconsin's official State Dessert, the Cream Puff!
Now brought to you by....Illinois!
 WISN reports:
Illinois-based Prairie Farms is the new official cream supplier of the Wisconsin State Fair cream puffs.

The fair needed a new supplier after Golden Guernsey went out of business in January.
More Wisconsin money and jobs flushed down the Scott Walker pipeline to poverty.  I'm sure the Golden Guernsey workers who've been unemployed since January are thrilled with this news, especially as they listen to Walker continue to plan news ways to punish the unemployed and talk about how we have the jobs - just not the skilled workers to fill them.  Sorry, workers! If you weren't so unskilled, you'd still be making those cream puffs!  It's your fault!  Scott Walker's policies are working, haven't you heard? Why else would he be so busy running for President instead of staying in Wisconsin trying to do something about the fact that thanks to his "pro-business/anti-worker" policies, Wisconsin ranks 44th of 50 states in job creation?

Wisconsin workers need JOBS, not more skills.  Read the truth on the skills gap myth here and here, and let your legislators know you'd rather see a JOBS bill than more insulting attempts to pad Walker's dismal records by pushing people off unemployment.


You can visit the Original Cream Puffs facebook page to tell them what you think of their decision to contract with an out-of-state supplier to provide cream puffs for the Wisconsin State Fair.  Here's what I told them:
I'm disappointed with the decision to contract with an Illinois company to produce Wisconsin's state dessert. I see you're emphasizing that they use "real Wisconsin cream" - but this is a poor substitute for "real Wisconsin jobs."

Wisconsin 2011 Senate Bill 100, in all its formerly proud glory. 
The declaration was a piece of legislation that came out of Walker's Special Jobs Session - which Sandra Holmes reminds us did not produce a single jobs bill.
 

Education Action Alert! Say NO to voucher expansion!

image source

It's never too late to stand up for what's right. Wisconsin children need you to stand up NOW for public education.

From the Institute for Wisconsin's Future:
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that a Republican deal on vouchers and school funding has been reached -- and that it may advance to a vote TODAY in the Joint Finance Committee.
IT IS A BAD DEAL FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WE NEED YOU TO REACH OUT TO JOINT FINANCE MEMBERS AND YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW!
This compromise is an outrage because it:
  • Allows vouchers to go statewide and not to just nine new communities. DPI estimates that vouchers on a statewide scale could ultimately cost up to $1.9 billion annually, further diverting scarce resources away from public schools and increasing local property taxes.
  • Puts some limits on the number of students initially allowed in the voucher program and their income eligibility, but past history clearly demonstrates that enrollment and income eligibility caps are easily changed.
  • Gives public schools an increase of only $150 per student, well below the $235 needed to just keep up with inflation let alone to catch up from the last cuts.
Tell Joint Finance Committee members (e-mails listed below) and your legislators to stop this outrage, and vote NO to voucher expansion and YES to a meaningful increase for public schools.  There's no longer any other way to look at this -- it is a full-out assault on OUR public schools and the backbone of OUR democracy.

Do what you can and ask others to do the same. Go to the IWF website to get details on what you can do (including hash tags, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and talking points).
Let Wisconsin's Joint Finance Committee know that expanding the voucher program state-wide hurts the whole state! Say NO DEAL to the bogus "compromise" that would expand vouchers state-wide (Walker only asked for certain districts). Restore full funding to public education and stop playing political games with deep-pocketed out-of-state lobbyists! Our future depends on upholding the traditions of the past: value and support free and equal public education!

Rep.Strachota@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Mason@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Kooyenga@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.LeMahieu@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Knudson@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Klenke@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Nygren@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Richards@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Grothman@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Shilling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Leibham@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Olsen@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Wirch@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Harsdorf@legis.wisconsin.gov
cc:
Rep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Ellis@legis.wisconsin.gov
govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
and your own representatives if not listed above!

Write or call members of the JFC NOW!  Make sure YOUR voice is heard as loudly as the out-of-state special interests who have been lobbying - and paying - to push this privatization agenda through in Wisconsin

Open Letter to JFC: Wisconsin Constitution demands fair funding for public education

Wisconsin's Joint Finance Committee takes up the education budget on Wed. March 29.   Here's my letter begging for serious and responsible stewardship of public ed.  Feel free to copy/paste freely, and/or send your own asap! 
To:
Assembly Majority Leader Robin VosRep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov

Members of Wisconsin's Joint Finance Committee
Alberta Darling: sen.darling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Luther Olsen: sen.olsen@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sheila Harsdorf: sen.harsdorf@legis.wisconsin.gov
Joe Leibham: sen.leibham@legis.wisconsin.gov
Mary Lazich: sen.lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov
Glenn Grothman: sen.grothman@legis.wisconsin.gov
Jennifer Shilling: sen.shilling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Robert Wirch: sen.wirch@legis.wisconsin.gov
John Nygren: rep.nygren@legis.wisconsin.gov
Pat Strachota: rep.strachota@legis.wisconsin.gov
Dale Kooyenga: rep.kooyenga@legis.wisconsin.gov
Dean Knusdon: rep.knudson@legis.wisconsin.gov
Dan LeMahieu: rep.lemahieu@legis.wisconsin.gov
John Klenke: rep.klenke@legis.wisconsin.gov
Cory Mason: rep.mason@legis.wisconsin.gov
John Richards: rep.richards@legis.wisconsin.gov

cc: Gov. Walker, govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Rep. Gary Hebl, Sen. Mark Miller (my own representatives)



Dear Wisconsin legislators,

I call on you to take seriously your charge to represent ALL citizens of Wisconsin when finalizing the state budget, and especially seriously the consensus among education experts that voucher expansion is wrong for Wisconsin students.  The lack of accountability and discouraging track record of current voucher schools has proven that these schools are not demonstrably more successful than regular public schools.  And the push for "special needs vouchers" in particular seems politically motivated and ill-advised, as is evidenced by the lack of support for this proposal from every single group in the state advocating for special needs students. 

Our public schools were hit hard by the record-breaking cuts to public education funding in the last budget.  It is incumbent upon you now to restore this funding to levels that give every child a chance to succeed and every school a chance to shine.  Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers made some very reasonable and fair suggestions in his recommendations for a Fair Funding for Our Schools plan.  I recommend that you revisit these suggestions and put your stewardship of our schools in the hands of those who best understand what our schools and students need.  The out-of-state money, support, and political motives surrounding the push toward increased voucher funding shows that Wisconsin students are no longer the central focus of this issue; it is YOUR job to bring them back to the center of this stage.

Using public funds to finance private schools and rewarding only the "highest performing" schools is akin to giving a cash reward to those who have already won the lottery.  It is the poorest, and struggling, schools that most need our help.  Let's get these priorities straight and focus on the Constitutional demand that we provide a free and equal education to every child in the state.  Voucher expansion, coupled with decreased funding to regular public schools, does the opposite and violates this most basic of public trusts:
Wisconsin Constitution, Article X, SECTION 3:
The legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein; but the legislature by law may, for the purpose of religious instruction outside the district schools, authorize the release of students during regular school hours. 
"Release" of these students for religious instruction should not be read as "release" of public funds to sectarian hands.  The proud tradition of excellence in Wisconsin schools requires the totality of support our Constitution demands. 
I submit these concerns to the public record for consideration as this issue is heard by the Joint Finance Committee on May 29, 2013.
Sincerely,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Wisconsin public school parent and citizen representative to the Sun Prairie School Board

Here are those emails again for easy copy/pasting:
Rep.Strachota@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Mason@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Kooyenga@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.LeMahieu@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Knudson@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Klenke@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Nygren@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep.Richards@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Grothman@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Shilling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Leibham@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Olsen@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Wirch@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Harsdorf@legis.wisconsin.gov
cc:
Rep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Ellis@legis.wisconsin.gov
govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
and your own representatives if not listed above!

source

Open Letter: McDonald's ad has no place in a kindergarten workbook

How many ethical marketing violations can YOU count?
This piece is crossposted at Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood.

Mathvertisements?  #Momsnotlovinit.

Update (5/28/2013):  As expected, the teacher was in total agreement about these materials and confirmed that she had not compiled them herself.  She's taken them out of the master copy, so they won't show up again.  I told you she was a great teacher!  Even so, though, this is an important reminder that we need to be vigilant and pay attention to what our kids are bringing home from school.  It takes a village, right?  

I also received very positive feedback from the school board and a follow-up email from a district administrator stating "I am very relieved that you were able to receive information promptly today, with regard to your concern about the math worksheets which included McDonald's graphics.  Your concern for the inappropriate nature of the content was very justified. It is imperative to guard against these forms of advertising in our schools. Students have a right to be shielded from this type of external influence."

Which just goes to show: parental involvement is a leading factor in student success for more than one reason. 

Be aware. Be involved.  Be the change. 


-----------------
Open Letter: McDonald's ad has no place in a kindergarten workbook
My kids go to a great school, and they have great teachers. I want to say that first.  I don't doubt the vigilance or intelligence of their teachers, or whether they're being educated to a high standard.  I know they are.  But sometimes things slip through the cracks, and when they do, I feel obligated to speak out.

So when my kindergartener brought home a school-published "My Counting and Number Writing Book" last week, I was really shocked to find this advertisement included in the middle of a stapled workbook of sheets from various sources - an otherwise innocuous and adorable collection of pages asking them to count the pennies, stars, animals, etc.  How McDonald's managed to pass off this shameless advertisement as a "lesson," and how it made it through the filter of professional inspection, I don't know.  I've heard some educators appeal to "branding" as a way to teach reading since kids recognize logos from a very young age, but I find this appeal troubling and naive. And as a parent who tries to both teach healthy eating habits and shield my children from invasive marketing, I have a real problem with this sort of brazen infiltration of our classrooms by the McDonald's corporate marketing machine. [Click here and here for particularly disturbing exercises I found on the NYC schools website].

I don't know or care who is responsible for putting this workbook together, but I think communities need to stand together to protect our kids from this constant and manipulative exposure. This sort of propaganda has no place in the classroom; our kids are exposed to enough of this outside of it.

Below is the letter I sent to my child's teacher and the principal of the school; I plan to forward it to the School Board and encourage parents everywhere to be vigilant about the ways their children are manipulated as a captive advertising audience. I also encourage parents to follow the work being done at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which works to expose and address inappropriate solicitations and manipulations of children by advertisers.

Our kids are not for sale.  Nor should they be considered a captive audience to unscrupulous marketers while they are in school.  We can stand up to this corporate bullying, but first we have to speak out.

So here's the letter.  Making it open, like I do, as a reminder of how important it is to play an active role in making a difference:
Hi ---- and ----!

I was just going through my daughter's "My Counting and Number Writing Book" and was disturbed to see this double-page advertisement for McDonald's asking her to tally fries, burgers, characters, logos, ice cream, soda, Happy Meals, etc. 

I know it's only one page and not the biggest deal in the world, but the power of advertising on young children has long been documented, and I don't think there's any place for this in a school workbook.  It's also a confusing contradiction to the District's Health and Wellness guidelines we're trying hard to instill in our kids at home as well. 

I don't know where this particular page came from, or if you even took much note of it buried deep in the book, but I really don't think it's ok to include this sort of blatant advertising in our kids' lessons.  Children are not a captive demographic for advertisers, and I find this an inappropriate and invasive intrusion into their school time.

I would ask that this sort of branding and promotion from any company be weeded out from these materials in the future.  Kids are exposed constantly to such advertising. If McDonald's or any other company wants to advertise in the school, they should be paying to do so, and that decision should be vetted by the community through the school board.

I want to stress that this is not a criticism of you or your teaching, and I appreciate all the time and effort that goes into preparing these books and grading them.  But I wanted to raise my concerns and ask that our teachers take a look at other ways advertisers are sneaking free ads into our kids' learning time.   I have been following the work of a great organization called Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and it's really horrifying how sneaky and manipulative some of these attempts to target children can be. Don't even get me started on how upset I was when my kids learned the "Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut" song in preschool! 

I thank you for all you do!
Heather


Why We Appreciate Our Teachers: an open letter of thanks


I dropped this letter off with a plate of cookies in the staff lounge today at my kids' school. Admittedly, it's the very least I could do to show my appreciation, but I really hope that educators everywhere realize that even if they don't hear it every day, or every week, they are deeply, deeply appreciated by the parents whose children they educate.
_____

To all the teachers, aides, staff, custodians, food service workers, playground supervisors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, speech therapists, and administrators who make our school such a wonderful place to learn:
We appreciate you!

For every time you get the feeling someone thinks that you’re not doing enough for their child, know there’s someone out there who knows you’re doing way more than you have to.

For every comment you hear about teachers’ jobs being “easy,” know there’s someone out there who is thankful every single day that we have such qualified educators in Sun Prairie schools doing the impossible work that is educating every unique child.  Just the idea of homeschooling makes me feel panicky. We could never do what you do. 

For every article or comment you see about Wisconsin’s “failing schools” and “unqualified teachers,” know that there are parents of the kids YOU teach, fighting to defend you, and our excellent schools.
  • We appreciate every hour you spend away from your own families to work for our kids. We appreciate all the days you stay late, or come in early, and all the nights you miss your favorite shows because you’re grading homework.
  • We appreciate every hour you spend in meetings, planning and discussing and preparing and assessing. We appreciate your expertise and the education and training that makes you singularly qualified to do what you do.
  • We appreciate your willingness to put up with all of our questions, concerns, emails, calls, and your amazing ability to deal with every parent – from the hovering helicopters to those you never see.
  • We appreciate every hour you spend making sure our kids make sense of things even we don’t understand (hello? multiplication lattices?) to our kids.
  • We appreciate every cup of morning coffee you miss, every bathroom break you don’t get, every rushed step you take to meet the demands of your days.
  • We appreciate the care you take to make sure our kids know their value is more than a test score. We appreciate every tear you spare them by not heaping pressure on them, even while you have to worry about how those scores will affect your own evaluations.
  • We appreciate the time you take to talk to our kids, and get to know them – in the cafeteria, on the playground, at the drinking fountain, in the specials classes, at the office.  We appreciate the sense of family and community this creates for our own kids, and especially those who may not have those connections outside of school.
  • We appreciate the personality, the joy, and the love you bring into the school. 
  • We appreciate the example you set for our children of the value of education, of being safe, respectful, and responsible.  These lessons are sinking in. We see it at home every day.
Thank you!  For every single thing you do.
It might seem like it goes unnoticed, but it’s never unappreciated.

With love from a CH Bird family

P.S. While we agree that EVERY week should be “Teacher Appreciation Week,” think of it this way:  mothers and fathers only get ONE day a year.  You get five.  That means you’re five times more important than parents.  Something to keep in mind after a rough day of conferences.