DFER: On Wisconsin?

Blogs, Letters & Testimonials

February 25, 2011

Dear friends:

Those who actually read our regular missives know we like to goof around quite a bit here at Democrats For Education Reform. We get wrapped up in some heavy stuff and we usually find that a good sense of humor helps make the medicine go down much easier. Today’s note, however, is rather serious.

A few weeks ago when we named Wisconsin Senator Lena Taylor as DFER’s “Education Reformer of the Month” for February, we explained why we felt Senator Taylor’s brand of leadership was so crucial. Public education in the Badger State, like the rest of the country, faced so many crucial issues as it attempted to reinvent itself to better meet the needs of students and taxpayers that we felt that strong, pragmatic leadership was necessary.

Holy understatement, Batman. Multiply what we said then by a factor of like 1,000 today.

Senator Taylor is one of 14 Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate who have been holed-up in a non-disclosed location in Illinois so as to prevent a quorum, whereby their Republican colleagues would enact legislation that would significantly carve away at the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers.