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4A

The First Amendment

The Platteville Journal


NOVEMBER 18, 2015

ETC.

PHS three points

ast week I wrote my first


impressions of last weeks
page-one story about an apparent racial incident, threats
stemming from that, and followup actions at Platteville High
School.

The follow-up plan is on page 1 of your


favorite weekly newspaper this week.
This is, I must say, not my favorite story Steve Prestegard
to cover, as a parent of Platteville Public plattevillejournaleditor@
Schools. It is, however, news, and those
gmail.com
whose tax dollars fund PPS deserve to
know whats happening in the schools,
whether the news is positive or not.
That has to be the frustrating part of this for PPS generally and PHS teachers and staff specifically. Platteville High
School has received repeated high ratings and, the last time
the state report cards were released, scored second highest
among high schools and sixth among all schools in Southwest Wisconsin. The PHS honor roll printed on page 11B
this week isnt of a certain percentage of students, its students who achieve at least a 3.4 grade point average.
PHS principal Tim Engh talked to parents who attended
the parentteacher conferences Thursday about what happened two weeks ago and what PHS has been doing since
then. From that and from conversations Ive had with other
people connected to PHS, I wonder if the issue is less about
racial differences and more about treating each other in
a civil fashion, even when walking past each other in the
halls.
As I mentioned last week, high school is a cauldron of different levels of personal maturity, different family backgrounds, hormones and people who lack perspective about
things that happen to them because they arent old enough
to have had very much happen to them. An incident where,
say, one student snubs another can be attributed to teens
being teens a quarter century later. But high school counts
for one-quarter to one-third of the entire life of a high school
student up until graduation, so to all except the very welladjusted, what happens to a high school student in high
school is a big deal, whether or not it seems that way to
adults.
Adults are role models for students parents first and
foremost, then authority figures like teachers, but others
too. We adults need to realize we are showing kids how to
act, positively or negatively. (Which is why I tend to think,
perhaps unfairly, that certain racially pejorative terms
that are not used in polite company and shouldnt be used
anywhere get used in certain homes more often than they
should.)
One of the most interesting things I read and have since
heard about from the student survey was the phrase go-to
teacher, which gets to the second of the three bullet points
on which PHS will be focusing this year, building positive
relationships. People who didnt have a uniformly negative school experience can probably remember their favorite
teachers, and those teachers stick in peoples minds not just
years later, but even after that teacher no longer has the
student in a class. I noticed at the conference that students
were talking to some of their former teachers, and those
teachers must be the PHS go-to teachers. A teacher doesnt
necessarily have to have a student in class to be a teacher
for that student.
The third of the three bullet points is increasing school
spirit and pride. Similar phrases have been used the past
couple of years after PHS has gotten less than positive publicity namely the non-renewal of sports team coaches. Related to school spirit and pride have been observations of
people going, or not, to sporting events or other PHS events.
It will be interesting to see what PHS comes up with to
increase school spirit and pride. I only have 3 years of
observation to draw from, but one reason for diminishing
athletic attendance may be a diminishing number of athletes because of a diminishing number of students. PHS
enrollment is now a little more than half what it was when
it was an 800-student high school. PHS isnt dropping in
enrollment more so than other schools; nearly every area
school has fewer students than they used to simply because
of smaller families and people moving out of the area in
search of more opportunity elsewhere in the state.
For those who think this is one big overreaction, consider
the observation years ago from author Kurt Vonnegut, who
said that high school is closer to the core of the American
experience than anything else I can think of. A 2013 New
York Magazine essay, Why You Truly Never Leave High
School, adds that high school is the last cultural experience
someone has generally an experience you didnt choose to
have before the experiences you choose to have, namely
your post-high school plans.

The states report card says ...

he latest report card


benchmarking Wisconsins
performance shows moderate progress but room for improvement.
Across 23 measures of economic and
fiscal health, there are neither As nor
Fs but about as many Cs as Bs.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance
report, A State Report Card, shows
that in areas such as job and firm creation, Wisconsin is improving but continues to lag surrounding states and
the nation. Now in its 84th year, WTA
is a nonpartisan organization devoted
to public policy research and citizen
education.
Among seven major categories covered in the report, workforce readiness
is the states strongest. Wisconsins
high school graduation rate rose from
87 percent in 201011 to 88 percent in
201213, 6.6 percentage points higher
than the national average (81.4 percent) and above all surrounding states,
except Iowa (89.7 percent).
Graduating high school students here
also perform well on college entrance
exams. When ACT and SAT scores are
combined and converted to ACT equivalents, students here scored an average
of 22.4 (out of 36) in 2014, above the
U.S. average (21.0) and all surrounding
states, except Minnesota (23.2).
The strength of the workforce does
not necessarily translate to a robust
economy, however. Job and firm creation here, while improving, still trail
most surrounding states and the nation.
Employment here grew 1.3 percent
in 2014, more than in any year since
2000; however, that was less than the
national average (1.9 percent) and below all neighboring states, except Illinois (1.2 percent). Similarly, the

journal
www.swnews4u.com

Serving the Platteville Area Since 1899


USPS 435-560
John Ingebritsen, Publisher

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journaldesign@centurytel.net
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Periodicals postage paid at Platteville, WI 53818. Owned and


published by the Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin,
P.O. Box 266, Platteville, WI. Published once weekly on Wednesday for 4,300 subscribers. Telephone (608) 348-3006. FAX
(608) 348-7979. Subscriptions are $19.50 for 6 months, $36
yearly in Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette counties. Other Wisconsin
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for 6 months, $53 yearly. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to Circulation Department, Platteville Journal, P.O. Box 266,
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Sending in your renewal before the notice is sent saves both
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Badger States 1.2 percent increase


in the number of firms in 2014 was
smaller than in all surrounding states,
except Michigan (-0.6 percent).
Other measures of economic strength
and potential followed similar trends.
The value of Wisconsin exports in 2014
was 8 percent of gross state product,
up from 6.6 percent in 2005, but below
the national average (9.1 percent) and
all surrounding states, except Minnesota (6.8 percent). In 2014, venture
capital disbursed in the state totaled
$28.26 per worker, more than in each
of the prior three years, but below the
nation ($361.74) as well as all neighboring states but Iowa ($14.20).
Moderate economic growth here is
reflected in the financial security of our
residents. In 2014, annual earnings averaged $51,214 in Wisconsin, which is
10.1 percent less than the national average and below all surrounding states
except Iowa. While earnings here rose
12.5 percent over the past five years,
they grew 13.5 percent nationally. Per
capita personal income followed a similar trend. In 1990, it was 6.2 percent
below the U.S. In 2014, the gap (3.3
percent) had shrunk, but the Badger
State ($44,585) remained behind all
neighbors, except Michigan ($40,556).
In looking ahead, infrastructure and
state fiscal health can set the state up
for later economic success. Good highways, low energy costs and moderate
taxes are all attractive to employers.
The good news is that Wisconsins fiscal health is improving: The combined
statelocal tax burden fell for the third
consecutive year from 11.3 percent of
personal income in 2013 to 11.1 percent in 2014. Additionally, though Wisconsin has had a general fund deficit
on its CPA-prepared financial statements every year since 1990, in 2014,
it was the smallest its been since 2000

($1.4 billion, 0.5 percent of gross state


product).
That said, highway quality is eroding in the state. In 2013, 48.3 percent of Wisconsin highway miles were
scored in one of the top two smoothness categories, lower than all surrounding states and about 10 points
below the U.S. average (58.1 percent).
Meanwhile, 10.5 percent of state highway miles were in one of the two lowest smoothness categories, more than
double the 2009 percentage (4.1 percent). Additionally, energy costs here
are sometimes above other states. In
2012, average electricity prices exceeded the U.S. ($28.98) and all neighbors, except Michigan ($32.18). The
same was true for natural gas prices,
although Illinois ($6.84) was also above
the Badger State.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance
first issued the states only report
card after 1997 gubernatorial commission chaired by UW System President
Katharine Lyall recommended that an
annual report card on the state of the
Wisconsin economy be issued, tracking
progress in the growth of quality jobs,
education, and training. For 18 years
since, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance has tracked state performance.
This years report card includes 23
different measures across seven broad
categories, with letter grades assigned
to each. Grades are based on Wisconsins current performance relative to its
past and relative to the performance
of surrounding states and the nation.
To find out more about how Wisconsin
measures up, a free copy of The Wisconsin Taxpayer magazine, A State
Report Card is available by visiting
www.wistax.org; emailing wistax@
wistax.org; calling (608) 241-9789; or
writing WISTAX at 401 North Lawn
Ave., Madison, WI 53704-5033.

LETTERS
The Platteville Journal, P.O. Box 266, Platteville, WI 53818-0266 plattevillejournaleditor@gmail.com

Kudos to Kind

The Platteville

Editor
Steve Prestegard
journaleditor@centurytel.net
Sports Editor
Jason Nihles
journalsports@centurytel.net
Advertising
Ann Rupp
journalads@centurytel.net

M adison J ournal

The U.S. Department of Labor is


currently working on a rule to close
loopholes in the law that allow bad-actor firms to present financial advice
on retirement savings based on whats
best for their pocketbook, not yours.
In fact, last year alone, hidden fees,
unfair risk and bad investment advice
robbed Americans of as much as $17
billion.
Not surprisingly, Wall Street is
working hard to get Congress to pass
legislation that would weaken the Labor Departments rule ultimately
protecting Wall Streets bottom line instead of the retirement savings of millions of people.
A big shout-out goes to U.S. Rep.
Ron Kind (DLa Crosse), who stood
up to Wall Street with his recent vote
against a bill that would have stopped
this important rule. Were counting on
you to continue standing up for our retirement savings.
Buzz Marshall
Livingston

Give your opinion

I ran for Common Council two times.


The last time I ran I was told I was
only running for the council because
I was angry about the treatment I
received from the city manager and
UWPlatteville. I was also told I was

anti-Platteville. These statements


are false; I care about our city, which
brought me to write this.
In The Journal last week Jim
Schneller has come out with the truth
about the Platteville Public Library
Block Project. I attended the meeting
when the library project was first being sold to the people of Platteville. I
asked at the meeting, Where are the
guarantees that the library is going to
be turned over to the city? I was told
by Director of Community Development Joe Carroll that I need to have
faith.
If what Mr. Schneller wrote is true,
Joe Carroll needs to be fired. Remember, our former city manager Larry
Bierke stated on the radio that the
Platteville Public Library would not
cost the taxpayers of Platteville a
dime. Now, it is going to cost millions
of dollars.
I compliment Mr. Schneller for writing his letter. If you are reading this,
you need to attend the Nov. 24 Common Council meeting, or at least call
your alderman. The Common Council needs to take three steps back and
keep its word that the library will be
turned over to the city at the end of
seven years and it will only cost a total of $7.
Considering the timing of this vote
to approve the changes for the Library
Block project right after deer season
opens and just before Thanksgiving, I

think the timing of the vote is so the


council can bury the lies they have fed
us for the last three years. Remember,
we own the library; under this agreement; seven years from now we may
own nothing and not have a Platteville
Public Library. In addition, I have been
told that the motel will become student
housing.
Read Mr. Schnellers letter and come
to the Municipal Building Nov. 24, or
at least call your alderman in your district (see www.platteville.org for phone
numbers). I truly feel sorry for our new
city manager; she will need our support to work through our former city
managers debacle.
Darrel Browning

Platteville

The Platteville Journal will print


most letters to the editor, regardless of
the opinion presented. The Journal reserves the right to edit material that is
libelous or otherwise offensive to community standards and to shorten letters The Journal determines are excessively long. All letters must be signed
and the signature must appear on the
printed letter, along with a contact
number or email for verification. Some
submitted letters may not be published
due to space constraints. Thank you
letters will not be printed. All letters
and columns represent the views of the
writers and not necessarily the views of
The Platteville Journal.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the


free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
United States Constitution Amendment I

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