Tonight I attended two panel discussions that were part of the Wisconsin People’s Assembly . This event was organized by Wisconsin Wave and Wisconsin Resists. It also included participants from many other organizations. Wisconsin Wave is a force opposed to “corporatization and austerity, for democracy and shared prosperity for all.” This is a 2 day event in Madison, Wisconsin that is bringing together Wisconsinites from all walks of life to discuss the Wisconsin movement, learn from each other, and plan for what’s next.
I tweeted a-ha moments during the panels, but I’d like to reflect a little further.
UNDERSTANDING AUSTERITY: Wisconsin in a global perspective
(Panelists included Phil Gasper, Stefania Sani, Steve Horn, Tony Schultz, Yedda Ligocki, and Ben Manski)
This discussion started with some of the history of “austerity” in our country and the idea of “trickle down economics” by Phil Gaspers. He concisely stated a fear I’ve had in the back of my head. We have been seeing continued attacks on social programs since Reagan (?). These attacks hit the poorest citizens the hardest. At the same time, our government is providing tax breaks to the wealthiest people and corporations. They say this is necessary to solve the deficit and in order to grown our economy and create jobs. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. This will not create jobs. It will, however, make people more and more desperate and therefore be easier and easier to bust unions and drive down wages allowing corporations to increase profits. This is obvious in the Wisconsin union battle. When we fight back, some have liked to remind us that there are plenty of unemployed people who would love to have our jobs and our benefits.
Tony Schultz, a farmer in Athens, Wisconsin also spoke. He is a member of Wisconsin Farmer’s Union and Family Farm Defenders. He is a powerful speaker who does a great job of connecting all the issues. He spoke about the growth of huge corporate farms and how these have wiped out many small family farms in Wisconsin. On a positive note, he sees hope in the future of small family farms. He’s seen some able to prosper by selling directly to people through Farmer’s Markets and CSAs! By the way, we have a GREAT farmer’s market here in Madison. It is “the largest producer-only” farmer’s market in the country. I was inspired when earlier in the day Schultz spoke about all of the organizing going on in his small, rural area to fight the budget cuts. He said that if the cuts to public education go through as currently planned, the district would lose 22 teachers. They would not longer have AP classes, foreign language, Agriculture programs, and others. Students graduating from this high school would not be able to graduate with credits needed to go to college since foreign language is almost always a requirement.
When Ben Manski introduced the next speaker he said something like,”they first squeeze us and then impose a corporatization agenda upon us. Nowhere is this more evident right now then in what is happening with our public schools.”
Yedda Ligocki is a Social Studies teacher in Montello, Wisconsin. She spoke about her school district already struggles and has had to make many cuts and they have no more “unessentials” that they can cut. Teachers are already paying out of their own pockets for basic materials such as tissues and pencils. More and more students are living below poverty. On top of the proposed budget cuts, SB22 proposes to expand charter schools in Wisconsin. This will also take money away from public schools. In a snapshot, SB22 creates a charter school authorizing board. This board contains 6 people that are appointed – 2 by the governor and 2 by each of the Fitzgerald brothers. This board would oversee 2B Charter Schools. These charter schools are independent charter schools that are not affiliated with a school district. These charter schools could be started by non-profit organizations. They may or may not have the best interest of students in mind. My biggest objection to these specific type of charter schools is that they remove the democratic process. There is not an elected school board. There are many other problems with expanding charter schools without careful thought and meaningful input of educators, students, parents, and the community. That, however, is another blog.
educator4wi 