Cards for Kids Delivered to
the Governor
Postcards come to the State Capitol every day, but on January
21, 2003, over 6,000 Cards for Kids were delivered in person
by one hundred parents and educators.
The message on the postcards was simple: "It is time
to change the school-funding system and invest more funds
in our public schools."
Cards for Kids was the brainchild of the Wisconsin Alliance
for Excellent Schools (WAES), a broad-based, statewide coalition
that promotes an adequacy model of school funding. The adequacy
approach to school funding links resources to the needs of
children and the state's academic standards.
Throughout December and January, the cards had been distributed
at PTA events, school board meetings, school-funding presentations,
and other events. Members of the West Allis-West Milwaukee
PTA Council then built the cards into a football-field-length
chain, arranged by municipality with over 250 cities, towns
and villages represented.
WAES partners by the score—including students from
White Lake, WISDOM members from Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha,
school board members from Superior, Tigerton, and Milwaukee,
administrators and PTA leaders and parents from another dozen
districts—took the Cards for Kids chain from the Assembly
Parlor, through Governor Jim Doyle's office, around the Capitol
Rotunda, and into the office of Lieutenant Governor Barbara
Lawton.
Along the way, the chain and its "handlers" attracted
the attention from media and legislators, including Senators
Fred Risser and Robert Wirch, who stopped to discuss the state's
school funding problems. Those carrying the postcards chanted,
"No more cuts" and sang a familiar song about the
"wheels of the bus going 'round and 'round," changing
it only to talk about the wheels falling off when there is
inadequate funding.
The hundred people jammed into the lieutenant governor's
office told Lawton that budget shortfalls created by the inadequacy
of the funding system and ten years of revenue limits were
pushing many school districts to the verge of fiscal and educational
bankruptcy.
The stars of the presentation were three high school students
from White Lake, who told Lawton their school has cut days
off the school year—in accordance with a special waiver
from the state—just to save enough money to preserve
essential school programming.
Cards for Kids were returned from over 250 Wisconsin municipalities,
ranging in size from Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Madison
to Exeland, Phillips, Downing, and St. Germain. While most
the cards were returned from the state's urban centers, large
totals came from Phillips (136), Rhinelander (88), Tigerton
(44), and Butternut (42).
WAES partners also delivered copies of the Cards for Kids
to some of their elected representatives. Those who didn't
get cards Jan. 21 will get them during February. Cards were
returned from all 33 Senate and 96 of the 99 Assembly districts.
After delivering the cards and talking with Lt. Gov. Lawton,
most of the WAES partners gathered at the Great Dane restaurant
for lunch—a lunch that not only symbolized their enthusiasm
for school-funding reform, but also their commitment to creating
a real partnership between rural, urban and suburban districts
from all regions of Wisconsin.
WAES is the only school-funding reform partnership that represents
a broad spectrum of Wisconsin citizens, including the members
of the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers, the Wisconsin PTA,
the Milwaukee Chapters of the NAACP and the American Jewish
Conference, the Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy, the Northern
Tier Uniserv (area representation for WEAC), and a dozen school
boards.
The time at the Great Dane was spent getting to know each
other, swapping stories about mutual problems and challenges,
and coming to the conclusion that members of the coalition
have more in common than they do separating them. Their hope
for school-funding reform, it was decided, will come from
strengthening and broadening WAES.
A statewide meeting of the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent
Schools is planned for February 20 at Monona Terrace in Madison.
The 4 p.m. session will follow a state Capitol lobbying day
sponsored by WISDOM, an umbrella group for faith-based organizations
in southeastern Wisconsin.
Click
here for television coverage from WISC-TV.
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