LA CROSSE – Senator Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) offered the Democratic weekly radio address today. In her radio message, Sen. Shilling expressed concern with the underfunding of local public schools and multi-million dollar giveaways to special interests.

"Rather than falling further behind, Democrats proposed restoring the Republican cuts and investing in our children's' future. Our plan would have strengthened special education programs, boosted transportation aid and provided additional resources to combat childhood poverty. While this forward-looking plan would have put our state back on a path to success, Republicans opted instead to sellout Wisconsin’s public schools and reward the special interests who are backing Gov. Walker’s presidential ambitions. " - Sen. Jennifer Shilling

The audio file of this week’s address can be found here:
http://media2.legis.wisconsin.gov/multimedia/Sen32/shillingradio5.20.15.mp3

A written transcript of the address is below:

"Hi, I’m State Senator Jennifer Shilling with this week's Democratic radio address. As we work to expand economic opportunities and provide our children with a quality education, funding for our local schools needs to be our top priority.

"Unfortunately, Republicans have enacted historic cuts to our local schools over the past four years. State support is so low that many schools are increasing class sizes, cutting programs and relying on referendums just to keep the lights on. And now, instead of restoring the funding they cut from our schools, Republicans are earmarking more taxpayer dollars for voucher school special interests. These misplaced priorities continue to put our children at a disadvantage and jeopardize our ability to compete economically.

"Rather than falling further behind, Democrats proposed restoring the Republican cuts and investing in our children's' future. Our plan would have strengthened special education programs, boosted transportation aid and provided additional resources to combat childhood poverty. While this forward-looking plan would have put our state back on a path to success, Republicans opted instead to sell out Wisconsin’s public schools and reward the special interests who are backing Gov. Walker’s presidential ambitions.

"These are the wrong priorities for our state and it’s time we start investing in our core values. We must do better if we want to expand economic opportunities and strengthen the middle class. After four years of cuts, we need to make children, not special interests, our top priority. Thank you."