From the Government Action Committee

Government Action Update

Thanksgiving is behind us and the next round of holidays are barreling towards us. It’s hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. Though we are far from finished with our work on legislation this year, we would ask that you keep an eye out for upcoming emails requesting your help!

We didn’t think that it was enough to DOUBLE funding for Gifted Education this year, so we are moving full steam ahead on passing legislation! With the help of Rep. Petryk and Sen. Bernier, we are nearing the finish line on a bill that will add more accountability to our schools to ensure that our students are being challenged appropriately.  We have been working tirelessly to get this bill passed and we are nearing the finish line. Within the next couple of weeks we will be reaching out to you and asking that you contact your legislators asking for their support. We aren’t ready for you to reach out to them quite yet, but we are poised and ready for when we get word they are ready to move forward.  

Do you know who your legislators are? If you do not, here is the process:To find your state legislators, go to the legislature home page at:
  https://legis.wisconsin.gov/;
find the section called "Who Are My Legislators?" and enter your HOME address.Your state Senator and Assembly Representative and their contact information will pop up. It is critical that legislators hear from their own constituents when the time is right. As I said, stay tuned and be ready to reach out! Together, we can make a real and impactful difference in the education of every advanced learner in our state.

There is another time sensitive piece of work that we are supporting. WASB (Wisconsin Association of School Boards) is proposing and hopefully passing a resolution supporting gifted education. WASB members should be receiving their resolutions sometime in early to mid December. These resolutions will be voted on at their 2022 Wisconsin State Education Convention in late January of 2022. The passing of this resolution will go a long way in showing Madison that there would be support for gifted education programs and legislation in the future. We will be asking you to contact your School Board members and voice your support once they receive the resolution.

So there it is, a lot of anticipation, and waiting for the timing to be right.  But isn’t that just like the holidays anyway?

Hillarie Roth
WATG Board Member