State Legislators will joined at the Capitol Tuesday by other state and local elected officials, along with advocates for public education to call for the support of common sense funding bills for our children’s futures.

Madison – Sen. Chris Larson, Rep. Mandela Barnes, and Rep. Daniel Riemer will join parents, community members, and educational leaders from all over Wisconsin who are uniting at the state Capitol on Tuesday, June 30 at 11:00 am in the Senate Parlor. They’ll be gathering to call on lawmakers to listen to the people of Wisconsin, who have spoken so loudly and clearly, and to make public education their top priority when finalizing the 2015-2017 budget.

Statewide, we have heard unprecedented numbers of citizens and education advocates voicing their concerns that the PK-12 public education budget dangerously underserves the 870,000 children who attend Wisconsin’s public schools. With a freeze in funding for the first year of the biennium and a below-inflation increase in the second year, the budget proposed by the Joint Committee on Finance puts Wisconsin below the national average for per-pupil spending. Policy items in the budget diminish the quality of education for our students and put our most vulnerable students at risk.

Supporters of local public schools will also applaud legislators introducing two pro-education bills: to increase special education reimbursement rates (LRB-2357) and to lift the revenue caps that stand in the way of local-level decision making and control (LRB-2356). These common sense bills directly respond to some of the key concerns raised by districts across the state, and represent the sort of proactive measures that the people of this state have long been demanding.

What: A media event to call on all legislators to vote in favor of a budget that provides fair funding for public schools, announce the formal introduction of two pro-public education bills with more than 40 co-sponsors, and to reject un-vetted and dangerous policy items in the state budget.

Who: Sen. Larson, Rep. Riemer, Rep. Barnes, David Polashek, Superintendent, Oconto Falls School District, Jill Gaskell, School Board Member, Pecatonica Area School District, along with other parents, advocates, and organizations who are supporters of Wisconsin’s public schools.

Where: Senate Parlor, Wisconsin State Capitol

When: Tuesday, June 30, 2015; 11:00 am