Students, faculty and community members will gather on Library Mall today for a rally to defend public education, organizers said.
University of Wisconsin graduate student Gina Spitz helped organize the event and said the Wisconsin Idea is heavily intertwined with quality public education, and a main goal of the rally is to make the Wisconsin Idea a reality.
Armed with a list of demands and their voices, the organizers will not be the only ones participating. Rallies of this type are taking place around the country today.
Spitz said their list of demands includes making public education a top priority in the upcoming state budget.
Denying public schools adequate funding not only damages students, but the country as well, Spitz said, and also undermines the core values of American society.
“I think having equal access to quality public education benefits everyone…whole communities benefit from having a higher level of knowledge,” she said.
UW Political Science professor John Witte said while he thinks the rally is a good idea, he does not think increased funding from the state will be possible due to the budget deficit.
The top four areas receiving money from the state are K-12 education, Medicaid, prisons and the UW System, Witte said.
Already “cut to the bone” according to Witte, the state will not further reduce Medicaid. The main problem with the prison system is the amount of people in it, Witte said, but to change that, the prison system itself has to change, which will take time and legislation.
This leaves K-12 schools fighting the UW System for the remainder of educational funding, Witte said.
“Holding onto the funding we have will be hard enough,” Witte added.
Despite his view that funding will not be a reality, Witte is thinking about attending the rally himself.
Teaching Assistant’s Association, Student Labor Action Coalition, United Council, International Socialist Organization and Working Class Student Union helped to organize the event.
Spitz said the organizations will be setting up starting at noon, with speakers set to talk at 12:30 p.m.
Seven people will speak at the event, including UW professor Mike Bell, AFSCME representative Mark Thomas and Green Party Assembly candidate Ben Manski, Spitz said.
