Legislation would mandate labor
history for Wisconsin schoolrooms
Milwaukee, WI - State Representative Josh Zepnick has announced that he will introduce legislation that encourages public schools throughout Wisconsin to teach our youth about the civic and economic contributions of working men and women in Wisconsin.
"In the past the major obstacle for moving "labor history" bills through the legislative process has been a legitimate reluctance to expand unfunded mandates on Wisconsin's public schools. I have relaxed the mandate, and provided K-12 public schools with the option to tap into Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction resources to bring labor history lessons into the classroom," said Zepnick.
Under this proposal, the Department of Public Instruction would notify public school educators of the availability of "labor history tool kits". These tool kits would include reading materials and handouts, suggested lesson plans for instructors, interactive CD-ROM lessons, and potentially a website for students of various ages to learn about the history and current events involving organized labor.
The funding for this program will be generated from the sale of specialized labor license plates, which, after recouping upfront production costs, would provide a stream of revenue that would be used exclusively for providing K-12 schools with the resources to teach labor history.
The fund-raising license plate mechanism works as follows:
* The Department of Motor Vehicles would incur a one-time production cost (estimated to be $27,600 under the new production system, which will be implemented in October)
* Anyone who buys a special plate will pay a one-time issuance fee of $15 (to cover the manufacturing cost of the plate) and an annual contribution of $25
* The annual $25 contribution will go to the DMV for paying-off the production cost until $27,600 has been raised
* Once the production cost has been covered, all future money raised by the $25 contribution will go toward producing, developing, and distributing the tool kit
* The more money collected from these plates, the more interactive tool kit resources can be made available for schools (such as computer software)
Zepnick came up with the idea for a labor history license plate while driving to the State Capitol from his home on Milwaukee's South Side. He noticed he was traveling behind a vehicle with a firefighter plate that had the word "UNION" - which turned out to be driven by Rick Gale, the state president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin.
"There could be no better time than now to push for a better understanding of the history of working men and women in Wisconsin. The United States economy of the 21st century continues the disturbing pattern of losing jobs to other nations - nations that do not have the tools of democracy available to citizens, including the option of forming a labor union. This results in lower wages and poor working conditions, and provides yet another example of social and economic inequality. Ultimately, Wisconsin residents are hurt by both the loss of good-paying jobs and the negative effect this loss has on Wisconsin's economic growth," stated Zepnick.
In preliminary discussions labor leaders have offered their overwhelming support and have agreed to work in partnership with other public officials to encourage citizens to purchase the license plates, particularly those households with union members throughout Wisconsin.
"Having union locals push this proposal will be critical to its success, and the dividends will be an ongoing effort to improve and expand the teaching of labor history to Wisconsin citizens," Zepnick added.
Zepnick comes from a long line of labor union members. His grandfather, Andrew Stathas, was an early union organizer in Milwaukee in the 1920s and helped to form the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 122. His father, Gordon, is retired member of the local chapter of the Communications Workers of America, and his mother, Jerelyn, is a retired member of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association. Zepnick himself is a former member of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1444.
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