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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Joint Finance Continues The Assault On Wisconsin’s Kids « Larry Miller's Blog

Joint Finance Continues The Assault On Wisconsin’s Kids « Larry Miller's Blog

Joint Finance Continues The Assault On Wisconsin’s Kids

On Friday the Joint Finance Committee agreed to reduce funding cuts to public education by approximately 12 %. Alberta Darling (and company) is trying to give a new face to the massive slashing of public education funds. This will prove meaningless as Darling faces recall for her misconduct as a legislator.
Following is a letter from “I Love My Public Schools” in response to the Joint Finance Committee’s decision.
Dear Public School Supporter:
Do you have 20 minutes, and a computer? Please write a letter to the editor this weekend to address the Joint Finance Committee’s vote on Friday to defund public education statewide.
The JFC agreed, along party lines, to reduce funding to Wisconsin public schools by $1.6 billion over the biennium, instead of the $1.7 billion Scott Walker had proposed. They returned about $100 million to the state



Cuts-only budget is the wrong choice

By Robert Kraig and Ken Taylor May 28, 2011 MJS Op-ed
The central premise of Gov. Scott Walker’s devastating budget cuts is that the state’s fiscal crisis is making him do it.
The governor claims he has no choice but to raise taxes on low-income workers while slashing education, health care, community supports for seniors and people with disabilities, mass transit and other core investments that promote economic opportunity and freedom for all Wisconsinites to live independent and fulfilling lives.
To test the governor’s assertion that these are necessary choices, we convened some of the top budget experts in the state to examine whether it is possible to balance the state budget without making crippling cuts.
Participants in the process included the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. Our best and brightest