For the next several months, you won’t be hearing much about elections, or property tax increases, or any of the other important topics that impact your liberty as a resident of Southern Wisconsin. However, this is not a time to ignore local leadership. It is time to explore it. In Rock County, elected officials on the county board, school boards, city councils, mayors, alderpersons and more shape the lives of over 160,000 residents. Far too often, vital seats on city councils, school boards, and county committees go uncontested—or are filled by the same small circle of people. The time to break those cycles is now. We need to ask ourselves: What kind of civic environment are we creating in Rock County? And are we doing enough to encourage our friends, neighbors, and everyday citizens to step up and serve? For many residents, running for office can feel uncomfortable. They may not know how to begin, worry they lack the right background, or feel shut out by an insider culture. These are barriers we can—and must—remove if we want our local government to truly reflect the residents throughout our county. The first step is transparency and education. Many residents aren’t aware of what county board supervisors, school board members, or city councilors actually do—or how to run for those roles. More educational opportunities need to be explored, created and presented on seeking local offices, because if residents see a path, they’re far more likely to walk it. ...

What is public education and how we should pay for it are questions every resident should be asking themselves. The debate on education funding rages on, fueled by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling that the Governor’s ‘veto’, which created additional funding of $325 per student annually through property taxes or state aid until the year 2425, is lawful. Yet support for public education in its current form is far from solid. A recent study shows that 68% of likely Wisconsin voters support school choice programs. It is a mathematical certainty that two systems will cost more to maintain than one. It is far past time that instead of just talking about dollars, a conversation is had about the erosion of support of public education. ...

On April 7th, the RCF Youth Development Fund awarded a grant to the Milton High School civics class. The grant assisted with the cost of transporting high school students to the WI State Capitol where they were able to learn more about their Capitol and state government; as well as, hear directly from state legislators explain the importance of civic engagement. In the grant approval letter, the RCF board included the following: "The objective of the RCF Youth Development Fund is to encourage and help facilitate Rock County students to actively engage in American citizenship by focusing on local civics. We achieve this objective by working and collaborating with student councils and/or Social Studies/Government education classes in K-12 schools across Rock County; along with local business leaders and local elected officials." ...

Why Local Leadership in K-12 Education Matters February 2025 The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently released “The Nation's Report Card”, which measures student performance in math and reading. The key findings according to NAEP in the Fewer than a third of students nationwide are working at the NAEP Proficient level in reading at both grades. Scoring at the NAEP Proficient level means consistently understanding written text and interpreting its meaning. 42% of eighth-graders report high confidence in mathematics, not significantly different from 2022, a decline from 49% in 2019 ...

Everyone is talking about all the chaos in Washington D.C. I want to encourage us all to refocus. In all likelihood, the end results of what happens in Washington will not impact residents of Rock County nearly as much as what happens in our local municipal and school board elections. The candidates you choose on April 1st will have a direct impact on the direction of your community or your schools. They will determine the priorities they think should be funded. They have the ultimate ability to raise or lower your property taxes. (NOTE: Rock County’s property taxes are higher than 96% of all counties in the US! This is relevant to personal income, or people’s ability to pay - Source.) ...