WMEA News Brad Schneider, WMEA President-Elect
WMEA Advocacy Committee Update
Advocacy Committee Drive-In Days
The WMEA Advocacy Committee began a busy February with a February 9–11 vir- tual Drive-In Days to visit state legislators. Taking advantage of the virtual format, the Advocacy Committee was able to recruit, train and organize 57 WMEA members, NAMM members and music advocates that met with 51 state legislators. Partici- pants came from all corners of the state.
The legislative ASK was crafted by Kay Black and the Government Relations Committee. Under Kay’s direction, the committee produced a short video that featured Wisconsin student voices ex- pressing how important music education was in their lives. This video was shared with all legislators.
Legislative visits began with music ad- vocates expressing thanks for the passage of Act 85, the new law that places music and the arts enrollment data on the annual school district report cards. ESSA was also reviewed, especially its emphasis on a Well-Rounded Education. Under ESSA, music is no longer an elective or an encore subject. It is curricular, academic and one of the 17 disciplines that make up a well rounded education. The student voices vid- eo was then shared followed by the ASK.
Summit Panelists and Guest Speakers - L to R from Top: Laurie Fellenz, Paul Budde, Brad Schneider, Leyla Sanyer; Row 2: Will Janssen, Allison Jaeger, Holly Prast, Amy Meyer. Row 3: Lizzy Cichowski, Jacki Thering, Katie Prihoda, Justin Steger
WMEA’s ASK requested support for legislation that ensures high-quality music education in all schools and at all grade levels, for the sake of students across our state by:
• Fully f unding ‘music and the arts’ education
• Ensuring all students have con- tinued access to music classes in existence before 2020
• Providing resources that recognize music as a crucial part of a well- rounded curriculum.
Proactive Advocacy Summit
On Tuesday, February 16 a sub-committee of the WMEA Advocacy Committee organized a Proactive Advocacy Sum- mit. The purpose of this webinar was to support Wisconsin music educators with the tools that proactively support critical local conversations about student needs, allocations, scheduling and resources for the 2021-22 school year and beyond.
Members of WMEA’s Advocacy Com- mittee were joined by several guest speakers to discuss and provide ideas and resources for educators as their schools transition out of COVID related reduc- tions. Guest speakers and the topics they focused on included:
• Laurie Fellenz – WMEA Execu- tive Director – COVID Mitigation Planning in the Classroom
• Leyla Sanyer – Former President, WMEA – Strengthening Music Education Through Language.
WMEA & NAMM Member meeting with Rep. Gary Hebl and Senator Melisa Agard. Top L to R: Matt Quaglieri, Kati Seiter, Rep. Hebl. Row 2: Senator Agard, Lizzy Cichowski, Brian Katz. Row 3: Staffer Aaron Collins
26 April 2021
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