18 School Officials from around the state Speak out against Walker’s “Dismantling tools” for Education.

How many more times are we going to be told that the protesters and school officials don’t speak for all Wisconsinites. With only about 26 percent of all eligible voters deciding for the rest of us, that one party rule means anything goes, Republicans seem to think we’re all conservative now. Many disagree:

Journal Times: Gov. Scott Walker’s statements that the 2011-13 state education budget puts schools in a good financial position misrepresents the reality for most districts, school officials and parents said during a press conference Wednesday.

School administrators from across the state, including Racine Unified Superintendent Jim Shaw, gathered at the Greenfield School District Administrative Office in Greenfield to speak out against the $800 million in cuts to public education. Each of the 18 officials said the budget will cause larger class sizes, fewer arts and library programs and lower-quality services for their district. For Racine Unified, it means far less money for special and bilingual education services as well, Shaw said.

Shaw said the district has been forced to make instructional cuts to make up the losses, including the loss of 125 staff members, a wage freeze for remaining faculty and $19 million reduction in benefits. The cuts could continue into next year with more reductions. Other school superintendents and board members echoed Shaw, saying the budget would result in a reduction in the quality of public education for Wisconsin’s children.

“Walker has given us dismantling tools for education, not ones to build schools,” said Ron Heilman, Eau Claire Area School District superintendent. “All schools are going to be negatively impacted in the coming year.” Heilman said the Eau Claire district has been given less than half of what it needs to make up its deficit for the 2011-12 school year, and is trying to deal with rapidly increasing class sizes without the ability to hire new teachers.

Come on, these school representatives must be from out of state, like the imported protesters Walker claimed were bused to whine about collective bargaining and vandalize the Capitol.

They’re all wrong of course, and don’t represent the rest of the state, like the Walker administration does:  

In a statement, Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said “With all due respect, those select superintendents hardly speak for every school district across the state,” Werwie said. “The savings that school districts can receive outweigh the reductions in state aid.”