Back to School: Or the "equivalent" of school?

28 August  2012
Dear Scott Walker

As I ready my kids to go back to school, now in the second year of having to deal with the cuts that have weeded out some of their finest teachers and laid bare budgets that already had no wiggle room (forcing many schools to cut essential programming, force out teachers, and increase class size), I am disturbed by the timing of recent announcements and the increase in disproportionate funding to charter and private schools at the expense of the vast majority of our children. 

Just yesterday, Wisconsin Superintendent Tony Evers announced $16.1 million in federal grants will be poured into the charter programs that serve a tiny fraction of our students. More disproportionate investment in education inequity: $16.1 million in federal grants to 84 schools. Whose children are left behind? Almost all of them. Only 40,329 of the 870,000+ Wisconsin kids in public schools attend charters. 

To put this in perspective: in the 2011-13 budget, DPI requested $2,280,500 to fund SAGE schools that would protect then-current funding levels at $2,000 per student for about 11,500 low-income Wisconsin kids. You denied this request (knowing it could cost some schools their SAGE standing at the federal level) and added additional cuts to SAGE and HeadStart programming. In the same budget, you approved an increase of $7,086,200 GPR in FY12 and $15,460,800 GPR in FY13 for charter school funding based on 21,600 pupils in FY12 and 22,900 in FY13 and a per pupil payment of $6,442 per FTE in both FY12 and FY13. This disproportionate investment in the few at the expense of the many is jaw-dropping, especially at a time when "the many" are expected to pull their belts even tighter as they prepare to deal with the second - and worse - year of your unprecedented cuts to public education.

As a parent who strongly believes in the need to invest evenly in all of our students, and especially to ensure that inequities in the system that disadvantage low-income students are addressed honestly and productively, I am terrified by the dangerous pattern that you have very clearly estabilished here, and have publicly promised (on many occasions, and despite warnings from countless education professionals) to see through to the end: Disinvest in our most vulnerable kids. Overinvest in a handful, and split that investment pretty much equally between low-income, highly segregated schools and private ones. Lower standards for qualifications and assessments (not just at the charter schools but across the board).   

In a poll that came out just last week (in which Americans overwhelmingly agreed Obama is better than Romney for public education), 57% of people said they think teachers should have more rigorous training.  

Is the ultimate goal to make this untrue?
So I was equally disturbed to read your praise for a new Teacher "Equivalency" Certification  process by which non-educators can get into our classrooms bypassing the traditional certification route by proving they have the "equivalent" experience in the private sector or in preschool classrooms. 

The new "Teacher Equivalency Certification"  was announced by Dr. Evers just this week: a process that would allow someone without a degree in teaching to get a public school teaching license if he or she has a bachelor's degree; has been a private school teacher; has similar out-of-state certification; or has "at least 3 years of teaching" at the post-secondary, preschool, or industry level.  You praised this move, saying "We must also help districts find qualified men and women with workplace experience who are interested in sharing their knowledge with the next generation, especially in high need areas like science and math."  I find this position extremely insulting to educators, who have been specifically and carefully trained in a whole range of skill areas that have nothing to do with their area of expertise.  Being an industry expert or having experience with a "subject" does NOT prepare one or qualify one to teach that subject.  How is a chemist prepared to deal with special needs students? How does a computer programmer possess the skills and training needed to deal legally and effectively with chronic acting-out in the classroom?  How has an accountant's experiences in a cubicle prepared her for the demands of ensuring common core standards are met while reaching out to students of widely differing needs and abilities?  Imagine if the roles were reversed and the teacher demanded the private sector job - at the same rate of pay.  It just defies reason, and it's a slap in the face to dedicated educators.

This move has been promoted by Dr. Evers as a way of creating "career opportunities" for non-teachers to become teachers.  How insulting.  While I'm sure the private sector can produce some good teachers (and a degree in education doesn't automatically translate into classroom success, either), the underlying assumption here is simply more of the same anti-educator rhetoric we've heard since you took office: anyone can teach, "real" teachers are just lazy and unqualified, teachers don't deserve what the earn, teaching is easy, and on and on and on.  It also makes me wonder what this will mean to compensation: how much will these "equivalent teachers" earn? Is this a ruse to lower the wages for educators? Or a plan to turn industries into "temp services" that will farm out "teachers" (and take a cut of their wages) to public schools?  My mind races to imagine how the education-privatizers might capitalize on a move like this, especially when your own "Job Czar" is trying to actually make it more expensive for people who might really want to invest in a degree in education to do so and your administration continues to push a discredited rumor that our workforce is under-skilled and unprepared for employers - a move which allows you to put the reins of education directly in the hands of potential employers.

The path to a career in teaching begins with respecting that teaching is a profession - not a "job" that anyone can just step into.  I am extremely skeptical of the token "assessment" requirements for anyone who has  "not completed a Wisconsin recognized and approved educator preparation program."  What message does this send about the value of those programs? What message does this send about the value of teaching, when it is parsed down to its simplest form of "sharing knowledge."

As a parent who volunteers regularly in the schools and someone who works professionally with educators every day, I know that there is no testable "equivalent" of a degree in education.  There is no "equivalent" to taking the time to learn about the rigors and restraints of standardized testing, the complexities of assessment, the pedagogies that work (and don't) for the range of learners in our classrooms.  And, ultimately, I don't want my kids taught by the "equivalent" of teachers. I want them taught by people who dedicated their lives to the profession, and who give that profession the respect it requires by receiving the proper training and education.  

Why does the minimum standard for what we expect from our schools keep getting lowered?  When will it stop?  Is there a bottom to how low you will go, or do we just have to wait until all the schools fail?  The race to the bottom is an ugly, ugly thing.
What's next? You want parents to sit back, let our schools fail so that your friends at the AFC and other privateers (who have been so aggressively trying to buy our elections) can jump in and "save" them, creating for-profit ventures out of once-excellent schools.  And then what? What do we do with all of these underserved students?  Let them "pull themselves up by their bootstraps?" Let them "invest" borrowed money in vocational programs that may or may not lead them to living-wage jobs? Let the prisons do the rest?

Dr. Ever's Fair Funding for Our Future plan
It doesn't have to happen.  You have claimed you want to work together and are constantly pretending that you work closely with Dr. Evers - if so, I advise that you take seriously his Fair Funding for Our Future plan, which addresses the very real harm done by simply gouging funds from out schools and restores funding to a level that ensures our kids can get the education they need to thrive in the workplace and as smart, well-rounded, well-trained members of society, ready to do their share to move Wisconsin forward.  This program, - as education experts like Thomas Mertz have made clear -in conjunction with something that will specifically ensure funds to our poorest schools (like "A Penny for Kids," a proposal that raises the sales tax by one cent which would raise $850 million a year for schools and reduce the need to increase property taxes), would prepare our kids for a chance at real success. Your plan prepares them to live off the state forever. 

I have been following the blow-by-blow cuts to education ever since you took office. I have also been listening carefully to what people on both sides are saying about what does and doesn't work.  The facts could not be more clear: your plan pushes forward a catastrophic, fundamentally misguided attack on public education that has very little to do with "unions" or "workers rights" and everything to do with an ultimate goal of reducing accountability and opening the door to privatization.  I oppose that, and not on a partisan basis (don't even get me started on what I oppose in the Obama plan). I oppose it because it's bad for our kids. It's bad for my kids.  It's bad for all of us.

Please. On just this one thing: give a little.  During the recall, the one point on which both sides agreed (that is, both people who voted for you and against you) is that your cuts to public education were beyond the pale and a direct assault on the Wisconsin Idea and our bipartisan history of progressive excellence in education.  You can go on pretending your unique combination of no business experience and no education qualifies you to be an authority on everything else - we don't like it, but we're used to it. But when it comes to our kids, and our schools, do the right thing. Open your mind to what people who don't have a financial stake in this matter are saying and listen. Let us reinvest our money in our kids. We shouldn't have to beg.  But I'll beg now so my kids won't have to do it later.

On Tuesday, I'll be sending my kids off to school.  The little one is starting kindergarten (full-day, so I can finally afford to get back to work and try to crawl out of the hole your helpful cuts to my benefits and pay have left us in).  Off they'll go: with a kiss and a hug and a few tears (and that reminds me, I think I'm supposed to organize the Boo Hoo Breakfast! Better get on that!)...and a lot of worry.  Worry about what this year will bring for them personally, what the new budget will do to their school now that we don't have the "cushion" afforded last year by all the teachers forced into early retirement.  But also hope:  because they are so smart, and so ready, and so resilient, and their teachers are so wonderful, and the staff and administrators at the school so supportive, and our school board has their best interests clearly in focus. Dollars can't change any of that.  But our district is lucky. Others are not.  And those are the kids I'm worried about most.

So it'll be bittersweet: seeing them go off into that world where I can only protect them from a distance, with solid home-training, loving guidance and support, and by advocating for them as a parent-citizen at every level I can (on the PTO, at the school board, through our elected officials).  I'm doing my best.  I ask you to do the same.  

"Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, 
because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, 
can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation." 
- John F. Kennedy

If you're really as laser-focused on jobs as you say you are, remember what really matters: without a truly educated (not just "trained") workforce, there are no jobs. There is no middle class. There is no American Dream.  There is no hope.

Reinvest in our schools.  Make sure our money is going where we want it to go: toward making our schools even better than they were before your cuts started to unravel them.  Raise the bar.  Make sure our teachers are the best by making sure we hire people who know that being an expert doesn't make you a good teacher, and who have the humility to know that the training that leads to the classroom is, if anything, too low a price to pay for the huge responsibility of educating all of our children.  Put education first. Make it your priority. And not just with lip-service to your own kids and pithy examples of all the teachers who allegedly thank you for the helpful cuts to their own schools. Put education first by listening to what the education experts, educators, administrators, Dr. Evers, and concerned citizens on both sides of the fence have been telling you: the cuts are too deep.  It's not working.  

Humility is the most admirable trait a leader can possess. Show some now.
Reinvest in our schools before it's too late.

Yours,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Sun Prairie

  

Callen Harty on the Freedom to Dissent


Open Letter to Wisconsin Capitol Police Chief Erwin

by Callen Harty

Capitol police officer watching the Solidarity Sing Along beneath a large banner reading, “Big Brother is Watching You”.  Photo by Callen Harty.

August 27, 2012

Dear Chief Erwin,

I haven’t met you yet, though I anticipate that some day I will.  I read about you today and feel as if I know you already.  In an interview with the Associated Press you said that as the new Wisconsin Capitol Police Chief you intend to crack down on protests at the Capitol.  Scott Walker will appreciate you doing this, as he certainly doesn’t want to hear what the citizens of his state may have to say about his policies or governance.  He would just as soon we all go away so that he can focus on taking phone calls from only the wealthiest of his constituents (and of course, several out-of-state donors who are not constituents but still expect payback for their generosity toward his most recent campaign).

Like him you apparently have no respect for the history of the Capitol building that you are sworn to protect.  You may not know this, but it has always been a place for citizens to congregate, a place to raise voices against the worst of legislative assaults on our rights, freedom, and way of life.  There is a rich history of protest and citizen involvement in the Capitol, and particularly the rotunda, a place as close to a statewide town hall as can be found anywhere.  It seems that you are determined to overturn that history and make the Capitol and its denizens available only to those who can afford to pay for the privilege.  It is our house and we will not be evicted.

It is understandable to get tough on criminals who are violent or who damage the building in some way.  It is not understandable to try to prevent legitimate protest in a democracy.

The sad truth is that those who silently acquiesce now to you shutting off the ability to protest under the dome will one day have protests of their own silenced, and they don’t understand that connection.  This is not about the specific protests of the last year and a half–it is about any protest that may be silenced in the future, from either the left or the right.  Those of us who appreciate the Bill of Rights wish those rights extended even to our enemies.  Diminishing rights in any way is a chilling endeavor, especially from a former Marine who undoubtedly swore at one time to fight to preserve the rights of fellow Americans.  Putting roadblocks in the way of citizens assembling, petitioning their government, and raising their voices to be heard over the din created by the exchange of pieces of silver and gold and the rustling of dollar bills is an affront to the citizens of the state and the sometimes messy thing known as democracy.

If the legislators working in the Capitol would like the protesters silenced then perhaps they should govern in a way that is consistent with the historically open and honest government that Wisconsin prided itself upon for years. They would not need police to quell peaceful protests if there were no need for protest.

People understand that both the federal and state governments have chipped away at the rights inherent in protesting in a number of ways over the last several years.   They have created permitting systems, free speech zones (where one can say anything to others of like mind but can’t be seen or heard by anyone who needs to hear the words), confiscated cameras and video recorders, intimidated protesters, and more.  But that doesn’t mean that we won’t fight the continued erosion of our Constitutionally guaranteed rights.  In fact, it means that we will fight all the harder.

Nobody is surprised by this impending crackdown.  While Chief Tubbs wasn’t perfect he did strive to strike a balance between the functioning of government and the rights of that government’s citizens to protest.  He understood the need to protect the building and those who work there while also protecting the Constitutional rights of those who came to express their dissatisfaction with those working there.  When Tubbs left to take another job everyone knew that Governor Walker would select someone in his stead who would be more beholden to the Governor and the Department of Administration than to the citizens of the state that all of those in government–legislators, bureaucrats, and the police–are meant to serve.  The only question was who would be the administration’s lap dog, how draconian would that person be, and how soon would the hammer come down. Now we have the answers–you, very, and now.

Please understand that we are not afraid of you.  Nobody wants to go to jail or face fines, particularly for something as innocent as gathering to make our voices heard.  I would rather have my hands in chains than my mind enslaved.  It is better to be a convict in any jail than to be a prisoner of your own conscience.  We will not be silenced, particularly when the issue is free speech, the right to peaceably assemble, or the right to petition our government for the redress of grievances.  Your brute force will not stifle our creativity and your tenure will not outlive our passion.  Perhaps the former chief didn’t tell you that every time they cracked down on legal and peaceful protests our numbers swelled with sympathizers.  Perhaps he didn’t tell you that for every police action there is an opposite and greater citizen reaction.  If not, you will learn soon enough.

Peace.

Yours,
Callen Harty, citizen
Monona, Wisconsin

After the Recall: thinking globally, acting locally

Dear friends of MoD,

Since June 5th, I've been neglecting the blog - and the perpetually fundraising governor - to attend to other things, like catching up on other work and making jam and taking a vacation and generally licking the wounds inflicted by having tried my hardest, and lost.  

Except that we didn't lose, exactly.  Where I stand, as a matter of fact, we won. And big. Walker lost in Sun Prairie by 6 percentage points MORE than he lost here in 2010 - and with 2000 new voter registrations and 84% voter turnout.  Locally, we got the heck out of the vote.  And we got people engaged. And it worked.

My first published article is a cover story! Art by Matt Mignanelli
So it's not like I've just been moping around these last two months; it only took about a week to come to terms with the embarrassing fact that Scott Walker is still our governor. I've just been too busy to write to that guy. I've been busy working and thinking, and meeting with my friends at SPARC - our local grassroots action team - to plan what's next for keeping people involved, engaged and informed.  To this end, I spent a ton of time working on this article - my first real published piece, and it made the cover of this week's Isthmus! woot! feeling pretty giddy about that! - on local politics, which I hope will spark some real dialogue and get people talking about how they might get more involved - and maybe even run for office.

Writing this article was a challenge, and a real learning experience. I interviewed all kinds of people to write this piece: the current mayor, the old mayor, the city clerk, other elected officials and party people, other grassroots activists...and let me tell you, this article is the tip of the iceberg here in Sun Prairie: there was a ton of information I didn't include either because sources didn't want to go on record for fear of retaliation or because the things they shared weren't so much "news" as they were "incredibly unpleasant and/or accusatory reflections" on the character of some of our local officials.  And I'm not out to slander anyone: I just want people who aren't paying attention to start doing so, and people who are being paid to represent the people who elected them to do so with integrity, and an honest respect for the fact that the majority of people in our city share the progressive values that make our community a great place to live.  And specifically I would like The Star to stop pretending the minority opinion is the prevailing perspective in Sun Prairie, because it's not.  And the events of the last year are not new proof of it: Sun Prairie always votes blue for state and national elections, as far back as I looked. And when given a clear choice, we almost always choose the progressive candidate over the conservative one.  The problem is that we often don't get to choose: people run unopposed all the time.  No one wants to run for office. I'm hoping that will change.

And not just in Sun Prairie, where we had two great grassroots candidates - Nick Zweifel and Tiffany Keogh - step up this year, but all over the state. All  over the country.  Getting people who care more about local issues than party politics to run local government is the first best step to taking politics back from the special interests who have it in the death-grip that has made possible such unthinkable horrors as the possibility of a RMONEY/RAYN ticket.

So that's where I am now. And that's where we all are: in our own backyards, in our own hometowns, trying to make sense of how we can best make our worlds just a little bit better while we stave off those who would throw granny under the bus while they tie the dog to the top of it and hurdle down the highway to stop on our very own Main Street and try to kiss my babies.  And no thanks to that. They can keep their mitts away from my babies (and their schools), at the minimum.  But the more good people we have in City Hall standing up for what all of us want - and not just what their party wants, or what their sponsors want - the easier it will be to keep our babies out of their clutches and keep our grannies away from the bus and keep our towns the way we like them: friendly, open, honest, and blue.

Hope you like the article. Let me know what you think.

Heather


Call to Action: 400th Solidarity Sing Along marked by increase in police vigilance

Whether the Fitzwalkerstanis Like It or Not,
We'll Be Here 'Til Wisconsin Gets Better

Guest post by MoD contributor 
Ryan Wherley

I am strongly encouraging as many people as possible to head on down to the Capitol for tomorrow's 400th Solidarity Sing Along in the Rotunda, Monday June 25th, from Noon until 1 p.m.  The Capitol Police force's post-election behavior has been increasingly bizarre, from an increased presence that has been following certain individuals around, to approaching other citizens and asking them why they keep coming back to the Capitol with ther signs.  Most notably alarming, various police officers have been taking thorough notes profiling all singers/dissidents in attendance daily and writing down verbatim the content of signs being held inside of the Rotunda.  Additionally, there has been a noticeable influx of plain-clothed "observers" making their presence felt on a regular basis.  Proceedings under the dome seem to be trending towards the Department of Administration and its secretary, Mike Huebsch, feeling that the time is drawing near to begin enforcing its unconstitutional rules passed last December against the First Amendment rights of individuals inside of and around the Capitol building.

The crackdown on the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition our government for a redress of grievances easily could have already taken place last winter.  However, approximately one thousand individuals showed up in defiance and Solidarity to sing in the shadow of the Capitol Rotunda's beautiful holiday tree, on December 19th, 2011, the day the new and unconstitutional rules were supposedly to be put into effect.  Before and since that day,  a dedicated group of citizens and heroes of the movement show up without fail at the Capitol to sing inside of the Rotunda on every Monday through Thursday and occasionally some Fridays after the outdoor Sing Along has ended.  These Wisconsin Winter Soldiers' constant presence on the ground floor, first floor and second floor of the Rotunda is an important and necessary reminder of why we're still here, tracing a direct lineage back to the original Capitol Occupation attempting to stop the passage of the Budget Despair Bill in the winter of 2011.  Not so coincidentally, the Capitol Police and DoA never bothered attempting to quell dissent by enforcing these new anti-protesting rules.  Or so it seemed, up until Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs ended his time overseeing the bulding shortly before the election, in order to pursue a job working for the Dane County Emergency Management Agency.

They hoped we would go away after the June 5th Recall election.  We didn't.  They hoped the numbers would dwindle around the Capitol on a daily basis.  They haven't.  They hoped that we would forget and pretend everything is all gravy in Wisconsin now.  We didn't and it's not.  Scott Walker's bought and sold victory in the election on June 5th means one thing for the sake of Wisconsin's future: it's in as much trouble now as it was on June 4th.  The need to maintain a consistently visible and vocal presence inside of the Capitol is as important now as at any time since the original Occupation last February and March.  The Fitzwalkstanis now bellow hollow rhetoric about "moving forward" and "working together"  in hopes that everyone will forget what happened to our state under the Governer's shameful idea of "leadership" over the past 18 months and what will continue to happen going forward.

I've said before that I and hundreds of thousands of others were awakened in the beginning months of 2011. I'm sure as hell not going back to sleep now, even if the habitually untruthful and heartless Scott Walker essentially tells us that it's time to move along...nothing to see here.  Sure thing, Scooter.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain trying to amend the state constitution in order to take away the citizens' unabridged rights to recall elected officials, hold them accountable for their actions and prevent the elected despotism we've become accustomed to in Fitzwalkerstan.  Cover your ears when State Assemblyman and Joint Finance Committee co-Chairperson Robin Vos and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus unconscionably drum up fears of rampant voter fraud for weeks before the recall elections, only to use the city of Racine and Democratic Senator John Leman's narrow victory on June 5th as guinea pigs for their implicitly racist and explicitly unfounded theories.  Turn away from the television when Scooter refuses to address the question of whether or not he would sign a statewide union-busting Right to Work for Less bill into law if it should MIRACULOUSLY find its way to his desk, even though he has "no interest in pursuing that."  Don't ask any questions when members of the United State Congress follow up with the Governer as to whether or not he'd like to amend his public testimony last year to account for its perjurious nature following the release of his explosive "Divide and Conquer" conversation with billionaire Diane Hendricks.  Cast the newspaper aside when radical, anti-choice organizations say they are eagerly hoping that the Republicans re-claim control of the state Senate in the November elections so their orgs can resume pushing their extreme anti-women's health agenda through the Wisconsin legislature.  Bury your heads in the sand when thousands of teachers are laid off, countless public employees see massive pay cuts to their newly calculated "base wages" as their current union contracts expire, extracurricular activites are cut and class sizes rise in schools and class offerings decline and tuition rises at our public universities, as the painful reality of another $800 million worth of scapegoating policies and shamelessly austere cuts to public education hits home.  Oh yea, and definitely avoid visiting websites where Capper Liebenthal, Jud Lounsbury, Lisa Mux, Greg Gordon and countless other citizen journalists and bloggers uncover and report on an ever-unfolding story as the federal government and Milwaukee County D.A.'s office closes in on Scott Walker and his Criminal Defense Fund via the ongoing John Doe investigation.  Can't leave that one out!

There are plenty of reasons to keep showing up at the Capitol, continue speaking our minds and serve as omnipresent reminders to a corpo-fascist like Walker that although we may not have recalled...we will assuredly never forget.  I hope to see a large turn out to sing songs of hope, labor, Solidarity, populism and especially, Wisconsin, inside of the Rotunda tomorrow.  Bring your singing voices (no matter how off-key,) bring your banners (no matter your level of artistic ability,) bring your signs (but not on sticks)  and bring your unbridled passion for social justice and the First Amendment.  Just make sure that you don't bring your snakes, though, (you hear me, Matt Johnson?)  as, for some unknown reason, those are still notably banned from entry into the Capitol. Don't be shy.  Remember to keep showing up inside of Our House whenever you have the chance...for as recently-passed activist Doleta Chapru penned in "Pass the Cheddar," one of her many Wisconsin-based song remakes, "We'll be here 'til Wisconsin gets better"...and we have a long ways to go before that day comes.  SOLIDARITY!!

Walker's still here. And so are we. Let's make the most of it.

16 June 2012
Dear people who wish we would go away,

I'm afraid you haven't heard the bad news, or perhaps it just hasn't fully sunk in yet: Scott Walker is still our governor.  And that stinks. To put how much this stinks into perspective, think of it this way: Scott Walker still being our governor stinks as much to me as my exercising my right to free speech stinks to you.  Really. That much.  So we may have something in common after all: mutual agony and frustration.
 Anyway, Scott Walker still being our governor actually means we won't be going away. It does not mean, as some of you seem to have hoped, that we will now stop caring about the abuses of power and threats to our livelihood and our future that this administration has made inevitable. In fact, we will probably be speaking out much more than if Scott Walker was no longer our governor, on account of the dramatically increased need for citizen vigilance and people to stand up for our schools, kids, needy, unemployed, underemployed, homeless, working poor, working not-poor, public sector workers, private sector workers, small business owners, teachers, librarians, women, people with disabilities, people without insurance, people who can't afford the insurance they do have, people who wish they could get their share of the federal foreclosure money they should rightfully receive that was siphoned off by the governor, people who can't afford the new college tuition increases, people who care about the environment, people who care about the deficit we're kicking down the road, people who care about a return to civility, people struggling to make ends meet, and so on.

Let me give you an example of why I'm so sure we're not going away: the kinder, gentler Scott Walker just said that public union benefits are a "virus." That's right. One day after he hosted his Bipartisan Beers & Brats Lovefest of Lies & Deceit, he took yet another stab at the compensation public workers have paid into with their education, experience and negotiations over many, many years, in an effort to further the absurd lie that public employees are a blight - and a contagious one at that! - on society.

Not exactly the sort of healing talk we were looking for, or the sort of fence-mending we were promised on election night.

So, sorry. But I'm pretty sure we're not going anywhere for a while.  I propose we make the most of it by working together to move forward: let's all pay attention to what's really going on. Let's talk about it. Let's do something about it. Despite what our governor says, there is more to every issue than just "my way or the highway." There's middle ground to be found.  Scott Walker might not be interested in finding it, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have also to pretend to be myopic bullies. We can work things out, you know. That's what dialogue is for.

Your friend,
Heather
One of Many Concerned Wisconsin Citizens

P.S. Some of you, I know, are well aware that Scott Walker is still our governor. I know this because you keep saying "You lost! Get over it!"  To you, I just have to say this:  I can accept that we lost. But I will not accept being silenced.  Nor will I accept the assault on my children's education that continues to be waged as we speak, or the disgraceful attacks on their teachers that continue to come from the highest office in the state.  These are things I cannot get over.  But I might suggest that if you are so concerned about getting over things, you accept that you have won, and consider paying less attention to those who ideas you find so useless.  Or, you accept that we might actually have some room for dialogue after all, and approach our differences with respect.  That's all we ever really wanted in the first place.

Happy Fathers' Day (Again!) to Scott Walker, Governor Dad

15 June 2012
Anniversary update

Dear friends (and "Governor Dad"),

A year after writing the letter below, Governor Scott Walker still occupies our mansion. Sigh. Let's hope he and his family have a nice Fathers' Day and that he finally gets that Abe Lincoln tie he's been coveting.  Everything I said last year is just as true today, except amplified by the increased fervor with which the governor appealed by name to his sons during the campaign - especially during the debates and that horrifying ad he aired around the holidays where the boys were seething through their role as props at a soup kitchen.  The frequency of these appeals, which attempted to evoke the sense that Walker "cared" (and deeply) about public schools and The Future, was as distasteful as their transparent superficiality.

The worst part of being a politician is undoubtedly being forced to manipulate your private life to fit your public persona, and invariably the kids (and spouse) suffer most from those manipulations.  As a parent, I don't know how I'd deal with that scenario without hurting my kids, and I don't envy Walker's position. But as a constituent of Fitzwalkerstan, I can only imagine that it must be really hard to be Scott Walker's kid.  I just wish the governor would leave them out of it. It's not fair to them  - or to us - to be dragged out constantly as "proof" of his connection to our schools and our presumably shared values. Walker talks the talk of Faith, Family and Freedom, but his walk heads down another path: straight toward the bank to cash the checks his out-of-state benefactors.  Among them: education privateers like the DeVos family, who famously never contribute any political funds without expecting a return on their investment. What return do they expect today?  And how will my kids be paying it tomorrow?

With an indictment looming in the future, I can only reiterate what I said a year ago:
As the head official of this state, the messages you send your children echo down to every child in this state. I am a parent, too. And I have no intention whatsoever in instilling these duplicitous "values" in my own family. But while our values differ, I don't doubt that we care equally about our children, and our hopes for their future.  The difference, though, is that you value your (profoundly flawed) ideology above all. And I, above all, would value your resignation. 
Happy Fathers' Day!

Here's to resignation. And ties that honor Honest Abe. 

Heather
 -------------------------------------

19 June 2011
Dear Scott Walker,

Today is Fathers' Day, and I hope you spent yours with your family, doing fun family things and being a good dad. Because you sure are doing a bad job at being governor, so it would be nice if there was an area in which you found you could excel.

I don't pay much attention to your private life, but it does strike me that you make such frequent mention of your kids, so I kind of feel like you're inviting us to see something of your parenting philosophy, which I'd like to visit briefly given the special occasion we're celebrating today.  You are on record as saying that you hope your boys take college more seriously than you did, and also repeatedly saying over and over again variations of this:
"I have two sons that go to public high school. The last thing I'm going to do is hurt public education in the State of Wisconsin. I don't want to hurt my son Matt, I don't want to hurt my son Alex. My school district just announced that because of the reforms  we gave them, they're going to be able to restore positions that were laid off, and they're going to be able to reduce the tax level. To me, that's exactly what I said would happen."
So I'd like to congratulate you for making a gesture toward recognizing the importance of of supporting education and encouraging your children.  And also for your hilarious joke about cuts to education and eliminating the rights of public workers being "reform."

But I really wish you'd be a little more honest about what you're really telling your boys (and by extension, all the kids in Wisconsin), which seems, from my perspective (i.e. listening to all the things you say in public), to be the following:

1) Get an education, because people like that piece of paper. But be sure to get a real job when you're done. 
It's well-known, since your conversation with the faux-Koch that you don't consider public sector employment "real money," and that your dropping out of college has been defended time and again as you insult those with degrees by talking about how useless they are. Google it if you want sources; I'm not in the mood to revisit the hundreds of quotes, articles, analyses, etc, on this topic. It's not my job to do all of your homework.

2) Public workers are disposable, manipulable, and the least among us. Avoid them. They do not deserve your respect.
You tell your us that your district was able to "restore positions without layoffs" but that's not entirely honest, is it? The district saw deep cuts to personnel and was only able to balance the budget with draconian cuts to pay and benefits:
"The feat was done as Ertl said it would have to be done — not on the backs of children in the classroom but on the backs of school employees through major pay and benefit concessions."
"All this would not be possible without those concessions from our employees," Ertl said. Board member Mary Jo Randall echoed that, with added thanks to Ertl and his administrative staff, saying, "I don't think you can say enough about our employees and our leadership."

3) Don't worry about being honest. A half-truth is as good as the truth.
While you like to use your district as an example of how great your budget bill is for Wisconsin, in fact it's an excellent example of how local communities pay the price for your cuts to everyday programs and education in exchange for the handouts you delivered to your corporate funders. True, your school district was able to balance its budget and even come in under the levy of the previous year, but more careful analysis shows that property taxes will see a spike, and the real cost of these cuts will be felt throughout the the district in the coming years, as taxpayers cover the costs and staff continues to suffer under pay freezes, which the superintendent has repeatedly stated he sought to minimize:

Board discomfort

The proposed hike was generally ill-received by the School Board.
Board member Phil Kroner said he is concerned about raising taxes given persistent economic pressures on district taxpayers. He also questioned whether more could be done to limit spending. "A lot of our citizens are having to make cuts in their own budgets," he said. "I'm concerned that not enough effort was made in looking for cuts to try to hold things as low as possible or even to spend less than the levy (limit) is allowing."

Handcuffed by revenue losses

Superintendent Phil Ertl assured the board that he, Mack and other administrators pored over the budget line by line in a "painstaking process" to ensure efficiency.  Mack said the tax increase is caused entirely by state reductions in school funding and is therefore out of the district's control. The district is facing a $2.97 million - or 11.4 percent - cut in state aid. "I think that tells the story right there," Mack said of the numbers.
When the state sets the revenue cap - the total amount of tax and aid revenue a district is permitted to gather - but then reduces aid, that funding hole must be filled by property taxes, Mack said. "I think the misconception that exists out there is that school districts control their levy, and they really do not," he said.
4) A promise means nothing, but that doesn't make it meaningless. There's nothing more powerful than a broken (or insincere) promise.
This one is particularly poignant to me, since, again, it involves direct reference to your boys and direct consequences to me and other parents and public workers.  Remember a year ago this month, when you were campaigning, and you kept saying things like this as you made a promise to end late-night votes:
"I have two teenagers and I tell them that nothing good happens after midnight. That's even more true in politics. The people of Wisconsin deserve to know what their elected leaders are voting on."
Well, not only did you (obviously) not keep that promise, but you continue to applaud the late-night antics of Republican legislators as they work in the dead of night to introduce new measures and push through legislation without public comment, consent, or full understanding.  Very sneaky. Very dishonest. And a very strong message to send to our kids, don't you think?

5) Put yourself first. It's not your job to care for others.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the most important message you're sending your sons, and I applaud your consistency in sending it. So many children today are subjected to ambivalence, soul-searching, and careful consideration of the pros and cons as their parents make big decisions. But you show your boys - and the rest of the children of this state - that such wishywashiness is for losers. Winners act fast, take chances, and make decisions that will benefit the people they know and love. The people they don't know or love can take care of themselves. And that, you've shown us, is the American way.

So congratulations. You seem to be raising your boys exactly the way you feel best. It's a question of values.

As the head official of this state, the messages you send your children echo down to every child in this state. I (as you know, from your reading and taking into consideration of the specific comments of my letters), am a parent, too. And I have no intention whatsoever in instilling these duplicitous "values" in my own family. But while our values differ, I don't doubt that we care equally about our children, and our hopes for their future.  The difference, though, is that you value your (profoundly flawed) ideology above all. And I, above all, would value your resignation. 

Imagine the headline: Walker Resigns, Sites letter, children, for his decision.

The children of Wisconsin would thank you for it.
And so would I.

Until then,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Taxpayer, parent, and comparer of the things you say to the things you do.

P.S. I hope you got an Abe Lincoln tie for Fathers' Day, so you and Grothman can be twins on Crazy Ironic Tie Day at the office.

Senator Grothman in his (and hopefully YOUR, if your kids know what would suit you!) Lincoln tie, which seemingly inspires him to say things like "The Earned Income Credit is the equivalent of a welfare check" and "The only way [cutting the Earned Income Credit] is a sign of Wisconsin values is if you wanted to promote single motherhood."  It's the kind of tie that makes you classier - and oh so eloquent! -just by wearing it! I wonder what it will inspire you to say...something new and true perhaps? It could happen!   Image: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=137386319670995&set=a.129811040428523.30747.112526458823648&type=1&theater


A Special Thank You to Governor Walker (guest post)

"I learned at the moment when I was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, that I had a voice."  
The recall election may have been a loss to those of us hoping all of Wisconsin would wake up to Walker's abuses of power, but this letter proves that the rise of citizen awareness and citizen action is a victory that could not have been won otherwise. A fan of MoD who has been following our open letters and wishes to remain anonymous, writes: "You have shared your letters, so I am sharing mine."  In it, she thanks the newly re-elected governor for allowing her to realize that "being an informed voter is the most important thing you do."
A Special Thank You to Governor Walker 
Guest post from a private sector worker
Dear Governor,

I would like to thank you for what you have done for me personally to grow as an informed voter. My story is I grew up in Wisconsin and spent sometime working for Tommy Thompson. At the time, I had no interest in politics, but was putting myself through school and it was a good second job.

Later, I moved to California and signed the recall petition against Gray Davis. I did this because I was at a grocery store and in a hurry. Someone with the petition told me all these horrible things the Governor had done to the state. So I signed. I was a small business owner and only knew that I was trying to make ends meet. But really it didn’t matter so much because I didn’t follow politics and I didn’t vote often.

The next election I voted in was to elect Barack Obama as President. I bought into the idea of Hope and Change and cast my ballot. I can honestly say now that because of you, I understand why I feel the way about our current President as I do. You see before you, I was an ill-informed voter. One who made decisions based on perception rather than reality.

In the days since you took office, I have learned that there are plenty of people willing to pass their days without knowledge.

So getting on to why you have been so important in my life. I have since learned that being an informed voter is the most important thing you can do. I now know that you must research and find out the facts behind what is truly driving policy. So I thank you for that.

I volunteered my time in the depths of winter to the point that I could not feel body parts. Why? Because of you! I gave up weekends, put regular life things on hold. I walked the streets to get out the vote. I met the most incredible people and felt what it was like to stand up. In the freezing drizzle, my bones shook with the cold. I learned at the moment when I was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, that I had a voice. All because of you.

But sadly, I may now be your worst enemy in this ideological fight you think is so important. Why? Because I will continue to inform people of what you do and the reasons behind it. I now know ALEC because of you. Without your style of passing laws in the middle of the night, I would not know the actual laws around passing policy. And honestly, I would have never, ever watched an entire House Oversight Committee hearing.

Yes, now I know who you are, Governor Walker, and what you stand for. To me, that is everything I needed to become the person who will relentlessly give their time to fighting that. So again, I thank you for awaking the intellectual voter in me.

Best of Luck with the indictment!
A private sector worker
 
 

Meet My Secret Twin

(Crossposted  at The Mudflats)

by Jeanne Devon & Heather DuBois Bourenane

I’m a progressive working mom with two kids.

My state had a very regrettable governor foisted upon it.

I decided to speak out and started a blog.

Soon our regrettable governor became infamous, and national news outlets began calling me.

I suddenly found myself on the pages of The New Yorker, The Huffington Post & interviewed by Rachel 
Maddow and Ed Schultz.

I still find it stunning that anyone would consider our governor for a Presidential ticket.

It’s cool that, through social media, I’ve found someone just like me.

Solidarity.

Jeanne in Alaska
Heather in Wisconsin

Has Walker's call for unity already been betrayed by his staff? A letter from Callen Harty on Ciara Matthews





Just three days after Walker's noble call for cooperation and unity, his communications director, Ciara Matthews is already tweeting her own tune, issuing a spiteful, pointless jab that accomplished nothing beyond betraying the sense of cooperation Scott Walker claims the next stage of his administration will bring.  Callen Harty, whose guest posts on MoD never fail to inform and inspire, immediately called this hypocritical move to the governor's attention, with this beautifully restrained and civil open letter, which he published first on his blog, A Single Bluebird, and shares with permission below. If you're unfamiliar with the controversy surrounding Walker's choice of a communications director, you might look here and here for some context (and here and here for more salacious context).




8 June 2012
Dear Governor Walker
Here is it, only three days after you survived the recall election and three days after you stood in front of your supporters and media and told all of Wisconsin that you wanted to put the past behind us and work with Democrats to create jobs and move Wisconsin forward.  Your words sounded great and for those of us who voted for Mayor Barrett what you said was the kind of balm that can sometimes help ease the pain of a stinging loss in a hard-fought election.
You have said in other interviews that you have been humbled and that you have learned some lessons even as difficult as this last year has been.  You said that you would have done things differently and that you would have brought others to the table and you would have been more inclusive.  A politician who can admit that they were wrong and that they have learned lessons from their mistakes is a rare thing to see in our country.  If it is not just idle words I applaud you for it.
You have also said that you want to meet with Democrats, perhaps have some brats and beers together, and begin the difficult task of trying to piece back together the ripped fabric of the state we all love so much.  Again, unless this is empty rhetoric, I can appreciate your willlingness to do this.  I would suggest that you also open yourself to the citizens of the state and include more of us in your consideration as well.  You have made only rare appearances at events where anyone could go and the person who runs a state like Wisconsin really should be more accessible to the people.  You represent us and need to be able to hear our concerns.
All of these things you have said are good.  But it is meaningless if the people around you don’t follow your example  Your supporters created signs that said “Stand With Walker” to show support during the recall election period.  These people need to stand with you now and follow the leader and put divisiveness, anger, and other negative feelings behind them.  A true leader would not allow his followers to detract from his message of cooperation and reconciliation.  This is why I was surprised and upset to see that your Communications Director, Ciara Matthews, tweeted a very harsh message to Democrats (and I presume independents and Republicans who did not support you in this election).
I would be surprised if you haven’t seen it yet, as it is definitely making the rounds.  It read, “No leg. session until 2013 = symbolic state senate majority.  Your one seat accomplishes zero.  Just like your recall efforts.”  This kind of gloating and disrespectful behavior from a key player in your administration is unacceptable and juvenile behavior that should not and cannot be tolerated.  I might expect it from a neighbor who doesn’t like my politics, but not from one of your hired employees.  I presume Ms. Matthews is an adult, but based on the tone of this tweet from someone whose job is communications I question her maturity and her qualifications for such a position.
As the Governor, as the man who is telling Wisconsin that you want us all to move on and work together, you need to talk to Ms. Matthews and she needs to make a public apology.  As the chief executive of this state you should also release a statement acknowledging that this kind of behavior is unacceptable to you and that you truly do want to move past this kind of behavior and will not tolerate it.  If you do not, all the rest of what you have said this week will be seen as empty and meaningless words.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours,
Callen Harty
Monona, WI

Monologue of Despair (and Hope): Reactions to the Recall

7 June 2012
Hi all,

Well. We lost.  And that sucks.

But...we put up the fight of a lifetime and I hope the momentum does not stop here but only strengthens our resolve to get big money out of our politics and put people in charge of moving Wisconsin forward who have the best interests of all of us in mind.

The Isthmus asked me to share my thoughts on Tuesday's results for this week's cover story, "Him Again: Reactions to Scott Walker's Recall Victory."  You can click the link for the edited version of my response, and to read many more that express a range of emotions and ideas from a diverse group of people.

Here's the unedited version of my own response:
After working 16 hours at the polls, I learned Barrett had already conceded before I even got home.  I turned on the radio, and heard Walker claim victory.

I was inconsolable. I was shattered by Walker’s cruel, hypocritical victory speech, which revealed the depths of his megalomania and left me reeling: “People are sick of the attacks.”  His hollow, insulting claim that he plans restore the very dialogue he destroyed hit me like a body blow.  

Despite having put up a fight that will earn a place in history books, the citizen action and self-funded grassroots efforts that captured the world’s attention didn’t stand much of a chance against unlimited campaign contributions, full-time fundraising, and a messaging campaign so massive that the fact that it was dizzyingly full of lies and misrepresentations eventually became irrelevant.

People are sick of the attacks.  

Walker – in true “divide and conquer” form spent the majority of his speech bragging about how his divisive policies and refusal to negotiate prove he’s the kind of leader voters want, who will “stand up and make tough decisions.” Then he had the nerve to claim it’s time to work together.  

Scott “Fundraising IS Governing” Walker has zero intention of working together with anyone who is not handing him a check. We need now to strengthen our resolve to follow the money, and fight hard to keep it out of the politics that are destroying our schools, decimating our proud tradition of civility, and creating a vacuum where even the most massive, spectacular and inspiring display of citizen action is but a mosquito buzzing in ears that hear only the moneyed whispers of those who have shown us that democracy can, in fact, be purchased.  

We are sick of the attacks.  But that does not mean we’re about to stop defending ourselves against them.
Walker got one more thing right last night, and the heartless irony of it left me sobbing:  “Bringing our state together will take some time. There’s just no doubt about it.”
 
There's only one way to go from here.  Forward.

In solidarity,

Heather 


P.S.  I want also to make clear that even though we lost the statewide battle, we definitely won the local one!  

With record voter turnout and registrations, Barrett won by 18% - 6 points more than his victory here in 2010.  And he won big is all the communities that had strong grassroots groups working to inform voters and get out the vote. So we learned one thing at the local level: 

GRASSROOTS ACTION WORKS

And I'm feeling really, really good about that.  

THANK YOU, Sun Prairie voters and all who volunteered to make this happen. We win. Even if we're losers.  Our local minority might want to keep that in mind.