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Calls WEAC "crybabies"
Here's snips from his letter to the WEAC President:
June 17, 2005
Stan Johnson, President
Wisconsin Education Association Council
P.O. Box 8003
Madison, WI 53708-8003
HAND-DELIVERED
Dear Mr. Johnson:
I was unable to attend the WEAC lobby day at the Capitol yesterday, as I was in my
district holding meetings. After conversing with several members of the Legislature
about contacts they and their staff had with WEAC representatives and teachers, I was
mortified. Literally hundreds of groups have a stake in this budget and they, like WEAC,
came to the Capitol or called their elected officials to offer their suggestions. In my
tenure, I do not recall any group that used the aggressive, threatening tactics that WEAC
did or shamelessly used children as political pawns. I am not sure what this strategy was
supposed to accomplish, but it left many of us, myself included, feeling that it is time for
parents and taxpayers alike to know exactly how your organization operates.
As you already know, Governor Doyle introduced a budget that included a $1.8 billion
structural deficit, $879 million in transfers, $2.3 billion in new spending, $1 billion in
new borrowing and countless tax hikes. The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) brought
much needed fiscal sanity by giving schools a $458 million increase, and this is more
than two and a half times the increase local schools received in the last budget. Just so
we are clear, Wisconsin is spending more on education than it ever has before.
Forty percent of the entire state budget goes to K-12 education, and this comes directly
out of the pockets of the hardworking taxpayers all across the state. The JFC budget will
increase education by 8.7 percent over the biennium. Most Wisconsin taxpayers would
be grateful to have an increase like that in their family budget.
If your organization is interested in saving money, I would suggest that you will stop
opposing legislative efforts to give local school boards more flexibility in providing
teachers with health care benefits. While this might reduce the stranglehold of WEAC’s
insurance arm, WEA Trust, has on providing insurance to school districts, opening these
contracts up to competitive bidding will result in savings to taxpayers, flexibility for
administrators and--most importantly--lower cost benefits for your members, freeing up
additional funds under QEO to be used for salary increases.
I would expect that your members would be interested in cooperating with members of
the State Legislature to provide an honest, balanced budget. Instead of pitting school
children against senior citizens, your organization should be grateful for this historic
increase that JFC provided.
I understand that WEAC is a union, and the job of a union is to get the best salary and
benefits possible for its members. Perhaps it is time WEAC stopped lying to the people
of Wisconsin and admit what anyone who is paying attention already knows—all WEAC
cares about is putting as much of the taxpayers money into their pockets and those of
their members. It is time for your union and members to stop hiding behind the school
children.
On a personal note, I was given a message by a school superintendent in my district
threatening to remove me from office if I voted in favor of this budget. Just for the
record, I plan on voting in favor of this budget. My constituents did not elect me to cave
into threats and strong-arm tactics of any organization. I have confidence in our teachers
and school districts that they will be able to continue to give our kids the top notch
education that they are accustomed to.
Sincerely,
ALAN J. LASEE
Senate President
1st Senate District
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