Click image for more on the book (actually about higher education).
Alex Chilton, “Lost My Job” (click to listen or download).
The song — by the recently departed Alex Chilton – goes out to all the teachers and school personnel in Wisconsin and elsewhere who are being pushed into the ranks of the unemployed by our state’s and our nation’s short-sighted refusal to make the kind of investments in education that are necessary for a strong, healthy and prosperous democracy. Let’s not let that happen in Madison (join the Facebook group “Stand Up for Madison Schools” to get involved and keep up with the latest on the Madison Metropolitan School Budget) and let’s stop it in Wisconsin (sign the Penny for Kids petition and get involved there too).
Here are some links to the latest layoffs:
Appleton Post Crescent, Appleton school board lays off 24 educators for fall.
Appleton Post Crescent, 34 teachers among 50 Menasha school staff facing layoff.
Stevens Point Journal, School Board approves layoff notices to 42 teachers.
For more on recent Wisconsin school cuts see, Hatchets at the Ready — More Wisconsin School Budget News.
There will certainly be more layoffs and cuts as districts work through their budgets, especially where the April 6 referenda fail (look for a post on those soon).
I repeat, this doesn’t have to happen in Madison this year. the Board has the authority to keep cuts at $1.2 million. Tell them to use it: Board@madison.k12.wi.us.
Thomas J. mertz
AMPS 