Educational freedom refers to the ability of parent’s to select the best educational opportunity for their children. It recognizes that all children are unique, full of potential, and deserving of a high-quality education that meets their individual needs.  For someone to be truly free, they must receive a high-quality education which allows them to maximize their full potential in life.   Recently RCF announced the top performing public school districts and schools in Rock County.    RCF recognizes and thanks teachers and students for their commitment to excellence, and to educational freedom! Financial freedom from a local perspective is largely driven and controlled by local taxation.  Most notably property taxes - School District, County and City - are a major annual expense for Rock County homeowners and indirectly, renters.  With school districts being the highest portion of one’s property taxes. Most people in Rock County know their property taxes are high, but few realize Rock County’s property taxes are higher than 96% of all counties in the US!  This is based on the percentage of personal income, or people’s ability to pay (Source)....

What happened in the August primary election has me a bit perplexed. I’m not referring to the candidates who won their respective partisan races at this point. I’m wondering about the results of the two state referendum questions that effectively continue to allow the Governor to spend federal monies received by the state with virtually no state or local oversight. ...

Update on Ongoing 2025 County Budget Plans The Rock County Board of Supervisors (BoS) are currently in the 2025 budgeting process. There is more work and discussions to take place between now and the November vote on the budget. So far, it appears the BoS’s have taken your Financial Freedom to heart as they appear to be much more focused on reining in tax levy spending (which is responsible for a significant portion of your property taxes), and not dipping into other pools of taxpayer money (i.e. the general fund or sales taxes, as they have the last three years) to fund their significant spending....

“It takes a community to spend responsibly”. That is my adaptation of a former Presidential candidate’s slogan talking about families. While the idea of a whole community raising a family’s child didn’t sit well with many, the idea that voters want the government to live under the same budget constraints as they do is much more universal. For too long, the bloating of budgets at all levels with funding for “wants” and “pet projects” instead of “needs” have caused many to believe that fiscally irresponsible governance was just a way of life we must accept. Of course, that is not true. Right now, we may be at an inflection point for our local bodies of government to change direction. I will point to the evidence that is beginning to take root in what will be the 2025 Rock County Budget – which would have a positive impact on your family’s financial freedom! ...

Like many of our readers, pondering politics leaves me with a sense of extreme frustration. The problems of the U.S. Congress, Senate, Supreme Court and President seem so large and looming, and I sometimes feel small and useless in my ability to effect any change. That is when I remind myself that big things often start small. In our political landscape, nothing happens by chance. Things happen by mindful, intentional planning. Do you ever stop and think about where Congressional and Senate Representatives get their start? Most of them don’t just decide to run for office right out of their office or manufacturing job. Most start at levels of school boards, city councils, county boards or government advisory committees. It begins innocently enough, with most local candidates just desiring to serve their local communities. But what is important is to take note of those who shift around. Those who seem to be on an upward trajectory from a committee to an elected office; from a village board to the county board. Those are the folks who often wind up in the state legislature and some, from there, to the federal level....