Walker's Legacy: A Divided Wisconsin

An emotional and closely divided election is a fitting end to Scott Walker’s contentious career as Wisconsin’s governor this past Tuesday night.

"HE'S OUT, IT'S OFFICIAL. OMG I'M CRYING," texted my friend's son, who was just 11 years old when Walker dropped "the bomb" on Wisconsin. "My first ever vote helped take out the man who uprooted our family."

An uprooted state will be Walker’s legacy. The formally folksy feel of Wisconsin was shattered by Walker’s “divide and conquer” politics. His policies drove a wedge between families and communities across Wisconsin. Walker's Act 10 and his big money politics upended small family budgets and many lives in big ways.

Walker’s politics are, indeed, personal. He and his GOP cohorts have gutted my teaching profession, sent my aforementioned friend and his family packing, cost me over $30k in take-home pay over his two terms, weakened my kids’ and students’ public schools, and heaped enormous stress on my family. In Walker’s Wisconsin, teachers and their families do more, for less, and with less.

Walker exploited the 2008 recession to scapegoat public employees. He bragged about balancing the state budget on the backs of public educators, like me, and state workers while giving a free pass to the reckless investors responsible for the recession that caused Wisconsin’s budget problems.

Walker abused the power of our state’s highest office for personal political gain and his presidential ambitions. His attacks on teachers and state workers and their unions were mostly payback to his big money donors.

Furthermore, Walker diverted precious tax dollars to a failed school voucher program, his business supporters, and foreign companies.

...Enough.

With gerrymandered GOP control of the state legislature, newly-elected Tony Evers and his team won’t be able to undo the Walker injustices, but this election will hopefully mark a defined turn, turn, turn in Wisconsin's state politics. Enough with the uprooting. It is "a time to plant."

Wisconsin's divisive politics of the past eight years belong to Walker. He can pack them up with his belongings. Together, somehow, we move forward Wisconsin.

The Air Still Stinks

After a trail race last winter, I gagged entering a park restroom serving as a makeshift locker room for sweaty, muddy runners.

“It smells like crap in here,” I complained as I contemplated an immediate exit. However, with freezing temperatures outside, I had no choice but to endure the stench. Trying to ignore my odor-induced nausea, I cornered some space for my backpack and quickly got to work cleaning up.

As I went about unpacking, drying off, changing, and eventually packing up my race gear, I seemed to forgot about the foul fumes. I didn’t feel great, but ultimately my nose lost notice of the noxious smells.

When I managed to exit the raunchy restroom, however, a sudden breath of the crisp, clean forest air instantly enlivened and enlightened me. With that intake of fresh air, I realized how lousy I felt and how I had simply acclimated to the cesspool conditions.

I am reminded this week of my cesspool experience as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker officially announces another bid for reelection. Teaching in Walker’s Wisconsin is like being trapped in a noxious locker room. Over the last seven years many public educators have acclimated to Walker’s world and maybe even suppressed memories of the initial bomb, but it still stinks what Walker and his GOP cohorts have done to public schools and professional educators in Wisconsin.

As part of his grandstanding this week, Walker is sure to insensitively boast of how unintimidated he was balancing the state budget on the backs of school teachers and other public employees. Of course, Walker will ignore mentioning that the state budget deficit was largely the fault of a recession brought on by reckless investors, who were responsible for the 2000’s housing bubble and subsequent bust. Teachers were never the problem, yet we were scapegoated for Republican Party gains.

Walker is also sure to mask the stench he’s dealt with filthy lies about how public schools have improved under his reign. In Trump style, the lies are sure to be repeated over and over during his campaigning. Many will acclimate to the lies, yep, like many get used to foul fumes in a restroom.

The truth is, with the passage of Walker’s Act 10, Wisconsin’s professional educators are locked into a crappy system. Working conditions and professional pay have declined. The future security we were promised in collectively bargained and mutually agreed contracts is going, going, and mostly gone. A teacher shortage looms as the exodus of colleagues continues. Teacher training is being gutted and fast tracked for easy licensure. Precious public school monies have been diverted to mostly, less needy private school students in the form of vouchers. And public school funding has been slashed. This stinks for public school teachers, parents, and students.

Personally, I’m down tens of thousands of dollars in take home pay, since Walker’s Act 10 took effect. My school district has not even been able to maintain annual cost of living adjustments for its staff. Rising healthcare premiums and costs have cut into meager salary increases. A financial advisor has calculated that my earning power will never exceed what I made five years ago. I, like many of my colleagues, are back to working second jobs to cover family budget shortfalls. While my professional pay has declined, my workload has increased. In Walker’s Wisconsin, I am doing more for much less. This stinks.

Much like what Trump’s words have brought to America, Walker’s wind has brought in an air of animosity to Wisconsin. Even though many public educators have acclimated, Walker’s divide-and-conquer campaign has become the climate of Wisconsin.

Nonetheless, dedicated educators breathe through Walker’s foul air to keep Wisconsin’s public schools from asphyxiating. But oh, how we yearn for a breath of fresh air to enliven us and enlighten others.

Embrace Yesterday and Today for Tomorrow

Monday I “officially” report for my 11th year of teaching in Janesville’s public schools. This year, however, will be my first season of servicing Janesville without a negotiated contract between the district and my teachers union.

Janesville’s teachers union is one of the last holdouts in Wisconsin to be subjected to Gov. Walker’s discriminatory Act 10 legislation, which ends most collective bargaining rights for almost all public employees. Even though the constitutionality of Act 10 is still in question and now before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, my district and union are forced to stumble together into uncharted territory this upcoming school year.

As we stagger forward, the historian in me finds value in looking back. History matters. I concur with Einstein, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." Better understanding the past allows us to move forward better.

A Biased Letter From a Public School Product

Jenni Dye, an attorney and a Dane County Board Supervisor, let me republish below her open letter to the Janesville Board of Education. She blogs regularly at More Fine Print*. 

A Biased Letter

I submitted this letter today, with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. I am sharing it with you because I am truly saddened by what things have come to in Wisconsin and because I think as we deal with contracts, and are often caught up in their financial components, we shouldn’t lose sight of how public education is about students and successful communities.

Dear members of the Janesville Board of Education: