No political experience information on file.

No caucus information on file.

Professor, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, 2001-present

Former Professor, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

No organizational membership information on file.

Pets (include names):

2 Cats

Reason for Seeking Public Office:

At the most basic level, I believe very deeply that everyone deserves the chance for opportunity and security in their lives. And over just a few years, the majority in the legislature has effectively, comprehensively, and efficiently enacted a pattern of legislation that attacks the very foundations of opportunity and security. That pattern of legislation includes (but is not limited to) cuts to public education, attacks on labor, reduced protections for the environment, and attempts to make discrimination the law.

Because I am an educator, I see the harm of this pattern most directly in education. I have students who work three jobs. I have married students with jobs and children. I have single students with jobs and children. I have students going to school and caring for ill family members or fighting extended illness themselves. My students see education as key in advancing their lives and those of their families. Well beyond the size of the tuition bill, cuts to every level of education in Wisconsin--K-12, the Technical College System and UW System--have made it harder and harder to offer the world class education that Wisconsin is known for and that matters so much to individuals and to the economic health of the state.

Others may see different parts of the pattern of harmful legislation more directly in their own lives. You might be harmed by the many layered attack on labor and collective bargaining. You or your family might feel powerless over your own health because legislation has weakened your ability to have a say in decisions affecting the environmental health of your community, or as the quality of your drinking water goes unaddressed. Your ability to vote might be harmed by voter ID laws, or you or someone you know might be gay or trans-gendered and feel like a second class citizen because of attempts to legislate discrimination against you.

In spite of the promises made to us, cuts to job security, education, and environmental protection did not result in more jobs. Wisconsin is in the bottom half of the country for job growth, and we are well behind our Midwestern neighbors that continued to invest in their people. We have seen (small) job growth because the United States came out of the recession. Because of policies that sacrificed common sense solutions for political ideology, Wisconsin came out more slowly and less effectively than the country as a whole. We know that companies look at training of the workforce quality of life when they decide where to expand or relocate their business. And because our short-sighted policies target these very foundations of a strong workforce and high quality of life, we are on a path that only leads to worsening problems in the future. We have to change that path!

The way to change that path is to restore funding, respect and protections for education, for labor rights, for personal and environmental health, and rights for all people. I am running for State Assembly to put my energy into restoring these foundations of opportunity and security that matter so much!

Spouse's Occupation:

Network Specialist Instructor, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, present