Notes From Joint Finance Committee Hearing
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 5, 2013
Yesterday, the Joint Finance Committee held it’s first of four public hearings on the state budget bill (Assembly Bill 40) at Greendale High School. The SAA was well-represented with the following school administrators providing testimony: Pat Deklotz, Superintendent, Kettle Moraine; Ted Nietzke, Superintendent, West Bend; Nissan Bar-Lev, Director of Special Education, CESA 7; Erin Green, Business Manager, Greendale; Keith Brightman, Business Manager, Elmbrook; and Blaise Paul, Business Manager, South Milwaukee. Many thanks to these SAA members for their leadership.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Article
Nissan Bar Lev Testimony 040413
Keith Brightman Testimony 040413
The pro-voucher forces were extremely well-represented at the hearing with several speakers and 200+ students and parents in attendance. This heavy presence illustrates how important it is for SAA members to make a strong showing at the next three hearings.
For those of you planning to testify at the Green Bay, Wisconsin Dells or Baldwin hearings, here are my suggestions:
- Get there early. I know the hearings don’t start until 10:00 a.m., but if you wish to speak before noon get there by 7:30 a.m.
- You will only have 2 minutes to testify. There will be no questions from legislators.
- Bring 20 hard copies of your testimony with your full contact information on it for the committee members.
- Use the information in the SAA’s recent Legislative Alert to stay on message. It is very important for us to stay focused.
We need a strong showing at the remaining JFC budget hearings. If you have questions about testifying please call me. Thank you.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Diane Ravitch: Vouchers Don’t Work
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 2, 2013
In a recent post on her blog, Diane Ravitch uses evidence from Milwaukee to conclude: Vouchers Don’t Work!!
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
VOTE Today
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 2, 2013
Make sure you get out to vote today in the Spring General Election for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
As you know, State Representative Don Pridemore is challenging current State Superintendent Tony Evers. The SAA has endorsed Tony Evers for re-election.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Keep Budget Issues in Front of Legislators, Public
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | April 1, 2013
Many SAA members have asked for suggestions on how to keep the private school voucher and school funding issues in front of their legislators and their constituents for the next 10-12 weeks of the budget battle. There are many ways to do it, but I wanted to share just two ideas with the SAA membership today.
First of all, district administrators and board presidents should agree to place “State Budget Update” on every board meeting agenda from now until the end of June. This will provide you with an opportunity to keep the board up-to-date on budget developments and provide the local press with an opportunity to report on the discussion and keep your community updated as well.
Secondly, every time you see a newspaper article supporting our positions on school funding, vouchers or other budget issues, simply copy and send to your legislators. You could simply say something like, “This article speaks to the issues we discussed earlier. I thought you would like to see it. Thanks for your continued efforts on behalf of all of us in your district.”
If you haven’t already used it, here is a great editorial from the Appleton Post Crescent from about a week ago.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Joint Finance Schedules Budget Hearings
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | March 25, 2013
The Joint Finance Committee has scheduled the following hearings on Governor’s Walker’s 2013-15 state budget. All start times are 10:00 am.
The hearing on Wednesday April 10th has been moved from the Crystal Grand Theatre in Lake Delton to the Kalahari Resort, 1305 Kalahari Drive, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
- Thursday, April 4 – Greendale – Greendale High School
- Monday, April 8 – Green Bay – Lambeau Field
- Wednesday, April 10 – Suites 2 & 7 Main Level – Kalahari Resort
- Thursday, April 18 – St. Croix County – Baldwin-Woodville High School
More information to follow. Those SAA members interested in testifying at one of these four hearings should let me know so I can help to coordinate the arrangements for your testimony. Thanks.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »