Let’s get this straight: A “missed-call” for school closings on a cold day (and the following day) brings out talk radio, letters to the editor, TV news reporters, senior citizens, parents, students ,and just about anyone else with an opinion on what “shoulda/coulda been done…” And the comments generally are mean-spirited, personal, emotional, confrontational, and second-guessing in nature.
People, get a grip on priorities!
Where is the news coverage of the financial budget challenges facing schools all across Wisconsin? Where is the public outrage at the school program cuts being reviewed right here/right now in Waukesha? Where are the immediate “solutions” to this from the lawmakers and naysayers? What are the doable “fixes” which respect fixed-income taxpayers while maintaining a quality level of education? Why are the school funding opponents and State lawmakers great at telling the public what’s wrong without offering a legal, timely, workable plan of salvaging education as we know it today?
My gosh…it’s easy for the critics to blame teachers and their benefits; administrators and their staff; maintenance budgets (remember when they used to do preventative maintenance?), curriculums that are unfunded mandates from the State and Federal Government (“No Child Left Behind” anyone?), the School Board for not making better decisions (there are no “right” decisions anymore), and so on. It’s also easy and convenient for critics to say “The schools get enough money”. Let them back that rationale up with their own plan for education which is legal, compliant with today’s funding realities, and addresses the needs of education both today and tomorrow.
The convenient truth is: The critics of school funding and State politicians are “talking the talk - not walking the walk” when it comes to finding answers to rising costs, responsible tax rates, and the need to educate our kids to a good standard. And that’s not sitting well these days. In fact…
…My kids will have completed their public education in Waukesha after this year. Yet I am reaching a slow boil over this issue and am choosing to go public with my anger! It is outrageous that our local State Representatives literally run from education issues because it could impact their “electability”... People are growing angry that these policy-making people won’t accept their responsibility to “fix” what’s broke at the State level thereby effectively hiding from it by blaming the “other party”, the teachers, the tax rate, their polls, etc… There is extreme frustration with the lack of bi-partisanship problem-solving for this long “overdue for overhaul” issue… We should shake our heads with personal disappointment that our regionally-elected State representatives put their own elected careers well ahead of the needs of the people who put them in office (remember Chvala, Jensen, Foti, Schultz?)…
Back to the underlying reason for these comments: Programs, staffing, teachers, extracurriculars, maintenance, and more are being reviewed “right now” for cuts in this year’s Waukesha School District budget with even bigger cuts due every year thereafter. There is an extreme urgency for public outcry as these cuts will… not could, will impact thousands of students every day – not for 1 or 2 days – but for years to come!
Politicians – Listen up!
We all want and need a responsible, conservative tax rate in Waukesha! (Duhhh…) School taxes are as big a part of the local tax rate as they will be for years to come. Accepting that, I am aghast that our elected State officials continue with the simplistic “Raise your money via referendum…” Great – recommend a process that has proven to turn “neighbor against neighbor” while keeping these politicians in Madis
