Editor:

In response to Mr. Loduha’s recent letter (Viewpoint, May 27), here’s what Act 10 gave our Rhinelander School Board and administrators authority to do. You have already heard about the Rhinelander High School teachers who were laid off, but have you heard about the school district janitorial staff being laid off? They have worked 15, 20+ years yet they were given short notice that their services were no longer needed. A local janitorial company will now be contracted to do their work.

On top of that, at a meeting with the SDR janitorial staff and the school district business administrator, they were told, “Don’t even think about applying for unemployment”. Is that even legal? These employees and their families will also be left without any health insurance benefits. Does that seem quite fair after giving dedicated work to our school district for so many years? That’s only one of the many ‘tools’ Act 10 provides.

Did you see the debate last week between Governor Walker and Mayor Barrett? Governor Walker said that school districts will now have the ‘tools’ to get competitive bids for health insurance. Guess what? Our school district and others around the state, along with local teacher unions have done that for years! It was called N-E-G-O-T-I-A-T-I-O-N-S! So, Governor Walker deceived viewers in thinking this was a benefit of his Act 10 plan!

And I wonder…was Act 10 actually his plan. Are you aware of ALEC? I wasn’t either until I did some research to learn more about this organization. ALEC stands for American Legislative Exchange Council. It is a ‘think-tank’ made up of corporations, legislators and special interest groups that draft and disseminate legislation for state legislatures all around the country. Gone are the days that our representatives listen and work for their constituents. Corporate lawyers are drafting legislation!

According to Mike McCabe, head of the non-partisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks money in politics, “We (WI) are now just a pawn on a national chessboard”. Learn more about ALEC! They are infiltrating our political process and influencing policies in such areas as energy, the environment and education. Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart, along with several other large corporations, have recently ended their affiliation with ALEC. It’s now time for us to end our affiliation with Governor Walker. Please vote for Tom Barrett on June 5.

Genene Lynott, Rhinelander
Retired SDR Kindergarten Teacher