Happy Saturday, Pencil Busters! Today, we catch up with the incredible work the Wisconsin Public Education Network is doing, led by Executive Director Heather DuBois Bourenane. With 86 of Wisconsin's 421 public school districts already going to referenda in the spring elections, WPEN's been busy. They held a Day of Action at the state capitol on February 28th, amplifying the voices of educators, and advocating for all of us. Watch this powerful video, where you can see the jaw-dropping unrolling of a scroll with the names of each district forced into referendum in the past two years. For the past 16 year, public schools in Wisconsin faced consecutive budget cuts. Our schools, our students, and our communities deserve SO much better. The Wisconsin Public Education Network does the invaluable work of advocating for our schools year-round, day in and out. Get involved and be a part!
If advocating for public schools is important to you- and we hope it is- make sure to vote in the election for Superintendent of Public Instruction. The general election is April 1st, with incumbent public school "champion-in-chief" Dr. Jill Underly facing a pro-voucher challenger. Check your registration and all items on your ballot, including vital school board races, at myvote.wi.gov.
BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of our episodes, and for information on partnering with us! For information on all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!