Madison, WI — During the final floor session of the year, Assembly Republicans advanced a ‘consolidation’ plan that would pave the way for closing rural schools. Rep. Stroud (D-Ashland) condemned the move, calling it a refusal to address the real causes of school funding challenges.
“Republicans have brought forward a scheme to close rural schools as the centerpiece of the last floor session of the year, throwing up their hands at the real challenges facing public education. After trying nothing, they’ve decided that shutting down our rural schools is the only way to solve a school funding crisis that they themselves created. We haven’t been ‘throwing money’ at public schools, we’ve been defunding them, forcing districts into endless referendums just to keep their doors open, all while diverting over $1 billion a year to unaccountable voucher schools.”
Stroud made clear that while demographic challenges are real and that school consolidation might be a possibility for some communities, this should only be contemplated after every other option has been exhausted. “Schools are the economic and social heart of rural communities, and closing them triggers a death spiral; families leave, jobs disappear, and towns struggle to survive. Don’t close our schools; fund them”
