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Issues
Education K-12 Issues
Impact
Aid
I support adequate funding for the
federal Impact Aid program, which helps to defray the cost
of providing free public education to children on so-called
"federally impacted" land, including military bases,
Native American trust or treaty land, and communities with
low-rent housing or large civil service complexes. This funding
is vital to providing students access to education in more
than 20 school districts in Wisconsin. For these reasons,
I joined the Senate's Impact Aid Coalition in 1997. I will
continue to fight for adequate funding for the Impact Aid
program.
After-School Programs
It is important that after-school
programs, which provide safe, enriching after school care,
receive adequate funding. All too often, funding for these
programs is cut, even though the benefits to students participating
in these programs are invaluable. I have worked to obtain
adequate funding for after-school programs, which provide
athletic, creative, and academically stimulating activities,
and which offer hard working families a safe place for their
children to go after school.
Wisconsin's Student
Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program
I take great pride in Wisconsin's
Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program,
which works to reduce public school class size in the earliest
grades. This program continues to serve as a model for other
states hoping to implement successful education reforms in
their public schools. I will continue to work to ensure that
federal efforts to reduce class size in the earliest grades
complement the SAGE program and do not limit the progress
Wisconsin continues to make in improving its public education
programs.
Private School
Vouchers
I believe that we have a responsibility
to strengthen all of our public schools so that every child
is assured of the opportunity for a good education. I oppose
using taxpayer money to fund private school vouchers because
I do not believe that this approach will strengthen public
schools. I am concerned that voucher programs will leave our
most vulnerable children behind. We can and must do better
for all of our children, and I do not believe that vouchers
will, in the end, best serve Wisconsin’s students. |
