The fight for Wisconsin public schools is about to get even uglier: here's what you can do to help in 5 minutes.

Dear Wisconsin,

I've been keeping a low-blogger-profile of late because I've been steeling myself for the legislative session ahead of us.  And also because who DIDN'T need an emotional hiatus after that trainwreck of an election and the incessant threats of the impending wage-theft bill, continued education-gutting, environment-pillaging agenda that will no doubt sail through the legislature as the gleeful supermajority pats itself on the back about their ability to git 'er done.

Rebecca Kemble captured this shot of former Assembly
Speakers & current school privatization lobbyists
Jensen, Gard & Fitzgerald at the Wisconsin Assembly
swearing-in on Jan. 5, 2015 that says everything you
need to know about Monday's inauguration of a
Republican majority in Wisconsin: 
The anti-education lobbyists stand guard over their charges.
"WE ARE WATCHING," they say with their menacing glares.
"SO ARE WE," say the rest of us.

Now that Walker has held his presidential campaign kickoff fundraiser Inauguration Ball, and members of the next session have been sworn in under the watchful eye of the lobbyists to whom they've sold their souls (and our children), I guess it's time to get my bloggy act back together.  

Because my job in this blog is TO KEEP YOU INFORMED of what's at stake for public schools and local communities as we learn the details of what will be passed by the tea-party led Republican majority as the Governor launches his non-stop Presidential fundraising campaign second term.  So if you've missed me, I've been here the whole time. Shaking my head and taking notes, and getting ready to leap once the curtain comes down and we see what they REALLY have planned.

And get ready, folks.
The fight for public schools is about to get a lot uglier here in Wisconsin.

But my job is also to KEEP THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR US INFORMED of what we want and what we think of the job they're doing representing us and our collective interests (because that is their job after all).  And to that aim, I have a special request for all supporters of public education in Wisconsin: please take this survey.

both photos: Rebecca Kemble

The survey, from School Funding Reform for Wisconsin, takes about five minutes to complete and will help the group make a sound, well-supported case before the legislature of the need for fair and equitable funding for our public schools based on community input from around the state.  From the organizers:

The link to the survey is:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OurSchools

We hope that you will take the survey and share it with others. Please note that the purpose of this survey is NOT to provide a statistically-significant sampling of respondents.  Instead, this survey's purpose is to reach out to public school supporters in order to:

1.  engage - get community members' attention with some thought-provoking facts.

2.  educate - provide facts - and links to additional facts - for community members to become better informed about vouchers and other efforts to privatize our public schools.

3.  empower - provide a means for those who are concerned to stay informed and take action against proposed legislation.

We will share the survey results with legislators and the public during the coming months. 

This is a very important pre-step to fighting the regressive legislation we know is in store for the 2015 session and the next biennial budget, so - again - please take this survey.  It's an easy way to start speaking out and let your voice be heard.  

We're going to have to speak up a lot over the next months.  I'm ready.  Hope you are, too.

Forward!
MoD

The Constitution speaks for itself: LOCALLY CONTROLLED district schools. As uniform as practicable. Free and without charge for tuition. No sectarian instruction allowed therein.

Every Wisconsin students deserves an equally excellent public school.

THEIR agenda for 2015: More anti-local control "reform" and phony "accountability" that bankrupts public schools while siphoning public funds into private ones.

  OUR agenda for 2015: Hold legislators accountable to fix our broken funding formula and stop penalizing teachers and schools for being underfunded while we throw money at dangerous for-profit charter ventures and private school "voucher" programs which consistently underperform traditional public schools and underserve our most vulnerable students.

PS: Don't forget to take this survey.