Public education has been, and will continue to be, a vital investment for the future of Milwaukee's communities. I am proud of our state's long history of supporting education at all levels -- from early childhood programs and our K-12 system, through our colleges and universities. At all levels, a strong public education system is essential to creating a trained workforce and preparing our youth with the tools they need to succeed throughout life.
This past session, I stood up against Gov. Walker's extreme attacks on public education and:
* Fought to preserve vital funding for our local public schools, which Gov. Walker and his allies slashed by $1.6 billion while upping taxpayer money for private voucher schools to nearly $300 million - leading to increased class sizes and drastic program cuts
* Put forward the Save Our Schools initiative, which would fairly and affordably restore critical funding to our public schools and lower property taxes by reducing the share of education costs imposed on local communities
* Headed efforts to restore severe funding cuts for Milwaukee's area colleges and universities
* Fought to fix the school voucher funding formula, which places a significant financial burden of voucher schools solely on the backs of Milwaukee taxpayers due to the state's inaccurate counting of all students
* Authored the Voucher Accountability and Child Safety Act, which would require teachers, administrators and owners of private schools participating in taxpayer-funded school voucher programs to undergo the same background checks now required of all public school teachers
I have devoted much of my adult life to education as a mother and nursing instructor. I recognize that our investment in quality public education is absolutely critical for our current and future generations to come, and I pledge to continue fighting for this key priority within the Milwaukee area by continuing to serve as State Representative.