AB903 Vetoed; Future Planning

Government Action Committee
 
As you may have heard, AB903 (the gifted education legislation that would have increased transparency, accountability, and equity in gifted education) was vetoed by Gov. Evers. You can see the full wording of his veto statement below and we urge you to read it. Like many of the education associations that stated their opposition to the specific bill and its precursors, the governor was not against the content of the bill, but was against the lack of accompanying funding. He and several other education groups saw AB903 as one of many unfunded mandates that would put an undue burden on schools. WATG disagrees with this perspective, since most of the activities in the bill are already mandated by state law and this bill would have strengthened compliance with those already-existing mandates. The good news is that the governor and other education groups (including the Wisconsin Association of School Boards) have stated in writing their support for gifted education and equitable advanced programming.
 
WATG's Government Action Committee members will take a breath and will then start planning advocacy activities, both government-related and beyond. We will plan for a number of different scenarios based on the possible outcomes of the November 2022 elections. Meanwhile we will also look at non-government activities and sources of support (e.g. business and parent groups). Your ideas are needed! What should we do next? Where should we look for support? Please send any suggestions or sources to Advocacy@watg.org.

Here is the Governor’s Veto Message, dated April 8, 2022.
 
Dr. Pam Clinkenbeard, Chair
Government Action Committee, WATG