November 3, 2021: Mequon-Thiensville Board Members Survive Recall; Pro-Public Groundswell At Baraboo Annual Meeting

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Read on for news that matters to Wisconsin kids and their public schools, action opportunities you can take right now, and local action spotlights.

NEWS THAT MATTERS TO KIDS & PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  • SCHOOL BOARD RECALL FAILS
    Voters in the Mequon-Thiensville School District voted to retain all four incumbent school board members who were subject to a recall election. This recall effort made the most progress of any in the past year in Wisconsin—no others have gathered enough signatures to force a vote—meaning no school board recalls have been successful this year. Mequon-Thiensville voters affirmed their support for local leadership at about 60% margins.

  • ORGANIZED MONEY FUELS SCHOOL BOARD ATTACKS
    A number of reports (Wisconsin Public Radio, Urban Milwaukee and more) have outlined the established groups across the country, many of which are aligned with partisan politics, putting money into organizing school board recall efforts and protests against COVID-19 safety measures, curriculum, and more.

  • RURAL WISCONSIN PRIVATE VOUCHER SCHOOL
    The Antigo School District has sold an old elementary school in Mattoon, WI to a religious nonprofit after a lengthy and expensive legal battle over the building in which the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) represented the religious nonprofit, Shepherd’s Watch, and lost an initial court dispute over ownership of the building. The nonprofit intends to open a private, religious school paid for by taxpayers statewide via the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program.

  • SEN. BALLWEG, OTHERS VOTE AGAINST ANTI-TRANSGENDER SPORTS BILL
    Republican State Sen. Joan Ballweg joined two of her Democratic colleagues (Sen. Melissa Agard and Sen. LaTonya Johnson) in voting against the advancement of bills that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports in high school and college. The bills emerged from the Committee on Human Services on 2-3 votes; Sen. Ballweg cited, among other concerns, her background in suicide prevention for her vote.

ACTION OPPORTUNITIES

LOCAL ACTION SPOTLIGHT: UPDATES FROM AROUND THE STATE

Northwest Wisconsin

Our friends at Progress North testified powerfully in favor of fair, nonpartisan legislative maps in Madison last Thursday. Fair maps mean fair funding for our public schools!

Southwest Wisconsin/Statewide

We were thrilled to visit the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance (WiRSA) Conference in Wisconsin Dells in late October, where public school professionals and advocates from across the state gathered to work together. Special congratulations to Fruit Broadcasting (Ron and Beth Fruit) from Ithaca, WI for receiving WiRSA’s Rural Advocacy Award!

Northeast Wisconsin

Public school supporters in Manitowoc are displaying a growing number of “Public Schools Unite Us” yard signs as they rally support for safe, equitable public schools amid an effort to recall school board members.

Southeast Wisconsin

Our pro-public friends in the Mequon-Thiensville School District rallied a huge groundswell of support for public schools over the past month, including Nancy Urbani and others with Support MTSD. Their positive, nonpartisan message drew thousands of supporters in a short time.

CHANGEMAKER APPRECIATION

Special spotlight on BARABOO SCHOOL DISTRICT current and former board members, educators, families, community advocates and more! At the district’s annual meeting in October, hundreds of public school champions showed up to support teaching the truth, school safety measures, educators’ hard work—and ultimately voted overwhelmingly to raise school board salaries. Local organizing that leads with our values creates real change!

One moment of particular inspiration: the public comments from Kristin White Eagle, a Ho-Chunk Nation legislator, at that meeting. “The…goal is to instill a sense of pride, identity, and inclusion in all of our children,” she said. “As I stand here today in this beautifully renovated school, built on the ancestral lands of my tribe, I know the history of the Ho-Chunk people is complex and can be difficult for people to hear about and discuss. But it needs to be remembered.”

PARTNER & ACTION RESOURCES

About the author: Christian Phelps

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