Another Budget is Possible

Wisconsin citizens concerned about the unprecedented attacks on education and science in the state budget will rally at the State Street side of the State Capitol on Thursday, June 11, at 5:00 pm.

There will also be a march from GEF 2 Plaza at King and Webster Streets to the rally starting at 4:30 pm to highlight the budget's attack on science at the Wisconsin DNR.

The biennial budget, currently under negotiation in the Joint Finance Committee and possibly slated for voting by the full Legislature next week, contains a number of egregious, politically motivated attacks on education and environmental protection. Among these are the removal of UW faculty tenure from the state statutes, the largest single budget cut to the state's university system in history, cuts to alternative energy and environmental research programs at the university, layoffs of Department of Natural Resources scientists and educators and the dismantling of the DNR's science bureau, a massive expansion of K-12 school vouchers, and the undemocratic takeover and privatization of neighborhood schools in Milwaukee. The cuts to education especially will disproportionately harm minorities and the poor.

The protest is being held under the theme 'Another Budget Is Possible.' On May 29, several activists disrupted the Joint Finance Committee proceedings on the cuts to the University of Wisconsin by reading the following message, which reflects the demands of the protest:

"Wisconsin does not have a budget crisis. It has a political crisis. The proposed budget will make existing problems worse. It will further worsen the quality of K-12 education and make college education even less of a possibility for most Wisconsinites. It will further erode public services and diminish the quality of life for working peoples in Wisconsin, plunging those that are already excluded from access to important state resources into extreme deprivation.

"Public services are already eroded and in disrepair for Wisconsin's Black citizens. But this budget, which is a form of state sanctioned violence, will only create hostile living conditions and expand the drought of resources for our Black populations here. And we are already the worst state to live if you are Black.

"We demand a budget that serves the interests of all the people of Wisconsin, not the interests of a wealthy elite.

"We demand transparency and popular participation in the process of constructing the budget. Another Budget is Possible!"

WHAT: "Another Budget Is Possible" March and Rally

WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, June 11, March 4:30 pm from GEF 2 Plaza, Rally 5:00 pm at State Street Steps

WHO: Sponsored by the Another Budget Is Possible Coalition. Endorsed by UW-Madison Teaching Assistants' Association (AFT Local 3220), Student Labor Action Coalition, AFSCME Local 171, United Faculty and Academic Staff (AFT Local 223), AFT-Wisconsin Higher Education Council, and Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement

CONTACT: Carl Sack (TAA), 608-712-8335, northlandiguana@gmail.com