Believe it or not, the WGSD wants to build AGAIN!!!

Believe it or not the WGSD wants to add an addition on to Fox River School to accommodate what some (wrongly) claim is a space need for fine arts and the cafeteria...even though the school enrollment is lower than it has been in other years. Enrollment at WGSD is and has been on a declining trend. That trend will certainly continue given the problems in the housing and new construction markets in the last several years, at present, and certainly for the foreseeable future.

Even if you assume there is a space issue (there isn't), there are many viable solutions short of spending millions on unnecessary construction. Once easy and obvious solution is to add an additional lunch period.

It looks like the district will be forming an ad-hoc committee - surely to be filled with teachers and administrators ready to unnecessarily spend our money.

Click here for a link to the minutes of the November WGSD meeting where they discussed the matter.

SPENDING INCREASES AT WATERFORD GRADED SCHOOLS

On November 2nd we saw a monumental election in which the American people rejected the Obama-Reid-Pelosi socialist agenda which has given us an enormous amount of national debt and no improvement in our economy. The voters clearly stated that the path we were going down is not one that American’s want to be a part of, and we need to get back to common sense budgets that promote job growth - not job killing taxation and bloated deficits.



This was most clearly seen in Wisconsin where the US Senate and US House switched to Republican control and ALL 3 state branches did also. The state suffered tremendously under 8 years of Doyle with irresponsible budgets and questionable ethics of pay to play. The state constitution requires a balanced budget so in order to pay for the Democrats’ excessive spending the taxes jumped to cover the costs. This drove companies and people out of the state looking for relief. For the first time in state history the number of government jobs exceeded the number of manufacturing jobs!



Scott Walker has a proven track record of a fiscal conservative and has a tough job to correct the 2 billion dollar shortfall in the next state budget. We know he won’t address the short fall by increasing taxes once again on the hard working people of this state. What we don’t know is what areas will he reduce spending and what the impact will be for K-12 budgets. During this time of uncertainty the best thing for us to do at the local level is to maintain our existing programs and wait to see what direction the state takes.



The current WGSD board president, Dan Jensen, has talked in a supportive way of the above changes. Unfortunately his actions speak louder and he is embarking on new spending initiatives.



The first sign was last spring when Dan introduced a new string program for band during a time we were discussing reductions in programming due to reduced state spending. The initial cost of this new offering is low ($18,000) during the introduction phase next year at just the 4th grade level. But the costs of the program will continue to go up as it is rolled out to each successive grade. This can put funding available for the current band program at risk for future years.



Recently Dan proposed spending $50,000 to introduce Mandarin Chinese to the district at just the kindergarten level. This program has the potential for spiraling costs as the program is rolled out to the other 8 grades! Chinese is not a language that is in huge demand in Waterford and those who take it will quickly forget the language since there is no opportunity to use it outside of the classroom. This program would be money not well spent during a time of tough economic times.



IF there are monies available the best course of action would be to roll out Spanish to all grade levels. Languages are learned more quickly at a younger age, and with our inability to address the porous borders and illegal immigration this language will be used more widely than Chinese ever will.



To top it off Dan is proposing spending up to $9 million dollars to add on to Fox River middle school. This is the same school that just 2 years ago the administration proposed replacing with a new school for over $20 million. That proposal was not met with much support from the community!



Even though our enrollment numbers have not increased in the last 2 years and we went to a house system to better utilize our resources, Dan is bringing forth again a proposal to spend millions of tax dollars on a school that some in the administration think needs to be replaced. Our Fox River enrollment was as high as 501 in 2000 and is only at 390 this year. Projections for 2013 are we will be down to 368 students.



We still owe over $15 million from the building done in 2000 since the notes are back loaded to try to get more people to approve the referendum. The economy is still struggling and could potentially take a turn for the worse when inflation hits due to the bloated federal deficit. Now is not the time to spend money on capital building projects while enrollment is holding steady or reducing!



Waterford is a conservative area based on past voting records and I ran for office to support those principals. I talked to Dan about this move away from fiscal conservatism, which he talks about supporting. He instead is embracing excessive spending and a negative impact on our taxes. He failed to change the path he is on at our last board meeting and I can no longer support him given the new direction he is embarking on.



I encourage those who agree with my positions to voice your concerns about the current excess spending proposals during this time of transition at the federal and state levels.



Chuck Poole
WGSD School Board Treasurer

Note: The opinions in this article are mine alone and not an official position of the WGSD School Board

Obama Bumper Sticker Removal Kit

Property Values and Taxes in Southeastern Wisconsin

Click here for a very interesting report from the Public Policy Forum - Sponsored by Baird - on property values, property taxes and tax levies in southeast Wisconsin!

Kudos to the Waterford Graded School District and other local districts...

The Waterford Graded School district and other western Racine County school districts appear to be looking at sharing resources, staff, etc. as a cost savings measure.

Click here for the article....

Economic Development Ideas Continued
In previous weeks, I've mentioned I have an economic development plan that I've introduced to the Legislature. I recently wrote about my $1000 jobs deduction plan. Another idea I circulated to the Legislature last week is an economic development superfund known as the Governor's Opportunity Fund to provide incentives to companies to relocate or expand in Wisconsin.
It's no secret that Wisconsin has a high unemployment rate and has lost well over 100,000 jobs in the last year. The Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance reported that Wisconsin has lost 4.3% (6700) businesses between 2006 and 2009. That's a higher percentage than the U.S., as a whole, and any surrounding state, including Michigan.
To stop this huge loss of businesses and jobs, Wisconsin needs a bold plan. By creating a well-funded economic development incentive tool, Wisconsin will be able to rapidly respond and recruit prospective businesses to help replace the jobs and businesses we've lost because of years of anti-business policies.
While the Department of Commerce has long claimed that they have the ability to recruit businesses quickly, it became evident via a legislative audit that most incentive funds at the Department are either too specific or too mired in bureaucratic red tap to be useful. Further, the programs are underfunded.
The Wisconsin Development Fund (WDF), currently funded at $10 million annually, is one such underfunded economic incentive fund housed at the Department of Commerce. Additionally, it's often used as a slush fund to earmark money to specific projects. Just this week the Joint Finance Committee approved another new program to earmark even more money from the WDF for business loans for energy efficiency - further impinging on the flexibility of the fund to direct money for a very specific purpose that will not enhance economic development as a whole.
My proposal would allow for a fresh start with a new approach through a fund that won't be paralyzed by the bureaucracy. The Governor's Opportunity Fund will allow the governor to award grants and loans to businesses based on their job creation numbers and private investment commitments. The fund will also set aside a portion of awards for areas with higher than average unemployment and also for rural communities.
The fund will be a segregated account that I hope will someday exceed $100 million. While I understand that amount may seem implausible, especially in these tough economic times, I do have one idea that could provide existing funding through rooting out waste, fraud, abuse in government programs....but more about that next week.
I truly believe that economic development should be our number one priority. But right now, it's clearly not for the party in charge. I'm sure when the Legislature debates my proposal Democrats will ask how government could possibly be asked to find that kind of money for economic development. But compared to the big government social programs they've chosen to fund this year, any amount allocated to the Governor's Opportunity Fund will pale in comparison to what they've spent.
And, what's more, if we had better economic development tools in Wisconsin, we probably wouldn't need to spend so much on our social programs. Because there's no better social program than a good paying job.

In Typical Moronic Form, Democratic Congressman Thinks Guam Might Tip Over If We Add Troops There!!!

Doyle and the Democrats throwing more of our good money away on choo choo's...

Here's a link to a DOT survey about state involvement in expanding rail service in Wisconsin.

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/state/railplan.htm

Sounds like they have some grandiose plans for our tax money. Survey response deadline is April 5.

Waterford Graded School Board Election is April 6, 2010

Click on HERE to read about all three candidates for two open spots on the WGSD Board!

Americans Following Obama

Judge Andrew Napolitano On Government Run Healthcare

Bad Ideas Abound in Madison

In this Week's Update:
Bad Ideas Abound in Madison
Rep. Vos to Appear on Up Front with Mike Gousha Sunday

This week was a vivid reminder of just how many bad ideas there are floating around Madison. On Thursday, the Assembly Transportation Committee heard a variety of transit bills, including the one to create a Southeast Regional Transit Authority (SERTA) that would be the governing body of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line.
The bill proposes raising the sales tax, instituting room taxes, car rental taxes or wheel taxes (or a combination of all of them) to fund the train. However, it has taken the Democrats in both houses more than a year to come up with any sort of draft that might be palatable to all interests, and now it looks as though they still can't find agreement. The Racine Post recently posted an insider account of the inner-party strife occurring over this bill. Basically, some Democrats are afraid to vote for tax increases while others, including Governor Doyle, are hell-bent to get a shiny new train regardless of the cost.

However, they would all be wise to take heed of a new survey released today that shows that a majority of the people in southeastern Wisconsin are adamantly opposed to paying higher taxes for transit, even if it results in a direct reduction from the property tax.

This survey only proves what I've been hearing from my constituents for years. I'm hopeful that the people who continue to cry that commuter rail is necessary because it creates jobs will finally put their arguments to rest and realize that they can't pull the wool over the eyes of the general public who know this is nothing but a taxpayer-funded, unsustainable boondoggle.

Another reminder of bad ideas run amok were the 19 committee hearings held this week that heard a myriad of bills - almost none of which addressed job creation. This despite the report released yesterday by the Department of Labor showing only 6 states have experienced greater job loss than Wisconsin and that we're one of only a dozen states that have fewer people working today than at any time in the 1990s. The Department of Labor also reports Wisconsin has lost 71,700 jobs between December 2009 and January 2010.
Finally, I was reminded of a very old bad idea when a Democratic senator admitted this week that she was wrong in voting for a budget that hiked car insurance rates by as much as 33% in some cases. Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) introduced a bill to repeal those insurance increases and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) joined her in her fight by coauthoring the legislation.

Even though more comprehensive repeals had previously been proposed by Republicans and not supported by Sen. Vinehout, I'm happy she came to her senses and to the side of her constituents, who I'm sure were vocal in their opposition to these increases. But I fear the special interests and trial lawyers who benefit from these insurance rate hikes will be too powerful for any of the Democrats to help Sen. Vinehout in her attempt to repeal these provisions. My prediction is the bill never makes it out of committee and we continue to suffer the consequences by paying much higher auto insurance premiums.
Thankfully the legislative session is almost over. Once it is, legislative business will be halted and so will all the bad ideas that are currently floating around this building - at least for a few months. But it's my ultimate hope that the results of the next election will halt the bad idea machine for a long, long time to come.

Rep. Vos to Appear on Up Front with Mike Gousha

Tune into WISN Sunday at 9am to watch Up Front with Mike Gousha. The topic is the high speed rail no-bid contract executed by Governor Doyle for a $48 million train set from Spanish company Talgo. No other company was allowed to submit a bid for the job, and it's possible the deal could have resulted in a net loss of jobs to the state because Super Steel of Milwaukee was not awarded a subcontract. They announced last week they are in receivership. I will appear opposite Department of Transportation chief counsel, Bob Jambois.

This week, I joined my Republican colleagues on the Joint Finance Committee in submitting a request to the Committee's co-chairs for an informational hearing on the deal.

WGSD Community Meeting...anticipated budget shortfall 2010/2011 school year

The Waterford Graded School District is having a community meeting to discuss the anticipated budget shortfall for 2010/2011 school year due to state equalization aid cuts to public schools throughout the state.

This will be an opportunity for the community to review the list of proposals that the school administration has provided the board. The community will have the opportunity to provide feedback to the administration/school board at this meeting.

According the the Waterford Post article back in January they expect a lot of school parents to attend the meeting and voice their concern against any reductions in programs/staff. (I am not sure what source the POST used for this article or if this was their opinion?)

The meeting will be held on February 3, 2010 at 6:30 PM in the Evergreen School Cafeteria.

Please do what you can to attend! We need to have our voices heard too!

Another Very Clear Message!!!

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY...
52% SCOTT BROWN (R) 1,153,808
47% MARTHA COAKLEY (D)D: 1,052,391

The "people" are sick and tired of the tax and spend mentality in all levels of government!

Let me see if I have this right.....

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND
YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL
PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET

· A JOB,

· A DRIVERS LICENSE,

· SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,

· WELFARE,

· FOOD STAMPS,

· CREDIT CARDS,

· SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,

· FREE EDUCATION,

· FREE HEALTH CARE,

· A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON

· BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE

· THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY’S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON’T
GET ENOUGH RESPECT

· AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, YOU CAN VOTE.



I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION…

Joe The Plumber Coming To Caledonia Saturday

Joseph Wurzelbacher is the guest speaker at the Racine TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party's "Bonfire Tea Party" scheduled for 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Caledonia.

Should you decide to go:

WHAT: "Bonfire Tea Party" featuring Joe the Plumber

WHERE: 4505 Highway H, Caledonia

WHEN: 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Saturday,

WHO: The event includes a bonfire, where they will throw the Senate's health care bill into the fire. Also in attendance will be: Vicki McKenna, Milwaukee radio host; Dr. Tracey Purath, a doctor who worked under socialized medicine in Ireland; state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia; and Tim Dake, founder of the Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty.