Last year, there was a wave of public education strikes throughout the U.S. in places like Los Angeles, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Denver, and Oakland. Today on the show, guest Eric Blanc provides context for these strikes and discusses effective labor organizing through the lens of his book Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave […]
Exploring the Wisconsin State Budget
As the Wisconsin State Senate meets to vote on the state budget today, Ali explores all things budget with State Representative Chris Taylor of the Joint Finance Committee. With the input of listener-callers, they cover Tony Evers and the “People’s Budget,” special education, gerrymandering, and the role of money and privatization in shaping public and […]
The Fight for Public Education in America
Today’s episode is all about the American K–12 school system in Wisconsin and beyond. Educator and activist Bob Peterson joins us to discuss a host of issues related to public education, including austerity measures that have stripped funding from public schools, the proliferation of testing and its effects on learning, effects of privatization, the importance […]
Andrew Bailey: Teacher & Candidate for KY Senate
Hot on the heels of similar victories in Oklahoma and West Virginia, striking teachers in Kentucky celebrated last week’s override of Governor Matt Bevin’s veto of legislation that would provide more funding for Kentucky public schools. As a result, Kentucky will now enact 50-cent hike in cigarette taxes and a 6 percent sales tax on […]
School Vouchers: Raiding the State’s Coffers
Even though it was a very different organization — and a very different state — at the time, Wisconsin is the birthplace of the Republican party, which got its start at a schoolhouse in Ripon in 1854. To this day, Wisconsin continues to influence GOP policy nationwide, from Janesville Representative Paul Ryan’s ascendancy to Speaker […]
KIDS COUNT® Data Book: Performance Gap for WI Children of Color
8 O’Clock Buzz host Jonathan Zarov interviews Ken Taylor, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF) regarding the the latest KIDS COUNT® Data Book released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Wisconsin has a lot of work to do to improve outcomes for children of color,” said Ken Taylor, executive […]
