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.) ...

From Venezuela to America: A Journey of Freedom featuring Daniel Di Martino FREE Event | May 1 from 5:00 – 7:00pm Daniel is a speaker and economist dedicated to explaining how socialism destroyed his homeland of Venezuela and the lessons we can learn from it in America and around the world. Daniel graduated with a BA in Quantitative Economics from Indiana University in Indianapolis and he is now a PhD candidate in Economics at Columbia University. He is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute focused on immigration research, and a speaker and board of advisors member at Young America’s Foundation. To teach young Americans about the importance of preserving their liberties, Daniel founded the Dissident Project, connecting high schools with immigrants who fled tyrannies around the world. ...