Up North Podcast

In Patti and Kirk’s last episode covering the "Right Wing War on Education,” they talked to Dountonia Batts and Dr. Preston Green about the issue of race as it relates to voucher schools. This is important because private school vouchers are often presented as opportunities specifically advantageous for students of color. So it is fair to ask … Are they? Hint hint, they aren’t.

On this episode of The Right Wing War on education, Michael Johnson, Superintendent of the Eau Claire school district, John Gaier, Superintendent of the Neillsville school district, and with Chris Hambuch Boyle, the Northern Wisconsin Regional Coordinator for the Wisconsin Public Education Network, talk about how our public school tax dollars are flowing out of rural small towns #upnorth to support private (and often religious) schools in their communities and in urban areas far away from their districts.

Patti and Kirk talked to Marva Herndon, President of the Milwaukee Public School Board, and Ingrid Walker Henry, Vice President of the Milwaukee Teacher Education Association and a member of Schools & Communities United, about what has happened to Milwaukee public schools since the first voucher school program in the country was implemented in Milwaukee over 30 years ago. Hint, it ain’t pretty.

Patti and Fred, MBC’s Lawyer aka the “Irrepressible Ginger,” talk to Cory Mason, Mayor of Racine, and Angela Cruz, President of the Racine Educators Association, about the gaping hole in the Racine’s public education budget due to the parasitic private voucher school programs.

This week we talked to our lawyers about the lawsuit we just filed as original action to overturn the voucher system in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, and we also talked to two plaintiffs to get their story and why they wanted to participate in this very important lawsuit.

Patti and Kirk spoke with Nicki Vander Meulen and Martha Siravo. Nicki is an attorney, advocate for kids with special needs, and member of the Madison Metropolitan School District Board. Martha coordinates Madtown Mommas and Disability Advocates which supports parents and caregivers of students with disabilities.They helped us understand how why the voucher system has decimated the funds available for special education, and how the voucher system all-to-frequently hurts kids with special needs.

Kirk and Patty talked to Bob Baxter, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Teacher's Union, aka the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), and Heather Dubois Bourenane, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Public Education Network.They helped us understand how the growth of the parasitic private voucher school program has hurt both Wisconsin teachers and kids over the last 30 years.

Patti and Kirk spoke with Attorney Jessica Levin from the Educational Law Center, who is also Director of "Public Funds Public Schools," a national campaign to ensure that all public funds are used to support public schools, about who and what is driving this push for parasitic private voucher school programs across the country.

UW-Madison Professor Emerita Julie Mead joins Patti and Kirk to discuss the history of the parasitic school voucher system in Wisconsin