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State Budget Video Alert: Your Response Needed ASAP!

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 13, 2015

SAA members please watch this important 5 minute video alert on late breaking state budget developments.  Portions of the video alert, including legislator contact information, appear below in text form.

This alert is a follow-up to the SAA Legislative Alert that went out on Tuesday, May 5th.

First, let me update you on the Budget Process:

  1. Tomorrow, the Joint Finance Committee will take up the $211.2 million in new school levy tax credits. SAA members need to encourage JFC members to put this funding into a form that schools can spend on the educational needs of the children they serve.
  2. The remaining key K-12 education issues are expected to be taken up by JFC on Tuesday, May 19th.

The feedback that I am receiving inside the Capitol clearly indicates that SAA advocacy is having an impact on this budget process.  And I implore you to act once again on behalf of the children you serve.

I urge every single SAA member to contact the Joint Finance Committee members and your own legislators in the next 24 hours.  Those of you comfortable with contacting these legislative offices via phone, I encourage you to do so.  Those of you more comfortable with email, go for it.

We have provided contact information for the JFC members.  For your convenience in contacting your own legislators, we have provided links to the Senate Directory, Assembly Directory as well as Who Are My Legislators.

Here Are Your Talking Points:

  1. First, thank them for the positive comments about restoring the $127 million cut to the per pupil categorical aid.
  2. Emphasize that restoring that cut still only gets public schools back to a freeze in allowable revenues. We need an inflationary increase in per pupil revenues to meet the needs of students.
  3. Oppose all private school voucher expansion proposals in the budget. The current under-funding of our public schools shows we simply cannot afford two systems of education in Wisconsin.
  4. Oppose all independent charter school expansion proposals in the budget. These proposals will siphon state aid away from public schools and likely result in property tax increases.

I also encourage you to use the information in the SAA State Budget Priorities in your communications.

I want to also call your attention to the news release we issued this morning.  I think we should all find alarming the projections that Wisconsin will soon fall below the national average in per pupil spending, if current trends remain unchanged.  You may wish to use some of the points in this news release to encourage your lawmakers to support additional funding for Wisconsin school children.

I know you are all so very busy, but I need you to make these contacts as soon as possible.

Let’s get it done.  Thank you.

Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update, SAA Video Alerts | No Comments »

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