UPDATE from Stop Special Needs Voucher: Early Voting Starts Today, October 20!

0 views
Skip to first unread message

Stop Special Needs Vouchers

unread,
Oct 20, 2014, 9:24:32 AM10/20/14
to J Juhnke
Greetings from Stop Special Needs Vouchers -- please forward this message widely!

=====

Early Voting Starts Monday October 20; Election Day is Tuesday Nov. 4

Early voting begins TODAY in Wisconsin at your municipal clerk's office, weekdays only between now and Oct. 31! Call your clerk's office for hours; Madison and Milwaukee will be open the maximum hours allowable by law, 8am-7pm M-F.

NO Photo ID Needed!
https://myvote.wi.gov/


​
=====

Keep Spreading the Word on Harmful Special Needs Vouchers!

We're two weeks and one day away from Election Day 2014 in Wisconsin!

We've been warned that special needs vouchers are "teed up" for the 2015 legislative session (per Sen. Scott Fitzgerald last spring). 

What response did YOUR candidates make to the Stop Special Needs Vouchers candidate survey?  Here's the question:

Do you support the creation of a statewide special needs voucher program in Wisconsin, as proposed in Wisconsin’s past two legislative sessions? Why, or why not?

You can look up your candidates' responses, along with past votes and co-sponsorships and statements on special needs vouchers, online at 
http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/candidates/

Please help spread the word!  Click the link, check Assembly and Senate candidates for your district, and share what you find -- tweet it, Facebook it, e-mail it.  Many of the quotes lend themselves well to a letter to the editor!

Stop Special Needs Vouchers has been highlighting candidate statements and votes on our Facebook page as well.  It's easy to share from there: 
https://www.facebook.com/StopSpecialNeedsVouchers

Every share, tweet, e-mail and conversation helps!

=====

Candidate Statements in Opposition to Special Needs Vouchers

From Assembly Candidate Mary Arnold, whose incumbent opponent John Jagler co-sponsored Special Needs Vouchers in both of the past two session (but did not respond to the SSNV survey), in Assembly District 37:

“I agree with the Stop Special Needs Vouchers grassroots group’s opposition to the creation of a statewide special needs voucher program in Wisconsin, as proposed by Assemblyman John Jagler who is my opponent in my campaign for the 37th Assembly District seat. Such a proposal would neither serve the best interest of special needs students nor those of Wisconsin public school districts.

This bill is often framed as offering families a choice, but not all choices are good ones. As I understand it, this proposal would subtract funding from public schools and give it to unaccountable private schools which are not required to provide the same level of services to special needs students as their public school counterparts are.

I am opposed to any expansion of private unaccountable unproven voucher programs in Wisconsin which so far, after 20 years in the Milwaukee area, have not performed any better than public schools. Why we are continuing to go down the road of privatizing public schools is beyond me."


​

From Assembly Candidate George Ferriter, whose incumbent opponent Keith Ripp voted "Aye" on 2011 AB110 but did not respond to the SSNV survey, in Assembly District 42:

“Article X of the Wisconsin State Constitution provides for ‘the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years’. This requirement identifies that our public schools must provide educational opportunities for all, inclusive of those students with special needs. The letter from the Department of Justice reads, in part, ‘The State cannot, by delegating the education function to private voucher schools, place students beyond the reach of the federal laws that require Wisconsin to eliminate disability discrimination in its administration of public programs.’ These statements make the issue clear: The state should not be supporting private schools in any case, and that special needs must not be discriminated against in any public program. To the extent that voucher schools exist in Wisconsin, these schools must comply with federal law. In principle, I am opposed to privatization of the Wisconsin’s school system via voucher schools, and am also opposed to any illegal discrimination in those voucher schools that exist, including those that accept special needs students.”


​

Many more statements can be found at http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/candidates/

======

Vouchers and Special Education in the News

More Wisconsin parents speaking out on voucher expansion!  Press release Oct. 6:
"A grassroots coalition, NoVouchers, today announced its volunteer members will be working to stop the expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools in rural communities in Northern Wisconsin."  Contact them at NoVou...@cox.net to be added to their mailing list!

--------

State paid $139 million to schools terminated from voucher program since 2004  (Wisconsin State Journal, Oct. 12)

--------

Mary Burke and Scott Walker were each invited to submit a column to the Capital Times on education priorities. Gov. Walker declined to do so; Ms. Burke's statement is at the link. (Capital Times, Oct. 8)

=====

For complete current coverage of stories as they appear, "like" our Facebook page at 
https://www.facebook.com/StopSpecialNeedsVouchers

For an introduction to Stop Special Needs Vouchers, visit our new website at:
http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/about/

For a list of past SSNV press coverage, visit our In the News page at
http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/in-the-news/

 Stop Special Needs Vouchers is on Twitter:  @StopSNV

To subscribe to these mailings, or to unsubscribe, send e-mail to
stopspecialneedsvouchers@gmail.com





Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages