In a press release and letter to Rep. Donald Pridemore, chairperson of the Assembly Education Reform Committee, Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D-Verona) expressed her disappointment that he had not scheduled a hearing on Assembly Joint Resolution 35 (AJR35), which calls on the state to change the school-funding system by July 1, 2009.
“I am disappointed in Representative Pridemore’s continued excuses for turning his back on students, educators and administrators desperate for debate on school funding. I have been told that Representative Pridemore has not scheduled Assembly Joint Resolution 35 for a public hearing because he has yet to receive a formal request from my office.
“This is nothing but a petty partisan excuse; he is making up rules and placing the blame elsewhere. I was hopeful at the beginning of this legislative session that we would be able to act together as legislators invested in education instead of continuing these political games. I have now formally requested a public hearing for AJR 35 which calls upon the legislature to make changes to the school funding formula by July of 2009.”
“If Representative Pridemore isn’t even willing to hold a public hearing on this Resolution, I find it hard to believe he has any intention at all to “bring about meaningful reforms” that will help our education system or any intention of running this committee in a “fair and impartial fashion” as he wrote to me in January.”
In a letter to Pridemore, Pope-Roberts talked about the many phone calls, e-mails, and letters from all over Wisconsin asking that a hearing be scheduled on AJR35.
Please take a couple of minutes to contact Rep. Pridemore. He can be telephoned at 608-267-2367; faxed at 608-282-3699; e-mailed at rep.pridemore@legis.wisconsin.gov; or written to at State Capitol, P.O. Box 8953, Madison 53708. Make sure to ask him to copy your message to the members of the Assembly Education Reform Committee.
Robert Godfrey
AMPS 