The picture was taken at the rally in Madison to support legislation to save Wisconsin's virtual schools and the Wisconsin Virtual Academy.
Here's a picture of over 1100 supporters of virtual schools streaming into the Capitol to tell legislators on both sides of the aisle why virtual schools are so important to the future of education in Wisconsin.
There's an amazing irony to the controversy around the virtual schools. For the first time WEAC is trying to close public schools, trying to get public school teachers fired, claiming too much money is being spent on public schools, fighting to end local control of schools, and even fighting to have the state dictate hours of direct teacher instruction per class, all of which occurs with the Lehman bill.
So when the teachers union claims that "every kid deserves a great school" it's not about the quality of the education. The great school is one the teachers union likes, and only those schools. We now know why, according to WEAC, students go to schools: to keep teachers employed at the schools they like, and to hell with their own members who happen to be doing a great job at schools they don't like.
For those that want to see more pictures of the rally, and I realize that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was probably too busy looking for eleven unwashed hippies with peace signs to photograph, click on over to the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families, and then read the stories at Every Kid Deserves a Great School.
