Public-school advocates gather in La Crosse

On Monday, August 5, parents, teachers, administrators and public-school experts and advocates from around the state will meet at La Crosse Central High School for the Wisconsin Public Education Network’s fifth annual Summer Summit. Gov. Tony Evers and Superintendent of Public Instruction Carolyn Stanford Taylor are scheduled to address the group in the morning, and panels throughout the day focused on the theme “What’s Best for Kids,” with sessions on school funding, working effectively with elected officials, racial disparities, community schools, privatization and the “teacher exodus.”

The Wisconsin Public Education Network, a nonpartisan statewide coalition of public education advocates, lobbied elected officials around the state with its #VotePublic campaign, held meetings to advocate for a pro-public-education budget and led a march to the Capitol to demand fair funding.

“Wisconsin elected a lifelong public educator to the office of governor,” the group states on its website, “and passed a budget that lifted a ten-year freeze on special education funding, but failed to close the funding gap and deliver on promises made by the Blue Ribbon Commission on school funding.”

“We know we’ve helped changed the conversation, but we’re still waiting for a change in results.”

With the fight over Wisconsin’s gerrymandered voting map and the recent lawsuit filed against Evers for his partial vetoes of the state budget in the news, the big question on education advocates’ minds is how to achieve a pro-public-school agenda given the political realities in the state, said conference organizer Heather DuBois Bourenane.