When we talk about public education, we’re talking about the heart of democracy, says today’s guest Heather DuBois Bourenane, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Public Education Network. She tells guest host Bert Zipperer that we need to start funding public education right in the state of Wisconsin, and that could change today if there was the political will to do so. She wants to restore public schools as sites of joy and welcoming, where the promise of democracy can be fulfilled. 

Wisconsin has a constitutional obligation to public education, but more and more state money is being funneled into voucher schools and that’s because current state law allows for school funding to be allocated to voucher schools before public schools. The Wisconsin Public Education Network is working to make voucher funding transparent to taxpayers. 

DuBois Bourenane says that in the past 15 years, public education funding has reached crisis levels. This year kids are going back to school with less state aid than they received the previous year; and this is the 18th year in a row this has happened. The way the state has made up for funding shortfalls is through local ballot referendums (over 400 in the last two years), but too many communities can’t raise taxes to address state shortfalls.

Heather DuBois Bourenane is passionate about ensuring our public schools are places of joy for all students. She is a proud public school parent, a founding member of Support Sun Prairie Schools and the Sun Prairie Action Resource Coalition, and an active member of many state and national partnerships and committees. She taught college English and literature, and worked in K-12 outreach at UW-Madison before devoting herself full time to putting our Network vision and values into action. She also serves as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Public Education Action Fund.

Featured image of the logo of the Wisconsin Public Education Network.

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